JP2002100162A - Program signal recording and reproducing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To eliminate the laboriousness in finding out the top point of a program in cache reproducing with a PVR. SOLUTION: In cache reproducing, a picture recording position mark (f) corresponding to the present time and a reproducing position mark (b) corresponding to the recording time of the program currently under reproduction are displayed on a bar (e) marked with the time as a scale. The period of the program signal in which the cache exists is displayed in reversal in the color of the bar like (g). If a program searching instruction in a backward direction is carried out in this state, the reproduction is carried out from the top point of the cache. On the other hand, if the program searching instruction in a forward direction is carried out, the reproducing of the program signal recorded at 12 o'clock and 00 minutes is started.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a program signal recording / reproducing apparatus for recording a received program signal on a recording medium such as a hard disk and reproducing the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There is known an apparatus for recording and reproducing program signals using a hard disk as a recording medium. Such a device is called a PVR (Personal Video Recorder), and can simultaneously execute recording and reproduction of a program signal (actually, the recording operation and the reproduction operation are quickly switched and time-division processing is performed).

[0003] Therefore, when this PVR is used, simultaneous recording / reproduction for reproducing another program on the hard disk while recording a certain program, or recording a program while recording a certain program. It is also possible to perform time-shift reproduction in which reproduction is performed from a head portion or a recorded desired portion. A function similar to the time shift reproduction is cache reproduction.

[0004] In this cache reproduction, a hard disk is used as a cache disk, and programs being broadcast are always recorded on the hard disk within a predetermined amount. Then, when it is desired to perform reproduction again from a scene immediately before, reproduction is performed from a favorite scene by going back within a predetermined amount range stored as a cache.

[0005]

However, as described above, when time-shift reproduction or cache reproduction is performed, such program breaks are detected despite the fact that reproduction is often performed from program breaks. Since there is no mechanism for performing this, it is necessary to search for a break in the program by performing fast-forward playback or rewind playback, and this operation is very complicated.

[0006] In order to solve the above problems, a program signal reproducing apparatus according to the present invention provides a program signal recording / reproducing apparatus which can quickly reproduce from a program break during time shift reproduction or cache reproduction. The purpose is to:

[0007]

In order to solve the above problems, a program signal recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention records a program signal on a recording medium (4) and simultaneously records the program signal on the recording medium (4). A time information generating means (10) for generating time information in accordance with the passage of time; and a time information generating means (10). Recording means (3) for recording on the recording medium (4) the time information generated by the program or time information indicating the time at which the program signal was broadcast, together with the program signal; Obtaining a current time information generated by the time information generating means (10) when a program heading instruction is performed by the cueing instruction input means (12) and the cueing instruction inputting means (12); The obtained current time information is A first cue reproduction means (3, 9) for performing cue reproduction of a program signal recorded at a time as far back as 00 minutes or 30 minutes as a past time from the current time. It is.

[0008] A program signal recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention comprises:
A cache reproduction mode in which a temporally continuous program signal from the past to the present is always recorded on a recording medium (4) within a predetermined amount, and a recorded portion of the program signal being recorded is reproduced. A time-shift reproduction mode for reproducing a recorded portion of the program signal being recorded on the recording medium (4) based on the recording start timing determined by the operation; When the head of the program is instructed by the input means (12),
A second cue reproduction unit (3, 9) for performing cue reproduction from the recording start timing of the program signal; and in the cache reproduction mode, the first cue reproduction unit (3, 9). In the time shift reproduction mode, the cueing reproduction is performed by the second cueing reproducing means (3, 9).

[0009]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a configuration of a program signal recording / reproducing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a program signal to be recorded coming in the form of a video signal and an audio signal.
The recording signal processing unit 2 that performs compression processing such as ng Picture Experts Group) or the like and outputs the compressed program signal output by the recording signal processing unit 1 after adding additional information to be described later. The recording controller 3, which stores the program signal in the buffer and outputs the signal at a predetermined timing, converts the program signal output from the recording controller 2 into a signal form suitable for recording on a recording medium and outputs the signal, or reproduces the program signal from the recording medium. This is a media manager that converts a program signal into an original signal form and outputs the converted signal.

Reference numeral 4 denotes a hard disk or a semiconductor memory, etc., which is a recording medium on which program signals from the media manager 3 are recorded and reproduced. 5 stores a program signal from the media manager 3 in a buffer (not shown). A playback controller that outputs this at the timing of, and further extracts additional information added to the program signal,
Reference numeral 6 denotes a reproduction signal processing unit that performs a decompression process such as the MPEG method on the program signal from the reproduction controller 5, outputs the program signal in the form of a video signal and an audio signal, and outputs a synchronization signal of the video signal.

