JP5458163B2 - Image processing apparatus and image processing apparatus control method - Google Patents

Description

  Embodiments described herein relate generally to an image processing apparatus and a method for controlling the image processing apparatus.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, electronic devices such as image processing apparatuses that can reproduce video content such as movies, television programs, and games have been widely used. There are cases where various character strings are embedded in the video in the content reproduced by the image processing apparatus.

  In recent years, an image processing apparatus including a plurality of reception units and restoration units has been put into practical use. Such an image processing apparatus can receive a broadcast signal or the like by a plurality of receiving units and can simultaneously demodulate a plurality of contents. Thereby, the image processing apparatus can record a plurality of contents simultaneously.

  In recent years, recording media (storage) for recording contents have been increased in capacity. As a result, an image processing apparatus capable of recording content for a long time has been put into practical use. In addition, an image processing apparatus that includes a large-capacity storage, a plurality of reception units, and a restoration unit and can record a plurality of contents over a long period of time has been put into practical use.

JP 2004-297647 A

  The image processing apparatus as described above records a plurality of contents simultaneously for a long time. As a result, the number of recorded contents (recorded contents) becomes enormous. For this reason, there is a problem that the user who uses the image processing apparatus cannot confirm the recorded content.

  Accordingly, it is an object to provide a more convenient image processing apparatus and a method for controlling the image processing apparatus.

  An image processing apparatus according to an embodiment includes: a receiving unit that simultaneously receives a plurality of broadcast programs; a restoring unit that simultaneously restores the plurality of broadcast programs received by the receiving unit; and a video of the restored plurality of broadcast programs Keyword extracting means for extracting keywords in order, storage means for simultaneously storing a plurality of broadcast programs restored by the restoring means, and storing the keywords extracted by the keyword extracting means for each broadcast program; Control means for controlling the processing interval of the process of extracting keywords by the keyword extracting means for each broadcast program.

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment. FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment. FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment. FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment. FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment. FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment. FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment.

  Hereinafter, an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment and a control method for the image processing apparatus will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a broadcast receiving apparatus 100 as an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment.
The broadcast receiving apparatus 100 includes a main body provided with a display (display unit 400) for displaying video, and legs that support the main body in a state where it can stand on its own.

  The broadcast receiving apparatus 100 includes a broadcast input terminal 110, a reception unit 111, a restoration unit 112, a communication interface 114, an audio processing unit 121, a video processing unit 131, a display processing unit 133, a control unit 150, an operation input unit 161, a card. A connector 164, a USB connector 166, a disk drive 170, a LAN connector 171, a power supply control unit 180, and a storage 190 are provided. The broadcast receiving apparatus 100 further includes a speaker 300 and a display 400.

  The broadcast input terminal 110 is an input terminal to which a digital broadcast signal received by the antenna 200 is input, for example. The antenna 200 receives, for example, a terrestrial digital broadcast signal, a BS (broadcasting satellite) digital broadcast signal, and / or a 110-degree CS (communication satellite) digital broadcast signal. That is, content such as a program supplied by a broadcast signal is input to the broadcast input terminal 110.

  The broadcast input terminal 110 supplies the received digital broadcast signal to the receiving unit 111. The receiving unit 111 is a receiving unit for digital broadcast signals. The receiving unit 111 tunes (tunes) the digital broadcast signal supplied from the antenna 200. The receiving unit 111 transmits the tuned digital broadcast signal to the restoration unit 112. When the signal supplied from the transmission input terminal 110 or the communication interface 114 is an analog signal, the reception unit 111 converts the signal into a digital signal.

  The restoration unit 112 demodulates the received digital broadcast signal. Further, the restoration unit 112 performs signal processing on the demodulated digital broadcast signal (content). Accordingly, the restoration unit 112 restores the video signal, the audio signal, and other data signals from the digital broadcast signal. For example, the restoration unit 112 restores a transport stream (TS) on which a video signal, an audio signal, and other data signals are superimposed from a digital broadcast signal.

  The restoration unit 112 supplies an audio signal to the audio processing unit 121. Further, the restoration unit 112 supplies a video signal to the video processing unit 131. Further, the restoration unit signal processing unit 113 supplies a data signal to the control unit 150. That is, the antenna 200, the reception unit 111, and the restoration unit 112 function as a reception unit that receives content.

  The communication interface 114 receives content such as a high definition multimedia interface (HDMI) (registered trademark) terminal, an audio input terminal, an S video terminal, a component video terminal, a D video terminal, a D-Sub terminal, and a DVI-I terminal. Provide any or more of the possible interfaces. The communication interface 114 receives content in which a digital video signal, a digital audio signal, and the like are multiplexed from another device. The communication interface 114 supplies a digital signal (content) received from another device to the receiving unit 111. The communication interface 114 supplies content received from another device to the restoration unit 112. That is, the communication interface 114 functions as a receiving unit that receives content.

  The restoration unit 112 performs signal processing on the content supplied from the communication interface 114 via the reception unit 111. For example, the restoration unit 112 separates the digital signal into a digital video signal, a digital audio signal, and a data signal. The restoration unit 112 supplies a digital audio signal to the audio processing unit 121. The restoration unit 112 also supplies a digital video signal to the video processing unit 131. Further, the restoration unit 112 supplies the control unit 150 with other information regarding the content.

  Furthermore, the restoration unit 112 supplies the content to the storage 190 described later based on the control of the control unit 150. The storage 190 stores the supplied content. Thereby, the broadcast receiving apparatus 100 can record content.

