JP2003122620A - Information processor and information processing method, and recording medium and program therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make performable a Web cache. SOLUTION: A video camera 1 retrieves a home page provided on a WWW server from the Internet (network 2) on a Web browser, and displays it on a display part, and stores the data of the home page retrieved once in a recording media 10. That is, Web cache using the recording media 10 is executed. Thus, when the display of the same home page is requested again, the data are retrieved not from the Internet (network 2) but from the recording media 10 so that the home page can be displayed based on the data. Therefore, it is possible to quickly display the home page accessed once.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and method, a recording medium, and a program, and more particularly, to an information processing apparatus and method, a recording medium, and a recording medium capable of appropriately storing input data. And about the program.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A small electronic device (for example, a mobile phone) that stores and processes input information may store the input information in an internal storage medium (memory) for processing.

[0003]

However, since the internal memory built in the conventional small-sized electronic device has a small storage capacity, for example, the data of the home page searched once is stored in the internal memory. There is a problem that a so-called Web (World Wide Web) cache, in which the home page is displayed using the stored data when the search is performed again, cannot be appropriately performed.

The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and even in a small electronic device, for example, a Web
It allows the cache to be performed properly.

[0005]

An information processing apparatus according to the present invention includes an input means for inputting a command for executing a predetermined process on processed data, and a processing when the command is input by the input means. When the determination unit determines whether the data is recorded in the external recording medium and the determination unit determines that the processing data is not recorded in the external recording medium, the processing data is stored in the external device. When the determination means determines that the processing data is recorded in the external recording medium, the processing data is acquired from the external recording medium, and the processing data is acquired from the external recording medium. And a processing means for executing processing according to the command on the processing data acquired by the acquisition means.

According to the information processing method of the present invention, an input step for inputting a command for executing a predetermined process on the processed data, and when the command is input in the process of the input step, the processed data is an external data. When it is determined that the processing data is not recorded in the external recording medium in the determination step of determining whether the processing data is recorded in the recording medium and the processing of the determination step, the processing data is acquired from the external device. At the same time, the acquired processing data is recorded in an external recording medium, and when the processing of the determination step determines that the processing data is recorded in the external recording medium, the processing data is acquired from the external recording medium. It is characterized by including an acquisition step and a processing step of executing processing according to a command on the processing data acquired by the processing of the acquisition step.

The program of the recording medium of the present invention is an input control step for controlling the input of a command for executing a predetermined process on process data, and a process when the command is input in the process of the input control step. When the data is determined not to be recorded in the external recording medium in the determination control step for controlling the determination of whether or not the data is recorded in the external recording medium, and the processing of the determination control step,
In addition to controlling the processing data to be acquired from an external device, the acquired processing data is controlled to be recorded in an external recording medium, and the processing data is recorded in the external recording medium in the process of the judgment control step. When it is determined that the processing data is acquired, an acquisition control step for controlling the processing data to be acquired from an external recording medium, and execution of processing according to the command for the processing data acquired in the processing of the acquisition control step are controlled. And a processing control step for performing the processing.

According to the program of the present invention, an input control step for controlling the input of a command for executing a predetermined process on the processed data, and when the command is input in the process of the input control step, the processed data is When it is determined that the processing data is not recorded in the external recording medium in the determination control step that controls the determination of whether the processing data is recorded in the external recording medium and the processing of the determination control step, the processing data is recorded in the external recording medium. Control so that the acquired processing data is recorded in an external recording medium, and in the processing of the judgment control step, it is judged that the processing data is recorded in the external recording medium. When the processing is performed, the processing data is controlled to be acquired from an external recording medium, and the processing data acquired in the processing of the acquisition control step is processed. That it is characterized in that to execute a processing including a processing control step of controlling execution of processing corresponding to the command to the computer.

In the information processing apparatus and method and the program of the present invention, a command for executing a predetermined process is input to the process data, and when the command is input, the process data is an external recording medium. When it is determined that the processed data is not recorded on the external recording medium, the processed data is acquired from the external device and the acquired processed data is recorded on the external device. Although recorded on the recording medium, when it is determined that the processing data is recorded on the external recording medium, the processing data is acquired from the external recording medium, and the acquired processing data is responded to by the command. Processing is executed.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows an example of use of a video camera 1 to which the present invention is applied.

The video camera 1 has an internal memory 16 having a small storage capacity, and
A recording medium 10 such as a disk 10A or a memory stick (trademark) 10B having a larger capacity than the internal memory 16 is mounted.

The video camera 1 communicates with the server 3 or the terminal 4 or the like via the network 2, receives the information transmitted from them, and receives the information from the internal memory 16 or the recording medium in a required form. Store in 10.

For example, the video camera 1 records all the received information in both the internal memory 16 and the recording medium 10 (hereinafter referred to as the first storage processing).

If the received information is stored only in the internal memory 16, the storage capacity of the internal memory 16 is not large. Therefore, in order to secure a storage area, the previously stored information must be frequently deleted. As a result, old information cannot be retained for a long time.

Therefore, when the video camera 1 records the received information in the internal memory 16, the same information is also recorded in the recording medium 10. That is, the video camera 1
Even if the received information is backed up and the received information stored in the internal memory 16 is deleted to store new received information, the same received information can be read from the recording medium 10.

The video camera 1 tries to store the received information in the internal memory 16 first. However, when the data amount of the received information exceeds the storage capacity of the internal memory 16, the received information is stored in the internal memory 16. The remaining data that cannot be recorded is recorded in the recording medium 10 (hereinafter referred to as the second storage process). This allows the video camera 1
Can handle received information having a large amount of data, even if the received information is received.

Further, in the video camera 1, when the received information is composed of data having a plurality of attributes (for example, an electronic mail consisting of a message and an attached file), for example, a data portion having a small amount of data. The (message part) is stored in the internal memory 16, and the data part (attached file part) having a large amount of data is recorded in the recording medium 10. (Hereinafter, referred to as a third storage process). As a result, the internal memory 1 suitable for the storage capacity
6 can be used.

Further, the video camera 1 searches the home page provided by the WWW (World Wide Web) service from the Internet (network 2) on the Web browser and displays it on the display unit (not shown). However, the home page data (material file such as HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) file or image file) retrieved once is stored in the recording medium 10 (hereinafter, referred to as a fourth storage process). That is, the Web cache using the so-called recording medium 10 is performed. As a result, when the same homepage is requested to be displayed again, this time, instead of searching the Internet (network 2) for the data, the data stored in the recording medium 10 is read and the homepage is displayed based on the data. can do. As a result, the home page accessed once can be displayed quickly.

FIG. 2 shows a structural example of a portion of the video camera 1 related to the present invention. The details of the configuration example will be described later.

The input / output unit 12 is composed of a display unit combined with a touch panel, a microphone, a speaker and the like. The input / output unit 12 displays an image or sound corresponding to the image data or sound data supplied from the control unit 11 on the display unit or outputs from the speaker. The input / output unit 12 also supplies the audio signal input from the microphone to the control unit 11.

