DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0024] The embodiments of the present information display device will now be described with reference to the drawings.

[0025] First Embodiment

[0026] FIG. 1 shows a configuration of an information display device in the present embodiment. An information display device 102 includes an information receiver 103 , an information controller 104 , a first-information memory 105 , a first-information display unit 106 , a second-information memory 107 and a second-information display unit 108 .

[0027] Initially, reference will be made to FIG. 1 to describe how data transmitted from an information provider 101 and received by information display device 102 flows therethrough before the data is displayed thereby.

[0028] Information receiver 103 receives data formed of two types of data, first-information data and second-information data transmitted from information provider 101 .

[0029] Information controller 104 separates the data received by information receiver 103 into the first-information data and the second-information data and sorts the first- and second-information data out for the first- and second-information memories 105 and 107 , respectively.

[0030] The first- and second-information memories 105 and 107 store the first- and second-information data, respectively, sorted out by information controller 104 .

[0031] The first- and second-information display units 106 and 108 display the first- and second-information data, respectively, stored in the first- and second-information memories 105 and 107 , respectively.

[0032] Information provider 101 and the first- and second-information data will now be described more specifically by way of example.

[0033] Information provider 101 is a transmission device of a TV broadcaster transmitting data formed of TV program data (the first-information data) and advertisement data (the second-information data). In this context, TV program data refers to data provided to display a TV program such as a news program and advertisement data refers to data provided to display an advertisement requested by a client such as a sponsor to be displayed. Information display device 102 is a device capable of receiving TV broadcasting, receiving and displaying the data set forth above.

[0034] The second information may be information accompanying the first information whenever the first information is transmitted.

[0035] Information receiver 103 receives the data set forth above, and information controller 104 sorts each information out and controls the first- and second-information memories 105 and 107 to store TV program data and advertisement data, respectively, and the first- and second-information display units 106 and 108 to display the TV program and the advertisement, respectively.

[0036] With reference to FIG. 3 , information display device 102 is by way of example a television set, as has been described above, receiving and displaying a TV program and an advertisement, with a screen physically divided in two to provide first- and second-information display units 106 and 108 . The first-information display unit 106 , provided to display a TV program, displays “news at seven o'clock” and the second-information display unit 108 , provided to display an advertisement, displays “If you buy an LCD . . . 's is the one.” In this example, information receiver 103 , the first-information memory 105 and the first-information display unit 106 can be components already existing in the TV set. Thus, if the information display device 102 can be manufactured by additionally providing an existing TV set with information controller 104 , the second-information memory 107 and the second-information display unit 108 and arranging the first-information display unit 106 in the TV set adjacent to the second-information display unit 108 to reduce the cost for manufacturing the same.

[0037] While in the above example the second information corresponds to an advertisement requested by a sponsor to be displayed, it is not limited thereto and it may for example be existing data such as teletext broadcasting and displayed on the second-information display unit.

[0038] Another specific example of information provider 101 and the first- and second-information data will now be described.

[0039] Information provider 101 is a television set and information display device 102 is a multifunctional remote controller adapted to communicate data bidirectionally with TV sets, video recorders/players, air conditioners or other similar household electrical goods to serve as any one of a remote controller for a TV, that for a video recorder/player and that for an air conditioner. In this example, the first-information data, transmitted from the TV to the multifunction remote controller, is data indicating a channel number of a TV broadcasting currently received by the TV and the second-information data corresponds to advertisement data. The advertisement data is transmitted for example via a TV broadcasting station, a telephone line, RS232C, infrared ray, electronic wave, an IC card, a mobile terminal and the like, and thus externally input to the TV. If a telephone line, RS232C, infrared ray, electronic wave, an IC card, a mobile terminal or the like is used, the TV is required to have a separate receiver therefor, although they are well known techniques and can thus be readily implemented.

[0040] With reference to FIG. 4 , information display device 102 is by way of example a multifunctional remote controller, as has been described above, receiving and displaying a channel number and an advertisement. The first-information display unit 106 , provided to display a channel number, displays a highlighted, currently received channel number “1” (in FIG. 4 the channel number is hatched, rather than highlighted, for the sake of convenience) and the second-information display unit 108 , provided to display an advertisement, displays “All devices are in your hand . . . ◯ ◯ ◯ ◯ Media Cruise.”

[0041] Second Embodiment

[0042] The second embodiment is distinguished from the first embodiment in that a display unit displaying the first information and that displaying the second information do not exist in a single casing.

[0043] FIG. 2 shows a configuration of an information display system of the present embodiment. The information display system includes a firstinformation display device 201 and a second-information display device 202 . The first-information display device 201 includes an information receiver 103 , an information controller 104 , a first-information memory 105 , a first-information display unit 106 and a second-information transmitter 203 . The second-information display device 202 includes a second-information receiver 204 , a second-information memory 107 and a second-information display unit 108 .

[0044] Initially reference will be made to FIG. 2 to describe how data transmitted from information provider 101 and received by the information display system flows therethrough before the data is displayed.

[0045] Information receiver 103 receives data formed of two types of data transmitted from information provider 101 , i.e., first-information data and second-information data.

[0046] Information controller 104 separates the data received by information receiver 103 into the first- and second-information data and sorts the first- and second-information data out for the first- and second-information memories 105 and 203 , respectively.

[0047] The first-information memory 105 stores the first-information data sorted by information controller 104 and the first-information display unit 106 displays the first-information data stored in the first-information memory 105 .