  The audio processing unit 121 converts the digital audio signal received from the restoration unit 112 into a signal (audio signal) in a format that can be reproduced by the speaker 300. The audio processing unit 121 supplies an audio signal to the speaker 300. The speaker 300 reproduces sound based on the supplied audio signal.

  The video processing unit 131 converts the digital video signal received from the restoration unit 112 into a video signal having a format that can be reproduced on the display 400. That is, the video processing unit 131 decodes (reproduces) the video signal received from the restoration unit 112 into a video signal having a format that can be reproduced by the display 400. In addition, the video processing unit 131 superimposes an OSD signal supplied from an OSD processing unit (not shown) on the video signal. The video processing unit 131 outputs the video signal to the display processing unit 133.

  The OSD processing unit displays a GUI (graphic user interface) screen, subtitles, time, or other information based on the data signal supplied from the restoration unit 112 and / or the control signal supplied from the control unit 150. An OSD signal to be displayed in a superimposed manner is generated. The OSD processing unit may be provided individually as a module in the broadcast receiving apparatus 100 or may be provided as a function of the control unit 150.

  For example, the display processing unit 133 performs color tone, brightness, sharpness, contrast, or other image quality adjustment processing on the received video signal based on the control from the control unit 150. The display processing unit 133 supplies the video signal subjected to the image quality adjustment to the display 400. The display 400 displays a video based on the supplied video signal.

  The display 400 includes, for example, a liquid crystal display device including a liquid crystal display panel including a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix and a backlight that illuminates the liquid crystal panel. The display 400 displays a video based on the video signal supplied from the broadcast receiving device 100.

  The broadcast receiving apparatus 100 may be configured to include a video output terminal instead of the display 400. Moreover, the broadcast receiving apparatus 100 may be configured to include an audio output terminal instead of the speaker 300. In this case, the broadcast receiving apparatus 100 outputs a video signal to a display device connected to the video output terminal, and outputs an audio signal to a speaker connected to the audio output terminal. Thereby, the broadcast receiving apparatus 100 can display an image | video on a display apparatus, and can output an audio | voice from a speaker.

  The control unit 150 functions as a control unit that controls the operation of each unit of the broadcast receiving apparatus 100. The control unit 150 includes a CPU 151, a ROM 152, a RAM 153, an EEPROM 154, and the like. The control unit 150 performs various processes based on the operation signal supplied from the operation input unit 161.

  The CPU 151 includes arithmetic elements that execute various arithmetic processes. The CPU 151 implements various functions by executing programs stored in the ROM 152, the EEPROM 154, or the like.

  The ROM 152 stores a program for controlling the broadcast receiving apparatus 100, a program for realizing various functions, and the like. The CPU 151 activates the program stored in the ROM 152 based on the operation signal supplied from the operation input unit 161. Thereby, the control part 150 controls operation | movement of each part.

  The RAM 153 functions as a work memory for the CPU 151. That is, the RAM 153 stores the calculation result of the CPU 151, the data read by the CPU 151, and the like.

  The EEPROM 154 is a non-volatile memory that stores various setting information, programs, and the like.

  The operation input unit 161 includes, for example, an operation key, a keyboard, a mouse, a voice input device, a touch pad, or another input device that can generate an operation signal according to the operation input. Further, the operation input unit 161 may be configured to include, for example, a sensor that receives an operation signal from a remote controller. Further, the operation input unit 162 may be configured to include the above input device and sensor. That is, the operation input unit 161 functions as an operation signal receiving unit that receives an operation signal.

  The operation input unit 161 supplies the input operation signal to the control unit 150. The control unit 150 causes the broadcast receiving device 100 to perform various processes based on the operation signal supplied from the operation input unit 161.

  The touch pad includes an electrostatic sensor, a thermo sensor, or a device that generates position information based on other methods. When the broadcast receiving device 100 includes the display 400, the operation input unit 161 may include a touch panel formed integrally with the display 400.

  The remote controller generates an operation signal based on a user operation input. The remote controller transmits the generated operation signal to the sensor of the operation input unit 161 by infrared communication. The sensor and the remote controller may be configured to transmit and receive operation signals by other wireless communication such as radio waves.

  The card connector 164 is an interface for communicating with, for example, a memory card 165 that stores moving image content. The card connector 164 reads moving image content data from the connected memory card 165 and supplies it to the control unit 150.

  The USB connector 166 is an interface for communicating with the USB device 167. The USB connector 166 supplies a signal supplied from the connected USB device 167 to the control unit 150.

  For example, when the USB device 167 is an operation input device such as a keyboard, the USB connector 166 receives an operation signal from the USB device 167. The USB connector 166 supplies the received operation signal to the control unit 150. In this case, the control unit 150 executes various processes based on the operation signal supplied from the USB connector 166.

  For example, when the USB device 167 is a storage device that stores content data of a moving image, the USB connector 166 can acquire content from the USB device 167. The USB connector 166 supplies the acquired content to the control unit 150.

  The disc drive 170 can be loaded with, for example, a compact disc (CD), a digital versatile disc (DVD), a Blu-ray Disc (Blu-ray Disk (registered trademark)), or another optical disc M capable of recording moving image content data. Have a drive. The disk drive 170 reads content from the optical disk M to be loaded and supplies the read content to the control unit 150.

  The LAN connector 171 is an interface for connecting the broadcast receiving apparatus 100 to a network. When the LAN connector 171 is connected to a public line by a LAN cable or a wireless LAN, the controller 150 can download and upload various data via the network.

