[0001] This invention relates to television (TV) program timer apparatus suitable for performing
scheduled recording of television programs. (Although this specification refers to
television programmes as well as computer programs, the spelling "program" has been
used for both in this specification to maintain agreement with the spelling used in
the stored and displayed messages referred to below.)
[0002] Known video tape recorder (VTR) timers which are programmed while the user observes
a digital display have the following disadvantages:
(1) The operating procedures are complicated.
(2) The ON-times and the OFF-times are preset using a plurality of buttons, frequently
resulting in erroneous presetting.
(3) The user cannot check whether or not the timer is properly set.
(4) Since a digital display is used, it is difficult for the user to check the preset
time durations. In particular, preset time durations may conflict.
[0003] To eliminate these drawbacks, an analogue clock display timer has been proposed.
However, the analogue timer cannot serve as a multi- program timer which is usable
to preset times for a plurality of television programs extending over several days.
[0004] Apparatus corresponding to the pre-characterising part of claim 1 of the present
application is disclosed in UK patent specification GB-A-2 021 886. Japanese patent
specification JP-A-55-165 038 discloses a screen display including a calendar for
program reservation.
[0005] According to the present invention there is provided in TV program timer apparatus
comprising:
a system controller;
clock means for generating current time signals;
input means connected to said system controller for generating program data by manual
operation;
displace control means connected to said system contoller for generating display signals
to be supplied to a cathode ray tube display, said display signals including a timetable
and also message from said system controller to a user; characterised by:
said clock means being connected to said system controller for generating said current
time signals; and
said current time signals; and
said display signals including cursor signals to be superimposed on said timetable
for indicating reserved times on said timetable.
[0006] The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying
drawings, throughout which like parts are referred to by like references, and in which:
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a TV/VTR apparatus to which an embodiment of TV
program timer apparatus according to the invention is applied;
Figure 2 is a plan view of a part of the TVNTR of Figure 1;
Figure 3 is a flow chart for explaining the steps of recording a TV program;
Figure 4 is a flow chart for explaining the steps of performing DIFF. CHAN-REC (different
channel recording);
Figures 5A and 5B are a flow chart for explaining the steps of timer programing; and
Figure 6 is a block diagram of the TVNTR apparatus having a TV program timer apparatus,
as shown in Figure 1.
[0007] Referring to Figures 1 and 2, a timetable 3 for timer recording (Figure 2) is displayed
on a cathode ray tube (CRT) display panel 2 of a TV receiver 1 (Figure 1). A message
or telop is superimposed at a lower portion 4 of the CRT display panel 2 to display
operating steps of timer programing. For example, as shown in Figure 2, a message
"Set your REC schedule on the timetable with referring to next messages." is displayed.
[0008] A required number of TV channel buttons 5 are arranged below the CRT display panel
2. A program timer operation console 8 is arranged on a control panel 7. As shown
in Figure 2, the program timer operation console 8 comprises time dials -1, -2 and
-3 for respectively presetting "day" and "AM/PM", "ON time" and "REC duration"; a
plurality of event switches (four in this embodiment) 9a for respectively presetting
the events; and a cancel button 9b. A cover (not shown) is mounted to cover the program
timer operation console 8. The user opens the cover when the program timer operation
console 8 is to be used to enter timer programing data.
[0009] A power switch 12 (Figure 1), a TV button 10 (Figure 12) and a VTR button 11 (Figure
12) are arranged on the control panel 7. The TV button 10 is used to select the TV
mode, and the VTR button 11 is used to select the VTR mode. Function buttons 13a to
13d are arranged near the TV and VTR buttons 10 and 11 so as to respectively perform
"playback", "recording", "different channel recording" and "programing" in the VTR
mode. Furthermore, VTR operation buttons 14, a tape cassette insertion port 15, and
a digital display unit 16 are arranged on the panel 7, as shown in Figure 2.