The operation unit 13 is composed of various buttons (not shown) and outputs signals to the control unit 11 in accordance with the contents of operations performed by the user on the buttons.

The external interface 14 performs mutual transmission of data with an external device connected to the video camera 1.

The internal memory controller 15 writes and reads data to and from the internal memory 16 in response to various recording processes.

The recording medium control unit 17 writes and reads data to and from the recording medium 10 in response to various recording processes.

The communication unit 18 is connected via the network 2
The control unit 11 communicates with the server 3 and the terminal 4 and receives the information transmitted from the server 3 and the terminal 4
Supply to. The communication unit 18 also transmits the data supplied from the control unit 11 to the server 3 and the terminal 4 via the network 2.

Next, the procedure of the first storage processing will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In step S1, when the communication section 18 receives the content (image or sound) transmitted from the server 3, for example, in step S2, the control section 11 causes the internal memory control section 15 to It is determined whether or not a free storage area sufficient to store the received content is present in the internal memory 16, and if it is determined that it is not present, the process proceeds to step S3.

In step S3, the control unit 11 causes, for example, the internal memory 16 via the internal memory control unit 15.
The old data (data recorded earlier in time) stored in the memory is erased in order, and a necessary free storage area is secured in the internal memory 16.

If it is determined in step S2 that the internal memory 16 has a sufficient free storage area, or if the necessary free storage area is secured in step S3, the process proceeds to step S4.

In step S4, the control section 11 stores the content received in step S1 in the internal memory 16 via the internal memory control section 15.

Next, in step S5, the controller 11
Controls the recording medium control unit 17 to determine whether the recording medium 10 is attached to the video camera 1 (whether data can be written to the recording medium 10), and determines that the recording medium 10 is attached. If yes, step S6
Proceed to.

In step S6, the control section 11 determines whether or not the recording medium 10 mounted on the video camera 1 has a sufficient free recording area for recording the content received in step S1. If it is determined that there is a sufficient recording area, the process proceeds to step S7, and the content received in step S1 via the recording medium control unit 17 (similar to the content recorded in the internal memory 16 in step S4). Content)
It records on the recording medium 10.

In step S8, as shown in FIG. 4, the control unit 11 determines the ID of the content received in step S1 determined at a predetermined timing, the ID of the recording medium 10 in which the content is recorded, and the content. The data path indicating the location on the recording medium 10 in which is recorded is written in the index table. The index table is stored in the internal memory 16.

That is, when the content is recorded on the recording medium 10 in step S7, the content is recorded according to the file structure as shown in FIG. Figure 5
Where ID_PATH represents the location on the recording medium 10 where the ID of the recording medium 10 is stored, and CONTENTS_PATH
Represents the location where the content data is stored,
SCRIPT is a location where the application starting method on the recording medium 10, detailed information regarding the content and information regarding the reproducing method is stored, APPLICATION_PATH.
Indicates the location where the application data is stored.

In the case of this example, the content data (imagedata in the example of FIG. 4) is recorded in the path below APPLICATION_PATH.

Information on the public encryption key can be stored in the ID_PATH, if necessary.

Returning to FIG. 3, when it is determined in step S5 that the recording medium 10 is not mounted, when it is determined in step S6 that the recording medium 10 does not have a sufficient empty recording area, or step When the index is updated in S8, the process ends.

That is, when it is determined in step S5 that the recording medium 10 is not mounted, or when it is determined in step S6 that the recording medium 10 does not have a sufficient empty recording area, steps S7 and S8. Since the processing of step 1 is skipped, the content received in step S1 is not recorded in the recording medium 10 and the index table is not updated.

Next, the process of using the content recorded as described above will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In step S11, for example, when the user performs an operation for using (for example, reproducing) the content on the operation unit 13 and a signal (command) indicating that is input, control is performed. Part 11 is step S
In step 12, the stored content (stored content) of the internal memory 16 is confirmed, and in step S13, the content of the index table is confirmed.

Next, in step S14, the control unit 1
1 determines whether or not the recording medium 10 is mounted. When it is determined that the recording medium 10 is mounted, the process proceeds to step S15, and the recorded content (recorded content) of the mounted recording medium 10 is confirmed. To do.

When it is determined in step S14 that the recording medium 10 is not loaded, or in step S1
When the recorded contents of the recording medium 10 are confirmed in 5,
In step S16, the control unit 11 controls the internal memory 16
Result of confirmation of the stored contents (step S12) and confirmation result of the contents of the index table (step S1)
3) or, if the recording medium 10 is mounted, a content list is created and displayed based on the confirmation result of the recorded content of the recording medium 10 as well.

FIG. 7 shows a display example of the content list. The content list includes a sender, a reception date, a title, and a record of the content stored in the internal memory 16 and the content whose information is managed by the index table (content recorded in some recording medium 10). An icon showing the medium 10 and a display showing whether or not there is data in the internal memory 16 are shown.

In the example of FIG. 7, information about contents A to D is displayed. Content is
When recorded on the recording medium 10, the icon of the recording medium 10 is displayed. In the case of the example in FIG. 7, the contents A and C are recorded on the disc 10A, and the content B is recorded on the memory stick 10B, so those icons are displayed. When the content is not recorded in the recording medium 10 (for example, when the information is not managed in the index table), the icon of the recording medium 10 is not shown therein like the column showing the content D.

When the content is recorded on the recording medium 10, but the recording medium 10 is not currently mounted on the video camera 1, the column corresponding to the content is displayed in a shaded manner. . In the case of the example in FIG. 7, since the disc 10A is currently mounted in the video camera, the column corresponding to the content B recorded on the memory stick 10B is displayed in a shaded manner.

Returning to FIG. 6, in step S17, the control unit 11 waits until the user operates the operation unit 13 to select a predetermined content, and when the content is selected, the process proceeds to step S18. The user is shown in FIG.
With reference to the content list as shown in FIG.
When a predetermined content is selected via 3, the content is not recorded in both the internal memory 16 and the recording medium 10 (disk 10A) currently mounted, such as the content B, for example. Needs to insert the memory stick 10B in which the content B is recorded into the video camera 1.

In step S18, the control section 11
The content selected in step S17 is read from the internal memory 16 or the recording medium 10 and a predetermined process (playback process) is executed.

Then, the process ends.

Next, another process using the recorded contents will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In step S21, for example, when the user performs an operation for using (for example, reproducing) the content on the operation unit 13 and a signal (command) indicating that is input, the control unit 11 is step S
At 22, the contents stored in the internal memory 16 (stored contents) are confirmed, and at step S23, the contents of the index table are confirmed.

In step S24, the control section 11
Confirmation result of contents stored in the internal memory 16 (step S2
2) and based on the confirmation result of the contents of the index list (step S23), a contents list is created and displayed.

FIG. 9 shows a display example of the content list. The content list includes senders of contents recorded in the internal memory 16 and contents whose information is managed in the index table.
The reception date, title, etc. are shown.

Returning to FIG. 8, in step S25, the control unit 11 waits until the user operates the operation unit 13 to select a predetermined content, and when the content is selected, the process proceeds to step S26.