  The power control unit 180 controls power supply to each unit of the broadcast receiving apparatus 100. The power supply control unit 180 receives power from the commercial power supply 500 via an AC adapter, for example. The commercial power supply 500 supplies AC power to the power supply control unit 180. The power supply control unit 180 converts the received AC power into DC and supplies it to each unit.

  Moreover, the broadcast receiving apparatus 100 may further include another interface. The interface is, for example, Serial-ATA. The broadcast receiving apparatus 100 can acquire and play back content recorded in a device connected by an interface. Also, the broadcast receiving apparatus 100 can output the reproduced audio signal and video signal to a device connected by an interface.

  When the broadcast receiving apparatus 100 is connected to a network via an interface, the broadcast receiving apparatus 100 can acquire and reproduce content data of moving images on the network.

  The storage 190 is a storage device that stores content and the like. The storage 190 includes a mass storage device such as a hard disk (HDD), a solid state drive (SSD), or a semiconductor memory. The storage 190 may be configured by a storage device connected to the USB connector 166, the LAN connector 171, the communication interface 114, or another interface.

  As described above, when the content is recorded, the control unit 150 causes the content data demodulated by the restoration unit 112 to be input to the storage 190. Furthermore, the control unit 150 instructs the storage 190 to specify an address in the storage 190 that stores the content. The storage 190 stores the content supplied from the restoration unit 112 at the address designated by the control unit 150.

  The storage 190 may be configured to store a TS restored from a digital broadcast signal, or may be configured to store compressed content in which the TS is compressed by AVI, MPEG, or other compression methods. .

  In addition, the control unit 150 can read and play the content stored in the storage 190. For example, the control unit 150 instructs the storage 190 to specify an address in the storage 190. The storage 190 reads content from the address designated by the control unit 150. The storage 190 supplies the read content to the audio processing unit 121, the video processing unit 131, the control unit 150, and the like. Thereby, the broadcast receiving apparatus 100 can reproduce the recorded content.

  The broadcast receiving apparatus 100 includes a plurality of receiving units 111 and restoring units 112. Thereby, the broadcast receiving apparatus 100 can simultaneously receive a plurality of contents and restore the received plurality of contents at the same time. Thereby, the broadcast receiving apparatus 100 can simultaneously acquire a plurality of reproducible content data. That is, the broadcast receiving apparatus 100 can record a plurality of contents at the same time.

FIG. 2 shows an example of functions that the control unit 150 has.
As shown in FIG. 2, the control unit 150 can realize various functions by executing a program by the CPU 151. For example, the control unit 150 includes a character region extraction unit 1511, a character data recognition unit 1512, an error correction unit 1513, a keyword analysis unit 1514, and a storage unit 1515. Further, the control unit 150 includes a search unit 1521, a list display unit 1522, a list selection unit 1523, and a playback unit 1524.

3 and 4 show examples of processing for storing content.
As illustrated in FIG. 3, the reception unit 111 receives content. For example, the receiving unit 111 receives content from the Internet (network) via the LAN connector 171. The receiving unit 111 receives content from a content output device that outputs content via the communication interface 114, the USB connector 166, the card connector 164, or another interface. Furthermore, the receiving unit 111 receives content from a digital broadcast signal received via the broadcast input terminal 110.

  The receiving unit 111 supplies the received content to the restoration unit 112. As mentioned above. The broadcast receiving apparatus 100 includes a plurality of receiving units 111 and a plurality of restoring units 112. The plurality of reception units 111 can supply a plurality of contents to the plurality of restoration units 112.

  Further, the restoration unit 112 can simultaneously restore a plurality of supplied contents and acquire a plurality of reproducible content data. That is, the restoration unit 112 can simultaneously acquire video signals and audio signals of a plurality of contents. Further, the restoration unit 112 acquires data signals regarding a plurality of contents from the plurality of contents data.

  As illustrated in FIG. 4, the restoration unit 112 outputs content data to the storage 190 based on the control of the control unit 150. Thereby, the storage 190 can simultaneously record a plurality of contents.

  Further, the restoration unit 112 outputs the content data to the video processing unit 131 and the audio processing unit 121 based on the control of the control unit 150. Thereby, the broadcast receiving apparatus 100 can simultaneously reproduce a plurality of contents.

  In addition, the restoration unit 112 outputs the content video signal to the character region extraction unit 1511 of the control unit 150. Note that there may be a plurality of content video signals supplied from the restoration unit 112 to the character region extraction unit 1511. However, in order to simplify the description, it is assumed that one video signal is supplied from the restoration unit 112 to the character area extraction unit 1511.

  Furthermore, the restoration unit 112 outputs the audio signal and data signal of the content to the control unit 150. This data signal includes, for example, data indicating time, data relating to EPG, character data such as captions, and the like. Further, the control unit 150 performs scene detection based on the audio signal. Further, the control unit 150 may be configured to recognize a scene based on data included in the data signal.

  The character area extraction unit 1511 analyzes the video signal (video data) and extracts an area (character area) where characters exist from the video. The character area is an area including a character string, and indicates, for example, coordinate information on the top, bottom, left, and right of the character string. The character area extraction unit 1511 outputs information (position information) indicating the position of the character area.

  Note that the character region extraction unit 1511 may be configured to detect a character region by any method. For example, the character area extraction unit 1511 detects an area where the rate of change in the luminance of the video is a certain value or more as a character area.

