JP2005328210A - Control device and method of recorder/reproducer, program, and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a control apparatus and a method which can obtain an accurate recordable time of a recorder/reproducer which can control the recorder/reproducer through an interface even if a program for changing a transfer rate is recorded in the recorder/reproducer, and to provide a program and a recording medium. <P>SOLUTION: A DTV1 is connected to an HDR2 through an IEEE1394. Under recording in the HDR2, the recording residual capacity of the HDR2 is acquired at a predetermined time interval through the IEEE1394 by an AV/C Disc Subunit command, and a real recording rate of the HDR2 is calculated from the amount of a change of the acquired recording residual capacity. And, the recordable time of the HDR2 is calculated from the calculated real recording rate and the residual recording capacity. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a control apparatus and method for a recording / reproducing apparatus, a program, and a recording medium, and in particular, accurately determines the recordable time of a recording / reproducing apparatus for recording a digital broadcast via an interface.

  In recent years, with the start of terrestrial digital broadcasting, BS (Broadcasting Satellite) digital broadcasting, and CS (Communication Satellite) digital broadcasting, digital broadcasting receivers such as television receivers and set top boxes having digital tuners for these digital broadcasting have been developed. It is becoming popular. The digital broadcast receiving apparatus is usually provided with a digital interface represented by IEEE 1394, and can output the digital broadcast to the outside as a digital signal. In addition, recording / reproducing apparatuses such as hard disk recorders that are also provided with a digital interface and can record digital broadcasts are becoming widespread.

  In a recording / reproducing apparatus for recording digital broadcasting, various proposals have been made to efficiently record a variable-rate bit stream on a recording medium. For example, the following Patent Document 1 discloses an image recording time process for predicting a remaining time that can be recorded on a storage medium based on a time parameter and a capacity parameter even in an image recording apparatus that performs encoding by a variable rate method. A method is described.

  Further, in Patent Document 2 below, based on the set recording time and the bit rate of the stream, a necessary capacity that is a recording capacity necessary for recording is calculated, and a recording area that exceeds the necessary capacity is calculated. A recording apparatus is described in which a received program is recorded to prevent the recording from being interrupted in the middle.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-172269

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-179872

  By the way, when a digital broadcast receiving apparatus and a recording / reproducing apparatus are connected by IEEE 1394, control commands such as recording / reproducing of the recording / reproducing apparatus can be exchanged together with program broadcast streams such as video and audio. Therefore, when the digital broadcast receiving apparatus and the recording / reproducing apparatus are connected, the operation of the recording / reproducing apparatus can be controlled from the digital broadcast receiving apparatus. For example, when a television receiver having a digital tuner and a hard disk recorder are connected by IEEE 1394, a digital broadcast stream is output from the television receiver to the hard disk recorder, and a recording instruction REC command is transmitted. A digital broadcast recording operation can be realized from an application of a television receiver.

  When recording a program on a recording / reproducing apparatus, it is necessary to start recording after securing a free space necessary for recording in the recording / reproducing apparatus in advance. Usually, such a free space is secured by displaying the remaining capacity of the recording / playback apparatus on the screen of the television receiver by an application and allowing the user to delete unnecessary programs on the recording / playback apparatus. However, since the transfer rate of the program broadcast changes every moment, it is difficult to accurately predict the free space required for recording, and the free space becomes insufficient in the middle of the program, making it impossible to record the program from the middle. There was a problem.

  Such recording failure due to lack of capacity can be prevented by securing the capacity required for recording based on the maximum transfer rate in the digital broadcasting standard. In this case, however, the recording / playback device always retains more capacity than necessary. This will cause waste.

  Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 described above describe the prediction of the recordable time when the transfer rate changes, but this is performed by the recording / reproducing apparatus, and can be easily performed via the digital interface. It was not something to control from.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to obtain an accurate recordable time of a recording / reproducing apparatus even when the recording / reproducing apparatus can control a recording / reproducing apparatus via an interface and record a program with a transfer rate changed by the recording / reproducing apparatus. It is an object to provide a control apparatus and method for a recording / reproducing apparatus, a program, and a recording medium.