In step S26, the controller 11
When it is determined whether or not the selected content is stored in the internal memory 16, and it is determined that it is stored,
In step S29, it is read from the internal memory 16 and a predetermined process (reproduction process) is executed.

On the other hand, in step S26, the internal memory 16
If it is determined that it is not stored in step S27, step S27.
Proceed to step 1 and the selected content is recorded on the specified recording medium 1.
0, and it is determined whether or not the recording medium 10 is loaded. If it is determined that the recording medium 10 is loaded and the recording medium 10 is loaded, the process proceeds to step S29. Then, the content is read from the recording medium 10 and a predetermined process (playback process) is executed.

When it is determined in step S27 that the selected content is not recorded in the recording medium 10 or the recorded recording medium 10 is not mounted, the process proceeds to step S28 and the control unit 11 Through the input / output unit 12, a display for prompting the user to mount the recording medium 10 in which the selected content is recorded is displayed on the display unit as shown in FIG.

Then, the process returns to step S27 and the subsequent processing is executed.

Next, the procedure of the second storage processing will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In the case of this example, it is assumed that the recording medium 10 is already attached to the video camera 1.

In step S41, the control section 11
When the communication unit 18 receives, for example, the content transmitted from the server 3, the process proceeds to step S42, and the received content is stored in the free storage area of the internal memory 16 via the internal memory control unit 15. Remember as much as you can. The control unit 11
Before storing the content, the old data stored in the internal memory 16 may be deleted to secure a certain storage area.

Next, in step S43, the controller 1
1 determines whether or not all the contents received in step S41 are stored in the internal memory 16 in step S42, and if it is determined that they are not stored, the process proceeds to step S44, and the remaining content data is stored. The data is recorded on the recording medium 10.

In step S45, the control section 11
As in step S8 of FIG. 3, step S
The index table is updated according to the recording of the content on the recording medium 10 at 44.

When it is determined in step S43 that all the contents are stored in the internal memory 16, or when the index table is updated in step S45, the process ends.

Next, the procedure of the third storage processing will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In the case of this example, a case of receiving an electronic mail will be described as an example.

In step S51, the control section 11
When the communication unit 18 receives the electronic mail transmitted from the server 3, the terminal 4, or the like, step S52
Then, it is determined whether or not the file is attached to the e-mail, and when it is determined that the file is attached, the process proceeds to step S53.

In step S53, the control section 11
It is determined whether or not the recording medium 10 is attached. When it is determined that the recording medium 10 is attached, the process proceeds to step S54,
It is determined whether or not there is a free recording area on the recording medium 10 in which the file attached to the e-mail can be recorded. If it is determined that there is a free recording area, the process proceeds to step S55.

In step S55, the control section 11
The file attached to the e-mail is recorded on the recording medium 10 via the recording medium control unit 17, and in step S56, for example, as in the case of step S8 of FIG. 3, the contents for the recording medium 10 of step S55 are recorded. The index table is updated according to the record.

If it is determined in step S52 that no file is attached to the e-mail, or if the index table is updated in step S56, the process proceeds to step S57, where the control unit 11 deletes the message part of the e-mail. , To the internal memory 16 via the internal memory control unit 15.

If it is determined in step S53 that the recording medium 10 is not loaded, or if it is determined in step S54 that there is not a sufficient recording area in the recording medium 10, the process proceeds to step S58, and the control unit 11 causes the internal memory The entire electronic mail, that is, both the message part and the attached file is stored in the internal memory 16 via the control unit 15.

In step S57, when the message portion is stored in the internal memory 16, or in step S58,
When the entire e-mail is stored in the internal memory 16, the process ends.

Next, the procedure of the fourth recording process will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

With the Web browser running, the control unit 11 of the video camera 1 waits until the URL of the home page that the user wants to display and its header information are input from the input / output unit 12 in step S71. . When the user operates the link button or the like to input the URL or the header information from the input / output unit 12, the process proceeds to step S72 and the index table updated in step S95 described later is displayed. Check the contents. In this index table, the URL of the homepage where the HTML file and the material file are recorded on the recording medium 10, the header information, the reception date, the ID of the recording medium 10, the data path, etc. are described.

In step S73, the control section 11
Based on the confirmation result in step S72, step S7
It is determined whether or not the URL homepage data input in 1 is recorded in the recording medium 10. If it is determined that the data is not recorded, the process proceeds to step S74.

In step S74, the controller 11
Via the communication unit 18, the homepage data is acquired from the server (for example, the server 3) indicated by the URL, and the step S
At 75, it is stored (cached).

Details of the cache processing in step S75 are shown in the flowchart of FIG.

In step S91, the control section 11
If it is determined that the recording medium 10 is attached to the video camera 1, and if it is determined that the recording medium 10 is attached, the process proceeds to step S92, and the expiration date of the homepage data recorded in the recording medium 10 The broken data is detected based on the header information and the like, and is deleted.

Next, in step S93, the control unit 1
1 determines whether or not there is a sufficient free recording capacity in the recording medium 10, and when it determines that there is sufficient free recording capacity, the process proceeds to step S94, and the home page data acquired in step S74 is passed through the recording medium control unit 17. And records (caches) it on the recording medium 10.

Next, in step S95, the control unit 1
First, the index table newly describes the URL and header information of the homepage acquired in step S74, and the ID and data path of the recording medium in which the homepage data is recorded, and also in step S92.
Delete the entry in the column corresponding to the home page from which the data was deleted in and update the index table.

Thereafter, the processing is step S80 in FIG.
Then, the control unit 11 displays the home page based on the data acquired in step S74 on the display unit via the input / output unit 12.

On the other hand, in step S73, step S71
If it is determined that the home page data of the URL input in step 3 is recorded (cached) in the recording medium 10, the process proceeds to step S76.

In step S76, the control section 11
The recording medium 10 in which the home page data of the URL input in step S71 is recorded is the video camera 1.
If it is determined that it is attached, the process proceeds to step S77.

In step S77, the control section 11
The header information input in step S71 and the step S
The header information described in the index table corresponding to the URL input in 71 is compared, and step S71
It is determined whether or not the home page of the URL input in step 1 has been updated. If it is determined that the home page has not been updated, the process proceeds to step S79, and the data of the home page is acquired from the recording medium 10.

After that, the process proceeds to step S80, and the control unit 1
1 displays the home page based on the data acquired in step S79 on the display unit via the input / output unit 12.

When it is determined in step S76 that the recording medium 10 is not loaded, or in step S7
If it is determined in step 8 that the home page has been updated, the process proceeds to step S74, and the subsequent processes are executed.

FIG. 15 shows a detailed configuration example of the video camera 1. The video controller 38 of the video signal processing unit 30 in FIG. 15 corresponds to the control unit 11 in FIG. 2, and the memory 34 and the program memory 39 correspond to the internal memory 16.

In the example of FIG. 15, the structure of the mechanism for recording / reproducing data with respect to the memory stick 10B is omitted.