[0010] TV picture recording in the TVNTR apparatus will be described with reference to Figure
3.
[0011] When the user turns on the power switch 12, a message "For VTR mode, press VTR button."
is displayed together with time display "1.30" on the lower portion 4 of the CRT display
panel 2. In this case, the user presses the TV button 10, the displayed contents then
disappear from the VTR display panel 2, and a TV picture appears thereon. Unless the
user presses the TV button 10, the message and the time display disappear in three
seconds.
[0012] When the user presses the VTR button 11, a message "Select one of modes: PLAY/REC/DIFF.
CHAN-REC/PROGRAMING." appears on the CRT display panel 2. When the user presses the
REC mode button 13b and the corresponding LED is turned on, a message "Select TV channel
button." is displayed, and at the same time a TV picture appears on the CRT display
panel 2. When the user selects a desired one of the TV channel buttons 5, a message
"Insert cassette." appears on the CRT display panel 2. When the cassette is inserted
and a REC safety tab sensor is turned on, a message "Press REC button." appears on
the CRT display panel 2. When the user then presses the REC button of the VTR operation
buttons 14, a message "Now recording." is displayed at the lower portion 4 of the
CRT display panel 2. However, when the REC safety tab sensor is not turned on, a message
"Change cassette." appears on the CRT display panel 2. When the user ejects the currently
mounted cassette and inserts a blank cassette, recording is started. It should be
noted that the message "Now recording" disappears in about three seconds.
[0013] Different channel recording in the TVNTR apparatus will be described with reference
to the flow chart in Figure 4.
[0014] If the user wishes to record a different program while.watching a TV program on a
third channel (channel 3), the message "Select one of modes: PLAYIREC/DIFF. CHAN-REC/PROGRAMING."
appears on the CRT display panel 2 upon depression of the VTR button 11. When the
user presses the different channel recording button 13c, the message "Insert cassette."
appears on the CRT display panel 2. When the user inserts the cassette and a REC safety
tab sensor is turned on, the message "Select TV channel button." appears on the CRT
display panel 2. When the user selects a sixth channel, the sixth channel LED is turned
on at an intensity lower than that of the third channel LED. When the REC button of
the VTR is turned on, the message "Now recording on 6th channel." appears on the CRT
display panel 2.
[0015] When the REC safety tab is detected to be cut off, the same operation as in the flow
chart of Figure 3 is performed.
[0016] Timer programing will now be described with reference to the flow chart in Figures
5A and 5B.
[0017] When the user turns on the VTR button 11, the message "Select one of modes: PLAY/REC/DIFF.
CHAN-REC/PROGRAMING." appears on the lower portion 4 of the CRT display panel 2. The
user then presses the "PROGRAMING" button 13d. A message "Open the cover of program
timer operation console." appears at the lower portion 4 of the CRT display panel
2. When the cover of the program timer operation console 8 is opened, the timetable
is displayed on the CRT display panel 2, as shown in Figure 2. At the same time, the
message "Turn dial -1 for designating day of week and AM/PM." appears on the CRT display
panel 2.
[0018] Referring to Figure 2, the user then turns the dia) -1 in the program timer operation
console 8 to set the dial -1 in a desired day (AM/PM) position. For example, the user
turns the dial -1 to set it in the Wednesday position. During this operation, a cursor
3a moves from the Monday (0:00) position. A message "Turn dial -2 for designating
ON- time." appears on the lower portion 4 of the CRT display panel 2. The user then
turns the dial -2 (Figure 2) to set the ON time to be 6:00. The cursor 3a moves downward
from the 0:00 position and stops at the 6:00 position. A message "Turn dial -3 for
designating REC duration." then appears on the lower portion 4 of the CRT display
panel 2. The user then sets the dial -3 (Figure 2) to set the REC duration to be two
hours. Another cursor 3a moves from .the 6:00 position to the 8:00 position as indicated
in the time range between 6:00 and 8:00 on Monday. A message "Select TV channel button."
