JP2007228364A - Program recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a program recording device which is capable of enabling a user to easily identify recorded contents when reproducing the recorded contents, by recording program information of a program seemed to be recorded most intensively by the user as recorded content identification information in any type of recording. <P>SOLUTION: The program recording device includes: an EPG information acquisition means; a first recording means for recording one or more programs on a recording medium as one piece of recorded contents for an arbitrary period from an arbitrary point of time; a means for extracting program information corresponding to one or more programs to be recorded, respectively a means for acquiring recording starting times corresponding to one or more programs to be recorded, respectively; a means for calculating recording times corresponding to one or more programs to be recorded, respectively; a means for determining one piece of program information as recorded content identification information indicating recorded contents using each of the recording times and each of recording starting times; and a second recording means for recording the recorded content identification information on the recording medium. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a program recording apparatus that receives and records broadcast program content.

As a method of recording program content with a program recording device, there are a method of recording by reservation in advance using a reserved recording function, a method of manually recording a program being received, and the like. In addition, as a reservation method in the reservation recording, a method of selecting a program content by EPG (electronic program guide) and making a reservation (hereinafter referred to as EPG reservation), a broadcasting station (channel), and a recording start / end time are provided. There is a method of making a reservation by designating (hereinafter referred to as manual reservation). FIG. 2 shows a display example of a reservation screen at the time of EPG reservation. FIG. 3 shows a display example of a reservation screen for manual reservation.
Information for configuring the EPG (hereinafter referred to as EPG information) includes a program name that is program information for each program content, broadcast start / end time, broadcast station identification information (channel), and the like. These pieces of EPG information are broadcast from the broadcasting station while sequentially updating the contents together with the program content. The program recording device receives this EPG information and records it in a memory in the device, and also updates the recorded content of the memory every time the content of the EPG information is updated. When the EPG display operation is performed by the user, the EPG is generated and displayed using the EPG information recorded in the memory. The user can select and reserve a program content to be recorded from the displayed EPG by operating a remote controller or the like, and can record the program content. In addition to acquiring EPG information from broadcast waves as described above, there are methods of acquiring from the Internet using a communication function or acquiring via a recording medium.
On the other hand, a playback device that plays back recorded content recorded on a recording medium is generally recorded content identification information that is recorded at the same time as the recorded content and includes a recorded content identification name, a recording start time, a recording time, and the like. Many of them have a function of displaying a list of recorded contents for informing the user of the contents of a plurality of recorded contents. The user can easily reproduce and view the desired recorded content by displaying this recorded content list and selecting the recorded content to be viewed from this table.
Returning to the description of the program recording apparatus.
Among the program content recording methods as described above, EPG reservation is usually one program content to be recorded in one recording operation, and therefore the program information of the program content to be recorded is recorded at the time of recording. It is possible to record simultaneously as identification information. That is, the recorded content identification information recorded corresponding to the recorded content recorded in one recording operation matches the program information of the program content that is the recorded content. Therefore, when reproducing the recorded content recorded by the EPG reservation, the program information itself of the recorded program content is displayed in the recorded content list. You can choose from.

  However, in the case of manual reservation without using EPG, or when manually recording the program content currently being received by the user, the recorded content recorded in one recording operation is not in units of programs. There is no one-to-one correspondence with program content. Normally, a single recorded content includes a plurality of program contents. Therefore, when program information is to be used as recorded content identification information, it cannot be realized simply as in the case of EPG reservation in which program information may be recorded simultaneously with recording. It is necessary to specify program information of program content to be recorded (that is, displayed at the time of reproduction) as recorded content identification information by some method.

In view of the above-described conventional examples, various program recording methods have been proposed for allowing a user to easily identify recorded contents when reproducing recorded contents.
For example, in Patent Document 1, a user can easily identify recorded content by using a teletext signal when recording and automatically recording the program name at the start of recording as a recorded content identification name. A possible method is disclosed.
Further, in Patent Document 2, when a broadcast station that broadcasts program content is selected and recorded, the broadcast station name is recorded as a recorded content identification name, so that even if a plurality of program contents are included, the user can A method capable of identifying the intended recorded content is disclosed.
Furthermore, in Patent Document 3, when a plurality of program contents are included in one recorded content, the program names and broadcast times of all program contents are stored, and the program contents are identified by displaying each program content. A method is disclosed.
JP-A-11-252499 JP 2002-27380 A Utility Model Registration No. 3090709

However, with the method described in Patent Document 1, even when a plurality of program contents are continuously recorded, only the program name of the program contents at the start of recording can be recorded. Therefore, in order to prevent the head of the program from being lost at the time of recording, if the recording is started slightly before the broadcast start time of the program content to be recorded, the program name of the program content that the user originally intends to record is recorded. I can't. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining this. It is assumed that the user starts recording from 20:58 two minutes before recording the program 2 which is a movie with the program name “movie M” starting from 21:00. Then, at 20:58 which is the recording start time, program 1 which is news having a program name of “News N” is broadcast. Therefore, even though the user wants to record “movie M”, which is the program name of program 2, as the recorded content identification name, “news N”, which is the program name of program 1, is recorded as the recorded content identification name.
In the method described in Patent Document 2, since the broadcast station name is recorded as the recorded content identification name instead of the program name, it is not easy to identify the program content recorded as the recorded content. If each program content in FIG. 4 is a broadcast from a broadcast station with the name “A broadcast”, the recorded content identification name is “A broadcast”, and the actually recorded program content cannot be identified.
Further, in the method described in Patent Document 3, since the program information of all program contents recorded in one recording operation is recorded as recorded content identification information, the amount of information of the recorded content identification information becomes very large. End up. Therefore, when recording the recorded content identification information on a recording medium, a very large recording area is required, and the area for recording the actual recorded content is reduced. Further, this method cannot be applied to a recording medium of a standard that can record only one recorded content identification information for one recording operation.
As described above, the conventional method has a problem that it is not possible to automatically record only the program information of the program that the user thinks is most intended.
The present invention has been made in view of the above problems.
Its purpose is not only for recording by EPG reservation, but also for recording by manual reservation or by manual recording by the user. It is an object of the present invention to provide a program recording apparatus capable of easily identifying a program content that is a content of a recorded content when the recorded content is reproduced by automatically recording the information as information.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides the following apparatus.
In a program recording apparatus for receiving one of a plurality of broadcast channels and recording program content broadcast on the received broadcast channel on a predetermined recording medium,
EPG information acquisition means (100, 111, 141) for externally acquiring EPG information including a program name and a broadcast start time, which are program information corresponding to a plurality of program contents scheduled to be broadcast within a predetermined period;
Among the program contents that are continuously broadcast in time series on the received broadcast channel, recording is started by a recording start instruction, and a plurality of program contents recorded before the recording is ended by a recording end instruction First recording means (100, 110, 121, 130) for recording on the recording medium as recorded content;
Recording start time and recording end time when recording the one recorded content is acquired from a clock in the apparatus, and recording start of the first program content recorded as the one recorded content is recorded. First information acquisition means (130, 141, 160) for time;
Each program information of the plurality of program contents recorded as the one recorded content is respectively compared by comparing the time obtained from the clock in the apparatus with the broadcast start time of each program information included in the EPG information. In addition to specifying and extracting, the broadcast start time in the program information of each program content recorded after the second as the one recorded content is recorded as the recording start time of each program content recorded after the second Second information acquisition and output means (130, 141, 160),
The recording time of one program content among the plurality of program contents recorded as the one recorded content is the recording start time of the one program content and the program content recorded immediately after the one program content. Each of the plurality of program contents recorded as the one recorded content is calculated by taking a difference from the recording start time, and the recording time of the last recorded program content is the last program content Calculating means (130, 141, 142, 160) for calculating the difference between the recording start time of the recording content and the recording end time of the one recorded content;
The recording times of the plurality of program contents are compared with each other to select the program content with the longest recording time. When there is one program content with the selected longest recording time, the program information of this program content is stored in the 1 When there are a plurality of program contents having the longest recording time selected as information indicating the contents of one recorded content, and when there are a plurality of program contents having the longest recording time selected, the selected program contents are recorded from the earliest recording start time. A program content whose ranking is in agreement with a predetermined ranking set in advance is selected, and program information of the selected program content is recorded as information indicating the contents of the one recorded content. Determining means (130, 141, 142) for determining content identification information;
Second recording means (130, 122) for recording the recorded content identification information on the recording medium;
A program recording apparatus comprising:

According to the present invention, not only in the case of recording by EPG reservation but also in the case of recording by manual reservation or by manual recording by the user, the program information of the program content that the user seems to have recorded most intentionally is recorded. By automatically recording the content identification information, the user can easily identify the program content that is the content of the recorded content when reproducing the recorded content.

  Further, since only the program information of one program needs to be recorded in one recording operation, it is possible to suppress the recording area when recording on the recording medium as the recorded content identification information to the minimum necessary.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with an example of a program recording apparatus using a hard disk as a recording medium.
<Overall configuration of device>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the program recording apparatus of this embodiment.

  A television broadcast receiving unit (100) for receiving a television broadcast, a signal processing unit (110) for processing a video / audio signal of the received television broadcast, and a hard disk (recording medium for recording the processed video / audio signal) 120), a CPU (130) for controlling the entire apparatus, a memory (140), a video / audio output unit (150) for outputting a video / audio signal during reproduction, a timer (160) for measuring time, and the like. The

  On the hard disk (120), one or more program contents recorded in one recording operation are set as one recorded content, and the recorded content is recorded in the form of content video / audio (121). In addition, for each recorded content recorded, recorded content identification information (122), which is information indicating the content, is also recorded. In this embodiment, when a plurality of program contents exist in one recorded content, the program content having the longest recording time is specified, and the program information of this program content is set as the recorded content identification information (122) on the hard disk. It is characterized by recording. That is, it is noted that when a user performs a single recording operation, usually the recording time of the program content intended to be recorded is often the longest. When there are a plurality of program contents having the same recording time in one recorded content, the program information of the program content having the earliest recording start time is recorded as recorded content identification information (122).

The EPG information superimposed on the television broadcast is extracted by the EPG information extraction unit (111) included in the signal processing unit (110), and the extracted EPG information (141) is stored in the memory (140). Further, in the memory (140), when there are a plurality of program contents in one recorded content, which is a feature of the present embodiment as described above, the program content having the longest recording time is specified. The comparison table (142) used for the above is also stored.
The EPG information may be acquired from the Internet using a communication function, or may be acquired via a recording medium, in addition to being acquired from a broadcast wave as described above.

<Flow of recording content identification information recording process>
The flow of the recorded content identification information recording process, which is a feature of this embodiment, will be described below.
Note that the subject performing the operation described below is the CPU (130) shown in FIG. 1 unless otherwise specified.
[When recording starts]
First, the operation at the start of recording will be described.

  FIG. 4 is an example of manually recording the broadcast of the broadcast station “A broadcast” in the program table shown in FIG. 2 from 20:58 to 22:56. The program name of program 1 (401) acquired from the EPG information is “news N”, the program name of program 2 (402) is “movie M”, and the program name of program 3 (403) is “weather W”.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the procedure of the recorded content identification information recording process at the start of recording.
In step S601, if recording is started (404) by the user at 20:58 shown in FIG. 4, the current time is acquired from the timer (160) and EPG information is acquired from the memory (140). Then, from the current time and the broadcast start / end time of each program content included in the EPG information (141), the program content broadcast at the recording start time (20:58) is identified, and the identified program Get content program information. In the example of FIG. 4, at least “news N” that is the program name is acquired from the program information of program 1 (401).

In step S602, the acquired program name and recording start time are recorded on the hard disk (120) as recorded content identification information (122).
In step S603, the program name acquired in step S602 and the recording start time are set in a predetermined column of the comparison table (142) shown in FIG. 8 secured in a predetermined area on the memory (140) in advance. To do. In the example of FIG. 4, the program name “news N” is set in the program name column (801) of the program of the recorded content identification information candidate, and the recording start time “20:58” is recorded of the program of the recorded content identification information candidate. Set in the start time field (802). The other columns (803) to (806) are undefined at this time, so information indicating “not set” is set in advance.

This comparison table (142) is a table used for specifying program information to be recorded on the hard disk (120) as recorded content identification information.
Thus, the process at the start of recording ends.
[When switching to the first program]
Next, the operation when the recorded program content is switched for the first time will be described.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining a procedure when switching program contents.
The switching of the program content is obtained from the EPG information (141) recorded in the memory (140) by acquiring information on the scheduled broadcast start time of the program content scheduled to start broadcasting next to the currently recorded program content, This is confirmed by comparing with the current time obtained from the timer (160). In the example of FIG. 4, when the above-described program content switching confirmation operation is executed at the time of recording execution 1 (406), the current time is after the broadcast start time “21:00” of “movie M” of program 2. Therefore, it can be determined that the program content has been switched.

When it is determined that the program content has been switched by the program content switching confirmation process described above, the recorded content identification information recording process shown in FIG. 7 is started.
In step S701, it is confirmed whether or not the recording time column (803) of the recording content identification information candidate program in the comparison table (142) shown in FIG. 8 on the memory (140) is “not set”. Since it is still “not set” at this stage, the process branches to the NO side (step S702).

  In step S702, the broadcast start time of “movie M” of program 2, which is the program content currently being recorded, is 21:00 and the value of the recording start time column (802) of the recording content identification information candidate program is 20:58. The difference value from the minute is calculated. Then, 2 minutes as the calculation result is set in the recording time column (803) of the program of the recorded content identification information candidate.

In step S708, it is confirmed whether or not the current process is a process at the end of recording. Since the current stage is not a process at the end of recording, the process proceeds to the NO side (step S709).
In step S709, the program name “movie M” of program 2, which is the currently recorded program content, is recorded in the comparison program name column (804) of the comparison table (142), and the current recording is recorded in the comparison program recording start time column (805). Broadcast start time 21:00 of program 2 which is the program content in the middle is set.

Thus, the process at the time of the first program change is completed. Even after the completion of this process, the program content switching confirmation process is periodically executed at a predetermined cycle (for example, one minute cycle).
[When the program changes for the second time]
Next, the operation at the second program content switching will be described.

  When the switching of the program is confirmed at the time of recording execution 2 (407) shown in FIG. 4 by the program content switching confirmation process periodically executed in the predetermined cycle, the program switching time shown in FIG. Execute the process.

  In step S701, it is confirmed whether or not the recording time column (803) of the recording content identification information candidate program in the comparison table (142) shown in FIG. 8 on the memory (140) is “not set”. Since 2:00 is already set in the current process, the process branches to the YES side (step S703).

  In step S703, the difference value between the broadcast start time 22:54 of “weather W” of program 3 which is the program content currently being recorded and the value of 21:00 which is the value of the comparison program recording start time column (805). Is calculated. Then, 1 hour and 54 minutes as the calculation result is set in the comparative program recording time column (806).

  In step S704, the time set in the comparative program recording time column (806) (1 hour 54 minutes) and the time set in the recording time column (803) of the program of the recorded content identification information candidate (2 minutes) And compare. As a result of this comparison, if it is determined that the time set in the comparative program recording time field (806) is longer, the process branches to the YES side (step S706). On the other hand, if it is determined that the comparison result indicates that the time set in the comparative program recording time field (806) is less than or equal to the time set in the recording time field (803) of the recording content identification information candidate program. The process branches to the NO side (step S708). In the example of FIG. 4, since the time set in the comparative program recording time field (806) is longer, the process branches to the YES side (step S706).

  In step S706, each piece of information set in each column of the comparison program information in the comparison table (142) is set as new recorded content identification information, and the recorded content identification information (in the previous operation) recorded in the hard disk 120 ( 122) is overwritten in the recording area.

  In step S707, the fields (801 to 803) of the recorded content identification information candidates in the comparison table (142) of FIG. 8 on the memory (140) are set in the fields (804 to 806) of the comparison program information. Information is overwritten.

In step S708, it is confirmed whether or not the current process is a process at the end of recording. Since the current stage is not a process at the end of recording, the process proceeds to the NO side (step S709).
In step S709, the program name “weather W” of program 3, which is the currently recorded program content, is set in the comparison program name field (804) of the comparison table (142), and the comparison program recording start time field (805). Is set to 22:54 at the broadcast start time of program 3, which is the program content of the currently recorded program, and information indicating “not set” is set in the comparative program recording time column (806).

This completes the process at the time of the second program change. Even after the completion of this process, the program content switching confirmation process is periodically executed at a predetermined cycle (for example, one minute cycle).
[When recording process ends]
Finally, the operation at the end of recording will be described.

When the user ends the recording, for example, when the recording ends at the time of the recording end (405) shown in FIG. 4, the same processing as the program switching shown in FIG. 7 is executed again.
In step S701, it is confirmed whether or not the recording time column (803) of the recording content identification information candidate program in the comparison table (142) shown in FIG. 8 on the memory (140) is “not set”. Since 1 hour and 54 minutes have already been set in this process, the process branches to the YES side (step S703).

  In step S703, a difference value between the recording end time of 22:56 and the value of the comparison program recording start time column (805) of 22:54 is calculated. Then, 2 minutes as the calculation result is set in the comparative program recording time column (806).

  In step S704, the time set in the comparison program recording time field (806) (2 minutes) and the time set in the recording time field (803) of the program of the recorded content identification information candidate (1 hour 54 minutes) And compare. In the example of FIG. 4, the time (2 minutes) set in the comparison program recording time column (806) is the time (1 hour 54) set in the recording time column (803) of the recording content identification information candidate program. Min)), the process branches to the NO side (step S708).

In step S708, since the current process is a process at the end of recording, the process branches to YES, and the process ends.
Thus, the process at the end of recording ends.

  According to the series of processing procedures at the time of recording execution of the first embodiment described above, the program information of the program content having the longest recording time among the plurality of program contents recorded in one recording operation. Can be recorded as recorded content identification information (122) of this recorded content. In the example of FIG. 4, the recorded content identification information of “movie M” as the recorded content identification name, 21:00 as the recording start time, and 1 hour and 54 minutes as the recording time is recorded.

<When there are multiple programs with the same maximum recording time>
Next, the flow of the recorded content identification information recording process in the case of recording a plurality of program contents having the same maximum recording time in one recording operation will be described below.
[When recording starts]
First, the operation at the start of recording will be described.
FIG. 5 is an example in which the broadcast of the broadcasting station “B TV” in the program table shown in FIG. 2 is manually recorded from 19:58 to 22:02. This is an example in which the broadcast time (recording time) of “quiz QQQ” of program 2 (502) and “nipper story” of program 3 (503) is both 1 hour 00 minutes.

  In step S601, if the user starts recording (505) at 19:58 shown in FIG. 5, the current time is acquired from the timer (160) and EPG information is acquired from the memory (140). Then, from the current time and the broadcast start / end time of each program content included in the EPG information (141), the program content broadcast at the recording start time (19:58) is identified, and the identified program Get content program information. In the example of FIG. 5, at least “news”, which is the program name, is acquired from the program information of program 1 (501).

In step S602, the acquired program name and recording start time are recorded on the hard disk (120) as recorded content identification information (122).
In step S603, the program name acquired in step S602 and the recording start time are set in a predetermined column of the comparison table (142) shown in FIG. 8 secured in a predetermined area on the memory (140) in advance. To do. In the example of FIG. 5, the program name “news” is set in the program name field (801) of the program with the recorded content identification information candidate, and the recording start time “19:58” is set to start recording of the program with the recorded content identification information candidate. Set in the time field (802). The other columns (803) to (806) are undefined at this time, so information indicating “not set” is set in advance.

Thus, the process at the start of recording ends.
[When switching to the first program]
Next, the operation when the recorded program content is switched for the first time will be described.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining a procedure when switching program contents.
The switching of the program content is obtained from the EPG information (141) recorded in the memory (140) by acquiring information on the scheduled broadcast start time of the program content scheduled to start broadcasting next to the currently recorded program content, This is confirmed by comparing with the current time obtained from the timer (160). In the example of FIG. 5, when the above-described program content switching confirmation operation is executed at the time of recording execution 1 (507), the current time is after the broadcast start time “20:00” of “quiz QQQ” of program 2 Therefore, it can be determined that the program content has been switched.

When it is determined that the program content has been switched by the program content switching confirmation process described above, the recorded content identification information recording process shown in FIG. 9 is started.
In step S701, it is confirmed whether or not the recording time column (803) of the recording content identification information candidate program in the comparison table (142) shown in FIG. 8 on the memory (140) is “not set”. Since it is still “not set” at this stage, the process branches to the NO side (step S702).

  In step S702, the broadcast start time 20:00 of “quiz QQQ” of program 2, which is the program content currently being recorded, and the value of the recording start time column (802) of the recording content identification information candidate program at 19:58 The difference value from the minute is calculated. Then, 2 minutes as the calculation result is set in the recording time column (803) of the program of the recorded content identification information candidate.

In step S708, it is confirmed whether or not the current process is a process at the end of recording. Since the current stage is not a process at the end of recording, the process proceeds to the NO side (step S709).
In step S709, the program name “quiz QQQ” of program 2 which is the program content currently recorded in the comparison program name column (804), and the program content currently recorded in the comparison program recording start time column (805). Broadcast start time 20:00 of program 2 is set (step S709).

Thus, the process at the time of the first program change is completed. Even after the completion of this process, the program content switching confirmation process is periodically executed at a predetermined cycle (for example, one minute cycle).
[When the program changes for the second time]
Next, the operation at the second program content switching will be described.

  When the switching of the program is confirmed at the time of recording execution 2 (508) shown in FIG. 5 by the program content switching confirmation process periodically executed in the predetermined cycle, the program switching time shown in FIG. Execute the process.

  In step S701, it is confirmed whether or not the recording time column (803) of the recording content identification information candidate program in the comparison table (142) shown in FIG. 8 on the memory (140) is “not set”. Since 2:00 is already set in the current process, the process branches to the YES side (step S703).

  In step S703, the difference value between the broadcast start time 21:00 of “Nipper story” of program 3, which is the program content currently being recorded, and 20:00 which is the value of the comparison program recording start time column (805). Is calculated. Then, the calculation result of 1:00 is set in the comparative program recording time column (806).

  In step S704, the time set in the comparative program recording time field (806) (1 hour 00 minutes) and the time set in the recording time field (803) of the program of the recorded content identification information candidate (2 minutes) And compare. As a result of this comparison, if it is determined that the time set in the comparative program recording time field (806) is longer, the process branches to the YES side (step S706). On the other hand, if it is determined that the comparison result indicates that the time set in the comparative program recording time field (806) is less than or equal to the time set in the recording time field (803) of the recording content identification information candidate program. The process branches to the NO side (step S905). In the example of FIG. 5, since the time (1 hour 00 minutes) set in the comparative program recording time field (806) is longer, the process branches to the YES side (step S706).

  In step S706, each piece of information set in each column of the comparison program information in the comparison table (142) is set as new recorded content identification information, and the recorded content identification information (in the previous operation) recorded in the hard disk 120 ( 122) is overwritten in the recording area.

  In step S707, the fields (801 to 803) of the recorded content identification information candidates in the comparison table (142) of FIG. 8 on the memory (140) are set in the fields (804 to 806) of the comparison program information. Information is overwritten.

In step S708, it is confirmed whether or not the current process is a process at the end of recording. Since the current stage is not a process at the end of recording, the process proceeds to the NO side (step S709).
In step S709, the program name “nipper story” of program 3, which is the currently recorded program content, is set in the comparison program name column (804) in the comparison table (142), and the comparison program recording start time column (805). ) Is set to the broadcast start time 21:00 of program 3, which is the program content of the currently recorded program, and information indicating “not set” is set in the comparative program recording time column (806).

This completes the process at the time of the second program change. Even after this process is completed, the program content switching confirmation process is periodically performed at a predetermined cycle (for example, a one-minute cycle).
[When the program changes for the third time]
Next, the operation at the third program content switching will be described.

  When the switching of the program is confirmed at the time of the recording execution 3 (509) shown in FIG. 5 by the program content switching confirmation process periodically executed in the predetermined cycle, the program switching time shown in FIG. Execute the process.

  In step S701, it is confirmed whether or not the recording time column (803) of the recording content identification information candidate program in the comparison table (142) shown in FIG. 8 on the memory (140) is “not set”. Since one hour is already set in this process, the process branches to the YES side (step S703).

  In step S703, the difference between the broadcast start time 22:00 of “Today's news” of program 4 which is the program content currently being recorded and the value 21:00 of the comparison program recording start time column (805). Calculate the value. Then, the calculation result of 1:00 is set in the comparative program recording time column (806).

  In step S704, the time (1 hour 00 minutes) set in the comparison program recording time field (806) and the time (1 hour 00) set in the recording time field (803) of the recording content identification information candidate program. Min). As a result of this comparison, if it is determined that the time set in the comparative program recording time field (806) is longer, the process branches to the YES side (step S706). On the other hand, if it is determined that the comparison result indicates that the time set in the comparative program recording time field (806) is less than or equal to the time set in the recording time field (803) of the recording content identification information candidate program. The process branches to the NO side (step S9051). In the example of FIG. 5, the time (1 hour 00 minutes) set in the comparative program recording time column (806) and the time (1) set in the recording time column (803) of the program of the recorded content identification information candidate Since the time is equal to 00 minutes, the process branches to the NO side (step S9051).

  In step S9051, is the time set in the comparison program recording time column (806) of the comparison table (142) equal to the time set in the recording time column (803) of the program of the recorded content identification information candidate? Judge whether or not. If it is determined that they are equal, the process branches to the YES side (step S9052). On the other hand, if it is determined that they are not equal, the process branches to the NO side (step S708). In the example of FIG. 5, the time (1 hour 00 minutes) set in the comparison program recording time field (806) and the time (1) set in the recording time field (803) of the program of the recorded content identification information candidate Since the time is equal to 00 minutes, the process branches to the YES side (step S9052).

  In step S9052, the start time set in the comparison program recording start time column (805) of the comparison table (142) and the start time set in the recording start time column (802) of the program of the recorded content identification information candidate. Compare As a result of this comparison, if it is determined that the start time set in the comparison program recording start time field (805) is earlier (smaller), the process branches to the YES side (step S706). On the other hand, the comparison result indicates that the start time set in the comparison program recording start time column (805) is equal to or less than the start time set in the recording start time column (802) of the program of the recorded content identification information candidate. If it is determined that there is, the process branches to the NO side (step S708). In the example of FIG. 5, the recording start time column (802) of the recording content identification information candidate program is set from the recording start time (21:00) set in the comparative program recording start time column (805). The processing time (20:00) is earlier (smaller), so the process branches to the NO side (step S708).

  In this embodiment, when there are a plurality of program contents having the same recording time, the earlier recording start time is recorded on the hard disk as the recorded content identification information. Therefore, the branch process in step S9052 is the time set in the recording start time column (802) of the program of the recorded content identification information candidate corresponding to the program information already written in the hard disk in step S706 of the previous process. If this is earlier than the time set in the comparative program recording start time column (805), the process of writing the program information to the hard disk in step S706 and the process of updating the comparison table in step S707 are not performed. Processing is branched to step S708. On the other hand, if the determination of branching in step S9052 is reversed, it is possible to change to processing for recording the later recording start time on the hard disk as recorded content identification information.

  In step S706, each piece of information set in each column of the comparison program information in the comparison table (142) is set as new recorded content identification information, and the recorded content identification information (in the previous operation) recorded in the hard disk 120 ( 122) is overwritten in the recording area.

  In step S707, the fields (801 to 803) of the recorded content identification information candidates in the comparison table (142) of FIG. 8 on the memory (140) are set in the fields (804 to 806) of the comparison program information. Information is overwritten.

In step S708, it is confirmed whether or not the current process is a process at the end of recording. Since the current stage is not a process at the end of recording, the process proceeds to the NO side (step S709).
In step S709, the program name “Today's News” of program 4 which is the program content currently being recorded is set in the comparison program name field (804) of the comparison table (142), and the comparison program recording start time field (805). ) Is set to broadcast start time 22:00 of program 4, which is the program content of the currently recorded program, and information indicating “not set” is set to the comparative program recording time (806).

This completes the process at the time of the third program change. Even after the completion of this process, the program content switching confirmation process is periodically executed at a predetermined cycle (for example, one minute cycle).
[When recording process ends]
Finally, the operation at the end of recording will be described.

When the user ends the recording, for example, when the recording ends at the time of the recording end (506) shown in FIG. 5, the same processing as that at the program switching shown in FIG. 9 is executed again.
In step S701, it is confirmed whether or not the recording time column (803) of the recording content identification information candidate program in the comparison table (142) shown in FIG. 8 on the memory (140) is “not set”. In this process, since 1:00 hour has already been set, the process branches to the YES side (step S703).

  In step S703, a difference value between the recording end time 22:02 and the comparison program recording start time column (805), which is 22:00, is calculated. Then, 2 minutes as the calculation result is set in the comparative program recording time column (806).

  In step S704, the time set in the comparison program recording time field (806) (2 minutes) and the time set in the recording time field (803) of the program of the recorded content identification information candidate (1 hour 00 minutes) And compare. In the example of FIG. 4, the time (2 minutes) set in the comparative program recording time field (806) is the time (1 hour 00) set in the recording time field (803) of the recorded content identification information candidate program. Min)), the process branches to the NO side (step S708).

In step S708, since the current process is a process at the end of recording, the process branches to the YES side, and the process ends.
Thus, the process at the end of recording ends.

  According to the series of processing procedures at the time of recording execution in the second embodiment described above, when there are a plurality of program contents having the longest recording time among the recorded contents recorded by one recording operation, the plurality of the program contents are recorded. The program information of the program with the earliest recording start time among the program contents can be recorded as recorded content identification information (122). In the example of FIG. 4, the recorded content identification information of “quiz QQQ” as the recorded content identification name, 20:00 as the recording start time, and 1:00 hours as the recording time is recorded.

  If the branch determination process in step S9052 is reversed, the program information of the program with the latest recording start time among the plurality of program contents can be recorded as the recorded content identification information (122).

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, the recording time (execution between two programs, the program that has been switched each time the program content is switched in one recording operation and the program content having the longest recording time until the previous time) Example 1) When the recording times are the same, the recording start time (Example 2) is compared and one program content is finally selected. However, the embodiment is not limited to this. For example, the program name, recording time, and recording start time of all recorded program contents are recorded in the memory in the device, and the program recording times of all recorded program contents are compared after the recording operation is completed. The program content with the longest recording time may be selected. When there are a plurality of program contents having the longest recording time, the recording start times of these program contents are ranked in order from the earliest time, and the order set by the user in advance by the order setting means The program content that matches can be selected. This makes it possible to more accurately set the program information of the program content intended by the user as recorded content identification information.

In this embodiment, the time and time units have been described up to “hour” and “minute” for the sake of simplicity, but it is of course possible to apply units shorter than this to this embodiment.
In this embodiment, the content identification name, the recording start time, and the recording time are recorded content identification information, but only the content identification name may be recorded content identification information, or information indicating other program attributes. Program content description, genre, performer name, broadcast station (channel) information, etc. may be added to the recorded content identification information.
Further, in the present embodiment, the case of manual recording has been described, but the same procedure can be performed even in the case of recording by manual reservation.
In this embodiment, an example in which a hard disk is used as a recording medium has been described. However, the recording medium is not limited to this, and an optical disk such as a DVD or a semiconductor memory may be used as the recording medium.

Further, the present invention includes a program for causing a computer to realize the functions of the above-described apparatus. These programs may be read from a recording medium and loaded into a computer, or may be transmitted via a communication network and loaded into a computer.

Configuration example of one embodiment of program recording apparatus according to the present invention Example of setting screen (program guide) for EPG reservation Setting screen display example for manual reservation Recording execution example 1 Recording execution example 2 Flowchart 1 showing the procedure of this embodiment Flowchart 2 showing the procedure of the present embodiment Comparison table example Flowchart 3 showing the procedure of the present embodiment

Explanation of symbols

100 Broadcast receiver
110 Signal processor
111 EPG information extraction unit
120 hard disk
121 Content video / audio
122 Recorded content identification information
130 CPU
140 memory
141 EPG information
142 Comparison table
150 Video / audio output
160 timer

Claims (1)

In a program recording apparatus for receiving one of a plurality of broadcast channels and recording program content broadcast on the received broadcast channel on a predetermined recording medium,
EPG information acquisition means for externally acquiring EPG information including a program name and a broadcast start time, which are program information corresponding to a plurality of program contents scheduled to be broadcast within a predetermined period;
Among the program contents that are broadcast continuously in time series on the received broadcast channel, a plurality of program contents recorded until the recording is started by the recording start instruction and the recording is ended by the recording end instruction are 1 First recording means for recording on the recording medium as one recorded content;
Recording start time and recording end time when recording the one recorded content is acquired from a clock in the apparatus, and recording start of the first program content recorded as the one recorded content is recorded. First information acquisition means for time;
Each program information of the plurality of program contents recorded as the one recorded content is respectively compared by comparing the time obtained from the clock in the apparatus with the broadcast start time of each program information included in the EPG information. In addition to specifying and extracting, the broadcast start time in the program information of each program content recorded after the second as the one recorded content is recorded as the recording start time of each program content recorded after the second A second information acquisition and output means;
The recording time of one program content among the plurality of program contents recorded as the one recorded content is the recording start time of the one program content and the program content recorded immediately after the one program content. It is calculated by taking the difference from the recording start time, and the recording time of the program content recorded last among the plurality of program contents recorded as the one recorded content is recorded last. Calculating means for calculating the difference between the recording start time of the program content and the recording end time of the one recorded content;
The recording times of the plurality of program contents are compared with each other to select the program content with the longest recording time. When there is one program content with the selected longest recording time, the program information of this program content is stored in the 1 When there are a plurality of program contents having the longest recording time selected as information indicating the contents of one recorded content, and when there are a plurality of program contents having the longest recording time selected, the selected program contents are recorded from the earliest recording start time. A program content whose ranking is in agreement with a predetermined ranking set in advance is selected, and program information of the selected program content is recorded as information indicating the contents of the one recorded content. Determining means for determining the content identification information;
Second recording means for recording the recorded content identification information on the recording medium;
A program recording apparatus comprising:

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