  In addition, when the capacity shortage is predicted from the acquired recording remaining capacity, the user is notified and notified, and when the capacity shortage is predicted, from the acquired recording remaining capacity. Provided is a control device and method for a recording / playback device, a program, and a recording medium that can present a program that is a candidate for deletion to the user and can complete the recording without interruption by deleting the program presented by the user There is to do.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a control device for a recording / reproducing apparatus having an interface connectable to an external device. An acquisition means for acquiring the remaining recording capacity, and an indexing means for calculating an actual recording rate of the recording / reproducing apparatus from the remaining recording capacity and calculating a recordable time of the recording / reproducing apparatus from the calculated actual recording rate. The control device of the recording / reproducing apparatus.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the method for controlling a recording / reproducing apparatus provided with an interface connectable to an external device, the recording remaining capacity of the recording / reproducing apparatus is acquired via the interface during recording in the recording / reproducing apparatus. And a step of calculating the actual recording rate of the recording / reproducing apparatus from the remaining recording capacity and determining the recordable time of the recording / reproducing apparatus from the calculated actual recording rate.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in a program for controlling a recording / reproducing apparatus having an interface connectable to an external device, the remaining recording capacity of the recording / reproducing apparatus is acquired via the interface during recording on the recording / reproducing apparatus. A program that causes a computer to execute a step and a step of calculating an actual recording rate of the recording / reproducing apparatus from the remaining recording capacity and determining a recordable time of the recording / reproducing apparatus from the calculated actual recording rate.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in a recording medium recording a program for controlling a recording / reproducing apparatus having an interface connectable to an external device, the recording of the recording / reproducing apparatus is performed via the interface during recording on the recording / reproducing apparatus. A step of obtaining a remaining capacity; and a step of calculating an actual recording rate of the recording / reproducing apparatus from the remaining recording capacity and determining a recordable time of the recording / reproducing apparatus from the calculated actual recording rate. A computer-readable recording medium that records a program.

  In this invention, since the remaining recording capacity of the recording / reproducing apparatus can be acquired via the interface, the actual recording rate can be calculated from the amount of change in the remaining recording capacity of the recording / reproducing apparatus at a predetermined time interval. In addition, it is possible to determine an accurate recordable time according to the actual recording rate.

  According to the present invention, the actual recording rate is calculated from the remaining recording capacity of the recording / playback apparatus acquired via the interface, and the recordable time is calculated from the calculated actual recording rate, thereby acquiring the correct recording time. be able to. In addition, by comparing the acquired recordable time with the remaining time of the program being recorded and warning that the remaining capacity of the recording / playback device is predicted during recording, the user is warned of the lack of capacity. Can recognize the lack of capacity. At that time, an unnecessary program recorded in the recording / playback apparatus is presented to the user and prompted to be deleted, thereby preventing a recording failure due to insufficient capacity.

  Hereinafter, a control apparatus for a recording / reproducing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an example of the configuration of a recording / reproducing control system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The DTV 1 is a television receiver that can receive digital broadcasting. HDR2 is a hard disk recorder capable of recording / reproducing digital broadcasts. Since the basic configurations of the DTV 1 and the HDR 2 are the same as those of the conventional television receiver and hard disk recorder, respectively, description thereof is omitted here.

  Both DTV1 and HDR2 are equipped with IEEE1394, which is a digital interface, and are defined as remote control commands for consumer AV devices connected via a network such as IEEE1394, AV / C (AV / C Digital Interface Command Set General Specification) And AV / C command sets such as AV / C Disc (AV / C Disc Subunit General Specification).

  DTV1 and HDR2 are connected via IEEE1394. When recording, an MPEG-2 (Moving Picture Experts Group-2) transport stream is supplied from the DTV 1 to the HDR 2. At the time of reproduction, an MPEG-2 transport stream is supplied from HDR2 to DTV1. Between these recording and playback streams, AV / C and AV / C Disc commands such as REC, REC STOP, and HDR2 status acquisition can be transmitted between DTV1 and HDR2. Operations such as recording and playback of HDR2 can be controlled.

