Broadcast transmission automatic monitoring program

Abstract

To automate broadcast transmission monitoring of a television station.SOLUTION: Screens of a broadcast operation table monitor and a video monitoring monitor of an automatic program transmission system are captured in a PC (Personal computer). A program of the PC recognizes monitor images to monitor broadcast transmission. The program of the PC automatically monitors a broadcast execution situation such as whether or not a content is transmitted according to a broadcast operation table and whether or not a content to be transmitted next is prepared, by a tally, which displays a control result of the automatic program transmission system, determining whether or not display is performed on the monitoring monitor according to the broadcast operation table and determining whether or not a material address displayed on the operation table monitor agrees with a material address displayed on the video monitoring monitor .SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to This relates to a program for automatically monitoring broadcast transmission. [Background technology]

[0002] Television broadcasts are sent out according to a pre-created broadcast schedule by an automatic program sending system in the master control room of the broadcasting station, and the sending out is monitored manually.

[0003] The invention described in Patent Document 1 is a system that supports the manual work of monitoring broadcast operations. The system receives operations input to the support system by the operations monitor and controls the system equipment that needs to be operated so that it is operated from the console unit. This operational support system reduces the burden of operations monitoring by eliminating the need to travel to the location where the system equipment is installed or the time required to determine which system equipment should be operated.

[0004] The invention described in Patent Document 2 is a system that calculates the characteristics of commercial messages (CMs) and program content stored in a content server and stores them in a database, calculates the characteristics of the content sent out, and judges the consistency between the sent content and the broadcast schedule based on the characteristics of the content sent out by a judgment unit and the characteristics stored in the database, thereby monitoring whether content is sent out in accordance with the broadcast schedule without human intervention. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 6820394 [Patent Document 2] JP 2022-53169 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention] The invention described in Patent Document 1 is a system that supports the operation and monitoring of broadcasting, and is not an automatic monitoring system in which a machine monitors broadcast transmissions in place of humans. The invention described in Patent Document 2 is specialized in automatically monitoring commercials and program content that has been stored in advance on a content server, and does not have a function for automatically monitoring broadcast content (broadcast material) such as online programs, live studio broadcast programs, and weather information images that are not stored on the server. At broadcast transmission sites, there is a demand for a system that can automatically monitor all broadcast transmission content in a simpler way.

[0006] An object of the present invention is to provide a monitoring system and a monitoring method for automating broadcast transmission monitoring in a master control room of a television broadcasting station. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a method for managing the broadcast schedule monitor and video surveillance monitor screens of an automatic program delivery system that is installed for manual monitoring by a PC. The image is then captured on a Personal Computer (Personal Computer), and a program on the PC recognizes the monitor image and monitors the broadcast transmission. By determining whether a tally showing the control result of the automatic program transmission system is displayed on the monitoring monitor according to the broadcast schedule and whether the material address displayed on the schedule monitor matches the material address displayed on the video monitoring monitor, the broadcasting status, such as whether the content has been transmitted according to the broadcast schedule and whether the next content to be transmitted is ready, is automatically monitored by a PC program. Effect of the Invention

