IPTV Terminal Channel Switching with Parallel Data Pre-fetching
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional television receivers experience delays in displaying program content from a new channel after switching, resulting in an inconvenient 'no display' state or partial information display during channel switching.
Innovation Solution
An information communication terminal device and method for controlling display that allows immediate display of program content from a new channel by pre-fetching and parallelly receiving program data for the current and switching destination channels, and smoothly transitioning the screen display between the two.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the television receiver waits to receive broadcast wave signals for a predetermined time unit before reproducing video, then the channel switching process follows conventional broadcasting protocols, but the program content cannot be displayed immediately causing a delay of 0.5 to 1 second
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by displaying program content from the switching destination channel before the channel switch is completed. When a channel switch is initiated, the system retrieves and displays content from the target channel in advance, so that when the switch finishes, content is already visible eliminating the conventional 0.5-1 second delay.
2Stability of the object's composition
If the television receiver displays black screen or partial information during channel switching, then the system maintains stable operation during transition, but the viewer experiences inconvenience and stress due to no display or incomplete information
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary retrieval of program content from the switching destination channel before the switch is finalized. This allows the display to show content continuously during the transition period, eliminating the black screen or partial information display that causes viewer stress, while maintaining system stability through controlled switching sequences.
3Device complexity
If the television receiver uses one tuner assigned to one channel, then the receiver maintains simple tuner architecture, but it takes 0.5 to 1 second to display program content after channel switching
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by initiating content retrieval for the switching destination channel before the channel switch is completed. This allows the system to maintain simple one-tuner architecture while achieving fast switching performance, as the content is prepared in advance during the transition period.
Data Source
AI summary
An information communication terminal device adapted for an IPTV service that delivers program data from one of a plurality of delivery servers via a communication network includes a channel selection unit, a program data acquisition unit, and a display control unit. The channel selection unit selects a channel number according to channel allocation which defines allocation of channels corresponding to broadcasting regions. The program data acquisition unit requests a specific delivery server to deliver program data according to link information associated with the selected channel number and acquires the program data delivered from the specific delivery server in response to the request. The display control unit performs control such that program content is displayed on a screen based on the received program data. In response to a first operation by a user with respect to the screen, the channel selection unit determines a channel number of a first switching destination according to the channel allocation. The program data acquisition unit acquires first program data delivered from a specific delivery server according to link information associated with the current channel number, while, in response to a second operation, subsequent to the first operation, with respect to the screen, the program data acquisition unit starts acquiring second program data delivered from a specific delivery server according to link information associated with the determined channel number of the first switching destination. The display control unit performs control such that first program content based on the first program data and second program content based on the second program data are displayed on the screen.