Broadcast receiving apparatus to minimize standby power and method thereof

Abstract

A broadcast receiving apparatus to minimize standby power and a method thereof. The broadcast receiving apparatus includes a sensor to detect variation in an inputted alternating current (AC) voltage and outputting a direct current (DC) voltage corresponding to the detection result, and a controller to detect variation in currents based on a digital voltage corresponding to the DC voltage and to determine the on/off state of an external apparatus, connected to the broadcast receiving apparatus, according to the detection result of the controller. Therefore, it is possible to determine whether the external apparatus is switched on or off according to a variation in power supplied to the external apparatus, to cut off a power supplied to the external apparatus based on the determination result, and to selectively control a power supplied to components of the broadcast receiving apparatus based on power saving data.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A broadcast receiving system comprising:
 an external device; and   a broadcast receiving device including a controller to detect a current variation based on an input from a sensor and to control a power on/off state of the external device which is connected to the broadcast receiving device according to the detected result.   
     
     
         2 . The broadcast receiving system of  claim 1 , wherein the external device is a display or a TV. 
     
     
         3 . The broadcast receiving system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a micom to control power supply to components of the broadcast receiving system in a power saving mode,   wherein the power saving mode is set by the micom in response to receipt of power saving data from the controller.   
     
     
         4 . The broadcast receiving system of  claim 3 , wherein the power saving data is output by the controller if a time during which the external device is switched off exceeds a preset reference time. 
     
     
         5 . The broadcast receiving system of  claim 4 , wherein the power saving data includes information indicating whether to supply or cut off power to components of the system including the controller, a memory device, a USB port, a power switch, a hard disk, a high definition multimedia interface (HDMI), and/or the micom. 
     
     
         6 . The broadcast receiving system of  claim 5 , further comprising:
 a DC/DC converter to control power supply to the components of the system in response to commands received from the micom.   
     
     
         7 . The broadcast receiving system of  claim 6 , wherein the DC/DC converter comprises at least two DC/DC converters one of which constantly supplies power to the micom. 
     
     
         8 . The broadcast receiving system of  claim 3 , wherein the micom terminates the power saving mode in response to an external command and transmits a power saving mode termination command to the controller. 
     
     
         9 . The broadcast receiving system of  claim 4 , further comprising:
 a user interface to enter the preset reference time and/or the power saving data.   
     
     
         10 . The broadcast receiving system of  claim 5 , wherein the controller controls an active standby mode in which power is supplied to at least some of the components of the system so that broadcast information can be received even though the broadcast receiving device is in the power saving mode. 
     
     
         11 . A power control method of a broadcast receiving system, the method comprising:
 detecting a variation in a power supply;   determining whether an on/off state of an external device has changed based on the detected variation;   if it is determined that the external device is off, calculating a time period during which the external device is off; and   controlling a power saving mode of the broadcast receiving system if the calculated time period is greater than a predetermined time period.   
     
     
         12 . The power control method of  claim 11 , wherein the control of the power saving mode further comprises providing power saving data, the power saving data relating to power supplies connected to components of the broadcast receiving system. 
     
     
         13 . The power control method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 setting the predetermined time period and/or the power saving data.   
     
     
         14 . A computer-readable medium having embodied thereon a computer program to execute a power control method of a broadcast receiving apparatus, the method comprising:
 detecting a variation in a power supply;   determining whether an on/off state of an external device has changed based on the detected variation;   if it is determined that the external device is off, calculating a time period during which the external device is off; and   controlling a power saving mode of the broadcast receiving system if the calculated time period is greater than a predetermined time period.   
     
     
         15 . A power control method of a broadcast receiving apparatus, the method comprising:
 detecting variation of power of an external device;   determining an on/off state of the external apparatus according to the detection result.   if it is determined that the external device is switched off based on the detected variation, cutting off current supplied to the broadcast receiving apparatus after a predetermined time from when the external device is switched off; and   if it is determined that the external device is switched on based on the detected variation, providing current to the broadcast receiving apparatus immediately.   
     
     
         16 . The method as claimed in  claim 15 , wherein the detecting comprises:
 detecting variation in an input alternating current (AC) voltage and outputting a direct current (DC) voltage corresponding to a detection result; and   detecting variation in current based on a digital voltage corresponding to the DC voltage;   
     
     
         17 . The method as claimed in  claim 16 , further comprising:
 converting the DC voltage to the digital voltage,   wherein the determination is performed based on the converted digital voltage.   
     
     
         18 . The method as claimed in  claim 15 , further comprising:
 calculating a time during which the external apparatus remains switched off until being switched on again; and   controlling AC voltage supplied to the external apparatus to be cut off if the time during which the external apparatus is switched off exceeds a preset reference time.   
     
     
         19 . The method as claimed in  claim 18 , further comprising:
 controlling power supplied to components inside the broadcast receiving apparatus to be selectively cut off based on power saving data.   
     
     
         20 . The method as claimed in  claim 19 , further comprising:
 setting the preset reference time and the power saving data.