Reference numeral 7 denotes an OSD for appropriately adding on-screen information to the program signal output from the reproduction signal processing unit 6 and outputting the program signal.
(On Screen Display) processing unit 8 is a reproduction signal processing unit 6
Is a display controller that receives the synchronization signal output by the controller and controls the OSD processing unit 7 based on the timing of the synchronization signal.

Reference numeral 9 denotes a recording controller 2, a media manager 3, a reproduction controller 5, and a display controller 8.
, A system clock for supplying date information and current time information to the system controller 9, a program reservation information 11 for accumulating program reservation information, and a system A recording reservation manager 12 for exchanging information with the controller 9 is a key input unit for transmitting a user's instruction to the system controller 9. The key input unit 12 may be a button provided on the main body of the recording / reproducing apparatus, a remote control transmitter provided outside the apparatus, or an external device connected via an interface such as IEEE1394.

Hereinafter, the operation of the program signal recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention will be described. First, the operation when recording a program signal on the recording medium 4 will be described. An incoming program signal is converted into an MPEG program signal by the recording signal processing unit 1 and output to the recording controller 2.

On the other hand, the system controller 9 is supplied with date information and current time information generated in accordance with the passage of time from the system clock 10, and the system controller 9 outputs these information to the recording controller 2. I do. The recording controller 2 includes a recording signal processing unit 1
, The date information and the current time information from the system controller 9 and the internally generated frame information are added as additional information, and the program signal with the additional information is sequentially stored in its internal buffer. Stored.

Here, the recording controller 2 does not have to keep adding the changing current time information from the system controller 9 to the program signal.
At the predetermined timing, the current time information is added, and thereafter,
Only the elapsed time from the added current time information may be added.

Thereafter, under the control of the system controller 9, the program signal is read from the internal buffer, and is converted by the media manager 3 into a signal form suitable for recording on the recording medium 4. Here, assuming that a hard disk is used as the recording medium 4, the media manager 3 converts the program signal into data in a file format suitable for recording on the hard disk, and this data is stored in the recording medium 4 (hard disk). Recorded above.

At this time, not only the program signal but also the additional information added by the recording controller 2 is recorded on the recording medium 4, and the recording address of the program signal and the recorded additional information are recorded on the recording medium 4. Program-related information to be associated with the information is recorded. Here, the description will be made assuming that the additional information and the program-related information are recorded on the same recording medium as the recording medium for recording the program signal. However, the additional information and the program-related information are recorded on a recording medium different from the recording medium for recording the program signal. Needless to say, it can be recorded.

On the other hand, when the program signal recorded on the recording medium 4 is reproduced, the system controller 9 controls the media manager 3 so that the program-related information is read from the recording medium 4, and the program-related information is read. , The reading of the program signal from a predetermined address of the recording medium 4 is started.

The read program signal is converted to the original signal form via the media manager 3 and output to the reproduction controller 5. The reproduction controller 5 temporarily stores the program signal in its internal buffer, reads it out, and then extracts additional information added to the program signal.

Here, the reproduction controller 5 outputs the program signal to the reproduction signal processing unit 6, while outputting the extracted additional information to the system controller 9, and the reproduction signal processing unit 6
A program signal obtained by subjecting the compressed program signal to an MPEG expansion process is output to the OSD processing unit 7,
The synchronization signal is output to the display controller 8.

Then, the system controller 9 outputs the additional information from the reproduction controller 5 to the display controller 8, and the display controller 8 outputs the additional information based on the synchronization signal from the reproduction signal processing unit 6 and the additional information from the system controller 9. The OSD processing unit 7 is controlled so that on-screen display is performed as shown in FIG.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the on-screen information displayed on the screen when the normal reproduction is performed as described above. The time of the entire program is displayed as a bar as shown in FIG. A playback position mark (b) is displayed at a position corresponding to the elapsed playback time. In the upper left part of the screen, the playback elapsed time from the beginning of the program is displayed numerically as shown in (c), and in the upper right part of the screen, the date when the program was recorded is displayed as shown in (d). Then, the program signal to which the above-described on-screen information is added is output from the OSD processing unit 7.

Next, an operation in a cache ON state in which the recording medium 4 is used as a cache will be described. To set the cache ON state, first, the user sets the cache holding time via the key input unit 12. In other words, it sets how long the program signal for the recording medium 4 is kept stored.

