JP3290899B2 - Karaoke equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a karaoke apparatus for synchronously outputting karaoke accompaniment music and lyric images, and to a karaoke apparatus having a function of displaying a list of music pieces corresponding to input music numbers on a display. It is.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A general karaoke apparatus sequentially plays songs that have been reserved for performance in response to successive requests from users, and confirms that the selected song has been played. Then sing. However, users who want to be ready for a song after preparing for it in advance have a need to check when their turn comes.
For this reason, a function is provided in which a list of music pieces corresponding to the music numbers for which the performance has been reserved is displayed on the display in accordance with the interval between the music pieces to be played and the user's instruction operation.

[0003] However, among diversified karaoke users, there are quite a few who have a desire to sing unexpected songs and to excite the place. In this case, knowing the music to be played in advance may rather distract the interest and result in pouring water into entertainment, which is the original purpose of karaoke. Therefore, the conventional karaoke apparatus has means for selecting whether to display a list display of reserved music pieces or to prohibit the list display itself.

[0004]

In the above-mentioned prior art, in order to confirm the music pieces of the reserved accompaniment music, the user confirms his or her own order by looking at a screen on which all the reserved music pieces are displayed. On the other hand, if you want to perform an unexpected tune by suddenly singing the song to enliven the place, the list display itself is prohibited, but this is inconvenient because you do not know when the song you sing will be played In addition to this, there is a danger that the original intention, such as failing to sing the beginning of the song and enlivening the place, may not be achieved due to the sudden accompaniment of the accompaniment played. In addition, for users who want to check their turn and want to sing, it must be said that it is a troublesome function, and the difference in how to enjoy karaoke may make the place of friendship stupid Even sex is latent.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and has as its object to be able to be easily implemented by adding a simple software function of a karaoke apparatus, and to take in each user's preference for karaoke. While
The purpose of the present invention is to provide a ground-breaking music list display function that makes it possible to excite a place such as a karaoke venue.

[0006]

A karaoke apparatus according to the present invention is provided with a music selection input means and a control means, and displays a list of reserved music pieces. The music selection input means operates according to an input by an operator. A song number or a song number accompanied by a mask code is output to the control unit, and the control unit reserves a performance of the song corresponding to the input song number and, when the input song number is accompanied by a mask code, Is configured to display the song name corresponding to the song number in the reserved song list, and not to display the song name corresponding to the song number in the reserved song list if the input song number does not include a mask code. It is a thing.

[0007] In the karaoke apparatus of the present invention configured as described above, the remote control transmitter can be provided with music selection input means. In addition, the music selection input means adds ID information to the music number and outputs the same. If the ID information is added to the inputted music number, the control means corresponds to the ID information in the corresponding music column of the reserved music list. It can be configured to display the used user information.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A karaoke apparatus 1 of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 is a terminal of a communication karaoke system, and is connected to a host apparatus 2 by a communication network 3. The central processing unit 4 of the karaoke apparatus 1 is a central element of the main control unit, and is a computer main body including a CPU, a RAM, and a ROM. The central processing unit 4 is connected to the communication network 3 via a modem 5. The data distributed from the host device 2 to the karaoke device 1 is not only karaoke data including karaoke accompaniment music data according to the MIDI standard and lyric data including synchronization information of the accompaniment, but also individually owned by the user. Karaoke data of a large number of songs distributed from the host device 2 including ID information of the personal remote controller to be performed and owner information corresponding to the ID information, such as the name, gender, and date of birth of the owner. The name list information is stored in the hard disk device 6.

The main body of the karaoke apparatus 1 has an operation panel 7 for user interface including a display and a keyboard, and a remote control receiving section 9 corresponding to a remote control transmitter 8.
It also has. The operation panel 7 and the remote control receiving unit 9 are connected to the central processing unit 4 via the operation control unit 10.
The karaoke user performs various operation inputs such as music selection using the operation panel 7 of the main body or the remote control transmitter 8, and the operation contents and response information of the apparatus to the operation input are displayed on the operation panel 7.
Will be displayed.

The reproduction of the music is performed through the following route under the control of the central processing unit 4. The accompaniment music data and the lyrics data of the designated music number are read from the hard disk device 6. Accompaniment music data composed of MIDI signals is sequentially input to the synthesizer 11, converted into audio signals, and output from the speakers 13 via the audio amplifier 12. In synchronization with the audio output, the central processing unit 4 sequentially converts the lyrics data into a character string and
14 and a process of coloring the lyric character string to indicate the progress of the music. The contents of the video RAM 14 are displayed on the display 16 by the display control unit 15. Of course, the audio amplifier 12 has a function of mixing with the output of the microphone 17.