  Control of the operation of the HDR 2 by the DTV 1 can be realized by software on the DTV 1, for example. The program executed by the DTV 1 constituting this software may be stored in advance in a memory of the DTV 1, or may be obtained by installing a program recorded on a removable recording medium such as a memory card. Alternatively, it may be obtained by downloading from a predetermined server or the like via a network. The control of the HDR2 operation by the DTV 1 may be realized by hardware.

  Hereinafter, an example of the operation of the DTV 1 during recording in the HDR 2 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. When the recording is started in HDR2, the DTV 1 acquires the remaining capacity of the HDR 2 through the IEEE 1394 at a predetermined time interval, for example, at an interval of 1 second. Are recorded by the following equations (1) and (2), respectively (step S1).

<Acquisition of remaining capacity of HDR2>
Read and acquire “list_specific_information” → “disc_capacity_info_block” → “disc_remaining_recording_capacity” of “RootContents List Descriptor” of the AV / C Disc subunit command.

<Calculation of actual recording rate>
Actual recording rate = (Previous remaining capacity-Current remaining capacity) / T (1)
T: Time interval for acquiring the remaining capacity.
Current remaining capacity: Remaining capacity of HDR2 before the current remaining capacity of HDR2: Remaining capacity of HDR2 by time T before the acquisition of the current remaining capacity

<Calculation of recordable time>
Recordable time = Current remaining capacity / Actual recording rate (2)

  The recordable time can also be calculated using the maximum transfer rate of digital broadcasting and the default transfer rate (HD: 24 Mbps, SD: 12 Mbps) of the ARIB (Association of Radio Industries and Businesses) standard. In the MPEG-2 transport stream, PSI (Program Specific Information), which is one piece of program arrangement information, is multiplexed. The maximum transfer rate can be acquired from “maximum bitrate” in the digital copy control descriptor of PMT (Program Map Table) defined in this PSI (“program arrangement information used for ARIB digital method (ARIB STD-B10)”) ”And“ ARIB BS Digital Broadcasting Operational Rules (ARIB TR-B15) ”).

  However, since the actual transfer rate changes every moment and is not the maximum transfer rate, there is a high possibility that the recordable time is calculated to be shorter than the actual recording rate. Therefore, the DTV 1 according to the embodiment calculates the recordable time using the actual recording rate calculated by the equation (2).

  When the recordable time is determined in step S1, the program length, program start time, and current time are acquired, and the remaining broadcast time of the recorded program is calculated by the following equation (3) (step S2).

<Acquisition of program head, program start time and current time>
In the MPEG-2 transport stream, SI (Service Information), which is one piece of program arrangement information, is multiplexed. The program length and the program start time can be acquired from the program length (duration) and program start time (start time) of the EIT (Event Information Table) defined in the SI, respectively. Further, the current time can be acquired from a TOT (Time Offset Table) defined in SI (see “Program Arrangement Information Used for ARIB Digital Method (ARIB STD-B10)”).

<Calculation of remaining broadcast time>
Remaining broadcast time = Program start time + Program length-Current time (3)

  If the remaining broadcast time is calculated in step S2, it is determined whether or not the calculated remaining broadcast time is zero (step S3). If it is determined in step S3 that the remaining broadcast time is zero, that is, there is no remaining broadcast time, the recording is stopped and the process is terminated. If it is determined in step S3 that the remaining broadcast time is not zero, that is, there is a remaining broadcast time, it is determined whether or not the remaining broadcast time exceeds the recordable time (step S4).

  If it is determined in step S4 that the remaining broadcast time does not exceed the recordable time, the process returns to step S1. If it is determined in step S4 that the remaining broadcast time exceeds the recordable time, an unnecessary program deletion process is performed (step S5), and the process returns to step S1. Instead of the unnecessary program deletion process, it may be simply indicated to the user that the remaining broadcast time of the program being recorded is predicted to exceed the recordable time.

