JP2006332921A - Information-erasing method and recording and reproducing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve problems, wherein the management of contents as to which contents are to be stored and which contents are to be erased by grasping contents of a huge amount of recording contents is difficult resulting from a widespread use of a large capacity recording medium and contents possibly to be viewed later can be accidentally erased when erasing contents in the order of recorded date order of prior arts. <P>SOLUTION: The information-erasing method is configured such that metadata of recorded contents are configured to keep indices such as recorded date and time and a keyword of contents, and a degree of popularity for the judgment to erase. The metadata are configured so that a user can optionally set a participation rate of the indices such as recorded date and time, a keyword of contents, and a degree of popularity. The erasing method is configured such that contents to be erased are selected by a synthetic judgment using the participation rate and its weight for the erasure judgement. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording / reproducing apparatus that records and reproduces video information on a recording medium. For example, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for efficiently using the storage capacity of the recording / reproducing apparatus.

  In recent years, the recording capacity of recording / reproducing apparatuses has increased remarkably. For example, a large amount of information can be recorded / reproduced in a large capacity recording / reproducing apparatus such as an HDD recorder, a PC, or a home server.

  As a recording function, the user wants to directly specify the program that the user wants to watch and record it, and if the program is a series program, the user does not specify the program name etc. However, it is possible to automatically record a program related to a keyword simply by specifying the keyword. Furthermore, it is possible to download not only programs but also various contents including information and games provided by the use contents via a network.

  In addition, when recording using a randomly accessible recording medium such as an optical disk or HDD instead of a conventional magnetic tape recording medium, recording can be performed even if there is no continuous free space on the HDD, for example. Thus, the user does not have to worry about which area of which program of the recording medium is newly overwritten. In addition, the user can set whether or not to erase each recorded program. If such a setting is made, the recording / reproducing apparatus can search for an empty area and record a new program. It can be said that the user's operation has been simplified without overwriting important information by mistake.

  However, although the capacity is large, the recording capacity of the HDD is finite. Therefore, sometime there will always be no recordable remaining capacity of the HDD, and new information cannot be recorded unless the already recorded information is deleted. In order to avoid such a situation, programs and contents that are no longer necessary must be deleted. As a general workaround, there is a method of automatically deleting a record that has passed a predetermined time from the recording date and time.

JP 2003-235010 A

  However, the function of automatically recording programs that match the user's preferences by specifying keywords is very convenient, but since a large number of programs are recorded, it is possible to grasp the recorded programs. Some programs may be stored in the HDD for a long period of time without being played, because they may disappear or programs that do not meet user preferences may be recorded.

  Also, even if a program has been played once, it is difficult to manage whether the program is deleted or stored if too many programs are stored.

  In such a situation, if the free space of the HDD becomes insufficient, it is necessary for the user to perform an erasing operation from an unreproduced program or an old recording date and time in order to avoid shortage of the capacity. In addition, as described above, the recording / reproducing apparatus may automatically perform this operation.

  At this time, the user performs an erasure operation without grasping the contents of the program, and as a result, a program that is unlikely to be viewed later remains in the HDD, and a program that may be viewed later is erased. The possibility of falling into a situation unfavorable for the user is increased.

  The above problems are solved by the invention described in the claims.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an information erasing method and a recording / reproducing apparatus with improved usability.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