[0011] Moving picture information for background video etc. is CD-ROM
It is reproduced by the player 18. The video control unit 19 is composed of a microcomputer that operates in response to a command from the central processing unit 4, performs a process of selecting video data to be reproduced, reproduces the selected video data by the CD-ROM player 18, and The reproduction data is restored and transferred to the display control unit 15. The display controller 15 combines the video signal from the video controller 19 with the image of the lyric character string in the video RAM 14 and displays it on the display 16.

The central processing unit 4 receives the music number information input from the operation panel 7 of the main body or the remote control transmitter 8, and sequentially stores the music number information in the internal RAM. Then, when the list of reserved songs is permitted to be displayed on the display 16 due to an interval between songs to be played, a user interrupt instruction, or the like, the song number information stored in the internal RAM and the song number information read from the hard disk device 6 in accordance with the song number information. The song name information to be converted into a character string
Perform the process of writing to.

FIG. 2 shows a music title list display screen 30a of ordinary reserved music pieces displayed on the display 16, and a music title column 21a consisting of music titles and a corresponding music number are displayed on the screen 30a. They are arranged from the top in the order that they will be performed.

FIG. 3 shows a reserved tune list display screen 30b according to the present invention. The screen 30b includes, in addition to the normal tune section 21a, tunes for which display of tunes has not been permitted by the user. Is displayed as a music title field 21b masked and displayed in a color different from the background color of the screen 30b, so that the name of the music played only in this part is not known.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the remote control device 8 of the karaoke apparatus 1 according to the present invention, which is shown in FIG. 3 in addition to the numeric keypad 22a and the memory / set key 23 for transferring music information to the karaoke body. As described above, the music piece mask key 24 for applying the mask 21b to the music piece display is arranged. Note that similar keys are also arranged on the operation panel 7 of the karaoke apparatus 1.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the outline of the processing performed by the central processing unit 4 to display the reserved music list display screen 30b shown in FIG.

Here, the outline of the reserved music list display function mounted on the karaoke apparatus 1 according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. First, in order to reserve the music to be played, the user first selects a music number. To the numeric keypad 2 of the remote controller 8
Input by 2a. Then, when the memory / set key 23 is pressed to transfer the music number information to the central processing unit 4 of the karaoke apparatus 1, normal music number information is transferred. If the user does not want to display the music number of the music number input by the ten keys 22 a in the reserved music list, the user presses the music number mask key 24 instead of the memory / set key 23. Then, a mask code is added to the music number information, and the music number information to which the mask code is added is transferred to the central processing unit 4. As described above, the central processing unit 4 sequentially stores the normal music number information and the music number information added with the mask code in the internal RAM while mixing them.

The key operation procedure in the remote controller 8 and the operation panel 7 is not limited to the above. For example, when a program number is changed and a music number for which a music number is to be hidden is inputted, the music name mask key 24 is depressed. After
The music number can be input using the numeric keys 22a and transferred using the memory / set key 23, for example, and can be changed as appropriate.

When the central processing unit 4 receives permission to display the list of reserved music pieces by playing music or by user's operation, the central processing unit 4 sets the line pointer to the first line and stores it in the first line in the internal RAM. The music number information
Write to that row on AM14. Next, the presence / absence of a mask code of the music number information is determined. If there is a code, the music name of the line is processed as blank, and the presence / absence of a mask code of the music number information stored in the next line pointer is determined. I do.
On the other hand, when there is no mask code in the music number information, the music name information read from the hard disk device 6 based on the music number information is written in that line on the video RAM 14, and
Starts processing the next line. When such processing is performed up to the last line of the reserved list, the central processing unit 4 instructs the video control unit 19 to display the information of the music list written in the video RAM 14 on the display 16. At this time, an instruction is given to display the line processed as blank as the song column 21b in which the song title is masked.

Then, when the performance starts or the user instructs the end of the display by the operation of the user, the list display is ended.

FIG. 6 shows an example of a reserved tune list display screen 30c when the remote control device 8 is a personal remote controller. A tune number field displaying a name and a tune number field 21c masked are displayed. Have been.

In the following, an outline of the display function shown on the reserved music list display screen 30c will be described. An information storage means is added to the personal remote controller, and the user can freely store a plurality of music number information. be able to. Furthermore, each personal remote controller stores unique ID information. When a user transfers music number information to the karaoke apparatus 1 with the personal remote controller, data in which ID information is added to the header of the music number information is transferred. It has become so. Then, when the user performs an operation of instructing mask display and transfers the music number information, the music information to which the ID information is added together with the mask code is transferred to the central processing unit 4.

The central processing unit 4 receives the information, reads the name of the owner corresponding to the ID information from the list information stored in the hard disk device 6, and performs a process of displaying the owner name in the music number column. , The song column 21c can be displayed so that the singer knows what to sing.