  With reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 3, an example of the operation | movement of an unnecessary program deletion process is demonstrated. However, the processing when the user stops recording in the middle is omitted. The unnecessary program deletion process is started when the recordable time is less than the remaining broadcast time. In the unnecessary program deletion process, first, the capacity required for recording, that is, the capacity to be acquired by deleting the program is calculated by the following equation (4) (step S6).

<Calculation of required capacity>
Required capacity = (Remaining broadcast time-Recordable time) x Actual recording rate (4)

  When the required capacity is calculated in step S6, it is determined whether or not the calculated required capacity is zero or less (step S7). If it is determined in step S7 that it is equal to or less than zero, the deletion process is terminated. If it is determined in step S7 that the value is greater than or equal to zero, individual program information recorded in HDR2 is acquired using the AV / C Disc subunit command (step S8). This program information can be acquired from “Object Entry” of “RootContents List Descriptor” of AV / C Disc subunit command. A part of the information that can be acquired is shown together with the descriptor of the AV / C Disc subunit command of the information source.

Channel name “Object Entry” → “entry_specific_information” → “program_attribute_info_block” → “service_name”

・ Program name `` Object Entry '' → `` entry_specific_information '' → `` name_info_block '' → `` raw_text_info_block ''

・ Recording start time “Object Entry” → “entry_specific_information” → “time_stamp_info_block”

HD / SD (program is HD (High Definition) broadcast or SD (Standard Definition) broadcast)
Object Entry->entry_specific_information->program_attribute_info_block->program_mode-> HD / SD

・ Recording capacity “Object Entry” → “entry_specific_information” → “size_indicator_info_block”

・ LOCK / Unlock (whether the program is protected)
Object Entry → entry_specific_information → disc_subunit_object_attributes → content_locked

  When the program information is acquired in step S8, a deletion candidate program list for obtaining a necessary capacity is created from the acquired program information and presented to the user (step S9). The deletion candidate program is determined in consideration of the recording start time, the recording capacity, and the like. At this time, programs that cannot be deleted due to the lock are not included in the deletion candidates.

  FIG. 4 shows an example of a deletion candidate program list screen presented to the user. The presentation screen 10 is a display screen by OSD (On-Screen Display) that can be operated by a user interface such as a remote commander attached to the DTV 1, and displays a program list 11 and an operation selection unit 12. In the program list 11, a deletion candidate program list including “program name”, “recording time”, and “size” items is displayed. In this example, the recording times are displayed in chronological order until the total “size” exceeds the necessary capacity. The operation selection unit 12 displays items such as “Yes” and “No” for the user to select whether or not to delete a deletion candidate program. When the user selects “Yes”, deletion of unnecessary programs is started.

  If the deletion candidate program list is presented to the user in step S9, it is determined whether or not the program can be deleted according to an instruction from the user (step S10). If it is determined in step S10 that the program should not be deleted, the process returns to step S8, a new deletion candidate program is set, and the process is repeated again. If it is determined in step S10 that the program can be deleted, the program instructed to be deleted from HDR2 is deleted (step S11), and the process returns to step S6 until the capacity required for recording is obtained. Repeat the process.

  As an example, the operation of DTV1 and HDR2 when a remaining capacity acquisition time interval T is 5 seconds and a 50-minute program is recorded will be described with reference to FIG. First, a recording instruction is issued from the DTV 1 to the HDR 2 and a remaining capacity is required. The HDR 2 returns the remaining capacity information (9100 Mbytes) in response to the request for the remaining capacity of the DTV 1.

  The DTV 1 requests the remaining capacity from the HDR 2 again 5 seconds after the first request for the remaining capacity. HDR2 returns the remaining capacity information (9087 Mbytes) in response to the request from DTV1. Since the remaining capacity of 13 Mbytes decreases in 5 seconds, DTV1 calculates that the actual recording rate is 13/5 = 2.6 Mbytes / second from the equation (1). Further, the DTV 1 calculates the recordable time as 9087 / 2.6 = 3495 seconds, that is, 58 minutes and 15 seconds from the equation (2).