[0008] According to the present invention, the automation of broadcast transmission monitoring at television broadcasting stations is realized, and the burden of broadcast transmission monitoring work is reduced. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1]1 is a configuration diagram showing an example of a broadcast transmission system including an automatic broadcast transmission monitoring system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the display of a broadcast schedule monitor in the embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a display example of a video surveillance monitor in the embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of the automatic broadcast transmission monitoring system in FIG. [Diagram 5] 4 is a flowchart showing an outline of processing of an automatic monitoring program in the embodiment. [Figure 6] 6 is a flowchart showing a part of the on-air check process according to the broadcast material in step S2 of FIG. 5. [Figure 7] 6 is a flowchart showing a part of the next standby check processing according to the broadcast material in step S4 of FIG. 5. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an example of a television broadcast transmission system including an automatic broadcast transmission monitoring system according to one embodiment of the present invention. The automatic broadcast transmission monitoring system of the present invention is part 20, and the rest is an existing automatic program transmission system 10 that is to be monitored. First, an overview of the automatic program delivery system 10 will be given. The broadcast schedule data is created by a host computer 1, and is transferred to a data server 2 of an automatic program transmission system 10. The schedule data transferred to the data server 2 is input to a control computer 3. On the other hand, broadcast contents (broadcast materials) are input to a switcher 5. Broadcast materials such as commercials and program contents stored in a content server 4 have address information and a control interface for start / stop, etc., and this address information and control interface are connected to a control computer 3. The switcher 5 is a switch with a multiple input / multiple output matrix configuration, and the control computer 3 controls the main line output train of the switcher 5 according to the operation data. This causes the switcher 5 to output the main broadcast line, which is the broadcast content according to the operation schedule. In addition to the main broadcast line, switcher 5 also outputs monitor images for monitoring transmission. There are many monitor images, and conventionally, a separate small monitor was used for each monitor image, and the images were displayed on multiple monitors for monitoring. In recent years, it has become mainstream to monitor a plurality of videos displayed on a large flat display device using a split-screen display device. In this embodiment, a large number of surveillance images are reduced and divided by a screen division device 8 and displayed on three large flat display devices: video surveillance monitors 9. In addition, the broadcast schedule display PC 6 creates a broadcast schedule from the schedule data input into the control computer 3, and displays it on a broadcast schedule monitor 7 for monitoring.

[0011] FIG. 2 is a display example of a broadcast schedule displayed on the broadcast schedule monitor 7 in this embodiment (the display content is an excerpt). The first line is an on-air event line, which displays the current time, the on-air material name in the on-air material name display area 7a, and the on-air material address in the on-air material address display area 7b. The on-air material name is the name of the content (broadcast material) to be broadcast, such as "CM" or "PGM (program)," and the on-air material address is a unique address assigned to the material, such as "CM1234." 2 shows the next air time, the name of the material to be aired next in the next material name display section 7c, and the address of the material to be aired next in the next material address section 7d. For example, if the next broadcast material to be aired is a PGM (program) and its material address is PG1234, "PGM" is displayed in the next material name display section 7c and "PG1234" is displayed in the next material address section 7d.

[0012] 3 is a display example of an image on the video monitoring monitor 9 in this embodiment. In this example, there are five material monitor images 9a, 9b, 9c, 9d, and 9e, and each monitor displays a material image, with the material name displayed at the top of each monitor. In this embodiment, the material monitor 9a is a CM material monitor, and the material name display section 9f at the top of the monitor displays "CM", and the material monitor 9b is a PGM (program) material monitor, and the material name display section 9h at the top displays "PGM". The background color of the material name display sections 9f, 9h, 9j, 9l, and 9m turns red when the material is on air. This is commonly known as a "tally" and is a response action that indicates the result of the control computer 3 controlling the main output train of the switcher 5 in the automatic program transmission system 10 in Figure 1, and the material name display section of the material monitor for the switched material turns red. This is called tally on. By checking that this tally is displayed in accordance with the broadcast schedule, it can be confirmed that the control computer 3 is properly controlling the main line output train of the switcher 5 in accordance with the broadcast schedule and that the material is being transmitted. For example, while a commercial is on air, the material name display section 9f on the commercial monitor turns red, and while a program is on air, the material name display section 9h on the PGM monitor turns red. Commercials, programs and VAF (Video Audio File) materials stored in the content server have address information, and the material addresses are displayed in the address display areas 9g, 9i, and 9k of these material monitors. Since the address of the material being played is displayed while the material is on air, if this address matches the on-air material address 7b displayed on the broadcast schedule monitor, it can be determined that the content is being sent according to the schedule. In addition, the material address displayed on the address display section of the video surveillance monitor 9 during stoppage shows the address of the material that is currently in standby (cued up), so if this material address matches the next material address in the broadcast schedule, it can be determined that the next material is normally in standby.

