Funai Electric Company Ltd.

Kazuhide Ishihara

Toshihiro Takagi

Yasuhiro Inui

Kazuhiko Tani

Takahiro Katayama

Manabu Yamamoto

Yusuke Nishida

Yoshihisa Nagamura

Keisuke Tsukamoto

Tsuyoshi Kamitani

Masaki Horimoto

This video display device includes a maker name table and a device type table. Moreover, this video display device includes a communication means which, when some external input channel is selected, receives from a device upon that external input channel the logical address and the vendor ID which are allocated in advance to that device on that external input channel. This video display device also includes a conversion means which converts the vendor ID which has been received by the communication unit to a letter string representing a maker's name, on the basis of the maker name table. The conversion means also converts the logical address which has been received by the communication unit to a letter string representing the device type of the device, on the basis of the device type table. Furthermore, this video display device also includes a display means which displays those letter strings.

Video display device

A digital/analogue TV receiver having a function for displaying an EGP screen comprises a controller for displaying the EPG (electric program guide) screen including channels and TV program information on a display apparatus, and a memory for storing a channel map memorizing the TV program information correspondingly to the channels. The controller renews the channel map stored in the memory with using VCT (virtual channel table) information and EIT (event information table) information which are delivered with the TV broadcasting signals while image signals of a TV program is outputted to the display apparatus. The controller uses the TV program information memorized in the channel map stored in the memory when the EPG screen is displayed on the display apparatus.

Digital/analogue TV receiver that renews a channel map using event information and virtual channel tables

A digital/analog TV receiver is provided comprising a broadcasting signal receiver for receiving broadcasting signals of both ground wave and cable wave, a main controller which carries out the process of full-range scanning including a transmission route examining step of automatically specifying the transmission route of a broadcasting signal and a channel examining step of automatically specifying the channel of the broadcasting signal received from the transmission route, and a memory for holding a channel map where the channel of each broadcasting signal is stored. The main controller can carry out the transmission route examining step to check the receipt of the ground wave broadcasting signal of a digital form by the broadcasting signal receiver and automatically examine from the result of the checking whether the broadcasting signal is received from the ground wave transmission route or the cable wave transmission route. Also, the main controller can check the receipt of the broadcasting signal from the transmission route by the broadcasting signal receiver and automatically specify from the result of the checking the channel of the broadcasting signal received from the transmission route. The channel of the broadcasting signal is then stored into the channel map of the memory by the main controller.

Digital/analog TV receiver

Prior to recording, a difference between a disc's temporal, maximum recordable length and a temporal length having been consumed by recording data is calculated. A scale is determined to allow a length of a period of a preprogrammed recording to be relatively matched on a timebase bar with the obtained difference's temporal length. Relative to the length of the period of the preprogrammed recording, an amount indicating a shortage of the difference's temporal length is calculated. An image of the timebase bar is created and the determined scale is used to create on the bar an image indicating the calculated amount of shortage, and these images are integrally displayed. Furthermore, if the current recording location and time shift reproduction location are also obtained, these locations are displayed on the same timebase bar.

Disc access processor processing a result of accessing a disc and method thereof

A broadcasting receiver for receiving a digital broadcast of the invention has a sub-channel changing-dedicated operation key so that upon reception of an instruction sent from this operation key, such a sub-channel that is adjacent in a predetermined direction in the same main channel may be selected in switch-over. If the desired channel cannot be found in the predetermined direction when an upward channel-movement instruction is received, such a sub-channel is selected that has the largest or smallest channel number. Thus, it is possible to accommodate a digital broadcast that has a hierarchical construction consisting of the main channel and the sub-channels and also that has a frequently fluctuating channel configuration, thus avoiding a delay in time required for channel changing.

Channel selection device for use in a digital/analog broadcasting receiver for reception of main and sub channels

A receiving device used in a digital television includes an automatic storage section obtains the channel information on physical channels at which a program is broadcast, when the channel information contains any other physical channels therein, registers the physical channels thereof in a channel map, decides whether the physical channel which is switched has been registered in the channel map, and if the physical channel has been registered, not to detect whether a program is broadcast at the other physical channels. In this case, information of any other physical channel is present in a VCT, this other physical channel is registered in the channel map without detecting whether a program is broadcast at the channel. Therefore, the total number of the channels to be detected on whether a program is broadcast can be decreased, thus reducing the time for performing the automatic storage function.

Receiving device for use in digital television

In a digital/analog broadcast receiver, when an operating unitis manipulated for tuning, an MPU reads, from a received digital broadcast, a carrier frequency that corresponds to a desired virtual channel number; reads, from a ROM, a physical channel number corresponding to the carrier frequency; reads, from the ROM, a carrier frequency range corresponding to the physical channel number; and receives a digital/analog broadcast in the carrier frequency range.

Digital/analog broadcast receiver receiving digital/analog broadcast in range of read carrier frequency

In a digital broadcast receiver, a digital broadcast receivercan select an arbitrary language among plural kinds of languages and output sound by said language, and has a configuration comprising EEPROMfor storing the selected language, an MPUfor determining whether or not the selected language resides within received language data, and a sound output partfor outputting sound of the selected language when the selected language resides within the language data.

Language switching method and digital broadcast receiver using the method

In a digital broadcast receiver, an MPUhas a configuration for detecting the number of subchannels and the numbers of the subchannels which a received main channel has from control data received and switching to a subchannel with the minimum number when the number of subchannels changes and switching to a subchannel with the minimum number of the residual subchannels when the numbers of the subchannels received run out and displaying the numbers of the received main channel and the subchannel on a display

Digital broadcast receiver and control method thereof

A digital/analog broadcast receiving device has either in a first setting mode (proficient mode) in which whole of setting items can be changed without any limitation and a second setting mode (beginner mode) in which the setting items can be changed with some limitation. The receiving device is set in the second setting mode at the time of shipment from a factory. On the screen displaying thereon a setting menu including setting items for a various operations, such a setting item that cannot be changed is not displayed or prevented from being selected. Thus, the menu items that are desired not to be touched by a beginner user etc. can be prevented from being displayed or selected, so as to improve the operability and also protect the settings.

Digital/analog broadcast receiving device capable of limiting change in setting in operation setting menu thereof

In a channel selection device used in a broadcasting receiver, each time a channel UP/DOWN key is pressed for changing a channel, the channel number is changed upward/downward by one immediately and, when the key is continuously held down for at least a predetermined time lapse, the first digit of the channel number is cleared to 0 and then the channel number is changed upward/downward by 10 every constant time lapse. Therefore, the channel can be changed constantly free of a fluctuation in changing speed with passing time, so that even an unskilled user can easily guess the time required to reach his desired channel to thereby get it in a short time.

Growing community of inventors

Daito, Japan

Kazuhide Ishihara