Display device and operating method thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9681188-B2
Application number	US-201414477506-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 4, 2014
Priority date	Jun 20, 2014
Publication date	Jun 13, 2017
Grant date	Jun 13, 2017

Abstract

A method for operating a display device according to an embodiment includes acquiring an image of a plurality of users, recognizing a plurality of faces respectively corresponding to the plurality of users from the acquired image, checking a viewing state of media content for each user, when the plurality of users respectively corresponding to the plurality of recognized faces are registered users, acquiring viewing information corresponding to at least one of the plurality of registered users of which the viewing state has been changed from a viewing maintaining state in which the media content is viewed to a not-viewing state in which the media content is not viewed, and performing a re-viewing function on the basis of the acquired viewing information when a face of the user of which the viewing state has been changed is re-recognized.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for operating a display device, comprising:
acquiring an image of a plurality of users, wherein the plurality of users comprises a first user and a second user;
recognizing a plurality of faces respectively corresponding to the plurality of users from the acquired image;
checking a viewing state of media content for each user, if the plurality of users respectively corresponding to the plurality of recognized faces are registered users;
acquiring viewing information corresponding to at least one of the plurality of registered users of which the viewing state has been changed from a viewing maintaining state in which the media content is viewed to a not-viewing state in which the media content is not viewed, wherein the viewing information comprises information on a channel corresponding to the media content, a title of the media content and a last viewing time point indicating a time point in an entire playback interval of the media content of which a user that has a viewing state that has been changed most recently viewed the media content;
receiving information related to a state of a mobile terminal corresponding to the first user, if the viewing state of the second user has been changed from the viewing maintaining state to the not-viewing state and the viewing state of the first user keeps the viewing maintaining state;
storing the acquired viewing information and the received information related to the state of the mobile terminal in an account of the first user;
displaying the received information related to the state of the mobile terminal and the media content simultaneously;
comparing the acquired first viewing information corresponding to the first user with the acquired second viewing information corresponding to the second user if a face of the first user of which the viewing state has been changed and a face of the second user which the viewing state has been changed are simultaneously re-recognized; and
displaying common information according to a result of the comparison, wherein the common information is information commonly included in the first viewing information and the second viewing information.

2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising performing a re-viewing function based on the acquired viewing information by accessing the account of the at least one of the plurality of registered users of which the viewing state has been changed from the not-viewing state to the viewing maintaining state, wherein the performing the re-viewing function comprises playing the media content from the last viewing time point when the face of the user of which the viewing state has been changed is re-recognized.

3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the performing the re-viewing function comprises recording the media content from the last viewing time point and playing the media content recorded from the last viewing time point when the face of the user of which the viewing state has been changed is re-recognized.

4. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the performing the re-viewing function comprises:
displaying a resuming inquiry window for inquiring whether to play the media content from the last viewing time point when the face of the user of which the viewing state has been changed is re-recognized; and
playing the media content in response to a request for playing the media content from the last viewing time point through the resuming inquiry window.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the acquiring the viewing information corresponding to at least one of the plurality of registered users of which the viewing state has been changed comprises storing channels corresponding to the media content that each of the at least one of the plurality of registered users most recently viewed, in association with the plurality of faces respectively, and
wherein the performing the re-viewing function comprises switching, when the face of the user of which the viewing state has been changed is re-recognized, a current channel to a channel corresponding to the re-recognized face of the user.

6. The method according to claim 2 , further comprising transmitting, by the display device, a message for inquiring whether to resume viewing the media content from the last viewing time point to the mobile terminal of the user of which the viewing state has been changed.

7. The method according to claim 6 , further comprising transmitting, by the display device, the media content from the last viewing time point to the mobile terminal, upon receiving an approval command for the message.

8. A display device comprising:
a display unit;
a camera unit configured to acquire an image of a plurality of users, wherein the plurality of users comprises a first user and a second user;
an external device interface unit configured to receive information related to a state of a mobile terminal corresponding to the plurality of users; and
a controller configured to:
recognize a plurality of faces respectively corresponding to the plurality of users from the acquired image,
check a viewing state of media content for each user, if the plurality of users respectively corresponding to the plurality of recognized faces are registered users,
acquire viewing information corresponding to at least one of the plurality of registered users of which the viewing state has been changed from a viewing maintaining state in which the media content is viewed to a not-viewing state in which the media content is not viewed, wherein the viewing information comprises information on a channel corresponding to the media content, a title of the media content and a last viewing time point indicating a time point in an entire playback interval of the media content of which a user that has a viewing state that has been changed most recently viewed the media content,
receive information related to a state of a mobile terminal corresponding to the first user, if the viewing state of the second user has been changed from the viewing maintaining state to the not-viewing state and the viewing state of the first user keeps the viewing maintaining state,
store the acquired viewing information and the received information related to the state of the mobile terminal in an account of the at least one of the plurality of registered users,
display the received information related to the state of the mobile terminal and the media content simultaneously,
compare the acquired first viewing information corresponding to the first user with the acquired second viewing information corresponding to the second user if a face of the first user of which the viewing state has been changed and a face of the second user which the viewing state has been changed are simultaneously re-recognized, and
display common information according to a result of the comparison, wherein the common information is information commonly included in the first viewing information and the second viewing information.

9. The display device according to claim 8 , wherein the controller plays the media content from the last viewing time point when the face of the user of which the viewing state has been changed is re-recognized.

10. The display device according to claim 9 , wherein the controller records the media content from the last viewing time point and plays the media content recorded from the last viewing time point when the face of the user of which the viewing state has been changed is re-recognized.

11. The display device according to claim 9 , wherein the controller controls the display unit so as to display a resuming inquiry window for inquiring whether to play the media content from the last viewing time point

Assignees

• Lg Electronics Inc

Inventors

• Park Wonbae
• Park Sewon
• Oh Hyeongchul
• Lee Eunyul

Classifications

• H04N21/43637

  involving a wireless protocol, e.g. Bluetooth®, RF or wireless LAN [IEEE 802.11] (arrangements for wireless networking or broadcasting of information in indoor or near-field type systems H04B10/114) · CPC title

• H04N21/4415

  using biometric characteristics of the user, e.g. by voice recognition or fingerprint scanning {(cryptography using biological data H04L9/3231; authentication in networks using biometric H04L63/0861)} · CPC title

• H04N21/4122

  additional display device, e.g. video projector (digital output for controlling a plurality of local displays G06F3/1423) · CPC title

• H04N21/4223

  Cameras (H04N23/00 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H04N21/43615

  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 title