  In addition, there are a case where there is no character area in the video, a case where there is one character area in the video, a case where there are a plurality of character areas in the video, and the like. The character area extraction unit 1511 calculates information (position information) indicating the position of one character area when there is one character area in the video. For example, the character area extraction unit 1511 calculates the position of one character area and the size of the character area. In addition, the character area extraction unit 1511 may be configured to calculate the rectangular coordinates of one character area.

  When there are a plurality of character areas in the video, the character area extraction unit 1511 calculates position information for each character area. In this case, the character area extraction unit 1511 outputs position information of a plurality of character areas.

  The character data recognition unit 1512 recognizes characters in the character area. That is, the character data recognition unit 1512 recognizes the character area based on the position information of the character area output from the character area extraction unit 1511. The character data recognition unit 1512 recognizes a character based on the video in the character area.

  The character data recognition unit 1512 may be configured to recognize characters by any method. For example, the character data recognition unit 1512 recognizes characters in the video by using an optical character reader (OCR). For example, the character data recognition unit 1512 recognizes the above characters using SJIS, EUC, or other character codes.

  According to the example shown in FIG. 5, character data A and character data B are embedded in the video. The character area extraction unit 1511 extracts an area where the character data A is embedded in the video (character area A) and an area where the character data B is embedded (character area B). The character area extraction unit 1511 outputs position information indicating the character area A and position information indicating the character area B to the character data recognition unit 1512.

  The character data recognition unit 1512 recognizes the character data A from the video in the character area A. Further, the character data recognition unit 1512 recognizes the character data B from the video in the character area B. Thereby, the character data recognition unit 1512 can recognize the character data embedded in the video.

  Furthermore, the character data recognition unit 1512 may be configured to recognize the font type, character size, number of characters, character color, and the like of the character data. For example, the character data recognizing unit 1512 can recognize the font of the character data and the size of the character based on the video in the character area and the dictionary for each built-in font.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 6, there may be a case where noise, background, video overlap, or other elements are included in the content video. Character region extraction by the character region extraction unit 1511 and character data recognition by the character data recognition unit 1512 are erroneous due to the effects of noise, background, video overlap, or other factors included in the content video May occur.

  The error correction unit 1513 corrects the character region extraction result and the character data recognition result. There is a high possibility that characters (telops) appearing in the video are displayed in the same position at the same position continuously over a plurality of frames. Therefore, the error correction unit 1513 corrects the error based on the extraction result of the character region detected from the previous and subsequent frames and the recognition result of the character data.

  For example, when correcting a character area, the error correction unit 1513 generates an error if the position and size of the character area detected from the preceding and following frames are different from the position and size of the character area detected from the current frame. Judgment is likely. In this case, the error correction unit 1513 corrects the extraction result of the character area so that, for example, the character area detected from the previous and subsequent frames and the character area detected from the current frame are the same area.

  For example, the error correction unit 1513 refers to the character region extracted from the preceding and following several frames and the character recognition result recognized from the image of this character region, and correct character region based on the number of matching results, Recognize character data.

  Further, for example, the error correction unit 1513 collates character data as a character recognition result recognized from each frame with a dictionary previously stored in the ROM 152 or the EEPROM 154. The error correction unit 1513 may be configured to estimate correct character data based on the matching result.

  In addition, the control unit 150 is provided with an error correction unit 1513 for correcting the character region after the character region extraction unit 1511, and an error correction for correcting the recognition result of the character data after the character data recognition unit 1512. The structure in which the part 1513 is provided may be sufficient.

  The keyword analysis unit 1514 recognizes a keyword from the recognized character data. A keyword dictionary 1514a created in advance is used for keyword recognition.

  The keyword dictionary 1514a stores a genre (data indicating a genre) in association with each keyword. The keyword dictionary 1514a may be configured to store a plurality of genres in association with each keyword. Further, the keyword dictionary 1514a has a genre relevance (for example, points) set for each genre of each keyword.

  The keyword analysis unit 1514 first extracts keywords from the character data recognized by the character data recognition unit 1512. For example, the keyword analysis unit 1514 analyzes character data grammatically, and extracts a subject, a predicate, a noun, an article, a particle, and the like from the character data. That is, the keyword analysis unit 1514 delimits the character data with clauses and extracts the delimited words as keywords.

  The keyword analysis unit 1514 identifies the genre of character data by comparing the extracted keyword with the keyword dictionary 1514a.

  FIG. 7 shows an example of the keyword dictionary 1514a and a specific example of a genre. As shown in FIG. 7, a plurality of genres are set for each keyword. Furthermore, the genre relevance level is set for each genre. When one keyword is included in the character data, the keyword analysis unit 1514 identifies the genre having the highest genre relevance among the genres associated with the keyword as the genre of the character data.

  When the character data includes a plurality of keywords, the keyword analysis unit 1514 integrates the genre relevance levels of the genres associated with the keywords and specifies the genre of the character data. For example, the keyword analysis unit 1514 adds the genre relevance of the genre associated with each keyword for each genre, and specifies the genre having the highest genre relevance as the genre of character data.

  In the example of FIG. 7, the character data “consumption tax, discussion at the Diet” includes keywords such as “consumption tax”, “Diet”, “discussion”. “Consumption tax” is associated with 0.7 as the genre relevance level of the genre “economy”, 0.2 as the genre relevance level of the genre “society”, and 0.1 as the genre relevance level of the genre “politics”. ing. Further, “National Diet” is associated with a genre relevance level of 0.6 for the genre “politics”, 0.3 as a genre relevance level of the genre “society”, and 0.1 as a genre relevance level of the genre “economy” It has been. “Discussion” is associated with a genre relevance level of 0.6 for the genre “politics” and 0.4 as a relevance level of the genre “society”.