[0048] The second-information transmitter 203 transmits the second-information data sorted by information controller 104 , to the secondinformation display device 202 by wireless such as via an infrared ray.

[0049] The second-information receiver 204 receives the second-information data transmitted from the second-information transmitter 203 .

[0050] The second-information memory 107 stores the second-information data received by the second-information receiver 205 and the second-information display unit 108 displays the second-information data stored in the second-information memory 107 .

[0051] Information provider 101 , the first- and second-information display devices 201 and 202 and the first- and second-information data will now be described more specifically by way of example.

[0052] Information provider 101 is a transmission device of a TV broadcasting station, as described in the first embodiment, transmitting data formed of TV program data (the first-information data) and advertisement data (the second-information data). The first-information display device 201 is a television set capable of receiving the TV program data and the second-information display device 202 is a TV remote controller capable of receiving the advertisement data.

[0053] Information receiver 103 receives the data described above, and information controller 104 sorts the TV program data and the advertisement data out for the first-information memory 105 and the second-information transmitter 203 , respectively. The TV program sorted for the first-information memory 105 is displayed on the first-information display unit 106 . The advertisement data sorted for the second-information transmitter 203 is transmitted to the second-information receiver 204 , stored in the second-information memory 107 and displayed on the second-information display unit 108 .

[0054] The present embodiment thus configured can display a TV program via a television set as well as an advertisement on a display unit of a TV remote controller.

[0055] With reference to FIG. 5 , by way of example the first-information display device 201 is a TV set and the second-information display device 203 is a TV remote controller, as has been described above, receiving and displaying a TV program and an advertisement. The TV remote controller displays on its display unit an advertisement “All devices are in your hand ◯ ◯ ◯ ◯ Media Cruise.”

[0056] While the first and second embodiments employ two pairs of an information display unit and an information memory, the present invention is not limited thereto and it may employ more than two pairs of an information display unit and an information memory. In such an implementation, information provider 101 transmits more than two types of information, which are in turn sorted out by information controller 104 and thus displayed on their respective display units.

[0057] Furthermore, while the first and second embodiments exemplarily employ a single pair of the second-information memory 107 and the second-information display unit 108 , the present invention is not limited thereto and it may employ more than one pair of the second-information memory 107 and the second-information display unit 108 . In such an implementation, the plurality of the second-information memories 107 store the histories of the previously transmitted second information one by one in chronological order and the second-information display unit 108 corresponding to the second-information memory 107 displays its respective second information.

[0058] FIG. 6 shows by way of example information display device 102 in the form of a TV, with two pairs of the second-information memory 107 and the second-information display unit 108 . FIG. 6 shows an example when the second information previously transmitted is “If you buy an LCD ◯ ◯ ◯ ◯'s is the one,” and the second information last transmitted is “◯ ◯ ◯ ◯ . . . Media Cruise.” Subsequently when new second information is transmitted, on the left hand display unit “If you buy an LCD ◯ ◯ ◯ ◯'s is the one” disappears and “◯ ◯ ◯ ◯ . . . Media Cruise ” is displayed and on the right-hand display unit the second information subsequently transmitted is displayed.

[0059] While the first and second embodiments employ a TV program and an advertisement as the first-information data and the second-information data, respectively, by way of example, the present invention is not limited thereto and the first-information data may be data indicating a web page provided via the Internet and the second-information data may be character data indicating letters superimposed on a movie film, character data indicating a translation of a bilingual broadcasting, or data further describing the first-information data.

[0060] In the first and second embodiments the second-information display unit 108 displays advertisements exclusively. As such, if it is a non-volatile display device formed for example of ferroelectric liquid crystal then it can continue to display an advertisement with information display device 102 powered off. For example, if a favorite advertisement is received, using a display setting means (not shown) to provide a setting to continuously display the advertisement on the second-information display unit 108 allows the user to continue to display the favorite image and also allows the client to have the advertisement displayed for a long period of time to enhance its advertising effect.

[0061] Furthermore, the first- and second-information display units 106 and 108 can each be provided with a power switch for switching them on/off, to set only one of them to display information and thus save power otherwise wastefully consumed.

[0062] Since the first- and second-information display units 106 and 108 are separate from each other, the former or the latter can be adapted to be a display device enhanced in resolution. For example, of the two display units the second-information display unit 108 having a reduced size for displaying information may be a display device enhanced in resolution. Thus it can display advertisement with high definition and the present device and system can thus be convenient for both of clients and users. Furthermore the first-information display unit 106 having an increased size for displaying information is not required to be a display device enhanced in resolution and its fabrication cost can thus be reduced.

[0063] As has been described, the present invention can provide a TV, a remote controller terminal and the like with a display unit provided separately, independently of a display unit displaying main information, to display an advertisement and the like on the independent display unit. Since the advertisement can be displayed on a display unit exclusively displaying advertisements, the advertisement can be displayed without interfering information that the user wants to obtain. Furthermore, the display unit exclusively displaying advertisements that has high quality can display information with high quality. Furthermore, the display unit exclusively displaying advertisements that is a non-volatile display unit can continue to display an advertisement if a TV or a remote controller is powered off.

[0064] Although the present invention has been described and illustrated in detail, it is clearly understood that the same is by way of illustration and example only and is not to be taken by way of limitation, the spirit and scope of the present invention being limited only by the terms of the appended claims.