Sony Corporation

Toshio Amano

Osamu Oda

Kunio Nagai

Mitsumasa Saitoh

Norihito Ichikawa

Tomoaki Miyasaka

Daisuke Kozakai

Masaru Sato

Ikuo Someya

Kunio Hakamada

Tadahiko Suzuki

Kenichi Konuma

Toshihisa Ueki

Yoshihisa Fujioka

Omasu Oda

Shizuo Hanamura

Ai Hattori

Ikeo Someya

Juri Honma

Akiko Shimada

An electronic apparatus wherein a remote control signal received via a filter is decoded and, upon deciding that the control signal is a power cutoff instruction, a controlling microcomputer outputs a filter control signal for actuating the filter to place the apparatus in a reception standby mode while the microcomputer itself is also set in its low power state, hence preventing a malfunction that some noise derived from external light of a fluorescent lamp or the like is recognized erroneously as a remote control signal and that the apparatus is shifted in error from the low power state to its wake-up mode. Consequently, the power consumption can be reduced in the standby mode. The remote control signal consists of a fixed-width pulse and a succeeding control code, and upon detection of the fixed-width pulse, the controlling microcomputer is released from the low power state to wake up and then halts the operation of the filter.

Remote controlled electronic apparatus and remote control method thereof

A television receiver for receiving a television broadcast signal and tuning in a desired channel to receive a television signal on which a broadcast program of a predetermined genre is broadcast, and that performs the steps of entering a first genre code of a desired program, extracting a second genre code included in the television broadcast signal, making a comparison between the first genre code and the second genre code for all receivable channels, and, if a program corresponding to the first genre code is being broadcast in a plurality of channels, tuning in a channel having a past record of highest frequency of reception.

Television broadcast receiver which selects programs by genre and past

In a scrambled signal receiving apparatus connectable to a television receiver equipped with a BS (broadcasting satellite) tuner, the scrambled signal received by a BS antenna and converter 1 is supplied to a scrambled signal decoder 16 and a BPF 4. In the scrambled signal decoder 16, a picture signal is derived and then detected by a decoder output detecting circuit 17. The detection result is supplied to a control microcomputer 15, so that a judgement is made as to whether or not the scrambled signal decoder 16 is in operation. If the scrambled signal decoder 16 is in operation, the changing switches 5 and 12 are set to the side of the scrambled signal decoder 16. If the scrambled signal decoder 16 is not operated, the power supply control signal is sent from the control microcomputer 15, whereby when the power supply of the scrambled signal decoder 16 is not turned ON, the switches 5 and 12 are set to the side of the normal broadcasting system. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent that the scrambled signal is received while the power supply of the scrambled signal decoder is turned OFF.

Signal receiving apparatus with automatically activated scrambled signal

A display system for a video apparatus in which, when a video signal processing device such as a tuner manipulable both remotely and directly is manipulated, a pattern representing the state of a controlled function of the apparatus is displayed on a screen of a picture receiving device such as a monitor, wherein the form of the displayed pattern is changed in conformity with remote or direct control manipulation. The size of the displayed pattern and the position thereof are changeable to be in response to either remote or direct control manipulation so that a television viewer can see the pattern with ease. The display system is applicable to any video apparatus such as a television receiver, a video tape recorder, or a television receiver equipped with a video tape recorder.

Display system for video apparatus

A video signal output circuit used in a TV set to sample the frequency level of an input video signal so that monitored pictures are automatically optimized in quality. A luminance signal is separated from the input video signal by a Y/C separator. A plurality of band-pass filters whose passing frequencies are f.sub.1, f.sub.2, f.sub.3, . . . , f.sub.n detect the frequency spectrum of the luminance signal through sampling. The detected values are sent to a controller attached to an equalizer. The equalizer is controlled so that monitored pictures based on the output video signal are optimized in quality.

Video signal output circuit with adaptive equalizer

A TV receiver has a tuner and a controller for controlling a tuning operation of the tuner. The controller includes a calculation unit for effecting a calculation of preferred stations using as parameters tuned channels and the times for which the channels are selected. A tuning frequency arrangement storing unit determines the channels that are frequently watched by a user on the basis of the calculation and stores indications of the channels. The channel indications thus stored are read out in ranked order to perform a tuning operation in response to successive actuation of a preferred-station key.

Television receiver that automatically keeps track of favorite channels

A monitor television apparatus equipped with a plurality of input terminals for AV signals and adapted to serve as an output apparatus selectively for a plurality of AV appliances by switching the input terminals, wherein command signals for the AV appliances connected to the input terminals are registered together with input terminal data corresponding thereto. And when any registered command signal is detected, the input terminal switching operation is controlled automatically to produce an output signal from the AV appliance corresponding to the detected command signal. Meanwhile, even when the detected command signal is not any of the registered ones, the relevant input terminals are automatically selected if the detected signal is included in the group stored previously in the memory means and at least one of such grouped command signals is registered correspondingly to the input terminals, hence achieving remarkable enhancement in the handling facility while realizing high efficiency in the manipulation for registration.

Monitor television apparatus

An automatic picture adjustment apparatus in which input video signals are subjected to level conversion for picture quality adjustment within a time period which is shorter than one vertical synchronization period so that the picture quality adjustment of predetermined different portions of the raster may be independently corrected.

Automatic adjustment apparatus for independently adjusting different

In a television image display apparatus, one field of an input video signal is divided into a plurality of areas in each of which image information is sampled, and an arithmetic processor provides a video control signal on the basis of preset adjusting data received from a memory and the sampled image information. Luminance, chrominance or sharpness levels can be automatically controlled for each field by such video control signal to maintain the video display in an optimum state. Noise problems typically associated with dark images or weak electric fields are eliminated, while improving the image quality by adjusting the video output for each field.

Television image display apparatus

A multi-commander includes a first memory for storing a plurality of remote control signals having different signal formats, a circuit for receiving a remote control signal from another remote commander, a rewritable second memory, a remote control signal transmitting circuit for transmitting a remote control signal derived from the first memory, and a mode switch for selectively switching between the setting mode and the remote control mode. When the mode switch is in the setting mode, the signal format of the remote control signal derived from the other remote commander and received by the remote control signal receiving circuit is identified and the signal format of the remote control signal from the other remote commander is read out of the first memory and is then written in the second memory. When the mode switch is in the remote control mode, the signal format written in the second memory is supplied to the remote control signal transmitting circuit in order to control a selected one of a plurality of electronic devices.

Remote commander having a ROM read-out pre-programmed codes therefrom

A television on channel selecting apparatus arranged such that when two antenna inputs are switched, the switching operation for the second antenna input is included in the switching operation for the first antenna input, thus the channel-selection being carried out by a more simplified key operation.

Television on channel selecting apparatus with sequential selection of

A television receiver incorporating a video cassette recorder and having a display, for example, a picture screen, for showing a main-channel picture within which a sub-channel picture may be superimposed, includes first and second tuners which are independently controllable for each selecting one of a number of broadcast channels, with the video signal broadcast on the channel selected by the first tuner being supplied to the display for forming the main-channel picture while the video signal broadcast on the channel selected by the second tuner is supplied to the display for forming the sub-channel picture in a sub-channel picture display mode of the receiver, and a system controller is programmed so that, when initiating a recording mode of the video cassette recorder, the second tuner is made to select the same broadcast channel as the first tuner.

Television receiver incorporating a video cassette recorder and capable

A video source selecting system for a television receiver has a built-in video tape recorder (video deck) for sequentially selecting for display, a plurality of video signals on various channels, such video signals including at least a video signal from the built-in video deck, and a video signal from at least one external video input terminal. A selected video signal is supplied to a monitor television receiver. When the built-in video tape recorder is placed in its playback mode, the plurality of video signals are switched selected sequentially, while when the built-in video tape recorder is not placed in its playback mode, it is skipped by the switch, whereby the order in which the video signals are switched is in response to the operational state of the built-in video tape recorder.

Video source selecting system

A video display system has a circuit for sequentially superimposing N (N.gtoreq.2) information signals upon a video signal for display on the picture screen of a television receiver, at predetermined positions in parallel relation, and a circuit for changing the display positions so as to display information signals sequentially from a corner of the picture screen.

Video display system with selective display of operating conditions

In an audio and/or video electronic apparatus, such as, a television receiver or a video tape recorder, which, in a remote control mode, is capable of having operations thereof controllable by respective first remote control codes in response to the reception of corresponding signals from a first remote or separate control transmitter intended for use with such apparatus; there is provided, as an integral component of the electronic appartus, a nonvolatile memory in which, in a programming or learning mode, the first remote control codes are written in association with respective second remote control codes for controlling the same operations and which are generated in response to the reception of corresponding signals from a second remote control transmitter intended for use with a different electronic apparatus. After such programming, in the remote control mode of the apparatus, the reception of a control signal from the second remote control transmitter causes read-out from the nonvolatile memory of the first remote control code which is associated with the second remote control code corresponding to the received control signal for controlling the operation of the electronic apparatus in accordance with the read-out first remote control code.

Growing community of inventors

Kanagawa, Japan

Toshio Amano