  In this case, the character data “consumption tax, debate at the Diet” has a genre relevance of the genre “economy” is 0.8, a genre relevance of the genre “politics” is 1.3, and the genre “society” The genre relevance is 0.9. As a result, the keyword analysis unit 1514 specifies the genre “politics” as the genre of character data.

  Furthermore, the keyword analysis unit 1514 may be configured to weight the relationship between keywords such as a subject and a predicate. For example, a component such as a subject or a predicate is specified for each keyword, and the genre relevance is multiplied by a coefficient set in advance according to the specified component. Thereby, the keyword analysis unit 1514 can specify the genre in consideration of the component for each keyword.

  Furthermore, the keyword analysis unit 1514 can update the keyword dictionary 1514a by performing learning based on the recognized character data. The keyword analysis unit 1514 may be configured to update the keyword dictionary 1514a by any learning method.

  The storage unit 1515 includes additional information such as a character area, character data (including font type, character size, number of characters, character color, etc.), genre, channel, date and time, and frame number (character string display frame number). Is stored in the storage 190. The storage unit 1515 stores these data in association with the content.

  FIG. 8 shows an example of additional information stored by the storage unit 1515. There is a high possibility that characters appearing on the screen are fixedly displayed in the same area for several seconds. For this reason, there is a high possibility that the character region will have the same position and size over a plurality of frames. From this tendency, the storage unit 1515 can determine the same character data by comparing the character area of the past frame with the character data.

  FIG. 8 shows that the character data “average stock price” is recognized in the character region “0, 200, 400, 600” over the frame numbers 2 to 5. Furthermore, the storage unit 1515 may store information such as the font type, character size, number of characters, character color, genre, channel, and date / time of character data in association with each frame.

  Further, the storage unit 1515 can recognize the start frame and the end frame in which the character data is detected by associating the determined identical character data. The storage unit 1515 may be configured to store the start frame and the end frame for each character data in the storage 190 together.

  That is, when there is a character area at the same position in a plurality of consecutive frames, the control unit 150 recognizes the first frame and the last frame in which the character area is displayed as the start frame and the end frame, respectively. Furthermore, the control unit 150 displays a character region when a character region exists at the same position in a plurality of consecutive frames and the character data in the character region matches over a plurality of consecutive frames. The configuration may be such that the first frame and the last frame are specified.

  Through the processing described above, the control unit 150 can record the content in the storage 190, further extract character data embedded in the video of the content as a keyword for each word, and store it in the storage 190 together with the content. it can. Further, the control unit 150 includes a character area, character data (including font type, character size, number of characters, character color, etc.), genre, channel, date and time, and frame number (character string display frame number). Additional information can be stored in the storage 190.

  Furthermore, the control unit 150 performs the above-described processing on the plurality of contents restored by the restoration unit 112, so that keywords, character areas, and character data (font type, character data) included in the plurality of contents are processed. Size, number of characters, character color, etc.), genre, channel, date and time, frame number (character string display frame number), and the like can be stored in the storage 190 together with the content.

  FIG. 9 shows an example of processing of the control unit 150 for a plurality of contents. FIG. 9 shows an example in which channel 011, channel 041, channel 051, channel 061, channel 071, and channel 081 are restored by the restoration unit 112. In this case, video signals of contents of channel 011, channel 041, channel 051, channel 061, channel 071, and channel 081 are supplied to the control unit 150 at the same time.

  The control unit 150 sequentially performs processing such as character area extraction, character data recognition, error correction, and keyword analysis on each content. That is, the control unit 150 performs processing on the video of one frame of the content of the channel 011 and then performs processing on the video of one frame of the content of the channel 041. The control unit 150 sequentially performs such processing up to channel 081 and returns to the processing of channel 011.

  By repeatedly executing this process, the control unit 150 can extract character data embedded in content videos of a plurality of channels, and further specify the genre of the character data.

  As described above, there is a high possibility that the same character data is continuously displayed in the same character area. For this reason, it is not necessary to perform the above processing for all frames. For example, when the processing load of the system is high, the control unit 150 is more efficient by widening the interval of frames for executing the processing, and narrowing the interval of frames for executing the processing when the processing load of the system is low. Processing can be performed.

  Also, the degree of appearance of characters in the video varies greatly depending on the genre of the content. For example, in news and the like, many characters appear on the screen, but in drama and animation, on the contrary, characters hardly appear on the screen. For example, the control unit 150 may be configured to specify the genre of the content using information related to the EPG and change the frequency of the above processing according to the specified genre.

  Further, for example, the control unit 150 may be configured to change the frequency of the above process according to the past content viewing history, the past content recording history, the search history, the time zone, or the audience rating. Good. For example, the control unit 150 acquires distribution information and the like from a server connected to the network, and acquires information such as an audience rating and a search history from the distribution information.

  Still further, the control unit 150 may be configured to change the interval between frames to be processed based on the tendency of character detection in past frames. Furthermore, the control unit 150 may detect the CM section and change the frame interval for executing processing in the CM section.

  That is, the control unit 150 performs processing load on the entire broadcast receiving apparatus 100, content genre, viewing history, recording history, search history, time zone, content audience rating, keyword extraction results from past frames, and CM section Based on one or a plurality of combinations of detection results, the processing interval of keyword extraction processing is controlled for each content.

Next, content search and playback will be described.
As described above, the operation input unit 161 receives an operation input by the user and outputs it to the control unit 150. The operation input unit 161 inputs a keyword to the search unit 1521 of the control unit 150 based on the input.

  FIG. 10 is a search screen for content stored in the storage 190. When executing a content search, the search unit 1521 generates a search screen shown in FIG.

  On the search screen, an input field for inputting a keyword is displayed. The search unit 1521 displays the keyword input by the operation input unit 161 in this input field.

  The search unit 1521 may be configured to receive a keyword from the Internet (network) via the LAN connector 171. The search unit 1521 may be configured to receive a keyword output from the communication interface 114, the USB connector 166, the card connector 164, or a device connected via another interface. Further, the search unit 1521 may be configured to receive a keyword from a digital broadcast signal received via the broadcast input terminal 110.

  For example, a server on the network that acquires a keyword searched by a plurality of broadcast receiving apparatuses 100 connected to the network, counts the number for each acquired keyword, and distributes the higher-ranked keywords as a list to the broadcast receiving apparatus 100 There is. The search unit 1521 can receive a keyword from such a server and display it on the search screen in a state where it can be selected as a list as shown in FIG.

  That is, the search unit 1521 receives a plurality of keywords from the outside, and generates a screen using the received keywords as a list. The search unit 1521 uses the keyword selected on this screen for the search.

  In addition, the structure which designates the period which counts the number of keywords from the broadcast receiving apparatus 100 to a server may be sufficient. The search unit 1521 may be configured to narrow down keywords to be displayed in a list on the search screen based on user information such as sex, age, or favorite program genre registered in the broadcast receiving device 100.

  In this case, the search unit 1521 selects a genre based on the input, and searches the storage 190 for content that includes the selected keyword and has a frame that matches the selected genre.

  Furthermore, the search unit 1521 is configured to narrow down keywords to be displayed in a list on the search screen based on keywords input in the past, contents and genres watched in the past, contents and genres recorded in the past, and the like. May be.

  As described above, the search unit 1521 specifies a keyword according to input or selection. Note that the search unit 1521 may be configured to specify a plurality of keywords. For example, the search unit 1521 performs a search based on AND or OR of a plurality of keywords.

  The search unit 1521 searches the content stored in the storage 190 for content corresponding to the search condition based on the input or selected keyword, channel, date, genre, or other search conditions. The search unit 1521 outputs the search result to the list display unit 1522. A database function or the like can be used for the search process. That is, the search unit 1521 refers to the additional information stored in the storage 190 together with the content by the storage unit 1515, and searches for content that satisfies the search condition.

  The list display unit 1522 generates a search result screen based on the search result output from the search unit 1521 and displays it on the display 400. For example, as shown in FIG. 11, the list display unit 1522 displays a list of the titles (content names) of the searched contents. In this case, the list display unit 1522 includes one or more of date time, keyword display time, keyword display position, keyword importance, character type, character size, and content audience rating. Sort the display order of content names based on the combination.

  For example, when sorting in order of date and time, the list display unit 1522 displays the list in order from the content of the most recent time, for example.

  The list display unit 1522 may be configured to display character data including a keyword, a channel, a keyword display time, a content or scene genre, a numerical value indicating a degree of matching with a keyword, and the like on a search result screen. .

  For example, a character string representing a corner of content is likely to be displayed for a certain period of time on the upper right of the screen. In addition, introductions and comments from commentators are likely to be displayed for a few seconds at the bottom center of the screen. Therefore, the list display unit 1522 can display the list so that the user can easily find scenes in which the keyword is taken up as a corner by sorting the display order of the content names by the keyword display time.

  Note that the control unit 150 performs scene detection based on the audio signal. In this case, for example, the control unit 150 determines that the scene has been switched when the sound is silent for a certain period. Further, the control unit 150 may be configured to perform scene detection based on the video signal. For example, the control unit 150 calculates a histogram of the luminance of the video, and determines that the scene has been switched when it changes more than a certain level.

  Further, by setting points in advance for each keyword stored in the keyword dictionary 1514a, the list display unit 1522 can perform sorting according to the keyword points. The points are calculated based on, for example, determination of famousness, importance, importance, appearance, and the like. For example, Mt. Fuji is judged to be more famous than Mt. Thus, by sorting based on the points set in the keyword dictionary 1514a for each keyword, the list display unit 1522 can change the display order of contents according to more detailed settings.

  The list selection unit 1523 selects content according to an operation input while the search result screen displayed as a list by the list display unit 1522 is displayed. The list selection unit 1523 generates information (list selection information) for specifying the selected content, and outputs the information to the reproduction unit 1524. The list selection information includes, for example, a content name, an address where the content is stored, a content record number, and the like.

  Further, the list selection unit 1523 may be configured to add information (scene information) indicating the position of the scene including the keyword specified by the search unit 1521 to the list selection information. The scene information includes information indicating a playback position in the content such as a frame number, time, or scene, for example.

  The playback unit 1524 reads the content indicated by the list selection information from the storage 190 and plays it. Further, when the scene information is added to the list selection information, the content is reproduced based on the position indicated by the scene information.

  For example, the playback unit 1524 starts playback of content from the position indicated by the scene information. Further, the playback unit 1524 may be configured to start playback of content from a position before a certain time before the position indicated by the scene information. Furthermore, the playback unit 1524 may be configured to start playback of content from the beginning of the scene including the position indicated by the scene information. Furthermore, the playback unit 1524 may be configured to start playback of content from the beginning of the scene immediately before the scene including the position indicated by the scene information.

  FIG. 12 shows an example of content reproduction. FIG. 12 shows an example in which the content “hot spring tour” (content A) and the content “hot spring close to the city center” (content B) are extracted as search results based on keywords.