A specific embodiment of a recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of an information transmission / reception system 300 having an overall configuration according to the present invention. 200 is a conceptual diagram of a broadcasting system and a distribution server that transmits and distributes video data and information, such as transmission of digital broadcasts, distribution of download contents, etc., popularity, audience rating data, attention to contents, etc. It distributes general information indicators. Reference numeral 100 denotes a recording / reproducing apparatus capable of receiving digital broadcasts, recording / reproducing received data, and acquiring moving image data and information transmitted / distributed from the broadcasting system / distribution server 200.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present embodiment. The recording / reproducing is such that a digital broadcast is received and recorded on a recording medium, and the recorded data is reproduced to obtain a reproduction output. The device is shown. 100 is a recording / reproducing apparatus, 101 is an input terminal for inputting a received wave from an antenna, 1011 is an input terminal for inputting compressed video / audio data from another device, and 1012 is an input terminal for inputting an analog video signal. An analog video input terminal, 1013 is an analog audio input terminal for inputting an analog audio signal, 1014 is a network input terminal for inputting a data signal, 1015 is a LAN I / F, 133 and 134 are digital signals. An analog / digital (A / D) conversion circuit that converts the signal into a digital signal, 102 is a demodulation circuit, 130 is a separation circuit that separates the demodulated digital signal into audio, video, and other data, and 135 is a digitized video and audio signal. A compression circuit for compressing, 103 a recording system signal processing circuit, and 131 for encrypting data to be recorded An encryption circuit, 104 is a recording / reproducing system including a drive function of the recording medium, 105 is a recording medium, 132 is a non-encrypting circuit for non-encrypting data recorded on the recording medium, and 106 is Playback system signal processing circuit 107, switching circuit 108, separation circuit 109, video decoding circuit 110, digital / analog (D / A) conversion circuit 111, video output terminal 112, audio decoding circuit 113, D / A conversion circuit, 114 is an audio output terminal, 115 is a TV set as one of video display / audio output devices, 116 is a user I / F, 117 is a control unit, 118 is a system bus, 119 is an OSD generation unit, 120 is an adder circuit.

  At the time of recording, a signal transmitted and received by digital broadcasting or the like is demodulated by a demodulation circuit 102 using a predetermined method, and then the recording system signal processing circuit 103 needs to add data for timing adjustment or modulation. After signal processing is performed and encrypted by the encryption circuit 131, it is recorded on the recording medium 105 by the recording / reproducing system 104.

  The digital signal input from the digital input terminal 1011 is subjected to necessary signal processing such as timing adjustment data addition and modulation in the recording system signal processing circuit 103, and is encrypted in the encryption circuit 131. The data is recorded on the recording medium 105 by the recording / reproducing system 104.

  The analog video signal input from the analog video input terminal 1012 and the analog audio signal input from the analog audio input terminal 1013 are compressed by the compression circuit 135 and encrypted via the recording signal processing circuit 103. After being encrypted by the circuit 131, it is recorded on the recording medium 105 by the recording / reproducing system 104.

  When data communication is performed via a network, a signal input from the network input terminal 1014 is input to the recording system signal processing circuit 103 via the LAN I / F 1015 to perform signal processing and to the encryption circuit 131. After being encrypted, the data is recorded on the recording medium 105 by the recording / reproducing system 104.

  At the time of reproduction, the encrypted digital data read from the recording medium 105 via the recording / reproducing system 104 according to the user's instruction is unencrypted by the non-encrypting circuit 132, and reproduced system signal processing is performed. The circuit 106 performs signal processing necessary for reproduction such as demodulation in a format in accordance with a predetermined modulation method, and sends the signal processing to the separation circuit 108 via the switching circuit 107. A predetermined video decoding process is performed in the video decoding circuit 109, the digital data is converted into an analog signal in the D / A conversion circuit 110, and then the monitor output of the TV set 115 is output via the video output terminal 111. Is displayed. The audio decoding circuit 112 performs predetermined audio decoding processing, and after the D / A conversion circuit 113 converts digital data into an analog signal, the audio output mechanism of the TV set 115 is connected via the audio output terminal 114. Is output by.

  The control unit 117 controls each unit of the recording / reproducing apparatus 100 via the system bus 118, and performs the operation based on the user instruction input input via the user I / F 116. To control. An instruction input request to the user or an OSD display to the necessary user is prepared by the OSD generation unit 119, and the addition circuit 120 adds the output of the video decoding circuit 109 at an appropriate level, and finally the TV This is realized by outputting to the monitor screen of the set 115.

First, a content keyword that is one of the erasure determination criteria will be described.
In the recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present embodiment, keywords are extracted from information attached to a program as an index by which a program can be inferred, and recorded and stored as metadata. Specifically, at the time of digital broadcast recording, content information as shown in FIG. And record. If it is download data, keywords such as what is related to the download and what kind of content is extracted, and the recording / playback system 104 stores the keyword in the recording medium 105 as metadata of the recorded content. Here, since the recording date and time and title are considered to be one of the most important items for identifying the content, they are not treated as keywords, but are recorded as metadata such as title, date, and time. deep. Note that the recording date and time, title, and the like may be recorded as keywords, but in the present embodiment, these are not recorded as keywords as described above.