It is needless to say that the user may keep the program signal for a predetermined time instead of setting the cache holding time every time the cache is turned on. No. Further, the cache amount may be set based on the data capacity instead of the time, and a mode may be provided in which the entire free space of the recording medium is used as the cache.

When the cache is turned on, the recording signal processing unit 1, the recording controller 2, and the media manager 3 function in the same manner as the recording operation described above.
Additional information is recorded in addition to the program signal. Here, the system controller 9 keeps monitoring the time of the program signal cached on the recording medium 4 through the media manager 3, and always keeps the latest program signal for the set cache holding time. Therefore, the program signal whose cache holding time has elapsed is automatically deleted from the recording medium 4.

Then, the system controller 9 outputs the current time information from the system clock 10 and the time information of the program signal cached on the recording medium 4 to the display controller 8, and the display controller 8 shown in FIG. The display controller 8 controls the OSD processing unit 7 so that on-screen display is performed as described above. In the case of the configuration shown in FIG. 1, the program signal compressed by the recording signal processing unit 1 is recorded on the recording medium 4 and decompressed by the reproduction signal processing unit 6; It goes without saying that a program signal that has not been subjected to decompression processing may be supplied to the OSD processing unit 7.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing on-screen information displayed on the screen in the cache ON state. A bar with time scale is displayed as shown by (e), and corresponds to the current time on this bar. A recording position mark (へ) is displayed at the position where the recording is performed. Also, during the period of the program signal having a cache on the recording medium 4, the color of the bar is displayed in reverse video as shown in (g), so that it can be confirmed what time or later the program signal has been cached on the recording medium 4. Comes out. In addition to the recording position mark (f) on the bar, the current time is displayed in the upper right part of the screen as shown in (h).

Then, in this cache ON state, when the user instructs rewinding via the key input unit 12 so as to trace back the program reproduction, the state shifts to the cache reproduction state. In this cache reproduction state, the program signal with the additional information output from the recording controller 2 is recorded on the recording medium 4 via the media manager 3, and the cached program signal is transmitted from the recording medium 4 to the media manager. 3 to the reproduction controller 5.

At this time, the media manager 3 switches at a high speed between an operation of recording a program signal from the recording controller 2 on the recording medium 4 and an operation of outputting a program signal reproduced from the recording medium 4 to the reproduction controller 5. Time-division processing. Therefore, the system controller 9
At the timing of recording the program signal, the recording controller 2
The recording controller 2 and the media manager 3 are controlled so that the program signal is read out from the buffer in the medium, and the program signal is reproduced at a timing when recording is not performed, and the medium is written in the buffer in the reproduction controller 5. Manager 3 and playback controller 5
Control.

[0030] Then, the reproduction controller 5 extracts additional information from the reproduced program signal, and outputs this additional information to the system controller 9. Then, the system controller 9 outputs the additional information from the reproduction controller 5 and the current time information from the system clock 10 to the display controller 8, and the display controller 8 displays the on-screen display as shown in FIG. The controller 8 controls the OSD processing unit 7.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing on-screen information displayed on the screen in the cache playback state. A bar with time scale is displayed as shown by (e) and corresponds to the current time on this bar. A recording position mark (へ) is displayed at the position where the recording is performed. In addition, a reproduction position mark (b) is displayed at a position corresponding to the time of recording of the program signal being reproduced from the recording medium 4, and the period of the program signal having a cache on the recording medium 4 is ( The color of the bar is highlighted as shown in (g). In addition to the reproduction position mark (b) on the bar, the time at the time of recording of the program signal being reproduced is displayed at the upper left of the screen as shown in (i), and the upper right part of the screen shows ( The current time is displayed as shown in (h).

In the cache reproduction state, the key input unit 1
By instructing fast-forward or rewind via 2
It is possible to easily recall a scene temporally earlier or later than the current playback position of the program signal shown in (b). FIG. 5 is a diagram showing on-screen information displayed on the screen in the cache fast-forward playback state. A fast-forward position mark (nu) is displayed on a bar instead of the playback position mark (b) shown in FIG. On the other hand, in the cache rewind reproduction state, the fast-forward position mark (nu) and the rewind position mark which is a left / right symmetric mark are used.

Then, if the cache fast-forward playback state shown in FIG. 5 is continued, the fast-forward position mark (nu) approaches the recording position mark (f), but the reproduction position of the program signal from the recording medium 4 is being broadcast. Upon catching up to the location of the program signal, the screen display is switched to the screen display when the cache is ON shown in FIG.