  Content A has scenes A, B, C, and D. The scene C of the content A includes a frame in which the keyword used for the search is embedded in the video.

  The content B includes scenes A, B, and C. The scene B of the content B includes a frame in which the keyword used for the search is embedded in the video.

  The position a on the content A indicates the position of the frame in which the keyword is embedded in the video. The position b on the content A indicates the beginning of the scene including the frame in which the keyword is embedded in the video. A position c on the content A indicates a position a certain time before the beginning of the scene including the frame in which the keyword is embedded in the video. A position d on the content A indicates the head of the scene immediately before the scene including the frame in which the keyword is embedded in the video.

  As described above, the playback unit 1524 starts playback of content from any one of the positions a to d.

  Further, the playback unit 1524 may be configured to play back a scene including a keyword in another content when playback of a scene including the keyword is completed.

  For example, as illustrated in FIG. 12, the reproduction unit 1524 starts reproduction of the content B when the reproduction of the scene C of the content A is completed.

  The position e on the content B indicates the position of the frame in which the keyword is embedded in the video. The position f on the content B indicates the beginning of the scene including the frame in which the keyword is embedded in the video. A position g on the content B indicates a position a certain time before the beginning of the scene including the frame in which the keyword is embedded in the video. A position h on the content B indicates the head of the scene immediately before the scene including the frame in which the keyword is embedded in the video.

  When the playback of the scene C of the content A is completed, the playback unit 1524 starts playback of the content from any one of the positions e to h of the content B.

  When playing back the content, the playback unit 1524 reads the content stored in the storage 190 and causes the audio processing unit 121 and the video processing unit 131 to input the content. As described above, the audio processing unit 121 and the video processing unit 131 decode the audio signal and the video signal that can be reproduced by the speaker 300 and the display 400 from the content data, and output them to the speaker 300 and the display 400, respectively. Thereby, the broadcast receiving apparatus 100 can reproduce the content in a state where the user can view the content.

FIG. 13 shows an example of a display screen when content is reproduced.
The broadcast receiving apparatus 100 generates a playback screen 1301 and outputs it to the display 400. The broadcast receiving apparatus 100 displays a display window 1302, content information 1303, a time bar 1304, and the like on the playback screen 1301.

  A display window 1302 is a window in which a video of the reproduced content is displayed. The content information 1303 is a display of the content name, date / time, channel, or other information of the content. A time bar 1304 is a display showing the current playback position in the content.

  The time bar 1304 has a display indicating the position of the scene detected by the method described above. Further, the time bar 1304 displays a balloon 1305 for specifying and displaying a scene including a frame in which a keyword is embedded in the video. In the balloon 1305, the keywords used for the above search are displayed.

  The balloon 1305 is displayed at the position of the frame in which the keyword is embedded in the video, for example. For example, the balloon 1305 is displayed at the beginning of a scene including a frame in which a keyword is embedded in the video. Thereby, the broadcast receiving apparatus 100 can allow the user to easily confirm the position of the frame or scene in which the keyword is embedded in the video.

  When a keyword is displayed in the display window 1302, the broadcast receiving apparatus 100 displays an object 1306 that emphasizes the position where the keyword is reflected in the video, that is, the character area extracted by the character area extraction unit 1511. It may be displayed in the display window 1302. The object 1306 emphasizes the character area or the keyword by, for example, a solid line frame, a dotted line frame, an underline, or another method surrounding the character area. Thereby, the broadcast receiving apparatus 100 can make a user confirm a keyword easily.

  Furthermore, the broadcast receiving apparatus 100 may be configured to display the time until the frame in which the keyword is embedded in the video is displayed in the playback screen 1301 in real time. Thereby, the broadcast receiving apparatus 100 can make the user easily check the time until the frame in which the keyword is embedded in the video.

  As described above, the broadcast receiving apparatus 100 extracts a keyword embedded in the video of each content and records the extracted keyword in association with each content when recording a plurality of contents. In this case, the control unit 150 of the broadcast receiving apparatus is based on a plurality of content genres, a past content viewing history, a past content recording history, a search history, a time zone, an audience rating, a CM section, and the like. To control the interval between frames for extracting keywords. By controlling the processing interval in accordance with the content in this way, the control unit 150 can prevent omission of keyword extraction and reduce the processing burden.

  In addition, the control unit 150 can more accurately extract a keyword by performing error correction using character regions and character data extracted from frames before and after the frame from which character data is extracted.

  Furthermore, the control unit 150 specifies a genre for each keyword using a preset keyword dictionary 1514a. Thereby, the control part 150 can add the information which shows a genre further to a keyword.

  The control unit 150 searches the content stored in the storage 190 for content corresponding to the search condition based on the keyword, genre, channel, date, or other search conditions specified by the user. The control unit 150 displays a list on the display 400 based on the search result. Thereby, the broadcast receiving apparatus 100 can search the content according to a user's request, and can make a user confirm as a list.

  As a result, a more convenient image processing apparatus and a method for controlling the image processing apparatus can be provided.