FIG. 4 shows a specific example of metadata. The keyword saved in the metadata is given a keyword weight as the importance of the keyword. Here, the keyword weights are set to 10, 9,..., 0 in descending order of importance. Assume that initial values are substituted as keyword weights during recording. For example, the initial value of the keyword is “5”.
As described above, the title and recording date / time of content are not handled as keywords, but are handled as titles, dates, and times, and no weighting is performed on them.

  The keywords and keyword weights stored in these metadata can be arbitrarily changed and deleted by the user. FIG. 5 shows a change display example of the recorded metadata information. When the box at the left end of the data to be deleted / changed is selected and the “Delete” button is selected / decided, the keyword / keyword weight is deleted. In FIG. 5, the leftmost box of keyword 1 “Taro Yamada” was selected. When the “Change” button is selected / decided, the screen changes to the data change screen shown in FIG. Here, the keyword is changed or the keyword weight is changed by the user I / F 116, and when the determination button is selected and determined after the change is completed, the recording / playback system 104 executes the change of the metadata keyword or the keyword weight and performs recording. Append to medium 105. For example, if the keyword “Team B” is required, the keyword weight is changed from the initial value “5” to “8”.

  This initial value can be substituted by learning data indicating what operation the user has performed on the same keyword in the past. For example, when the user performs a change operation of “team B” of keyword 3 from the initial value “5” to “9” a plurality of times, the initial value for the keyword of “team B” is based on the keyword and the changed value. As a result, “9” is automatically substituted.

  These deletion / change procedures may be performed by calling a deletion change screen by a specific key operation while the user is viewing a program or viewing a recorded program, and forcibly deleting a part on the display while viewing a recorded program A method of displaying a change screen may be used.

  The weights for these keywords may be such that the keyword weights are increased each time the user views the recorded program. For example, when viewing content in which metadata as shown in FIG. 3 is stored, the weight of each keyword is increased. In another content, even when the keyword 3 “Team B” in the metadata of FIG. 3 is stored in the metadata, the weight of the “Team B” is increased in conjunction. In this case, even if the user does not change it manually, the user's preference is automatically adjusted, so that the usability is improved.

  Next, the definition of “popularity” related to contents and keywords and a method for acquiring the definition will be described. The recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention incorporates “popularity” as one of the content erasure determination criteria. In the case of a program or download content, this trend may be an index represented by a program viewing rate / download rate. Further, it may be an index such as a trend degree related to a keyword recorded and stored in metadata at the time of content recording distributed from a trend degree provider. This index is acquired from the video / information distribution system 200 such as the distribution server of FIG. When the “popularity” is acquired, the recording / playback system 104 adds the “popularity” related to the content to the recording metadata shown in FIG. Here, the “popularity” is one for the entire content, but the “popularity” may be provided for the keyword. When a “popularity” is provided for a keyword, when a talent with a high “popularity” is a keyword, a program in which the talent appears can be preferentially left.

  Such information acquisition may be performed automatically after the program recording is completed, may be executed after the user arbitrarily performs an acquisition operation, or may be automatically performed at the time of content erasure determination.

This completes the description of data acquisition means used as an indicator for erasure determination. Next, how to perform the erasure determination from those indices will be specifically described.
In this embodiment, it is possible to set a user-desired erasure criterion from an erasure determination index such as recording date / time, keyword, and fashion level.

FIG. 8 shows a specific erase determination setting screen. The recording date / time, keyword, and fashion level are used as erasure determination indexes, and the numerical values shown on the right are used as erasure determination participation rates. Here, the erasure determination participation rate is a value of 10, 9,..., 0 from the highest priority of the erasure determination index. First, considering the user who does not change the erasure determination value as an initial value, an optimal initial value is set. Here, a value of “5” is automatically substituted for each erasure determination participation rate. In FIG. 8, the erasure determination participation rate can be changed using the user I / F 116 for each erasure determination index. For example, if the recording date / time is not so much involved in the erasure determination, the erasure determination participation rate is changed from “5” to “2”. When it is desired to consider the recording date and time as the highest priority in the erasure determination, the erasure determination participation rate is changed from “5” to “7” so as to be larger than other indices.
It is also possible to store these erasure determination setting data and use it as the initial value of the erasure determination participation rate at the next setting. It is also possible to learn the setting tendency of the user and set it as the initial value of the erasure determination participation rate.