The above-described cache reproduction, cache fast-forward reproduction, and cache rewind reproduction can be performed only during the period in which the color of the bar shown in (g) is highlighted, and for the other periods, Needless to say, these cannot be reproduced.

Further, in the cache ON state, the cueing instruction is input to the key input unit 12 without performing the rewind instruction.
By doing so, it is possible to instantly search for a break in time and play back from that break. For example, in the example shown in FIG.
It is between 2:30 and when the cueing instruction is issued, the first 00 or 30 minutes, which is the time from the current time to the past, is 12:00, so at 12:00 Playback of the recorded program signal is started.

Further, if the cueing instruction is continuously performed once again, the next 00 or 30 minutes is 11:30, so that the reproduction of the program signal recorded at 11:30 is started. When the cueing instruction is performed once again, the next 00
Minute or 30 minutes is 11:00, but 11:00
Since there is no program signal recorded per minute, reproduction of the program signal at the head of the cache is started.

That is, when the cueing instruction is issued, the program signal recorded at the first 00 minutes or 30 minutes, which is the time from the current time to the past, is reproduced. If no signal exists, the program signal at the head of the cache is reproduced.

In order to execute the above operation, the system controller 9 acquires the current time information output by the system clock 10 at the time when the cueing instruction is performed by the key input unit 12. Then, the value of the time information is traced back until the information of the minute unit in the obtained current time information becomes a value of 00 or 30, and the time information at the time of the value of 00 or 30 is reproduced as the reproduction time information. To the media manager 3. Then, the media manager 3 determines the reproduction address of the program signal to be reproduced based on the reproduction time information and the program-related information reproduced from the recording medium 4, and starts reproducing the program signal corresponding to the reproduction time information.

The cueing operation is also effective at the time of cache reproduction shown in FIG. In the case where a forward search instruction and a backward search instruction are provided in the search instruction, in the example shown in FIG. 12:00 at direction heading
The reproduction of the program signal recorded at 0 minutes can be started. Further, in the example shown in FIG. 4, the cache reproduction state may be released by issuing the forward search command twice. In this case, the screen display is as shown in FIG.

Next, a description will be given of a time-shift reproduction operation for recording a program on the recording medium 4 and reproducing the program from a desired portion recorded on the recording medium 4. In this time shift reproduction, unlike the cache operation described above, the recorded program is not automatically deleted from the recording medium 4.

When the user issues a cueing instruction while the program signal compressed by the recording signal processing unit 1 is recorded on the recording medium 4, time-shift reproduction is started at that point. Then, the media manager 3 records the program signal from the recording controller 2 on the recording medium 4 and outputs the program signal reproduced from the recording medium 4 to the reproduction controller as in the case of the cache reproduction described above. The operation and the operation are switched at a high speed to perform the time division processing.

When the user issues a cueing instruction while the program signal is being recorded on the recording medium 4, unlike the cache ON state or the cache reproduction state described above, the head of the program signal is different. Playback starts from the part. Similarly, when a cueing instruction is issued during the time shift reproduction, the reproduction is started from the head of the program signal.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the on-screen information displayed on the screen in the time-shift reproduction state. FIG. 6 shows a bar (e) and a reproduction position on the scale of the time used in the cache reproduction shown in FIG. The information of the mark (b), the recording position mark (f), the time (i) at the time of recording of the program signal being reproduced, and the current time (h) are displayed in the same manner even during time shift reproduction. . Also, the display (g) indicating the period during which the program signal is recorded is displayed in the same manner during time-shift reproduction, but since there is no setting to hold the program signal for a predetermined time as in the case of cache reproduction, there is no setting. The only difference is that this display becomes longer as the recording progresses.

As described above, even if the reproduction is not started from the beginning of the program, the time-shift reproduction can be started from the middle of the program by instructing the rewind during the recording of the program signal. When a rewind instruction is issued, the previously described rewind position mark is displayed instead of the reproduction position mark (b). When a fast forward instruction is issued, the previously described fast forward position mark is reproduced. It is displayed instead of the position mark (b).

In the above description, an example is shown in which an incoming program signal is compressed by the recording signal processing section 1 and output to the recording controller 2. For example, a program signal compressed by the MPEG system is transmitted. When receiving and recording this, it goes without saying that the received program signal may be directly supplied to the recording controller 2 without going through the recording signal processing unit 1.