The operation method or the addition of operation means such as a key allows the mask display field 21b in FIG.
The karaoke apparatus 1 may be provided with a program capable of displaying the singer and the song 21d as shown in FIG.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show an embodiment in which a singer and a song title can be freely displayed in a reserved song list without using a personal remote controller.

FIG. 8 shows a song list display screen 30e in which the name displayed in katakana and the song column 2 in which the song title is masked are displayed.
1e is displayed, and in FIG. 9, the screen 30f displays a name displayed in katakana and a song number field 21f in which the song title is displayed.

FIG. 10 shows the screen 3 shown in FIG. 8 and FIG.
This is an example of a remote controller 8 for performing an operation for displaying 0e and 30f on the display 16, a numeric keypad 22b to which katakana of each row is assigned, and a kana input instruction key 2
6, a character feed key 27, and keys 28a and 28b to which voiced and semi-voiced voices are assigned when inputting kana. Of course, the same key is also provided on the operation panel 7 of the karaoke apparatus 1.

Here, the music title column 2 shown in FIG. 8 and FIG.
The operation method and principle for displaying 1e, 21f and the music number or name will be described with reference to FIG. 10. First, after pressing the kana input key 26, an arbitrary character string is input using the numeric keypad 22b. As an example, when inputting "Daiichi Taro", press the "4" key once to select the row, then press the cloudy dot 28a to "D", and press the character feed key 27 to enter the next character. The "I" who moves moves to "A" by pressing the "A" line twice. Similarly, other characters are input, and after all the characters are input, the kana input key 26 is pressed again. Here, when the song name mask key 24 is pressed, the input character information is transferred to the karaoke apparatus 1 together with the song number information with the mask code added, and when the memory / set key 23 is pressed, the song number without the mask code is added. The information and the character information are transferred to the karaoke apparatus 1.

The central control unit 4 of the karaoke apparatus 1 performs processing for displaying the screen 30e or 30f shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 on the display 16 based on the transferred information.

The above-mentioned operation method can be appropriately changed depending on the program. For example, similar display can be performed by an operation such as pressing two keys simultaneously without adding a special key. .

It should be noted that a line in which a mask code is added to the music number information may be processed as a blank line so that the music number or name may be masked as the music number in addition to the music name.

[0032]

In the karaoke apparatus according to the present invention, the function of displaying a list of music pieces reserved for accompaniment is provided by providing means for selecting whether to display or hide the music pieces when the user inputs a music number. During the display of the reserved music list, the music column hidden by the mask can be displayed. As a result, it was possible to sing unexpected songs suddenly and greatly excite the places at karaoke venues and the like.

Also, by using the unique ID stored in the personal remote controller, it is possible to display a song column in which the singer does not know what song to sing in a state where the singer knows, thereby increasing the audience's interest. Focus on singers.

Further, it is possible to change the song name so that it can be displayed together with the name. In this case, not only can the unexpected person declare that he / she will sing a song with a completely different image, but also the place can be enlivened. In the case where the same song is duplicated in the list, it is possible to accurately grasp the order of singing.

Further, by adding a key of a remote control device or an operation panel or a program, a free music list can be displayed without using a personal remote control.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a karaoke apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a normal reserved music list display screen in the above device.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a reserved song list display screen according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a remote control device for performing an operation for displaying the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an outline of processing contents for displaying a reserved music list display screen in the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a reserved music list display screen corresponding to a personal remote controller in the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing another embodiment of a reserved music list display screen corresponding to a personal remote controller in the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a reserved song list display screen in which a singer name is displayed for a song in the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing another embodiment of a reserved song list display screen in which a singer name is displayed for a song in the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a remote control device corresponding to the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Karaoke apparatus 4 Central processing unit (main control unit) 6 Hard disk drive 8 Remote control transmitter 11 Synthesizer 13 Speaker 14 Video RAM 15 Display 21a to 21f Track column 24 Track mask key 30a to 30f Reserved track list display screen

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A karaoke apparatus comprising a music selection input means and a control means for displaying a list of reserved music pieces, wherein the music selection input means changes a music number or a music number with a mask code according to an input by an operator. The control means makes a reservation for the performance of the music corresponding to the input music number, and when the input music number is accompanied by a mask code, adds the music name corresponding to the music number to the reserved music. A karaoke apparatus, wherein the karaoke apparatus is displayed in a list, and when the input music number does not include a mask code, the music name corresponding to the music number is not displayed in the reserved music list. 2. The karaoke apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the music selection input means is provided in a remote control transmitter. 3. The music selection input means adds ID information to the music number and outputs the same, and the control means outputs an ID to the input music number.
3. The karaoke apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the information is added, user information corresponding to the ID information is displayed in a corresponding music section of the reserved music list.