  The erasure determination procedure for the content shown in FIG. 10 will be described. First, FIG. 9 shows values set from the erase determination setting screen as shown in FIG. Here, the participation rate of the recording date and time is represented as Date, the participation rate of the keyword is represented as Key, and the participation rate of the fashion level is represented as Trend. In the deletion determination participation rate, the keyword is the highest (Key = 5), the trend is (Trend = 4), and the recording date is the lowest (Date = 2). Here, in FIG. 10, numerical values of 1, 2 from the oldest recording date / time of the content are used as the recording date / time weight (X). Next, the keyword weight (Y) is acquired from the metadata stored in the recording medium 105 at the time of recording. Similarly, the popularity (Z) recorded and stored in the metadata when the content popularity is acquired is acquired from the recording medium 105. The erasure determination is performed based on the erasure determination participation rate and the weight set as described above. An example of the erasure determination formula is shown in the following formula.

Deletion judgment value = X × Date + Y × Key + Z × Trend
FIG. 10 shows the value calculated by this determination formula as the deletion determination value of each content. The erasure order is from the lowest erasure judgment value. FIG. 11 shows a comparison with a method of erasing contents with an old recording date and time. Conventionally, in this example, content A, content B, and content C are deleted in the order of the oldest recording date and time. However, by using not only the recording date and time but also other indices and weights, content C, content A, and content B are deleted. It will be erased in order.

For example, in the case of deletion determination weights as shown in FIG. 12, the system deletes the oldest ones by determining only the recording date and time as usual without incorporating the keyword weights and the popularity. On the other hand, if the recording date / time and the prevalence rate are set to 0, the system is such that the keywords are erased in ascending order. Moreover, the thing with 0 participation rate may be one. In the first place, one of the embodiments is one in which any one of the above items is not included in the item of the erasure determination formula.
In this way, a method for disposing of content according to the user's preference is obtained.

  Moreover, although the recording date and time, the keyword, and the fashion level are used this time as the index for the erasure determination, other indexes such as the number of viewing times may be used, and the index may be set by the user.

  If there are a plurality of keywords, the maximum keyword weight may be used in the erasure determination formula. In addition, as one method of reflecting the weights of a plurality of keywords, an average value of a plurality of upper weights (for example, three) may be obtained and used in the formula. The keyword weight value using the formula can be obtained in a well-balanced manner even when there are few and many keywords.

  Further, the erasing operation itself may be arbitrarily performed by the user, or may be automatically performed when the remaining recording capacity of the recording medium is detected and the remaining capacity is reduced. If the user performs it arbitrarily, the contents can be rearranged and displayed on the display screen of the TV set 115 in the deletion order of the deletion determination result.

  Also, as shown in FIG. 13, when the deletion order list is displayed after this deletion determination, it is readily apparent that the content for which the keyword weight is set to the maximum “10” may be necessary for the user. In this way, it is possible to use a display method such as displaying a mark or changing the color of the portion indicating the content. FIG. 13 shows an example in which marks are displayed. It marks the content that is the second candidate for erasure, and urges you to confirm that you really want to delete it.

  Also, as shown in FIG. 14, when deleting the content, the fact that the keyword weight of the content is set to the most important value is displayed to prompt confirmation.

  Further, it is not limited to the case of importance “10”. For example, attention may be urged at 8 to 10 and attention may be urged by color coding for 8 and 9, and further confirmation may be required for actual erasure at 10.

  A content that can be deleted may be selected on the deletion target selection screen shown in FIG. By selecting a large deletion target such as unreproduced content, reproduced content, content having the same keyword in the metadata, etc., it is possible to meet the finer needs of the user by performing deletion determination.

  According to the recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present embodiment, it is possible to manage the user's preference by the step of extracting the keyword from the content information at the time of content recording and recording and holding it in the metadata.

  In addition, the necessity of content can be objectively measured by the step of downloading the popularity of the content and the popularity of the world.