The optical system 21 of the lens block 20 is composed of an image pickup lens, a diaphragm, and the like, and a motor section 22.
Is composed of a focus motor for causing the optical system 21 to perform an auto focus operation, a zoom motor for moving the zoom lens, and the like.

The CCD 24 of the camera block 23 is provided with an optical image of the subject transmitted through the optical system 21. The CCD 24 photoelectrically converts the optical image input from the optical system 21 to generate an image pickup signal, and supplies the image pickup signal to the sample hold / AGC circuit 25.

The sample and hold / AGC circuit 25 has the CCD 2
While adjusting the gain for the image pickup signal from 4,
A sample hold process is performed, waveform shaping is performed, and the result is output to the video A / D converter 26. Video A /
The D converter 26 includes a sample hold / AGC circuit 25.
The signal from is converted into digital image signal data.

CCD 24, sample hold / AGC circuit 2
5. The signal processing timing in the video A / D converter 26 is processed by the timing signal generated by the timing generator 27. In the timing generator 27, a clock used for signal processing in a data processing / system controller circuit 31 (inside the video signal processing unit 30) described later is input, and a required timing signal is generated based on this clock. It As a result, the signal processing timing in the camera block 23 is synchronized with the processing timing in the video signal processing unit 30.

The camera controller 28 executes necessary control so that each unit provided in the camera block 23 operates properly, and also controls the lens block 20 for auto focus, automatic exposure adjustment, aperture adjustment, zoom, and the like. Control. For example, in the case of auto focus control, the camera controller 28 controls the rotation angle of the focus motor based on the focus control information obtained according to a predetermined auto focus control method. As a result, the image pickup lens is driven so as to be in a just focus state.

At the time of recording, the video signal processing section 30 performs a compression process on the digital image signal supplied from the camera block 23 and the digital audio signal obtained by collecting the sound by the microphone 71, and outputs the compressed data. It is supplied to the media drive unit 40 in the subsequent stage as user recording data. Further camera block 23
The viewfinder (VF) 73 displays the image generated by the digital image signal and the character image supplied from the.

The video signal processing section 30 also performs demodulation processing on the compressed image signal data and audio signal data supplied from the media drive section 40 during reproduction, and uses these as reproduced image signals and reproduced audio signals. Output.

In the case of this example, MPEG2 is adopted for moving images and JPEG is adopted for still images as a compression / expansion processing method of image signal data (image data). As a compression / decompression processing method for audio signal data, ATRAC (Adaptive Transform Acoustic Cod
ing) 2 is adopted.

The data processing / system control circuit 31 of the video signal processing unit 30 mainly controls the compression / expansion processing of image signal data and audio signal data in the video signal processing unit 30 and the video signal processing unit 30. Execute the data input / output control process.

Data processing / system control circuit 3
The video controller 38 executes the control process for the entire video signal processing unit 30 including 1. The video controller 38 is configured to include, for example, a microcomputer and the like, and can communicate with the camera controller 28 of the camera block 23 and a driver controller 46 of a media drive unit 40 described later via, for example, a bus line (not shown) or the like. Has been done.

A program memory 39 is provided for the video controller 38. The program memory 39 is composed of a rewritable storage element such as an EEPROM or a flash memory, and stores various programs such as various programs to be executed by the video controller 38, which is a master controller, and information such as various setting data. Has been done.

As a basic operation at the time of recording in the video signal processing section 30, the image processing data supplied from the video A / D converter 26 of the camera block 23 is input to the data processing / system control circuit 31.
The data processing / system control circuit 31 supplies the input image signal data to, for example, the motion detection circuit 35. The motion detection circuit 35 performs image processing such as motion compensation on the input image signal data while using the memory 36 as a work area, and then supplies the image signal data to the MPEG2 video signal processing circuit 33.

In the MPEG2 video signal processing circuit 33, while using the memory 34 as a work area,
The input image signal data is compressed according to the MPEG2 format, and a bit stream of compressed data (MPEG2 bit stream) as a moving image is output. Also, the MPEG2 video signal processing circuit 3
3 is configured to generate compressed image data as a still image according to the JPEG format when extracting image data as a still image from image signal data as a moving image and performing compression processing on the image data. ing. In addition,
Instead of using JPEG, it is conceivable to handle an I picture (Intra Picture), which is regular image data, as still image data, as compressed image data in the MPEG2 format.

The image signal data (compressed image data) compression-encoded by the MPEG2 video signal processing circuit 33 is written to the buffer memory 32 at a predetermined transfer rate and temporarily held, for example.

In the MPEG2 format, as is well known, as a so-called coding bit rate (data rate), a constant rate (CBR; Constant Bit Rate),
Both variable speed (VBR; Variable Bit Rate) are supported, and the video signal processing unit 30 is supposed to be able to support them.

For example, in the case of performing image compression processing by VBR, for example, in the motion detection circuit 35, motion detection is performed in the range of several tens to several hundreds of frames before and after the image data in units of macro blocks, and motion detection is performed If so, this detection result is transmitted to the MPEG2 video signal processing circuit 33 as motion vector information.

In the MPEG2 video signal processing circuit 33, quantization is performed for each macroblock while using necessary information such as motion vector information so that the image data after compression coding has a certain required data rate. The coefficient is decided.

The audio compression encoder / decoder 37 includes:
For example, the voice collected by the microphone 71 is input as digital voice signal data via the A / D converter 64 (in the input / output unit 12).

In the audio compression encoder / decoder 37,
As described above, the compression processing is performed on the audio signal data input according to the ATRAC2 format. This compressed audio signal data is also written into the buffer memory 32 by the data processing / system control circuit 31 at a predetermined transfer rate and temporarily stored therein.

As described above, the compressed image data and the compressed audio signal data can be stored in the buffer memory 32. The buffer memory 32 mainly includes the camera block 23 or the input / output unit 12 and the buffer memory 32.
It has a function of absorbing the speed difference between the data transfer rate between the two and the data transfer rate between the buffer memory 32 and the media drive unit 40.

The compressed image data and the compressed audio signal data accumulated in the buffer memory 32 are sequentially read at a predetermined timing during recording and transmitted to the MD-DATA2 encoder / decoder 41 of the media drive unit 40. To be done. However, for example, the operation of reading the data accumulated in the buffer memory 32 during reproduction and recording the read data from the media drive unit 40 to the disc 10A via the deck unit 50 is performed intermittently. I don't mind.

The data write / read control to / from the buffer memory 32 is executed by the data processing / system control circuit 31, for example.

The operation of the video signal processing unit 30 during reproduction is roughly as follows. During playback, it is read from the disc 10A and the MD-DATA2 encoder /
Compressed image data and compressed audio signal data (user reproduction data) decoded according to the MD-DATA2 format by the processing of the decoder 41 (in the media drive unit 40)
Are transmitted to the data processing / system control circuit 31.