  At this time, the remaining broadcast time acquired by the DTV 1 is 50 minutes, and the remaining broadcast time does not exceed the recordable time. Demands. HDR2 returns the remaining capacity information (9074 Mbytes) in response to the request from DTV1. Since the remaining capacity of 13 Mbytes decreases in 5 seconds, DTV1 calculates that the actual recording rate remains 13/5 = 2.6 Mbytes / second from the equation (1). Further, the DTV 1 calculates the recordable time as 9074 / 2.6 = 3490 seconds, that is, 58 minutes and 10 seconds from the equation (2).

  At this time, the remaining broadcast time acquired by the DTV 1 is 49 minutes 55 seconds, and the remaining broadcast time does not exceed the recordable time. Therefore, the DTV 1 again responds to the HDR 2 after 5 seconds from the previous request for the remaining capacity. The remaining capacity is requested. HDR2 returns the remaining capacity information (9067 Mbytes) in response to the request from DTV1. Since the remaining capacity of 7 Mbytes decreases in 5 seconds, the DTV 1 calculates that the actual recording rate is 7/5 = 1.4 Mbytes / second from Equation (1). Further, the DTV 1 calculates the recordable time as 9067 / 1.4 = 647.428... Seconds, that is, approximately 107 minutes and 55 seconds from the equation (2).

  At this time, the remaining broadcast time acquired by DTV1 is 49 minutes and 50 seconds, and the remaining broadcast time does not exceed the recordable time. Therefore, DTV1 again responds to HDR2 after 5 seconds from the last remaining capacity request. The remaining capacity is requested. HDR2 returns the remaining capacity information (9067 Mbytes) in response to the request from DTV1. Since the remaining capacity of 7 Mbytes decreases in 5 seconds, the DTV 1 calculates that the actual recording rate is 7/5 = 1.4 Mbytes / second from Equation (1). Further, the DTV 1 calculates the recordable time as 9067 / 1.4 = 647.428... Seconds, that is, approximately 107 minutes and 55 seconds from the equation (2).

  Thereafter, similar processing is repeated, and the DTV 1 requests the remaining capacity from the HDR 2, and the remaining capacity information (2453 Mbytes) is returned to the HDR 2 in response to the request for the remaining capacity. DTV1 requests the remaining capacity from HDR2 again 5 seconds after the request for the remaining capacity, and HDR2 returns the remaining capacity information (2440 Mbytes) in response to the request. Since the remaining capacity of 13 Mbytes decreases in 5 seconds, DTV1 calculates that the actual recording rate remains 13/5 = 2.6 Mbytes / second from the equation (1). Further, the DTV 1 calculates the recordable time as 2440 / 2.6 = 938.46... Seconds, that is, approximately 15 minutes and 36 seconds from the equation (2).

  At this time, the remaining broadcast time acquired by the DTV 1 is 12 minutes and 30 seconds, and the remaining broadcast time does not exceed the recordable time. Therefore, the DTV 1 again responds to the HDR 2 after 5 seconds from the previous request for the remaining capacity. The remaining capacity is requested. HDR2 returns the remaining capacity information (2420 Mbytes) in response to the request from DTV1. Since the remaining capacity of 20 Mbytes decreases in 5 seconds, DTV1 calculates that the actual recording rate is 20/5 = 4.0 Mbytes / second from Equation (1). Further, the DTV 1 calculates the recordable time as 2420 / 4.0 = 605 seconds, that is, 10 minutes and 5 seconds from the equation (2).

  At this time, the remaining broadcast time acquired by the DTV 1 is 12 minutes 25 seconds, and the remaining broadcast time exceeds the recordable time. Therefore, the DTV 1 predicts that the remaining capacity is insufficient, and performs an unnecessary program deletion process. The capacity of HDR2 necessary for recording is secured.

  As described above, according to the DTV 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention, since the remaining recording capacity of HDR2 can be acquired via IEEE1394, the actual recording rate is determined from the change in the remaining recording capacity of HDR2 at a predetermined time interval. And the recordable time according to the calculated actual recording rate can be determined. Also, when the HDR2 remaining capacity shortage is predicted during recording, a warning is given to the user and unnecessary programs on the HDR2 are deleted, thereby preventing a recording failure due to the HDR2 remaining capacity shortage. be able to.