appears at the lower portion 4 of the CRT display panel 2. When the user presses the
sixth channel (that is, channel 6) of the TV channel buttons 5, a numeric value "6"
is displayed in an area corresponding to the time range between 6:00 and 8:00. A message
"Press even SW-1." appears on the lower portion 4 of the CRT display panel 2. When
the user presses the event SW-1 of the event switches 9a, the time range between 6:00
and 8:00 on Wednesday is highlighted in green. A telop "Insert cassette, if programing
is over." appears at the lower portion 4 of the CRT display panel 2. The user then
inserts a blank cassette in position. When the cassette-IN sensor is turned on, a
message "Close console cover." appears on the lower portion 4 of the CRT display panel
2. When the user closes the console cover, the console cover switch is turned off.
As a result, a message "Your REC schedule is reserved at 6:00 for 2-HRS on 6th channel."
appears on the lower portion 4 of the CRT display panel 2. Thus the schedule data
is stored in a random access memory (RAM). The timetable and the scheduled contents
disappear in a few seconds. Thus the user can visually check the REC schedule.
[0019] In the above operation, if the cassette is not inserted when the user presses the
event SW-1, a message "You can reserve another REC schedule." appears at the lower
portion 4 of the CRT display panel 2. If the user wishes to reserve another REC schedule,
he uses the dial -1, the dial -2, the dial -3 and an event SW-2 of the event switches
9a. In this embodiment, four event switches 9a are provided so that the user can reserve
a maximum of four REC schedules.
[0020] The TV/VTR apparatus shown in Figure 1 has a microprocessor for executing processing
as shown in Figures 3 to 5. The microprocessor executes the flows shown in Figures
3 to 5 upon operation of the control panel 7. In particular, the user can perform
timer programing while observing the messages appearing on the CRT display panel 2.
In this manner, the user can follow the instructions appearing on the CRT display
panel. When timer programing is completed, the program contents and ON times are displayed
on the CRT display panel 2. The machine (microcomputer) signals the completion of
timer programing to a user (operator). In other words, the user can perform timer
programing in a conventional manner. If the user operates erroneously despite the
messages given by the microcomputer, the microcomputer signals such an erroneous operation
to the user. The user can then operate correctly.
[0021] Timer programing can be repeated by the number of times corresponding to the number
of event switches 9a (four in this embodiment). The weekly timetable (Figure 2) is
displayed on the CRT display panel 2, so that the user can reserve TV programs over
the following several days. The cursor 3a is moved in accordance with the messages
of the flow chart in Figure 5, and the programing contents such as day, AM/PM, ON-
time, REC duration, and channel number can be displayed in the analog form as shown
in Figure 2. When the user presses event SW-1 (first time) of the event switches 9a,
the designated time range is highlighted in green. The user can check timer programing
as if the schedule were written in a pocketbook. In particular, mis-programing which
reserves conflicting time ranges can be prevented. Since the preset time can be digitally
displayed at the digital display unit 16, the start point (ON time) and the end point
(OFF time) of each bar in the timetable 3 displayed on the CRT display panel 2 need
not be accurately read since the time schedule can also be preset at the digital display
unit 16.
[0022] When timer programing is completed, programed data can be read out as needed using
a paging function, so that the timetable and the reserved time ranges (bars) can be
displayed.
[0023] A data processing section of the TV/VTR apparatus having the timer programing function
shown in Figure 1 is shown in Figure 6.