Data processing / system control circuit 3
In 1, the input compressed image data and compressed audio signal data are temporarily stored in the buffer memory 32. Then, for example, at the required timing and transfer rate which are adapted to obtain the reproduction time axis alignment, the buffer memory 3
The compressed image data and the compressed audio signal data are read from 2, and the compressed image data is supplied to the MPEG2 video signal processing circuit 33, and the compressed audio signal data is supplied to the audio compression encoder / decoder 37.

In the MPEG2 video signal processing circuit 33, the input compressed image data is decompressed and transmitted to the data processing / system control circuit 31. The data processing / system control circuit 31 supplies the expanded image signal data to the video D / A converter 61 (in the input / output unit 12).

In the audio compression encoder / decoder 37,
The input compressed audio signal data is expanded and supplied to the D / A converter 65 (in the input / output unit 12).

In the input / output unit 12, the image signal data input to the video D / A converter 61 is converted into an analog image signal here, and is branched and input to the display controller 62 and the composite signal processing circuit 63. To be done.

The display controller 62 drives the display section 67A based on the input image signal. As a result, the reproduced image is displayed on the display unit 67A.
Further, in the display section 67A, not only the display of the image obtained by reproducing from the disc 10A, but of course, the captured image obtained by the camera portion including the lens block 20 and the camera block 23 is also displayed. It is possible to display and output in almost real time.

In addition to the reproduced image and the picked-up image, a message is displayed by characters or characters for notifying the user of a required message according to the operation of the device. Such a message display should be output from the data processing / system control circuit 31 to the video D / A converter 61 so that required characters and characters are displayed at predetermined positions under the control of the video controller 38, for example. A process of synthesizing image signal data such as a desired character or character may be executed on the image signal data.

A touch panel 67B is combined with the display section 67A to form the display panel 67. The touch panel 67B detects position information of the pressing operation performed on the display unit 67A and outputs the position information to the video controller 38 as operation information.

In the composite signal processing circuit 63, the analog image signal supplied from the video D / A converter 61 is converted into a composite signal and the video output terminal
Output to Tl. For example, if an external monitor device or the like is connected through the video output terminal Tl, the image reproduced by the video camera 1 can be displayed by the external monitor device.

Also, in the input / output unit 12, the audio signal data input from the audio compression encoder / decoder 37 to the D / A converter 65 is converted into an analog audio signal here and output to the headphone / line terminal T2. To be done. Further, the analog audio signal output from the D / A converter 65 is also branched and output to the speaker 72 via the amplifier 66, whereby the reproduced sound or the like is output from the speaker 72. Become.

In the media drive section 40, mainly
At the time of recording, the recorded data is encoded according to the MD-DATA2 format so as to be suitable for disc recording and transmitted to the deck section 50, and at the time of reproduction, decoding processing is performed on the data read from the disc 10A in the deck section 50. Then, the reproduction data is obtained and transmitted to the video signal processing unit 30.

MD-DATA2 of this media drive unit 40
The encoder / decoder 41 receives recording data (compressed image data + compressed audio signal data) from the data processing / system control circuit 31 during recording,
The recorded data is subjected to a predetermined encoding process according to the MD-DATA 2 format, and the encoded data is stored in the temporary buffer memory 42. Then, the data is transmitted to the deck unit 50 while being read at a required timing.

At the time of reproduction, the digital reproduction signal read from the disk 10A and inputted through the RF signal processing circuit 44 and the binarization circuit 43 is subjected to decoding processing according to the MD-DATA2 format, The reproduction data is transmitted to the data processing / system control circuit 31 of the video signal processing unit 30. Even at this time, if necessary, the reproduction data is temporarily stored in the buffer memory 42, and the data read out from the buffer memory 42 at a required timing is used as the data processing / system control circuit 31.
To be transmitted and output. The writing / reading control for the buffer memory 42 is executed by the driver controller 46.

Note that, for example, when reproducing a disc,
Even when the servo or the like is disengaged due to disturbance or the like and the reading of the signal from the disk 10A becomes impossible, the reproducing operation for the disk 10A is restored within the period when the read data is accumulated in the buffer memory 42. By doing so, it becomes possible to maintain the time-series continuity of the reproduction data.

The RF signal processing circuit 44 subjects the read signal from the disk 10A to the required processing, for example, an RF signal as reproduction data, a focus error signal for servo control of the deck section 50, and a tracking error signal. Etc. to generate servo control signals. The RF signal is binarized by the binarization circuit 43 as described above and input to the MD-DATA2 encoder / decoder 41 as digital signal data.

The various servo control signals thus generated are supplied to the servo circuit 45. The servo circuit 45 executes required servo control in the deck section 50 based on the input servo control signal.

In the present example, the encoder / decoder 47 corresponding to the MD-DATA1 format is provided, and the recording data supplied from the video signal processing unit 30 is encoded according to the MD-DATA1 format and recorded on the disc 10A. Recording or disc 10A
It is also possible to perform the decoding process for the read data from the device encoded in accordance with the MD-DATA1 format, and transmit and output it to the video signal processing unit 30. In other words, the video camera 1 of this example is configured so as to be compatible with the MD-DATA2 format and the MD-DATA1 format.

The driver controller 46 is a functional circuit section for controlling the media drive section 40 as a whole.

The deck portion 50 is a portion composed of a mechanism for driving the disc 10A. Although not shown here, the deck unit 50 has a mechanism in which the disk 10A to be loaded is detachable and can be replaced by the user's work.
Further, it is assumed that the disk 10A here is a magneto-optical disk compatible with the MD-DATA2 format or the MD-DATA1 format.

In the deck section 50, the loaded disk 10A is rotationally driven by CLV by the spindle motor 51 which rotationally drives it by CLV. The optical head 52 irradiates the disk 10A with laser light during recording / reproduction.

The optical head 52 provides a high level laser output for heating the recording track to the Curie temperature during recording, and a relatively low level laser output for detecting data from reflected light by the magnetic Kerr effect during reproduction. Output. Therefore, although not shown in detail here, the optical head 52 is equipped with a laser diode as a laser output means, an optical system including a polarization beam splitter, an objective lens, and the like, and a detector for detecting reflected light. There is. The objective lens provided in the optical head 52 is held by a biaxial mechanism, for example, so as to be displaceable in the radial direction of the disk and in the direction of approaching and separating from the disk.

A magnetic head 53 is arranged at a position facing the optical head 52 with the disk 10A interposed therebetween. The magnetic head 53 performs an operation of applying a magnetic field modulated by the recording data to the disk 10A. Although not shown, the deck portion 50 is provided with a sled mechanism driven by a sled motor 54.
By driving this sled mechanism, the entire optical head 52 and the magnetic head 53 can be moved in the disk radial direction.

The operation section 13 corresponds to various operators, and various operation information of the user by these operators is output to the video controller 38, for example. Video controller 3
Reference numeral 8 denotes the touch panel 67B and the operation unit 13 described above.
The control information is supplied to the camera controller 28 and the driver controller 46 so that each unit can perform a necessary operation according to the operation information output from the unit.

The external interface 14 is provided so that data can be mutually transmitted between the video camera 1 and an external device. For example, as shown in the figure, the external interface 14 is provided between the I / F terminal T3 and the video signal processing section 30. Is provided. The external interface 14 is not particularly limited here, but IEEE 1394 or the like may be adopted, for example.

For example, when an external digital image device is connected to the video camera 1 of this example through the I / F terminal T3,
An image (sound) taken by the video camera 1 can be recorded in an external digital image device. Further, by capturing image (sound) data or the like reproduced by an external digital image device via the external interface 14, it is possible to record the data on the disc 10A according to the MD-DATA2 (or MD-DATA1) format. . Further, it is possible to capture and record a file as character information used for inserting a caption, for example.

The power supply block 19 uses a DC power supply obtained from an internal battery or a DC power supply generated from a commercial AC power supply to supply a power supply voltage of a required level to each functional circuit section.

Next, as the configuration of the media drive section 40 shown in FIG. 15, a detailed configuration in which a functional circuit section corresponding to MD-DATA2 is extracted will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 16, the media drive unit 40
Although the deck portion 50 is shown together, the internal structure of the deck portion 50 has been described with reference to FIG. 15, and therefore the same reference numerals as in FIG. In addition, in the media drive unit 40 shown in FIG.
The same reference numerals are given to the range corresponding to the block of 5.

Information detected by the data read operation of the optical head 52 with respect to the disk 10A (photocurrent obtained by detecting laser reflected light by a photodetector).
Is supplied to the RF amplifier 101 in the RF signal processing circuit 44.

The RF amplifier 101 generates a reproduction RF signal as a reproduction signal from the input detection information and supplies it to the binarization circuit 43. The binarization circuit 43 receives the input reproduction RF.
By binarizing the signal, a reproduced RF signal (binarized RF signal) that has been converted into a digital signal is obtained.

This binarized RF signal is supplied to the MD-DATA2 encoder / decoder 41, and first the AGC / clamp circuit 1
After gain adjustment, clamp processing, and the like are performed via 03, it is input to the equalizer / PLL circuit 104.

The equalizer / PLL circuit 104 performs equalizing processing on the input binarized RF signal and outputs it to the Viterbi decoder 105. Further, the binarized RF signal after the equalizing process is input to the PLL circuit to extract the clock CLK synchronized with the binarized RF signal (RLL (1,7) code string).

The frequency of the clock CLK corresponds to the current disc rotation speed. Therefore, the CLV processor 111 receives the clock CLK from the equalizer / PLL circuit 104, obtains error information by comparing with the reference value corresponding to a predetermined CLV speed, and generates a spindle error signal SPE. Use as an ingredient. Also, the clock CL
K is used as a clock for processing in a required signal processing circuit system including the RLL (1,7) demodulation circuit 106, for example.

The Viterbi decoder 105 includes an equalizer / PL
The binarized RF signal input from the L circuit 104 is decoded according to the so-called Viterbi posterior method. As a result, the reproduction data as the RLL (1,7) code string is obtained. This reproduction data is input to the RLL (1,7) demodulation circuit 106, and is made into a data stream subjected to RLL (1,7) demodulation here.

The data stream obtained by the demodulation processing in the RLL (1,7) demodulation circuit 106 is written to the buffer memory 42 via the data bus 114 and expanded on the buffer memory 42.

The data stream expanded on the buffer memory 42 in this way is first subjected to error correction processing in error correction block units according to the RS-PC system by the ECC processing circuit 116, and further to the desk. The rumple / EDC decoding circuit 117 performs a descramble process and an EDC decoding process (error detection process).

The data that has been subjected to the above processing is used as the reproduction data DATAp. The reproduction data DATAp is transferred from the descramble / EDC decoding circuit 117 to the data processing / system control circuit 31 of the video signal processing unit 30 at a transfer rate according to the transfer clock generated by the transfer clock generating circuit 121. Will be transmitted.

The transfer clock generation circuit 121 is, for example,
When a crystal-based clock is used for data transmission between the media drive unit 40 and the video signal processing unit 30 or data transmission between functional circuit units in the media drive unit 40, a transfer clock of an appropriate frequency ( This is a part for generating a data transfer rate). Further, a clock having a required frequency to be supplied to each functional circuit unit of the media drive unit 40 and the video signal processing unit 30 is generated according to the operation state of the video camera.

The detection information (photocurrent) read from the disk 10A by the optical head 52 is also supplied to the matrix amplifier 107. Matrix amplifier 107
Then, by performing required arithmetic processing on the input detection information, the tracking error signal TE, the focus error signal FE, and the group information (absolute address information recorded as a wobbled group WG (described later) on the disc 10A) GFM Etc. are extracted and supplied to the servo circuit 45.
That is, the extracted tracking error signal TE and focus error signal FE are supplied to the servo processor 112, and the group information GFM is supplied to the ADIP (Address In Pregroove) bandpass filter 108.

The group information GFM band-limited by the ADIP bandpass filter 108 is the A / B track detection circuit 109, the ADIP decoder 110, and the CLV processor 11
Is supplied to 1. In the A / B track detection circuit 109, based on, for example, the method described later with reference to FIG. 18B, from the input group information GFM, the track currently being traced is either track TR.A or TR.B. It is discriminated whether or not it is present, and this track discrimination information is output to the driver controller 46. Also ADIP
The decoder 110 decodes the input group information GFM to extract the ADIP signal which is the absolute address information on the disc and outputs it to the driver controller 46. The driver controller 46 executes required control processing based on the track discrimination information and the ADIP signal.

The CLV processor 111 includes an equalizer / P
The clock CLK and the group information GFM via the ADIP bandpass filter 108 are input from the LL circuit 104. CLV
The processor 111 generates a spindle error signal SPE for CLV servo control based on an error signal obtained by integrating a phase error between the group information GFM and the clock CLK, and outputs the spindle error signal SPE to the servo processor 112. The required operation to be executed by the CLV processor 111 is controlled by the driver controller 46.

The servo processor 112 receives various servo control signals based on the tracking error signal TE, the focus error signal FE, the spindle error signal SPE, the track jump command from the driver controller 46, the access command, etc. which are input as described above. (Tracking control signal, focus control signal, sled control signal, spindle control signal, etc.) are generated and output to the servo driver 113.

The servo driver 113 generates a required servo drive signal based on the servo control signal supplied from the servo processor 112. As the servo drive signal here, a biaxial drive signal (two types of focus direction and tracking direction) that drives the biaxial mechanism, a sled motor drive signal that drives the sled mechanism, and a spindle motor drive signal that drives the spindle motor 52. Becomes

By supplying such a servo drive signal to the deck section 50, focus control, tracking control for the disk 10A, and CLV control for the spindle motor 52 are performed.

When the recording operation is performed on the disc 10A, for example, the data processing / system control circuit 31 of the video signal processing unit 30 scrambles /
The recording data DATAr is input to the EDC encoding circuit 115. This user record data DATAr is
For example, it is input in synchronization with the transfer clock (data transfer rate) generated by the transfer clock generation circuit 121.

Scramble / EDC encoding circuit 115
Then, for example, the recording data DATAr is written in the buffer memory 42, expanded, and subjected to data scrambling processing and EDC encoding processing (error detection code addition processing according to a predetermined method). After this processing, for example, the ECC processing circuit 116
Thus, the error correction code based on the RS-PC system is added to the recording data DATAr developed in the buffer memory 42.

Recording data DATA that has been processed up to this point
r is read from the buffer memory 42 and supplied to the RLL (1,7) modulation circuit 118 via the data bus 114.

The RLL (1,7) modulation circuit 118 subjects the input recording data DATAr to RLL (1,7) modulation processing, and the recording data as this RLL (1,7) code string is applied to the magnetic head drive circuit. Output to 119.

By the way, in the MD-DATA2 format,
A so-called laser strobe magnetic field modulation method is adopted as a recording method for the disc. The laser strobe magnetic field modulation method refers to a recording method in which a magnetic field modulated by recording data is applied to the recording surface of a disk and a laser beam to be applied to the disk emits a pulse in synchronization with the recording data.

In such a laser strobe magnetic field modulation method, the formation process of the pit edge recorded on the disk is determined by the laser pulse irradiation timing without depending on the overwave characteristics such as the reversal speed of the magnetic field. Therefore, for example, in comparison with a simple magnetic field modulation method (a method in which a disk is constantly irradiated with a laser beam and a magnetic field modulated by recording data is applied to a disk recording surface),
In the laser strobe magnetic field modulation method, it is possible to easily reduce the jitter of recorded bits. That is, the laser strobe magnetic field modulation method is a recording method advantageous for high density recording.

The magnetic head drive circuit 119 of the media drive unit 40 operates so that the magnetic field modulated by the input recording data is applied from the magnetic head 53 to the disk 10A. In addition, the RLL (1,7) modulation circuit 118
Outputs a clock synchronized with the recording data to the laser driver 120. The laser driver 120 is
Based on the input clock, the laser diode of the optical head 52 is driven so that the disk is irradiated with a laser pulse synchronized with the recording data generated as a magnetic field by the magnetic head 53. At this time, the laser pulse issued and output from the laser diode is based on the required laser power suitable for recording.
In this way, the recording operation as the laser strobe magnetic field modulation method is enabled by the media drive unit 40 of this example.

17 and 18 conceptually show an example of the track structure of a disc as MD-DATA2. 18A and 18B are a cross-sectional view and a plan view showing, in an enlarged manner, a portion surrounded by a broken line A in FIG. 17, respectively.

As shown in these figures, there are two types of groups (grooves): a wobbled group WG in which wobble (meandering) is given to the disc surface and a non-wobbled group NWG in which no wobble is given. ) Is preformed. The wobbled group WG and the non-wobbled group NWG are present in a double spiral shape on the disc so as to form a land Ld therebetween.

In the MD-DATA2 format, the land Ld is used as a recording track (track on which data is recorded), but the wobbled group WG and the non-wobbled group NWG are formed as described above. Therefore, also as recording tracks, two tracks of tracks T r · A and T r · B are independently formed in a double spiral (double spiral) shape.

The track Tr.A is a track in which the wobbled group WG is located on the outer circumference side of the disc and the non-wobbled group NWG is located on the inner circumference side of the disc. On the other hand, the track T r · B is a track in which the wobbled group WG is located on the inner side of the disc and the non-wobbled group NWG is located on the outer side of the disc.

That is, with respect to the track Tr · A, wobbles are formed only on one side on the outer peripheral side of the disk, and the track Tr
-As B, it can be considered that wobbles are formed only on one side of the inner circumference of the disc. In this case, the track pitch is set to the adjacent track Tr ・ A.
And the distance between each center of the truck Tr / B.
As shown in B, the track pitch is 0.95 μm.

Here, the wobble formed in the group as the wobbled group WG is formed on the basis of the signal in which the physical address on the disk is encoded by FM modulation + pi phase modulation. Therefore, it is possible to extract the physical address on the disc by demodulating the reproduction information obtained from the wobbling given to the wobbled group WG during recording and reproduction.

Further, the address information as the wobbled group WG is commonly effective for the tracks Tr.A and Tr.B. That is, the track Tr / A located on the inner side and the track Tr / B located on the outer side across the wobbled group WG are made to share the address information by the wobbling given to the wobbled group WG. .

Note that such an addressing system is also called an interlace addressing system. By adopting this interlaced addressing method, for example, it is possible to reduce the track pitch while suppressing crosstalk between adjacent wobbles. Also, regarding the method of recording addresses by forming wobbles for groups, ADIP (Addres
s In Pregroove) method.

Further, as described above, the identification of which of the tracks Tr.A and Tr.B sharing the same address information is traced can be performed as follows. For example, in the state where the main beam is tracing the track (land L d) by applying the 3-beam method, the remaining two side beams trace groups located on both sides of the track traced by the main beam. It is possible to do it.

As a specific example, FIG. 18B shows a state in which the main beam spot SPm traces the track Tr · A. In this case, of the two side beam spots SP s1 and SP s2, the inner side beam spot SP s1 traces the non-wobbled group NWG,
The outer side beam spot SP s2 traces the wobbled group WG.

On the other hand, although not shown, if the main beam spot S Pm is tracing the track T r · B, the side beam spot SP s1 traces the wobbled group WG and the side beam spot SP s2
Will trace the Non-Wobbled Group NWG.

Thus, the main beam spot SPm
Track the track Tr ・ A and track Tr ・ A
When tracing B, the side beam spot SP
As a group to be traced by s1 and SPs2, the wobbled group WG and the non-wobbled group NWG are inevitably exchanged.

The detection signals obtained by the photodetector by the reflection of the side beam spots SP s1 and SP s2 are the wobbled group WG and the non-wobbled group NW.
Since different waveforms are obtained depending on which of G is being traced, based on the above detection signal, for example, which one of the current side beam spots SP s1 and SP s2 is the wobbled group WG (or non-wobbled group) NW
By determining whether or not G) is being traced, it is possible to identify which of the tracks Tr / A and Tr / B the main beam is tracing.

FIG. 19 shows the main specifications of the MD-DATA2 format having the above track structure as MD-DATA.
It is a figure shown in comparison with 1 format.

First, as the MD-DATA1 format,
Track pitch is 1.6μm, bit length is 0.59μm /
It becomes a bit. Further, the laser wavelength is set to 780 nm and the aperture ratio NA of the optical head is set to 0.45.

As a recording method, a group recording method is adopted. That is, the group is used as a track for recording and reproduction. As an address method, a method of using a wobbled group in which a group (track) is formed by a single spiral and wobbles are formed as address information on both sides of this group is adopted.

As a recording data modulation method, EFM (8-
14 conversion) system is adopted. As an error correction method, ACIRC (Advanced Cross Interleave Reed-Solom) is used.
on code) is adopted, and convolutional type is adopted for data interleaving. Therefore, the data redundancy is 46.3%.