[0013] The above is a description of the automatic program transmission system 10 that is the object of monitoring by the automatic broadcast transmission monitoring system 20 of the present invention. The automatic program transmission system 10 is monitored manually, and the key points of monitoring are whether the tally is displayed on the material monitor according to the broadcast schedule, and whether the on-air material address displayed on the broadcast schedule monitor matches the material address displayed on the material monitor. The automatic broadcast transmission monitoring system 20 of the present invention monitors the broadcast transmission of the automatic program transmission system 10 in place of a person.

[0014] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the configuration of an automatic broadcast transmission monitoring system 20 according to the present invention. The broadcast schedule monitor 7 of the automatic program transmission system 10 in FIG. 1 and the loop-through output (H-SDI video signal) of the video monitoring monitor 9 displaying each broadcast material are input to the automatic monitoring PC 12 via the video capture device 11. In this embodiment, three video surveillance monitors 9 are installed, and these have three signal input systems. Together with the one system of the train schedule monitor 7, the automatic broadcast transmission monitoring system 20 has four video signal input systems. The monitoring program of the automatic monitoring PC 12 monitors the broadcast transmission using images captured from the train schedule monitor 7 and the video monitoring monitor 9, which are monitored by humans. If an abnormality occurs, such as the content to be transmitted not being transmitted or the content to be broadcast next not being in normal standby, a message window showing the details of the alarm is opened on the PC screen, and an audio alarm is sounded from the speaker. In addition, the contact output interface 13 is used to pass an alarm contact to another alarm monitoring system.

[0015] The on-air monitoring method of the present invention, like the human monitoring method, The monitoring program of the automatic monitoring PC,This is done by checking the tally from the image on the video surveillance monitor 9, and by recognizing character information from the images on the broadcast schedule monitor 7 and the video surveillance monitor 9 and comparing the address display. For broadcast materials that do not have address information, it is judged whether they are on air normally by the tally alone. In addition, the present invention Automatic monitoring program Similar to the method of human monitoring, by comparing the next material address displayed on the broadcast schedule monitor 7 with the material address displayed on the video surveillance monitor 9, it is confirmed whether the next material to be transmitted has been correctly cued up (next standby check). In the broadcast schedule monitor 7 of Figure 2, the third line displays the next event after that: the second next event, the fourth line displays the third next event, and so on. In this embodiment, 12 lines of next events are displayed, and within this range, it is checked whether the next content to be aired is standby normally.

[0016] The process of the automatic monitoring program in this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, the image of the broadcast schedule monitor 7 in Figure 2 is captured, and from that image, an OCR library is used to read the current time of the on-air event row, the on-air material name in the on-air material name display 7a, and the on-air material address in the on-air material address display section 7b (S1). When reading characters using the OCR library, the x and y coordinates of the upper left and lower right of the character block to be read are specified. When reading an on-air event line on the broadcast schedule monitor 7, the current time, on-air material name display section 7a, and on-air material address display section 7b, and the coordinates (x, y) of the upper left and lower right of each character block are specified. When reading characters on the next line, and when reading characters from the image on the video surveillance monitor 9, the coordinates of the characters to be read are similarly designated. This coordinate data is not written into the program, but is stored in an external file and is read at the beginning of the program. As a result, even if the arrangement of the material monitors on the video surveillance monitor 9 in FIG. 3 is changed, it can be accommodated by simply changing the data in the external file that describes the character coordinate data, without changing the program.

[0017] Next, an on-air check process is carried out according to the on-air material (S2). In this step, a tally check and an address check are carried out, which will be described in detail later.

[0018] After the on-air check, the next line of the train schedule is read (S3). From the captured image of the broadcast schedule monitor 7 in FIG. 2, the next material name in the next material name display section 7c in the next event row in the next 1st row and the next material address in the next material address display section 7d are read. In this embodiment, there are 12 next rows, and in the S3 step which reads the next rows, the first time, the next event of the first row is read, and the next time processing returns to the S3 step, the 2'nd next event of the second row is read, then the 3'rd next event of the third row is read, and so on until the 12th row is reached, at which point the loop returns to the first row.