[0024] The data processing section has a microprocessor which comprises a control processing
unit (CPU) 18, a read only memory (ROM) 19 and a RAM 20. The programs which perform
the data processing steps as described above are stored in the ROM 19 and the RAM
20. The TV channel buttons 5, the event switches 9a, the TV button 10, the VTR button
11, the power switch 2, the function buttons 13a to 13d, the time set dial -1, the
time set dial -2, the time set dial -3, and the VTR operation buttons 14 shown in
Figures 1 and 2 are coupled to the CPU 18 and the RAM 20 through an interface circuit
21, a buffer 22 and a data bus 23. Address signals for accessing the buttons and switches
are generated from the CPU 18 and are supplied to the interface 21 through an address
bus 24 and an address decoder 25. The operation data of the TV, the VTR and the timer
are fetched in the CPU 18 and are stored in the RAM 20. The ON/OFF operation of the
TV channel lamps and other monitor lamps is controlled by the address data which is
supplied from the CPU 18 to an interface 26 thorugh the address bus 24 and the address
decoder 25.
[0025] The messages, timetable 3 and the cursor 3a are displayed in accordance with the
contents stored in a character RAM 27 and a graphic RAM 28 each of which has a memory
area corresponding to the TV display panel. The input data associated with timer programing
are supplied from the interface 21 to the CPU 18 and the RAM 20. The input data are
then processed under the control of the CPU 18 and are stored such that the character
data is stored in a character RAM 27 and the graphic data is stored in a graphic RAM
28. The write address data is supplied from the CPU 18 to the RAMs 27 and 28 through
the address bus 24 and a selector 29. However, when the input data are not supplied
to the RAMs, address data are supplied from a CRT controller 30 to the RAMs 27 and
28 through the selector 29, so that the contents are continuously read out from the
RAMs 27 and 28 to display the stored contents on the CRT display panel 2.
[0026] ASCII coded data read out from the character RAM 27 is supplied to a character ROM
31 and is converted to a character dot pattern. The outputs from the character ROM
31 and the graphic RAM 28 are mixed by and OR gate 32. An 8-bit parallel signal is
then supplied from the OR gate 32 to a parallel/serial (P/S) converter 33. The P/S
converter 33 receives the parallel data supplied thereto in response to a clock pulse
which has a predetermined period and which is generated from a clock generator 34.
The P/S converter 33 then converts the parallel data to a serial video signal. The
serial video signal is then supplied from the P/S converter 33 to a monitor TV through
a mixer/changeover circuit (MIX/CHGOV) 35. As a result, the display state shown in
Figure 2 is obtained.
[0027] On the other hand, a TV tuner 37 is set in response to the operation data supplied
from one of the TV channel buttons 5 through the data bus 23. The output video signal
is supplied from the TV tuner 37 to the mixer/changeover circuit 35 through a demodulator
38. The video output from the demodulator 38 is supplied to a VTR 39. The VTR 39 is
connected to the data bus 23 and is controlled in accordance with the operation of
the VTR operation buttons 14 and the timer output data read out from the CPU 18 and
the RAM 20. A reproduction output from the VTR 39 is supplied to the monitor TV through
the mixer/changeover circuit 35.
[0028] Outputs from the REC safety tab sensor, a cassette-IN sensor, a dew sensor and a
tape-end sensor are supplied to the data bus 23 through an interface 40. At the. same
time, an interrupt request signal is supplied from an interrupt controller 41 to the
CPU 18, so that the individual outputs from the sensors can be processed as needed.
The time signal as the reference of timer counting is generated by a clock IC 42 and
is supplied onto the data bus 23. The clock set inputs from the time set keys are
supplied to the clock IC 42 through the interface 40.
[0029] In the embodiment of Figure 1, in order to perform timer programing at the timetable
3 displayed on the CRT display panel 2, dials (rotary knobs) are used to move the
cursors 3a vertically and horizontally. However, the cursor shift mechanism is not
limited to this arrangement, but extended to push-buttons (key switches), a joystick,
or a write pen. The timer preset apparatus described can be built into a VTR. Alternatively,
the timer preset apparatus can be manufactured as an independent unit. In these cases,
the timetable 3 and the bar graph indicating the reserved time ranges (Figure 2) can
be displayed on a TV receiver connected to the VTR or timer.