Further, in the MD-DATA1 format, CLV (Constant Linear Velocity) is adopted as the disk drive system, and the linear velocity of CLV is 1.2 m / s. The standard data rate during recording and reproduction is 133 kB / s, and the recording capacity is 140 M
It becomes B.

On the other hand, as the MD-DATA2 format that the video camera 1 of this example can support, the track pitch is 0.95 μm and the bit length is 0.39 μm / bit, both shorter than the MD-DATA1 format. You can see that Then, for example, in order to realize the above pit length, laser wavelength input = 650 nm, aperture ratio of optical head
By setting NA = 0.52, the beam spot diameter at the in-focus position is narrowed and the band of the optical system is expanded.

As described with reference to FIGS. 17 and 18, the land recording method is adopted as the recording method, and the interlace addressing method is adopted as the address method. As a recording data modulation method, the RLL (1,7) method (RLL; Ru
n Length Limited) has been adopted as an error correction method.
The block complete type is adopted for the RS-PC method and data interleaving. As a result of adopting each of the above methods, the data redundancy can be suppressed to 19.7%.

Even in the MD-DATA2 format, CLV is adopted as the disk drive system, but its linear velocity is 2.0 m / s, and the standard data rate at the time of recording / reproducing is 589 kB / s. It is said that And, as a recording capacity, 650MB can be obtained, and MD-
When compared with the DATA1 format, it means that high-density recording of a little over four times has been realized.

For example, assuming that a moving image is recorded in the MD-DATA2 format, the moving image data of MPEG2 is recorded.
When the compression coding is performed by the method, it is possible to record a moving image of 15 to 17 minutes in time, depending on the bit rate of the coded data. Also, assuming that only audio signal data is recorded, ATRAC (A
When the compression processing by daptive Transform Acoustic Coding 2 is performed, recording can be performed for about 10 hours.

The series of processes described above can be realized not only by hardware but also by software. When the series of processes is realized by software, a program configuring the software is installed in a computer and the program is executed by the computer, so that the above-described video camera 1 is functionally realized.

FIG. 20 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the computer 501 which functions as the video camera 1 as described above. CPU (Central Processing Un
It) 511 is connected with an input / output interface 516 via a bus 515, and the CPU 511 uses the input / output interface 516 to allow the user to input a keyboard,
When a command is input from the input unit 518 such as a mouse, for example, the magnetic disk 531, the optical disk 532, the magneto-optical disk 533, or the semiconductor memory mounted on the ROM (Read Only Memory) 512, the hard disk 10A4, or the drive 520 is used. A program stored in a recording medium such as 534 is stored in RAM (Random Access M
emory) 513 and execute. As a result, the various processes described above are performed. Furthermore, the CPU 511
The processing result is, for example, input / output interface 516.
If necessary, the data is output to an output unit 517 including an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display). The program is stored in the hard disk 10A4 or the ROM 512 in advance and provided to the user integrally with the computer 501, or provided as a package medium such as the magnetic disk 531, the optical disk 532, the magneto-optical disk 533, or the semiconductor memory 534. Alternatively, it can be provided to the hard disk 10A4 from a satellite, a network or the like via the communication unit 519.

In the present specification, the steps for describing the program provided by the recording medium are not limited to the processing performed in time series in the order described, but are not necessarily performed in time series. It also includes processing executed in parallel or individually.

[0183]

According to the information processing apparatus and method and the program of the present invention, a command for executing a predetermined process is input to the process data, and when the command is input, the process data is transferred to the outside. If it is determined that the processed data is not recorded in the external recording medium, the processed data is acquired from the external device and the acquired processed data is acquired. Is recorded in an external recording medium, but when it is determined that the processing data is recorded in the external recording medium, the processing data is acquired from the external recording medium and a command is issued to the acquired processing data. Since the processing according to is executed, for example, the Web cache can be appropriately performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a usage example of a video camera to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the video camera of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a first recording process.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an index table.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a data structure.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a content usage process.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a display example of a content list.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating another content usage process.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a display example of another content list.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a display example of another content list.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a second recording process.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a third recording process.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a fourth recording process.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart for explaining details of the process of step S75 of FIG.

15 is another block diagram showing a configuration example of the video camera 1 of FIG.

16 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration example of the media drive unit 40 of FIG.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a track structure of a disc corresponding to a video camera.

FIG. 18 is an enlarged view of a track portion of the track structure of FIG.

19 is a diagram illustrating specifications of a disc corresponding to the video camera in FIG. 1. FIG.

20 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a personal computer 501. FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 video camera, 10 recording media, 11 control unit, 12 input / output unit, 13 operation unit, 14 external interface, 15 internal memory control unit, 16
Internal memory, 17 Recording media control unit, 18
Communications department

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. Input means for inputting a command for executing a predetermined process on processed data; and when the command is input by the input means, the processed data is recorded in an external recording medium. And a determination unit that determines whether or not the processing data is not recorded in the external recording medium by the determination unit, the processing data is acquired from an external device and is acquired. The processed data is recorded in the external recording medium, and when the determination means determines that the processed data is recorded in the external recording medium, the processed data is
An information processing apparatus comprising: an acquisition unit that acquires from the external recording medium; and a processing unit that executes a process according to the command on the processing data acquired by the acquisition unit. 2. An input step of inputting a command for executing a predetermined process on the processed data, and when the command is input in the process of the input step,
When the processing data is determined not to be recorded in the external recording medium in the determination step of determining whether the processing data is recorded in the external recording medium, and the processing of the determination step, The processing data is acquired from an external device, and the acquired processing data is recorded in the external recording medium,
When it is determined in the processing of the determination step that the processing data is recorded in the external recording medium, an acquisition step of acquiring the processing data from the external recording medium, and a processing of the acquisition step An information processing method, comprising: a process step of performing a process according to the command on the acquired process data. 3. An input control step for controlling the input of a command for executing a predetermined process on the process data, and when the command is input in the process of the input control step, the process data is an external signal. A determination control step for controlling the determination whether or not it is recorded on the recording medium, and in the processing of the determination control step, when it is determined that the processing data is not recorded on the external recording medium,
The processing data is controlled to be acquired from an external device, and the acquired processing data is controlled to be recorded in the external recording medium. When it is determined that the processing data is recorded in the recording medium, an acquisition control step of controlling the processing data to be acquired from the external recording medium; and the processing data acquired in the processing of the acquisition control step. And a processing control step of controlling execution of processing according to the command, the recording medium having a computer-readable program recorded thereon. 4. An input control step for controlling the input of a command for executing a predetermined process on the process data, and when the command is input in the process of the input control step, the process data is an external signal. A determination control step for controlling the determination whether or not it is recorded on the recording medium, and in the processing of the determination control step, when it is determined that the processing data is not recorded on the external recording medium,
The processing data is controlled so as to be acquired from an external device, and the acquired processing data is controlled to be recorded in the external recording medium. When it is determined that the processing data is recorded in the recording medium, an acquisition control step of controlling the processing data to be acquired from the external recording medium, and the processing data acquired in the processing of the acquisition control step. A program for causing a computer to execute a process including a process control step of controlling execution of a process according to the command.