Television receiver having multiple communication capabilities

• US 5,936,679 A
• Filed: 08/20/1996
• Issued: 08/10/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 08/24/1995
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Hitachi Consumer Electronics Company Limited (Hitachi, Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Kasahara, Yasuhiro, Yamaguchi, Tadahiro, Aoki, Masahide, Sube, Tadashi, Iwama, Yukiko
• Primary Examiner(s): Peng, John K.
• Assistant Examiner(s): DESIR, JEAN WICEL
• Application Number:
  US08/697,191
• Time in Patent Office: 1,085 Days
• Field of Search: 348/567, 348/552, 348/553, 348/563, 348/15, 348/156, 348/152, 348/14, 348/564, 348/473, 348/484, 348/725, 348/738, 348/565, 348/13
• US Class Current: 348/553
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42203 sound input device, e.g. microphone
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42208 Display device provided on the remote control
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4221 Dedicated function buttons, e.g. for the control of an EPG, subtitles, aspect ratio, picture-in-picture or teletext
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42222 Additional components integrated in the remote control device, e.g. timer, speaker, sensors for detecting position, direction or movement of the remote control, microphone or battery charging device
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4223 Cameras H04N23/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/426 Internal components of the client ; Characteristics thereof H04N5/44 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42661 for reading from or writing on a magnetic storage medium, e.g. hard disk drive
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4312 involving specific graphical features, e.g. screen layout, special fonts or colors, blinking icons, highlights or animations
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4316 for displaying supplemental content in a region of the screen, e.g. an advertisement in a separate window
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4325 by playing back content from the storage medium reproduction of recorded television signals H04N5/76; reproduction of recorded television signals H04N9/79
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4334 Recording operations recording of a television signal H04N5/76; arrangements for recording or accumulating broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/27
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/43615 Interfacing a Home Network, e.g. for connecting the client to a plurality of peripherals home Audio Video Interoperability [HAVI] data switching networks H04L12/2805
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47214 for content reservation or setting reminders; for requesting event notification, e.g. of sport results or stock market stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; notification of incoming messages in packet switching networks H04L51/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/478 Supplemental services, e.g. displaying phone caller identification, shopping application
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4788 communicating with other users, e.g. chatting arrangements for providing for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms, to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1813; distributed application using peer-to-peer [P2P] networks H04L67/104
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4882 for displaying messages, e.g. warnings, reminders arrangements for providing short real-time information to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1895
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/45 Picture in picture , e.g. displaying simultaneously another television channel in a region of the screen
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/77 between a recording apparatus and a television camera
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/772 the recording apparatus and the television camera being placed in the same enclosure
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/106 : for domestic distribution
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/142 : Constructional details of the terminal equipment, e.g. arrangements of the camera and the display
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/15 : Conference systems

Abstract

The present invention makes a variety of improvements on the conventional television receiver to enhance the home communication capability thereof, thereby making the television receiver available as an information terminal apparatus for household use. The novel television receiver that receives a television signal to display a television image on screen comprising: a memory; a microphone through which voice information is entered externally; writing section for writing at least one piece of the voice information entered through the microphone and additional information associated with the at least one piece of voice information into the memory; and a display device for reproducing the at least one piece of voice information stored in the memory and outputting the reproduced voice information through a speaker and displaying the additional information associated with the at least one piece of voice information onto the screen. The memory stores as a message the voice information entered through the microphone. The stored message is reproduced according to an externally given instruction and the reproduction is outputted to a speaker to transmit the message to other persons with ease.

Claims

1. A television receiver that receives a television signal to display a television image on screen, comprising:

memory means;

a microphone through which voice information is entered externally;

writing means for writing at least one piece of the voice information entered through said microphone and additional information associated with said at least one piece of voice information into said memory means; and

display means for reproducing said at least one piece of voice information stored in said memory means and outputting the reproduced voice information through a speaker and displaying said additional information associated with said at least one piece of voice information onto said screen.

2. The television receiver according to claim 1, wherein said additional information associated with said voice information is associated with a person who entered said voice information, said additional information being displayed on said screen as an icon.

3. The television receiver according to claim 1, wherein said additional information associated with said voice information is a time information indicating a time at which said voice information was entered.

4. The television receiver according to claim 1, wherein said at least one piece of voice information stored in said memory means is reproduced in response to an instruction performed on said icon displayed on said screen.

5. The television receiver according to claim 4, wherein said icon is displayed in plural corresponding to a plurality of pieces of voice information stored in said memory means, specification of one of said plurality of icons reproducing corresponding information.

6. The television receiver according to claim 1, wherein the voice information stored in said memory means gets started in the reproduction based an externally specified reproduction start time.

7. The television receiver according to claim 1 further comprising:

a display section for externally indicating that the voice information is stored in said memory means.

8. A television receiver that receives a television signal to display a television image on screen, comprising:

memory means;

a microphone through which voice information is externally entered;

a video camera through which image information is externally entered;

writing means for writing said voice information entered through said microphone and said image information entered through said video camera at the time said voice information is entered to said memory means in an interrelated manner; and

display means for reproducing said voice information stored in said memory means according to an externally given instruction to output the reproduced voice signal through a speaker and reproducing said image information corresponding to said voice information, stored in said memory means, to display the reproduced image information onto screen.

9. The television receiver according to claim 8, wherein said image information to be displayed at reproduction of said voice information is a still picture.

10. A television receiver that receives a television signal to display a television image on screen along with an accompanying audio signal to be supplied to a speaker, comprising:

a display controller for displaying a video image, coming from a video camera installed on an intercommunicating system, in one area on a screen on which said television image continues to be displayed, in response to an operation performed on a calling switch installed on the intercommunicating system; and

a voice output controller for outputting voice information, coming from a microphone installed on the intercommunicating system, to the speaker of the television receiver, in response to an operation performed on the calling switch;

wherein, when an operation of said calling switch is performed, said voice output controller performs a control operation in such a way that the volume of the audio signal accompanying the television signal output from said speaker is set to be lower than the audio volume which was being output before said calling switch was operated.

11. The television receiver according to claim 10, wherein said television receiver has a left-hand speaker and a right-hand speaker, said voice information coming from said microphone installed on said intercommunicating system is outputted to one of said left-hand speaker and said right-hand speaker, and an audio signal carried by said television signal is outputted from the other speaker.

12. The television receiver according to claim 11, wherein the voice information outputted from one of said left-hand speaker and said right-hand speaker is larger in volume than the audio signal carried by said television signal outputted from the other speaker.

13. The television receiver according to claim 11, wherein a chime sound generated by pressing the calling switch installed on said intercommunicating system is outputted at least one of said left-hand speaker and said right-hand speaker.

14. The television receiver according to claim 10, further comprising:

a memory; and

a memory controller for storing the video image coming from said video camera and the voice information coming from said microphone in said memory during a predetermined period of time since the operation of said calling switch has been carried out.

15. The television receiver according to claim 14, wherein, if said voice information and said image information are each stored in said memory means in plurality of pieces, at least two of the plurality of pieces of image information are displayed as still-picture sub screens in an area on said screen and, when one of said two sub screens is selected according to an externally given instruction, the selected sub screen is animated and the voice information corresponding to the animated sub screen is reproduced to be outputted from a speaker.