  It should be noted that the functions described in the above embodiments are not limited to being configured using hardware, but can be realized by causing a computer to read a program describing each function using software. Each function may be configured by appropriately selecting either software or hardware.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment as it is, and can be embodied by modifying the constituent elements without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage. Further, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of constituent elements disclosed in the embodiment. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiment. Furthermore, you may combine suitably the component covering different embodiment.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Broadcast receiving apparatus, 110 ... Broadcast input terminal, 111 ... Reception part, 112 ... Restoration part, 114 ... Communication interface, 121 ... Audio processing part, 131 ... Video processing part, 133 ... Display processing part, 150 ... Control part, 151 ... CPU, 152 ... ROM, 153 ... RAM, 154 ... EEPROM, 161 ... operation input unit, 164 ... card connector, 165 ... memory card, 166 ... USB connector, 167 ... USB device, 170 ... disk drive, 171 ... LAN Connector, 180 ... Power supply control unit, 190 ... Storage, 200 ... Antenna, 300 ... Speaker, 400 ... Display, 500 ... Commercial power supply, 1511 ... Character area extraction unit, 1512 ... Character data recognition unit, 1513 ... Error correction unit, 1514 ... Keyword analysis unit, 1514a ... Keyword dictionary, 151 ... storage unit, 1521 ... search unit, 1522 ... list display portion, 1523 ... list selecting unit, 1524 ... reproduction unit.

Claims (16)

Receiving means for simultaneously receiving a plurality of broadcast programs;
Restoring means for simultaneously restoring a plurality of broadcast programs received by the receiving means;
Keyword extracting means for extracting keywords in order from the restored videos of the plurality of broadcast programs;
Storage means for simultaneously storing a plurality of broadcast programs restored by the restoration means, and storing the keywords extracted by the keyword extraction means for each of the broadcast programs;
Control means for controlling the processing interval of the process of extracting keywords by the keyword extraction means for each broadcast program;
An image processing apparatus comprising:   The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit specifies a genre of each broadcast program and controls a processing interval of the keyword extraction process for each broadcast program based on the specified genre.   The control means includes processing load of the entire image processing apparatus, genre of the broadcast program, viewing history, recording history, search history, time zone, audience rating of the broadcast program, keyword extraction result from past frames, and CM The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a processing interval of the keyword extraction processing is controlled for each broadcast program based on one or a plurality of combinations of section detection results. The keyword extracting means includes
A character region extracting means for extracting a character region in which characters are embedded from one frame of the broadcast program;
Character data recognition means for recognizing character data from video in the character region;
The character region extracted by the character region extraction unit is corrected based on character regions extracted from frames before and after the frame, and the character data recognized by the character data recognition unit is Correction means for correcting based on character data recognized from the preceding and following frames;
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, comprising: The keyword extraction means extracts keywords by separating the character data recognized by the character data recognition means,
The storage means stores information indicating the character area, the character data, and identification information for identifying the frame.
The image processing apparatus according to claim 4. A keyword dictionary in which a genre is associated with each keyword in advance;
The keyword extraction means specifies the genre of the extracted keyword based on the keyword dictionary, specifies the genre for each frame based on the genre of the specified keyword,
The storage means stores the identified genre in association with the identification information of the frame;
The image processing apparatus according to claim 5. The character data recognition means recognizes the font, character size, number of characters, and character color of the character data from the video in the character area;
The storage means further stores the font, character size, number of characters, and character color of the character data in association with the identification information of the frame.
The image processing apparatus according to claim 6. The control means specifies the first frame and the last frame in which the character area is displayed when the character area exists at the same position in a plurality of consecutive frames;
The storage means stores identification information indicating the first frame and identification information indicating the last frame in association with the broadcast program;
The image processing apparatus according to claim 4. The control means displays the character area when the character area exists at the same position in a plurality of consecutive frames and the character data in the character area coincides over a plurality of consecutive frames. Identify the first and last frame,
The image processing apparatus according to claim 8. Keyword selection means for selecting keywords based on input,
Search means for searching for a broadcast program having a frame including the keyword selected by the keyword selection means from the broadcast program stored in the storage means;
List display means for generating a screen with a list of broadcast program names of broadcast programs satisfying the search condition based on the search result by the search means;
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: Further comprising genre selection means for selecting a genre based on the input;
The search means searches the broadcast program stored in the storage means for a broadcast program that includes the keyword selected by the keyword selection means and has a frame that matches the genre selected by the genre selection means. ,
The image processing apparatus according to claim 10. The keyword selection means includes
A keyword receiving means for receiving a plurality of keywords;
Keyword display means for generating a screen with the plurality of keywords received by the keyword receiving means as a list;
Comprising
Selecting the plurality of keywords displayed in the list based on an input;
The image processing apparatus according to claim 10.   The list display means includes one or more of: date order, character data display time order, character data display position order, keyword importance order, character data font order, character data size order, or a plurality of The image processing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein a screen is generated by ordering broadcast programs searched by the search means based on a combination. Broadcast program selection means for selecting one of the broadcast programs displayed as the list based on the input;
Reproduction means for reproducing the broadcast program selected by the broadcast program selection means, generating a reproduction screen, and outputting the reproduction screen;
The image processing apparatus according to claim 10, further comprising:   The playback means includes a position of a frame including the keyword, a head of a scene including the frame including the keyword, a position a predetermined time before a head of the scene including the frame including the keyword, The image processing device according to claim 14, wherein reproduction of the broadcast program is started from any position of a head of a scene immediately preceding a scene including a frame including the keyword. Multiple broadcast programs are received simultaneously by the image processing device,
Multiple received broadcast programs are restored simultaneously by the image processing device,
The keywords are extracted by the image processing device in order from the video of the restored broadcast programs,
A plurality of restored broadcast programs are stored simultaneously, and the extracted keywords are stored by the image processing device for each of the broadcast programs,
The processing interval of the process for extracting the keyword is controlled by the image processing apparatus for each broadcast program.
A method for controlling an image processing apparatus.

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