In recent years, many of digital broadcast receiving devices and many of broadcast recording devices that record television broadcast programs have an electronic program guide (hereinafter, which may be also referred to as an EPG) function whereby a program guide to broadcast programs is displayed on a screen, by using a data signal that is transmitted multiplexed with a video sound signal of a broadcast program. A user can easily grasp programs that are currently being broadcasted or programs that are going to be broadcasted in the future without referring to a program guide in a newspaper or a magazine. In addition, with simple operations, a user can schedule viewing so as not to miss a specific program, and schedule recording so as to have a specific program recorded when the user is absent.
However, such an EPG screen on which comparatively small text is densely displayed over the entire screen is hard to view for a person with poor vision or a person with impaired vision, thus having poor usability.
Considering the above, Patent Literature 1 vocally reproduces program information of an EPG, thereby increasing the operability for a user. That is, if a user has selected a specific program on a displayed EPG screen by moving a cursor, summary information about the selected program is displayed and also is vocally reproduced through a speaker.
Based on the above method, if a user sequentially selects programs displayed on the EPG screen in, for example, chronological order by the cursor, summary information about programs is sequentially read aloud. However, this means that even where the broadcast date and the broadcast station (broadcast channel number) remain the same irrespective of selected programs, information with the same date and broadcast-station content is repeatedly read aloud for each program. Such repetition of reading aloud of the same information is redundant as provided information. In addition, since it takes a longer time to read out information vocally than to view and recognize the information, the operability for a user decreases.
Considering the above, Patent Literature 2 employs a method of “omitting text-to-speech processing for identical information.” That is, in text-to-speech processing of Patent Literature 2, text broadcast data (for example, news, weather forecast, traffic information, broadcast program introduction, or the like) that is reiteratively received in text multiplex broadcasts carried out in analog television broadcasting in Japan, is read out vocally only when there is a change in the text broadcast data. Thus, the problem of repeatedly reading out the same information is solved.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds