JP2007180749A - Optical disk device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent contents of initial settings from freely be changed by a child. <P>SOLUTION: A plurality of setting items including a setting item of view limitation are provided as setting items of initial settings, contents to be reproduced are limited according to a view limitation level set in the setting item of view limitation, and a password is requested to be input to change the view limitation levels (S11). In this constitution, when the view limitation level is higher than a predetermined level, it is made impossible to change setting contents of setting items except the setting item of view limitation. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an optical disc apparatus in which a plurality of setting items including a viewing restriction setting item are provided as initial setting items, and content to be reproduced is restricted according to the viewing restriction level set in the viewing restriction setting item. .

  In an optical disc apparatus such as a DVD player, an initial setting screen (setup screen) is displayed, and after selecting a desired setting item, the setting content of the selected item is changed, so that the audio language or subtitle language at the time of reproduction or The screen size, audio output format, viewing restriction level (parental level), etc. can be set to the user's favorite contents (this is the first prior art).

  Further, the following technique has been proposed (referred to as a second conventional technique). That is, in this technique, a program corresponding to the age range of the receiver is searched using information regarding the viewing age included in the electronic program guide. And the program schedule which consists of the searched program is produced and displayed (for example, refer patent document 1).

Further, the following technique has been proposed (referred to as a third conventional technique). That is, this technique is a technique for enabling viewing restriction on the receiving side even when the received program is a program for which viewing restriction is not set. For this reason, the program whose viewing is restricted is indicated as condition information including a combination of a channel number, a broadcast time zone, and a genre. The condition information is stored in a storage unit. Then, when performing reception, it is checked whether condition information matching the combination of the channel number, broadcast time zone, and genre of the program to be received is stored in the storage unit. Assuming that the program is a program corresponding to the viewing restriction, the reception is canceled (for example, see Patent Document 2).
JP 2002-271711 A JP 2001-145033 A

  However, when the first prior art is used, the following problems occur. That is, the child may arbitrarily change the audio language or subtitle language at the time of reproduction or the screen size or audio output format without the knowledge of the adult. For this reason, when a DVD is played back, subtitles in an unexpected language are displayed or audio in an unexpected language is output, or the size of the screen is the expected size There were inconveniences such as being different.

  The second conventional technique is a technique for creating and displaying a program guide corresponding to the age range of the recipient. For this reason, the problem that occurred in the first prior art, that is, the situation that the audio language or subtitle language at the time of reproduction, the screen size or the audio output format is arbitrarily changed by the child without the knowledge of the adult From the viewpoint of preventing the occurrence of this, it is a technique that is difficult to apply.

  The third conventional technique is a technique for enabling viewing restriction on the receiving side even when the received program is a program for which viewing restriction is not set. For this reason, the problem that occurred in the first prior art, that is, the situation that the audio language or subtitle language at the time of reproduction, the screen size or the audio output format is arbitrarily changed by the child without the knowledge of the adult From the viewpoint of preventing the occurrence of this, it is a technique that is difficult to apply.

  The present invention was devised to solve the above-described problems. The purpose of the present invention is to prevent the contents of the initial setting from being arbitrarily changed by a child and to change the setting contents. The user can prevent an invalid operation to change the contents of the disabled setting item from being input and only the setting item for viewing restriction is displayed on the initial setting screen. It is an object of the present invention to provide an optical disc apparatus that can prevent a person from feeling confused.

  Further, the object of the present invention is to make it impossible to change the setting items other than the setting items for viewing restriction among the setting items for initial setting when the viewing restriction level is a level indicating a restriction stronger than a predetermined level. An object of the present invention is to provide an optical disc apparatus capable of preventing the contents of the initial setting from being arbitrarily changed by a child.

  In addition to the above purpose, when setting items other than viewing restriction setting items cannot be changed, only the viewing restriction items are displayed on the initial setting screen, thereby making it impossible to change the setting contents. It is an object of the present invention to provide an optical disc apparatus capable of preventing an invalid operation to change the contents of a setting item being input.

  Also, the present invention provides a setting item that can be changed in the setting contents, by providing a restriction corresponding to the viewing restriction level, so that the contents of the setting items that are not to be changed among the plurality of initial setting items are set. An object of the present invention is to provide an optical disc apparatus capable of preventing the occurrence of a situation where it is changed by a child without permission.

  In addition to the above-mentioned purpose, the setting items whose settings cannot be changed can be distinguished from each other by displaying the setting items whose settings cannot be changed and the setting items that can be changed. An object of the present invention is to provide an optical disc apparatus capable of preventing an invalid operation to change the content of an item from being input.

  In addition to the above purpose, when the cursor is moved to a setting item whose setting contents cannot be changed, the setting contents cannot be changed by displaying a message indicating that the setting cannot be changed. It is an object of the present invention to provide an optical disc apparatus that can more suitably prevent an invalid operation to change the content of a setting item being input.

  In order to solve the above problems, the optical disc apparatus according to the present invention is provided with a plurality of setting items including a viewing restriction setting item as an initial setting item, and the viewing restriction level set in the viewing restriction setting item. The content to be reproduced is restricted according to the above, and the change of the viewing restriction level is applied to an optical disc apparatus that requires input of a password. When the viewing restriction level is a level indicating a restriction stronger than the predetermined level, the setting items other than the viewing restriction setting items cannot be changed, and the setting items except the viewing restriction setting items are not changed. When the change is disabled, only the viewing restriction setting item is displayed on the display device as an initial setting item, and a message indicating that the setting items other than the viewing restriction setting item cannot be changed is displayed on the display device. To be displayed.

  That is, if the viewing restriction level is set to a level suitable for children (a level indicating a restriction stronger than a predetermined level), there is no possibility that setting items other than the viewing restriction setting item are changed. Further, since a password is required to change the viewing restriction level, there is no fear that the viewing restriction level will be changed. In addition, since setting items that cannot be changed are not displayed, an operation for changing a setting item that cannot be changed is not input. In addition, a message indicates the reason why only the setting item for viewing restriction is displayed.

  The optical disc apparatus according to the present invention includes a plurality of setting items including a viewing restriction setting item as an initial setting item, and restricts content to be reproduced according to the viewing restriction level set in the viewing restriction setting item. At the same time, the change of the viewing restriction level is applied to an optical disc apparatus that requires input of a password. When the viewing restriction level becomes a level indicating a restriction stronger than the predetermined level, the setting contents of the setting items except the viewing restriction setting item cannot be changed.

  That is, if the viewing restriction level is set to a level suitable for children (a level indicating a restriction stronger than a predetermined level), there is no possibility that setting items other than the viewing restriction setting item are changed. Further, since a password is required to change the viewing restriction level, there is no fear that the viewing restriction level will be changed.

  In addition to the above configuration, when setting items other than the viewing restriction setting items cannot be changed, only the viewing restriction setting items are displayed on the display device as the initial setting items. That is, since setting items that cannot be changed are not displayed, an operation for changing a setting item that cannot be changed is not input.

  The optical disc apparatus according to the present invention includes a plurality of setting items including a viewing restriction setting item as an initial setting item, and restricts content to be reproduced according to the viewing restriction level set in the viewing restriction setting item. At the same time, the change of the viewing restriction level is applied to an optical disc apparatus that requires input of a password. And about the setting item which enables the change of a setting content, regarding the setting item except the setting item of viewing restrictions, the restriction | limiting corresponding to a viewing restriction level is provided.

  In other words, when the viewing restriction level is suitable for children, setting contents can be changed only for setting items that may be changed by the child, and other setting items are restricted so that they cannot be changed. When the restriction level is set to a level suitable for children, there is no possibility of changing the contents of setting items whose settings are not desired to be changed.

  In addition to the above configuration, the setting item whose setting contents cannot be changed due to the restriction corresponding to the viewing restriction level and the setting item whose setting contents can be changed are displayed on the display device so that they can be distinguished from each other. ing. That is, which setting item is a setting item that cannot be changed.

  In addition to the above configuration, when the cursor is moved to a setting item whose setting contents cannot be changed, a message indicating that the setting contents cannot be changed is displayed on the display device. That is, it is indicated that the setting item at which the cursor is positioned is a setting item that cannot be changed.

  According to the present invention, when the viewing restriction level is set to a level suitable for children (a level indicating a restriction stronger than a predetermined level), there is no possibility that setting items other than the viewing restriction setting items are changed. Further, since a password is required to change the viewing restriction level, there is no fear that the viewing restriction level will be changed. In addition, since setting items that cannot be changed are not displayed, an operation for changing a setting item that cannot be changed is not input. In addition, a message indicates the reason why only the setting item for viewing restriction is displayed. For this reason, it is possible to prevent the contents of the initial setting from being arbitrarily changed by a child, and an invalid operation for changing the contents of the setting item for which the setting contents cannot be changed is input. In addition, it is possible to prevent the user from being confused that only the setting item for viewing restriction is displayed on the initial setting screen.

  According to the present invention, when the viewing restriction level is set to a level suitable for children (a level indicating a restriction stronger than a predetermined level), there is no possibility that setting items other than the viewing restriction setting item are changed. Also, since a password is required to change the viewing restriction level, there is no fear that the viewing restriction level will be changed. For this reason, it is possible to prevent the contents of the initial setting from being arbitrarily changed by the child.

  In addition, since setting items that cannot be changed are not displayed, operations that attempt to change setting items that cannot be changed will not be entered, so the setting items that cannot be changed will be changed. It is possible to prevent an invalid operation to be input.

  According to the present invention, when the viewing restriction level is suitable for children, the setting contents can be changed only for the setting items whose setting contents may be changed by the child, and the other setting items cannot be changed. With such a restriction, when the viewing restriction level is set to a level suitable for children, there is no possibility that the contents of setting items that do not want to be changed are changed. Further, since a password is required to change the viewing restriction level, there is no fear that the viewing restriction level will be changed. For this reason, it is possible to prevent a situation in which the contents of the setting items that are not desired to be changed among the plurality of initial setting items are arbitrarily changed by the child.

  Furthermore, since it is shown which setting item is a setting item that cannot be changed, it is confirmed that an invalid operation to change the setting item content that cannot be changed is input. Can be prevented.

  In addition, since the setting item where the cursor is positioned is indicated as a setting item that cannot be changed, an invalid operation that attempts to change the setting item that cannot be changed. Can be more suitably prevented from being input.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the hard disk drive integrated DVD recorder which is the first embodiment of the optical disk apparatus according to the present invention.

  In the figure, a tuner unit 1 receives a commercial broadcast of a channel designated by a microcomputer (hereinafter referred to as a microcomputer) 7. Then, the analog video / audio signal obtained by reception is output to the A / D converter 2. The A / D converter 2 outputs a digital video / audio signal obtained by A / D converting the analog video / audio signal output from the tuner 1 to the signal processor 3.

  The disc drive unit 5 records and reproduces audio / video information for a DVD (optical disc) 21. That is, a signal obtained by performing predetermined processing (8-16 modulation or the like) on the compressed video / audio information (hereinafter simply referred to as video / audio information) output from the signal processing unit 3 is recorded on the DVD 21. In addition, after the signal recorded on the DVD 21 is read, the video / audio information obtained by predetermined processing (8-16 demodulation and error correction) is output to the signal processing unit 3.

  A hard disk drive (hereinafter referred to as HDD) 6 records and reproduces video / audio information. That is, the video / audio information output from the signal processing unit 3 is recorded inside. Also, the video / audio information recorded inside is reproduced and output to the signal processing unit 3. The D / A conversion unit 4 converts the expanded video / audio information output from the signal processing unit 3 into an analog video / audio signal, and outputs the analog video / audio information to a television receiver (display device) 22 provided outside.

  The signal processing unit 3 uses the encoding unit 9 to compress the video / audio information output from the A / D conversion unit 2 using the MPEG2 system (AC-3 system for audio signals), and then performs stream synthesis. Is output to the disk drive unit 5 or the HDD 6. Further, after the audio / video information output from the disk drive unit 5 or the HDD 6 is stream-separated, the decoding unit 10 is used to decompress the video information by the MPEG2 system (AC-3 system for audio information). Then, the audio / video information obtained by the decompression process is output to the D / A converter 4.

  Further, the signal processing unit 3 sends the video / audio information output from the disk drive unit 5 to the HDD 6 in accordance with an instruction from the microcomputer 7. Also, the audio / video information output from the HDD 6 is sent to the disk drive unit 5. Further, by using an on-screen display (hereinafter referred to as OSD) 11, information such as subtitles indicated by the sub-picture and information such as characters instructed by the microcomputer 7 are generated and output to the D / A converter 4. Is superimposed on the video / audio information.

  The input circuit unit 8 receives infrared signals transmitted from a plurality of key switches such as a power key and a recording key provided on the front panel of the apparatus main body (not shown) and a remote controller (hereinafter referred to as a remote controller) 23. A light receiving unit is provided, and an instruction from the user is input. Further, the input instruction from the user is output to the microcomputer 7.

  The microcomputer 7 controls main operations as a hard disk drive unit integrated DVD recorder. That is, the channel received by the tuner unit 1 is controlled in accordance with a user instruction input to the remote controller 23 or the like. Further, by controlling the signal processing unit 3 and the disk drive unit 5, the video / audio information recorded on the DVD 21 is reproduced and displayed on the television receiver 22. The analog video / audio information output from the tuner unit 1 is converted into video / audio information and recorded on the DVD 21.

  Further, by controlling the signal processing unit 3 and the HDD 6, the video / audio information recorded on the HDD 6 is reproduced and displayed on the television receiver 22. The analog video / audio signal output from the tuner unit 1 is converted into video / audio information and recorded in the HDD 6. Further, by controlling the signal processing unit 3, the disk drive unit 5, and the HDD 6, the video / audio information recorded on the DVD 21 is transferred to the HDD 6 for recording, or the video / audio information stored on the HDD 6 is recorded on the DVD 21. Transfer and record.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3A, the microcomputer 7 displays a list of initial setting items related to the reproduction of the DVD 21, and accepts a change in setting contents for each of the setting items. The setting items displayed in a list are six (including other items) setting items including viewing restriction setting items (items for setting the parental level). Then, the content to be played back is restricted according to the viewing restriction level (parental level) set in the viewing restriction setting item.

  That is, the viewing restriction level can be set in the range of level “1” to level “8”, level “1” has the strongest restriction, and level “8” has no restriction. For this reason, if the level “3” is set as the viewing restriction level, for example, control is performed so that content of level “4” or higher is not reproduced. If level “8” is set, control is performed so that all contents are reproduced.

  Further, the microcomputer 7 sets the viewing restriction when the set viewing restriction level becomes a level (for example, level “2”) indicating a stronger restriction than a predetermined level (for example, level “4”). Disables changing the setting contents of setting items except items. Further, when it is impossible to change the setting contents of the setting items excluding the setting items for viewing restriction, only the setting items for viewing restriction are displayed and other setting items are displayed as shown in FIG. To stop. Further, a message 32 is displayed on the television receiver 22 indicating that the setting items other than the viewing restriction setting items cannot be changed.

  In the following, a supplementary explanation of the setting items will be given. In “audio language”, the language of audio at the time of reproduction (for example, Japanese or English) is set. “Subtitle language” sets the language (for example, Japanese or English) of the subtitle displayed at the time of reproduction. “Audio output” sets the type of audio to be output (2-channel, DTS, etc.). “Screen size” sets the aspect ratio of the video (3: 4, wide, etc.). “Return all to initial settings” is an item for returning the setting contents of the five setting items except “Return all to initial settings” to the contents when shipped from the factory.

  FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing the main operation of the first embodiment when initial setting is performed. The operation of the embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  When a setup key (not shown) provided on the remote controller 23 is pressed to change or check the initial setting (setup) of the device (step S1), the microcomputer 7 indicates that the current viewing restriction level is It is checked whether the level is lower than level “4”, which is a predetermined level set in advance (step S2). When the viewing restriction level is lower than the level “4”, only setting items for changing the viewing restriction level are displayed on the television receiver 22 as shown in FIG. 3B (steps S3 and S4). Then, the process proceeds to a loop operation for examining whether to change the viewing restriction level (step S5) and whether to end the initial setting (step S6).

  When the viewing restriction level is changed, input of a password is requested (step S11). If the entered password does not match the previously entered password, the password is requested again (steps S12 and S11). When the entered password matches the password entered in advance, a change of the viewing restriction level is accepted (steps S12 and S13). Thereafter, the operation proceeds to step S2. Therefore, if the viewing restriction level is changed to, for example, level “1” in step S13, the operations of steps S3, S4,... Are repeated thereafter.

  On the other hand, if the viewing restriction level is changed to, for example, level “8” in step S13, the operation shifts to steps S2, S3, and S21, and the television receiver 22 is shown in FIG. As shown, all setting items are displayed. Then, the process proceeds to a loop operation for checking whether the setting contents are changed (step S22) and whether the initial setting is finished (step S23). When the setting content is changed, the operation proceeds from step S22 to step S24. In step S24, the setting contents are changed for some or all of the six setting items. When the change is completed, the initial setting operation is ended.

  In the loop operation of steps S22 and S23, when an end instruction is input to the remote controller 23 without changing the setting contents, the process proceeds from step S23 to end, and the initial setting operation ends.

  If the viewing restriction level when the setup key is pressed in step S1 is greater than the predetermined level “4”, the operation proceeds to steps S2, S3, and S21. Therefore, all setting items are displayed on the television receiver 22 as shown in FIG. Next, the process proceeds to a loop operation for checking whether the setting contents are to be changed (step S22) and whether to end the initial setting (step S23). And when it is a change of a setting content, operation | movement transfers to step S24 from step S22. In step S24, the setting contents are changed for some or all of the six setting items. When the change is completed, the initial setting operation is ended.

  In the loop operation of steps S22 and S23, when an end instruction is input to the remote controller 23 without changing the setting contents, the process proceeds from step S23 to end, and the initial setting operation ends.

  Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  The electrical configuration of the second embodiment is the same as the configuration shown in FIG. 1 when shown as a block diagram. The difference in configuration from the first embodiment is part of the configuration of the microcomputer 7. For this reason, about the electrical structure of 2nd Embodiment, only a different part from 1st Embodiment among the structures of the microcomputer 7 is demonstrated.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the microcomputer 7 displays a list of initial setting items related to playback of the DVD 21, and accepts a change in setting contents for each of the setting items. The setting items displayed in a list are the same as those in the first embodiment.

  In addition, the microcomputer 7 provides a restriction corresponding to the viewing restriction level for the setting item that allows the setting contents to be changed. That is, as shown in FIG. 8, when the viewing restriction level is level “1” or level “2”, all the setting items except the setting item for changing the viewing restriction level are disabled. . In addition, when the viewing restriction level is level “3” or level “4”, the four setting items of “subtitle language”, “audio output”, “screen size”, and “reset all to default” are changed. Make it impossible. Also, when the viewing restriction level is level “5” or level “6”, the change of the three setting items “audio output”, “screen size”, and “return all to initial settings” is disabled. When the viewing restriction level is level “7” or level “8”, all setting items can be changed.

  Therefore, the microcomputer 7 can distinguish the setting item whose setting content cannot be changed due to the restriction corresponding to the viewing restriction level and the setting item whose setting content can be changed from each other so that they can be distinguished from each other. To display.

  In detail, since the viewing restriction level is level “1” or level “2”, when it is impossible to change all the setting items except for the setting item for changing the viewing restriction level, the television receiver The display on the machine 22 is the display shown in FIG. That is, the setting items 41 to 45 are displayed darker than the setting item 46 that can be changed, thereby indicating that the five setting items 41 to 45 cannot be changed.

  In addition, since the viewing restriction level is level “3” or level “4”, there are four setting items of “subtitle language”, “audio output”, “screen size”, and “reset all to default”. In the case where the change cannot be made, the display on the television receiver 22 is the display shown in FIG. That is, the setting items 42 to 45 are displayed darker than the setting items 41 and 46 that can be changed, thereby indicating that the four setting items 42 to 45 cannot be changed.

  Also, since the viewing restriction level is level “5” or level “6”, it is impossible to change the three setting items of “audio output”, “screen size”, and “return all to initial settings”. In this case, the display on the television receiver 22 is the display shown in FIG. That is, the setting items 43 to 45 are displayed darker than the setting items 41, 42, and 46 that can be changed, thereby indicating that the three setting items 42 to 45 cannot be changed.

  Further, when the microcomputer 7 moves the cursor to a setting item whose setting contents cannot be changed, the microcomputer 7 displays a message on the television receiver 22 indicating that the setting contents cannot be changed. That is, since the viewing restriction level is the level “1” or the level “2”, when the setting items other than the setting item for changing the viewing restriction level cannot be changed, For example, as shown in FIG. 5B, when the screen is moved to the “screen size” setting item whose setting contents cannot be changed, the message 52d “cannot be changed” is displayed.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the main operation of the second embodiment when initial setting is performed. The operation of the embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  When a setup key (not shown) provided on the remote controller 23 is pressed to change or confirm the initial setting (setup) of the device (step S31), the microcomputer 7 checks the current viewing restriction level. (Step S32). Then, according to the current viewing restriction level, the setting items whose setting contents can be changed are displayed brightly, and the setting items whose setting contents cannot be changed are displayed darkly (step S33). Next, the cursor is displayed so that the setting item located at the top among the setting items whose setting contents can be changed is selected (step S34).

  Accordingly, if the current viewing restriction level is level “1” or level “2”, the television receiver 22 has only the “viewing restriction” setting item 46 as shown in FIG. The other setting items 41 to 45 are displayed darkly. In addition, a cursor (indicated by a broken line 51c) is displayed so that “viewing restriction” is selected.

  If the viewing restriction level is level “3” or level “4”, the display on the television receiver 22 is the display shown in FIG. 6A, and the “audio language” and “viewing restriction” can be changed. It is shown that there is. In addition, the cursor 51e is displayed so that “speech language” is selected.

  Assuming that the viewing restriction level is level “5” or level “6”, the display on the television receiver 22 is the display shown in FIG. 7A, and “audio language”, “subtitle language”, and “viewing restriction”. And can be changed. In addition, the cursor 51g is displayed so that “speech language” is selected.

  If the viewing restriction level is level “7” or level “8”, the display on the television receiver 22 is the display shown in FIG. 4, indicating that all setting items can be changed. In addition, the cursor 51a is displayed so that “speech language” is selected.

  Setting items that can be changed and setting items that cannot be changed are displayed. After the cursor 51 is displayed, it is checked whether or not the setting item on which the cursor is positioned can be changed. If it can be changed, an operation for changing the setting item where the cursor 51 is positioned is accepted, so that the setting content is changed to a desired content (steps S36 and S37). When the change of the setting content is completed, it is checked whether or not the changed setting content is the viewing restriction level (step S38).

  When the changed setting content is the viewing restriction level, the operation proceeds from step S39 to step S33, and the setting items that can be changed are displayed brightly and cannot be changed based on the changed viewing restriction level. Some setting items are dimmed. Thereafter, the same operation as described above is repeated.

  On the other hand, when the setting content changed in step S37 is different from the viewing restriction level, the operation is a loop operation for checking whether or not the cursor 51 has moved from step S39 and whether or not an end instruction has been input. (Steps S40 and S41).

  In the above loop operation, when it is found that the cursor 51 has moved, the operation proceeds from step S40 to step S35. Then, it is checked whether or not the setting item on which the cursor 51 is moved is a setting item that can be changed. Then, when the setting item where the cursor 51 after movement is changeable, the operation proceeds from step S36 to step S37. Therefore, after that, the same operation as that already described is repeated.

  On the other hand, when the setting item at which the cursor 51 after movement is a setting item that cannot be changed, the operation proceeds from step S36 to step S42, and a message indicating that the setting item at which the cursor is located cannot be changed. Is displayed. That is, in the state shown in FIG. 5A, when the cursor 51c is moved to the “screen size” setting item, for example, as shown in FIG. 5B, next to the cursor 51d, The message 52d “Cannot be changed” is displayed.

  In the state shown in FIG. 6A, when the cursor 51e is moved to the setting item “subtitle language” as shown in FIG. 6B, for example, The message 52f “Cannot be changed” is displayed. In the state shown in FIG. 7A, when the cursor 51g is moved to a setting item “return all to initial settings” as shown in FIG. 7B, for example, the cursor 51h Next to is a message 52h of “Cannot be changed”.

  As described above, when the setting item on which the cursor 51 is positioned is a setting item that cannot be changed, the message 52 indicating that the change is impossible is displayed, and then the loop operation including steps S40 and S41 is performed. Transition. In this loop operation, when an end instruction is input, the operation is shifted from step S41 to end, and the initial setting operation is ended.

  In the following supplementary explanation, when the setting content is changed in step S37, if the setting item to be changed is "viewing restriction", the password is requested and the input password is input in advance. Only when the password matches, the change of the viewing restriction level is accepted.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and in the case of the second embodiment, the correspondence relationship between the viewing restriction level and the setting item that cannot be changed can be another correspondence relationship (for example, All the setting items except “View Restriction” cannot be changed only at the level “1”, and at the level “2”, the two setting items “Sound Language” and “View Restriction” are set. Make changes possible, etc.).

  In addition, as a method for making it possible to distinguish between setting items that cannot be changed and setting items that can be changed, a case has been described in which the display brightness is set differently. However, as another method, for example, a method of changing display colors , Etc.

  Further, the case where the present invention is applied to a hard disk drive integrated DVD recorder has been described, but the same applies to other optical disk devices such as a DVD recorder, a DVD player, and a video cassette recorder integrated DVD player. Can do. Further, the present invention can be similarly applied to an optical disc apparatus that uses an optical disc (for example, a Blu-ray disc, HD-DVD, etc.) different from the DVD.

4 is a flowchart showing main operations at the time of setup of the first embodiment of the optical disc apparatus according to the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the electric constitution of the hard disk drive integrated DVD recorder which is embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the difference of the display corresponding to the difference of a viewing-and-listening restriction level. It is explanatory drawing which shows a setup screen when viewing restriction level is 7 or 8. FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows a setup screen when viewing restriction level is 1 or 2. FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows a setup screen when viewing restriction level is 3 or 4. FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows a setup screen when viewing restriction level is 5 or 6. FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the correspondence of a viewing restriction level and the setting item which cannot change a setting content. It is a flowchart which shows the main operation | movement of 2nd Embodiment at the time of setup.

Explanation of symbols

21 Optical disks 41 to 46 Setting item 51 Cursor 52 Message indicating that change is impossible

Claims (6)

A plurality of setting items including a viewing restriction setting item are provided as initial setting items, and content to be played is restricted according to the viewing restriction level set in the viewing restriction setting item. In an optical disk device that prompts for a password,
When the viewing restriction level is a level indicating a restriction stronger than the predetermined level, it is impossible to change the setting contents of the setting items except the viewing restriction setting item,
In addition, when it is impossible to change the setting items other than the viewing restriction setting items, only the viewing restriction setting items are displayed on the display device as the initial setting items, and the setting items except the viewing restriction setting items are changed. An optical disk apparatus, wherein a message indicating that the recording is disabled is displayed on a display device. A plurality of setting items including a viewing restriction setting item are provided as initial setting items, and the content to be played back is restricted according to the viewing restriction level set in the viewing restriction setting item. In an optical disk device that prompts for a password,
An optical disc apparatus characterized in that, when a viewing restriction level becomes a level indicating a restriction stronger than a predetermined level, the setting contents of setting items other than the viewing restriction setting item are disabled.   3. The optical disc apparatus according to claim 2, wherein when setting items other than viewing restriction setting items cannot be changed, only the viewing restriction setting items are displayed on the display device as initial setting items. A plurality of setting items including a viewing restriction setting item are provided as initial setting items, and the content to be played back is restricted according to the viewing restriction level set in the viewing restriction setting item. In an optical disk device that prompts for a password,
An optical disc apparatus characterized in that, with respect to setting items that allow setting contents to be changed, restrictions corresponding to viewing restriction levels are provided for setting items other than viewing restriction setting items.   The setting item whose setting content cannot be changed due to the restriction corresponding to the viewing restriction level and the setting item whose setting content can be changed are displayed on the display device so as to be distinguishable from each other. 5. The optical disc device according to 4.   6. The optical disc according to claim 5, wherein when the cursor is moved to a setting item whose setting contents cannot be changed, a message indicating that the setting contents cannot be changed is displayed on a display device. apparatus.

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