If the time information of the broadcast of the program signal is already superimposed on the program signal compressed by the MPEG system, the recording controller 2 sets the system clock 10
It is not necessary to add the current time information output by the program signal to this program signal, and the reproduction controller 5 extracts the time information at the time of program broadcasting when the program signal is reproduced.

Next, an MPEG program signal on which program guide information such as an EPG (Electric Program Guide) is superimposed is supplied to the recording controller 2, and this is transmitted to the recording medium 4.
The operation at the time of recording and reproducing above will be described. In that case,
The program signal is recorded and reproduced in the same manner as described above, but the program guide information is also recorded on the recording medium 4 and reproduced together with the program signal. It is assumed that the program guide information can be extracted by the recording controller 2 when the program signal is recorded, and can also be extracted by the reproduction controller 5 when the program signal is reproduced.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing on-screen information displayed on the screen when a program signal on which program guide information is superimposed is received and the cache is turned on. ), The recording position mark (f), the inverted display of the period of the cached program (g), the current time (h), and the program name of the cached program (g) is displayed.

[0049] Therefore, the user can reproduce the news from the beginning of the program by giving the cue instruction once while viewing this screen. You can play from the beginning.

In order to display the program name of the program in the cache in this way, the recording controller 2 extracts the program guide information and extracts it from the system controller 9.
And the system controller 9 transmits the program guide information to the display controller 8, and the OSD processing unit 7 performs processing.

If the time information of the broadcast of the program signal is already superimposed on the program signal compressed by the MPEG system, the recording controller 2 outputs the superimposed time information together with the program signal. System clock 1
It is not always necessary to add the current time information output by 0 to this program signal. The time information recorded together with the program signal is reproduced together with the program signal, and the reproduction controller 5 extracts the time information indicating the program broadcast time when the program signal is reproduced.

In the above description, the display (g) indicating the period during which the program signal is recorded is the same in both the cache reproduction state and the time shift reproduction state. By making this display blue in the cache reproduction state and making this display red in the time shift reproduction state, the cache reproduction state and the time shift reproduction state can be distinguished on the screen.

[0053]

According to the present invention, by instructing the start of a program, the 00 or 30 minutes at the time of recording of the program signal recorded on the recording medium is reproduced. Even during cache playback, the beginning of the program can be quickly played back, making it very convenient.

[0054]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a configuration of a program signal recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a screen display during normal reproduction.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a screen display when a cache is turned on.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a screen display during cache reproduction.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a screen display at the time of cache fast-forward reproduction.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a screen display during time shift reproduction.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a screen display when a cache is ON (during reception of a program signal with program guide information).

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Recording signal processing part 2 ... Recording controller 3 ... Media manager 4 ... Recording medium 5 ... Reproduction controller 6 ... Reproduction signal processing part 7 ... OSD processing part 8 ... Display controller 9 ... System controller 10 ... System clock 11 ... Recording reservation manager 12 ... Key input section

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 5C053 FA23 GA11 GB37 HA21 HA24 HA29 JA16 JA22 5D077 AA22 BA15 CA02 DC11 DE08 EA37 HC32 5D110 AA13 DA16 DA17 DB05 DC05 DC06 DC15 DE02 DE04

Claims (2)

[Claims] Claims 1. A program signal is recorded on a recording medium,
A program signal recording / reproducing apparatus for reproducing a recorded portion of the program signal being recorded on the recording medium, wherein the time information generating means generates time information as time passes; Recording means for recording on the recording medium, together with the program signal, time information indicating the time at which the program signal was broadcast or the time information indicating the time at which the program signal was broadcasted; When a cueing instruction of a program is issued by the cueing instruction inputting means, the current time information generated by the time information generating means is obtained, and the current time indicated by the obtained current time information is the past time 00. A first cue reproduction unit for performing cue reproduction of a program signal recorded at a time as far back as 30 minutes or 30 minutes. 2. A program signal that is temporally continuous from the past to the present is always recorded on a recording medium up to a predetermined amount,
A cache reproduction mode for reproducing a recorded portion of the program signal being recorded; and a program signal recorded on the recording medium based on a recording start timing determined by a user operation. A time shift reproduction mode for reproducing a recorded portion of a signal; and a second head for performing cueing reproduction from a recording start timing of the program signal when a cueing instruction of the program is performed by the cueing instruction input means. In the cache reproduction mode, while the cue reproduction is performed by the first cue reproduction means, the cue reproduction by the second cue reproduction means is performed in the time shift reproduction mode. 2. The program signal recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the program signal is reproduced.