Television receiving apparatus and control method for television receiving apparatus

• US 9,154,729 B2
• Filed: 12/28/2011
• Issued: 10/06/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/28/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd. (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd. (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Ohmiya, Hiroyoshi, Shiomi, Takakazu
• Primary Examiner(s): Anwah, Olisa
• Application Number:
  US14/349,215
• Publication Number:
  US 20140267556A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,378 Days
• Field of Search: 348/14.01, 348/14.04, 348/14.03, 348/14.07, 348/14.12, 348/14.13
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/00 Interconnection of, or transfer of information or other signals between, memories, input/output devices or central processing units interface circuits for specific input/output devices G06F3/00 ; multiprogram control therefor G06F9/46; multiprocessor systems G06F15/16
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/80 characterised by transmission among terminal devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/82 the transmission system being the Internet
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42203 sound input device, e.g. microphone
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4223 Cameras H04N23/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42607 for processing the incoming bitstream
• 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 21/4852 for modifying audio parameters, e.g. switching between mono and stereo
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/147 Communication arrangements, e.g. identifying the communication as a video-communication, intermediate storage of the signals selecting H04Q
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/15 Conference systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/173 with two-way working, e.g. subscriber sending a programme selection signal

Abstract

A television receiving apparatus includes: a transmitting unit which transmits, to a peer apparatus, first audio information received by a microphone and first video information captured by a camera; a receiving unit which receives, from the peer apparatus, second audio information and second video information; a telephone control unit which outputs the second audio information to a speaker; a display unit segmented into a first display area in which the first video information is displayed, a second display area in which the second video information is displayed, and a third display area; and a shared information control unit which causes shared information to be displayed in the third display area, and causes the transmitting unit to transmit the shared information so that the shared information is displayed by the peer apparatus.

Claims

1. A television receiving apparatus which transmits and receives video information and audio information to and from a peer apparatus connected via a communication network, the television receiving apparatus comprising:

a transmitting unit configured to transmit, to the peer apparatus, first audio information received by a microphone connected to the television receiving apparatus and first video information captured by a camera connected to the television receiving apparatus;

a receiving unit configured to receive, from the peer apparatus, second audio information received by a microphone connected to the peer apparatus, second video information captured by a camera connected to the peer apparatus, and a command indicating details of processing that should be executed on shared information;

a telephone control unit configured to output the second audio information to a speaker connected to the television receiving apparatus;

a display unit segmented into a first display area in which the first video information is displayed, a second display area in which the second video information is displayed, and a third display area;

a shared information control unit configured to cause shared information selected by a user of the television receiving apparatus to be displayed in the third display area, and cause the transmitting unit to transmit the shared information so that the shared information is displayed by the peer apparatus; and

a command executing unit configured to execute the processing indicated by the command on the shared information,

wherein the shared information control unit is further configured to cause the shared information subjected to the processing to be displayed in the third display area, and cause the transmitting unit to transmit the shared information so that the shared information is displayed by the peer apparatus, the processing being indicated by the command and executed by the command executing unit.

2. The television receiving apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the receiving unit is further configured to receive, from the peer apparatus, compatibility information indicating a format of the shared information which can be displayed, and

the shared information control unit is configured to allow the user to select only the shared information having the format indicated by the compatibility information.

3. The television receiving apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a tuner which receives a television program and electronic program information through a broadcast wave; and

a shared information extracting unit configured to extract shared information candidates which are candidates for the shared information from the television program and the electronic program information received by the tuner,

wherein the shared information control unit is configured to allow the user to select the shared information from among the shared information candidates extracted by the shared information extracting unit.

4. The television receiving apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the shared information is location information indicating a location of actual data that should be displayed, and

the shared information control unit is configured to cause the actual data obtained at the location indicated by the location information to be displayed in the third display area, and cause the transmitting unit to transmit the location information so that the actual data is displayed by the peer apparatus.

5. The television receiving apparatus according to claim 4,

wherein the location information is either channel information indicating a source of a television program or a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) indicating the location on the Internet.

6. The television receiving apparatus according claim 1,

wherein the receiving unit is further configured to receive, from the peer apparatus, shared information displayed by the peer apparatus, and

the shared information control unit is further configured to cause the shared information received by the receiving unit to be displayed in the third display area.

7. A television receiving apparatus which transmits and receives video information and audio information to and from a peer apparatus connected via a communication network, the television receiving apparatus comprising:

a transmitting unit configured to transmit, to the peer apparatus, first audio information received by a microphone connected to the television receiving apparatus and first video information captured by a camera connected to the television receiving apparatus;

a receiving unit configured to receive, from the peer apparatus, second audio information received by a microphone connected to the peer apparatus, second video information captured by a camera connected to the peer apparatus, and shared information displayed by the peer apparatus;

a telephone control unit configured to output the second audio information to a speaker connected to the television receiving apparatus;

a display unit segmented into a first display area in which the first video information is displayed, a second display area in which the second video information is displayed, and a third display area in which the shared information is displayed; and

a command generating unit configured to generate a command indicating details of processing that should be executed on the shared information displayed in the third display area,

wherein the transmitting unit is further configured to transmit, to the peer apparatus, the command generated by the command generating unit,

the receiving unit is further configured to receive, from the peer apparatus, the shared information subjected to the processing indicated by the command transmitted from the transmitting unit, and

the display unit is further configured to display, in the third display area, the shared information subjected to the processing indicated by the command.

8. A method of controlling a television receiving apparatus which transmits and receives video information and audio information to and from a peer apparatus connected via a communication network, the method comprising:

transmitting, to the peer apparatus, first audio information received by a microphone connected to the television receiving apparatus and first video information captured by a camera connected to the television receiving apparatus;

receiving, from the peer apparatus, second audio information received by a microphone connected to the peer apparatus, second video information captured by a camera connected to the peer apparatus, and a command indicating details of processing that should be executed on shared information;

outputting the second audio information to a speaker connected to the television receiving apparatus;

segmenting a display unit into a first display area in which the first video information is displayed, a second display area in which the second video information is displayed, and a third display area;

causing, in the segmenting, shared information selected by a user of the television receiving apparatus to be displayed in the third display area, and causing the shared information to be transmitted in the transmitting so that the shared information is displayed by the peer apparatus; and

executing the processing indicated by the command on the shared information,

wherein, in the causing, the shared information subjected to the processing is further caused to be displayed in the third display area, and to be transmitted in the transmitting so that the shared information is displayed by the peer apparatus, the processing being indicated by the command and executed in the executing.

9. A method of controlling a television receiving apparatus which transmits and receives video information and audio information to and from a peer apparatus connected via a communication network, the method comprising:

transmitting, to the peer apparatus, first audio information received by a microphone connected to the television receiving apparatus and first video information captured by a camera connected to the television receiving apparatus;

receiving, from the peer apparatus, second audio information received by a microphone connected to the peer apparatus, second video information captured by a camera connected to the peer apparatus, and shared information displayed by the peer apparatus;

outputting the second audio information to a speaker connected to the television receiving apparatus;

segmenting a display unit into a first display area in which the first video information is displayed, a second display area in which the second video information is displayed, and a third display area in which the shared information is displayed; and

generating a command indicating details of processing that should be executed on the shared information displayed in the third display area,

wherein in the transmitting, the command generated in the generating is further transmitted to the peer apparatus,

in the receiving, the shared information subjected to the processing indicated by the command transmitted in the transmitting is further received from the peer apparatus, and

in the segmenting, the shared information subjected to the processing indicated by the command is further displayed in the third display area.