  In addition, the erasure determination weighting makes it possible to easily select a content to be erased from a large number of contents and perform management work efficiently.

  Therefore, when a large amount of programs are recorded on the HDD that the user cannot grasp and the program contents are not grasped, the programs that are less likely to be watched are left and the programs that are likely to be viewed are deleted. It is possible to provide a recording / reproducing apparatus convenient for the user so as not to be lost.

Overall view of information transmission / reception system Block diagram of recording / playback device Acquired content information Keywords and keyword weights saved in metadata Keyword and keyword weight deletion change screen Keyword and keyword weight change screen Data to save in metadata Erase judgment weight setting screen Erasing criteria and erasing criteria weight Content erasure criteria, weights and criteria Comparison of recording date and time and deletion order by the method of the present invention Erasing criteria and erasing criteria weight Displayed content deletion candidate order Confirmation screen when deleting recorded content Delete target setting screen

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Recording / reproducing apparatus 200 ... Image | video / information delivery system 300 ... Information transmission / reception system 103 ... Recording system signal processing 104 ... Recording / reproducing system 105 ... Recording medium 106 ... Playback system signal processing 115 ... TV set 116 ... User I / F
117 ... Control unit 118 ... System bus 119 ... OSD generation unit

Claims (20)

An information erasing method for erasing a plurality of information recorded on a recording medium,
An acquisition step of acquiring accompanying information accompanying the information;
A determination step of determining the order of erasing a plurality of pieces of information recorded on the recording medium based on the accompanying information acquired in the acquisition step;
The information erasing method, wherein the accompanying information is a keyword. The information erasing method according to claim 1,
The information erasing method, wherein the plurality of pieces of information recorded on the recording medium are broadcast content or content distributed by a distribution server. The information erasing method according to claim 1 or 2,
The information erasing method, wherein the accompanying information is content trend information. The information erasing method according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
An information erasing method, wherein the keyword and / or the trend information is recorded as metadata on the recording medium. The information erasing method according to claim 4,
An information erasing method, wherein a participation rate is set in the metadata. The information erasing method according to claim 4,
An information erasing method, wherein a weight is set for the keyword. The information erasing method according to claim 5 and 6,
The determination step includes determining an order of erasing a plurality of pieces of information recorded on the recording medium based on a participation rate of the metadata and a weight of the keyword. The information erasing method according to claim 7,
The information erasing method, wherein the participation rate and / or the weight can be arbitrarily changed by a user. An information erasing method according to any one of claims 1 to 8,
An information erasing method characterized by displaying information listed in a higher order of erasure determined in the determining step. The information erasing method according to claim 9,
An information erasing method, wherein information to be erased or not to be erased is selected from the displayed information listed at the top of the order of erasure. A recording / reproducing apparatus for erasing a plurality of information recorded on a recording medium,
Obtaining means for obtaining accompanying information accompanying the information;
A controller that determines the order of erasing a plurality of pieces of information recorded on the recording medium, based on the accompanying information acquired by the acquisition unit;
The recording / reproducing apparatus, wherein the accompanying information is a keyword. The recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 11,
The plurality of pieces of information recorded on the recording medium are broadcast contents or contents distributed by a distribution server. The recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 11 or 12,
The recording / reproducing apparatus, wherein the accompanying information is content trend information. The recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 11,
A recording / reproducing apparatus, wherein the keyword and / or the trend information is recorded as metadata on the recording medium. The recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 14,
A recording / reproducing apparatus, wherein a participation rate is set in the metadata. The recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 14,
A recording / reproducing apparatus, wherein a weight is set for the keyword. The recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 15 and 16,
The recording / reproducing apparatus, wherein the control unit determines a deletion order of a plurality of pieces of information recorded on the recording medium based on a participation rate of the metadata and a weight of the keyword. The recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 17,
The participation rate and / or the weight can be arbitrarily changed by a user. The recording / reproducing apparatus according to any one of claims 11 to 18,
The control unit displays information listed at the top of the determined order of deletion. The recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 19,
A recording / reproducing apparatus, wherein information to be erased or not to be erased is selected from the displayed information listed at the top of the order of erasure.

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