  Since the actual recording rate is used to calculate the recordable time of HDR2, an accurate value can be obtained rather than using the maximum transfer rate or the default transfer rate.

  Furthermore, when HDR2 can record two streams at the same time, if recording other than DTV1 is being performed, the rate of decrease in the remaining capacity of HDR2 will be abrupt, but using the actual recording rate will allow accurate recording time Can be obtained.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments of the present invention, and various modifications and applications are possible without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the DTV 1 is described as the HDR2 control device. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a set top box or the like may be applied to the control device. Further, the recording / reproducing apparatus is not limited to HDR2, and a personal computer equipped with IEEE1394 and capable of recording a stream may be applied. Further, the interface is not limited to IEEE 1394, and other interfaces may be applied as long as the control command can be transferred together with the recording / playback data.

  Further, the unnecessary program deletion process in the above-described embodiment presents that the remaining capacity is insufficient to the user, and secures the remaining capacity by deleting the program designated by the user from the program list of deletion candidates. However, since it is considered that the user is absent, such as in the case of reserved recording, automatic deletion may be performed without presenting the deletion candidate program list on the screen. In this case, it is necessary for the user to be able to set in advance whether or not to perform automatic deletion when setting scheduled recording. Alternatively, the deletion priority may be set in advance, and the program may be deleted based on the set priority.

  In the above-described embodiment, the MPEG-2 transport stream is described as a digital broadcast stream. However, if various types of information used in the above-described calculation formula can be acquired, a stream of another method is used. It is also possible to apply to the apparatus which performs.

It is a figure which shows an example of the connection structure of the television receiver by one Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of operation | movement at the time of video recording. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of operation | movement of an unnecessary program deletion process. It is a figure which shows an example of the presentation screen of a deletion candidate program list. It is a figure for demonstrating the process performed with a television receiver and a hard-disk recorder.

Explanation of symbols

1 ... DTV, 2 ... HDR, 10 ... presentation screen, 11 ... program list

Claims (6)

In a control device of a recording / reproducing apparatus having an interface connectable with an external device,
An acquisition means for acquiring a recording remaining capacity of the recording / reproducing apparatus via the interface during recording in the recording / reproducing apparatus;
A control device for a recording / reproducing apparatus, comprising: an calculating unit that calculates an actual recording rate of the recording / reproducing apparatus from the remaining recording capacity and calculates a recordable time of the recording / reproducing apparatus from the calculated actual recording rate . In claim 1,
Further, the recording / reproducing apparatus has an acquisition unit for acquiring the remaining time of the program being recorded, and presents the fact to the user when the remaining time is predicted to exceed the recordable time. Control device for the device. In claim 2,
A control apparatus for a recording / reproducing apparatus, wherein a program to be deleted is presented to a user from programs recorded in the recording / reproducing apparatus. In a control method of a recording / reproducing apparatus having an interface connectable with an external device,
Acquiring a recording remaining capacity of the recording / reproducing apparatus via the interface during recording on the recording / reproducing apparatus;
And a step of calculating an actual recording rate of the recording / reproducing apparatus from the remaining recording capacity and determining a recordable time of the recording / reproducing apparatus from the calculated actual recording rate. In a program for controlling a recording / reproducing apparatus having an interface connectable with an external device,
Acquiring a recording remaining capacity of the recording / reproducing apparatus via the interface during recording on the recording / reproducing apparatus;
A program for causing a computer to execute a step of calculating an actual recording rate of the recording / reproducing apparatus from the remaining recording capacity and determining a recordable time of the recording / reproducing apparatus from the calculated actual recording rate. In a recording medium recording a program for controlling a recording / reproducing apparatus having an interface connectable with an external device,
Acquiring a recording remaining capacity of the recording / reproducing apparatus via the interface during recording on the recording / reproducing apparatus;
The actual recording rate of the recording / reproducing apparatus is calculated from the remaining recording capacity, and the step of calculating the recordable time of the recording / reproducing apparatus from the calculated actual recording rate is recorded. A computer-readable recording medium.

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