[0030] Thus in the embodiment, the cursors displayed in the timetable on the CRT display
panel can be moved by the time set means of the TV program timer apparatus so as to
perform timer programing. Furthermore, the reserved time ranges can be displayed in
the form of the bar graph in the timetable, so that the user can visually check the
programing state. In addition to these advantages, the operation can be simplified,
thereby reducing mis-operation. Moreover, since the user just follows the messages
displayed on the CRT display panel, mis-operation is further decreased. The reserved
contents are displayed in the form of the bar graph, and timer programing can be simplified.
At the same time, the reserved contents are numerically displayed, so that the bar
graph display is combined with the numeric display to provide better read-ability.
As a result, the user can readily confirm timer programing, preventing erroneous setting
operations.
1. Einrichtung für Zeitschaltung von Fernsehprogrammen, mit
einer Systemsteuereinrichtung (18),
einem Takterzeugungsmittel (42) zum Erzeugen von gegenwärtigen Zeitsignalen,
Eingabemitteln (21), die mit der Systemsteuereinrichtung (18) zum Erzeugen von Programmdaten
durch manuelle Betätigung verbunden sind, und
Anzeigesteuermitteln (27, 28, 29), die mit der Systemsteuereinrichtung (18) zum Erzeugen
von Anzeigesignalen verbunden sind, welche an eine Katodenstrahlröhren-Anzeigeeinrichtung
(2) zu legen sind, wobei die Anzeigesignale eine Zeittafel und außerdem Meldungen
von der Systemsteuereinrichtung (18) an einen Benutzer enthalten,
dadurch gekennzeichnet,
daß das Takterzeugungsmittel (42) mit der Systemsteuereinrichtung (18) zum Erzeugen
der gegenwärtigen Zeitsignale verbunden ist und
daß die Anzeigesignale Positionsanzeigersignale enthalten, die der Zeittafel zum Anzeigen
vorgemerkter Zeiten auf der Zeittafel zu überlagern sind.
2. Einrichtung nach Anspruch 1, bei der die Eingabemittel (21) Startzeit-Einstellmittel
(-1, -2) und ein Zeitdauer-Einstellmittel (3) enthalten, die benutzt werden, um die
Erzeugung der Positionsanzeigersignale zu steuern.
3. Einrichtung nach Anspruch 2, bei der die Anzeigesignale aus den Anzeigesteuermitteln
(27, 28, 29) das Anzeigen der Zeittafel mit einem Positionsanzeiger und mit den Meldungen
unterhalb der Zeittafel verursachen.
1. Appareil à minuterie de programmation de télévision, comprenant:
un organe de commande (18) de système,
un dispositif d'horloge (42) destiné à créer des signaux de temps actuel,
un dispositif (21) d'entrée relié à l'organe de commande (18) du système et destiné
à créer des données de programmation par manoeuvre à la main,
un dispositif (27, 28, 29) de commande d'affichage relié à l'organe (18) de commande
de système afin qu'il crée des signaux d'affichage destinés à être transmis à un dispositif
d'affichage à tube à rayons cathodiques (2), les signaux d'affichage comprenant un
horaire ainsi que des messages provenant de l'organe (18) de commande du système et
destinés à un utilisateur, caractérisé en ce que:
le dispositif d'horloge (42) est connecté à l'organe de commande du système (18) afin
qu'il crée les signaux de temps actuel, et
les signaux d'affichage comprennent des signaux de curseur destinés à se superposer
à l'horaire afin qu'ils indiquent les moments réservés sur l'horaire.
2. Appareil selon la revendication 1, dans lequel le dispositif d'entrée (21) comprend
un dispositif de réglage de temps initial (1,2) et un dispositif de réglage de durée
(3) qui sont utilisés pour la commande de la création des signaux de curseur.
3. Appareil selon la revendication 2, dans lequel les signaux d'affichage provenant
du dispositif de commande d'affichage (27, 28, 29) provoquent un affichage de l'horaire
avec un curseur, le message étant placé sous l'horaire.