[0019] After the next event is read, a standby check process is performed according to the next material (S4). In this step, the next material address in the broadcast schedule is compared with the material address in the video surveillance monitor, and details will be described later. After this next standby check process is completed, the automatic monitoring program returns to the beginning of the flowchart in FIG.

[0020] Of the on-air check processes (S2) in accordance with the on-air material in FIG. 5 described above, FIG. 6 shows the on-air check process in the case where the on-air material is a "CM." The tally of the commercial material monitor on the video surveillance monitor 9 in FIG. 3 is checked to see whether commercials are being sent out according to the broadcast schedule (S201). Specify the coordinates slightly to the side where "CM" is displayed in the material name display section 9f of the CM material monitor, and use the image processing library to read the RGB component values, which are the three primary colors. If the R component has a value of 100 or more on a 256-level scale, it is determined to be red, the CM tally is on, and a CM is being transmitted. If the commercial tally is not on, it is determined that a commercial is not being output from the switcher 5 of the automatic program output system 10 and therefore is not being output, and a commercial output alarm is issued (S202). Next, the material address is checked to determine whether it is a CM that should be sent (S203). The commercial material address displayed on the address display section 9g of the commercial material monitor on the video surveillance monitor 9 in Fig. 3 is read. This is compared with the on-air material address read from the captured image of the broadcast schedule monitor 7 in Fig. 2, and if they match, it is determined that the commercial is being sent according to the broadcast schedule. If they do not match, it is determined that the specified commercial is not being sent, and a commercial address alarm is issued (S204). In the case of broadcast materials that do not have address information, such as from Internet lines or studios, a tally check alone is used to determine whether the transmission is normal.

[0021] Of the standby check processes (S4) according to the next material in FIG. 5 described above, FIG. 7 shows the standby check process when the next material is "PGM (program)". The PGM material address displayed on the address display section 9i of the PGM material monitor of the video surveillance monitor 9 in Fig. 3 is read (S401). This is compared with the next material address in Fig. 2 read in step S3 in Fig. 5, and if they match, it is assumed that the next on-air material, PGM (program), is on standby according to the broadcast schedule. If they do not match, it is determined that the specified material is not on standby, and a PGM standby alarm is issued (S402).

[0022] The automatic monitoring program in this embodiment repeats the loop of the flowchart in Figure 5, checking for on-air events, while checking all next event rows displayed on the broadcast schedule monitor, thereby monitoring the broadcast transmission status of the automatic program transmission system 10. [Explanation of symbols]

[0023] 1: Host computer, 2: Data server, 3: Control computer, 4: Contents server, 5: Switcher, 6: Broadcast schedule display PC, 7: Broadcast schedule monitor, 7a: on-air material name display section, 7b: on-air material address display section, 7c: next material name display section, 7d: next material address display section, 8: screen splitting device, 9: video monitoring monitor, 9a: material monitor 1, 9b: material monitor 2, 9c: material monitor 3, 9d: material monitor 4, 9e: material monitor 5, 9f: material name display section 1, 9g: material address display section 1, 9h: material name display section 2, 9i: material address display section 2, 9j: material name display section 3, 9k: material address display section 3, 9l: material name display section 4, 9m: material name display section 5, 10: automatic program transmission system, 11: video capture device, 12: automatic monitoring PC, 13: contact output interface, 20: automatic broadcast transmission monitoring system

Claims

[Claim 1] A PC (Personal Computer) program for automatically monitoring the broadcast transmission of an automatic program transmission system in a master control room of a broadcasting station, comprising: The PC reads images from the broadcast schedule monitor and video surveillance monitor of the automatic program transmission system via a video capture device, Based on the character information of the broadcast schedule, the tally of the video surveillance monitor is checked for the on-air material, and the on-air material address of the broadcast schedule is compared with the material address corresponding to the tally displayed on the video surveillance monitor by character recognition to determine whether they match; Determine whether content including commercials or programs has been sent out according to the broadcast schedule; For the next material to be sent out, the next material address in the broadcast schedule is compared with the next material address displayed on the video surveillance monitor using character recognition to check that the next material has been correctly cue-matched, A program that automatically monitors the status of broadcast transmission.

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