JP2008282440A - Information recording and reproducing system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To execute almost equal and efficient management of recorded data, such as recording, reproducing and erasing in a built-in hard disk without management tools, such as, IC cards for personal identification according to the usage conditions of all the family members. <P>SOLUTION: A control section 1 for taking control of recording information in the built-in hard disk, and reproducing and erasing of the information recorded therein, comprises an area-separating function for separating the entire capacity of the hard disk into a plurality of small areas, depending on the number of users and a setting function for setting passwords to access each separated area, and not only records the information in a specific separated area specified by an inputted password when recording the information in the hard disk, but also reproduces the information selected by a user from among the pieces of information recorded in the specific separated area specified by the inputted password, when the information from the hard disk is reproduced. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an information recording / reproducing apparatus that records information on a built-in hard disk and reproduces and erases the recorded information.

  Recently, information recording / reproducing apparatuses such as DVD recorders with a built-in hard disk as a recording medium have become popular in homes, and the capacity of the built-in hard disk has been increasing year by year. In such a DVD recorder with a built-in HDD, program data recorded by each user (father, mother, eldest daughter, eldest son, etc.) in the home is recorded in a mixed state in one hard disk, and divided into folders. Data management was difficult because the amount of data was enormous.

  For example, when a user tries to play a program recorded in advance and view it, it is necessary to display a list of all programs recorded on the hard disk and select a desired program from the list. There was a problem that it took time to find the program. In addition, when the free space of the hard disk is decreasing, it is necessary to delete one of the program data and increase the free space, but even in this case, for the program recorded by the operating user, Since it can be determined whether or not the viewer has already viewed the content, the deletion process can be performed relatively easily. However, there is a problem that a program recorded by another user cannot smoothly erase or organize program data because it is not known whether the other user has already watched the program. It was. Furthermore, there is an inconvenience that a viewing restriction must be individually set for a program that includes other violent scenes, etc. that other users (such as children) do not want to watch.

  That is, these problems occur because a conventional HDD built-in DVD recorder records program data recorded by each user in the home in a mixed state in one hard disk. This is due to the fact that data management cannot be performed.

  Therefore, a recording / playback apparatus that solves such a problem has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Patent Document 1 discloses a recording / playback apparatus that realizes access restriction of content (broadcast program) recorded on a storage medium based on personal information of an inserted personal authentication IC card. The recording / playback apparatus stores a content in a predetermined medium to create a storage medium, a means for accessing the storage medium to play a desired content, and a personal authentication card. It consists of means for restricting the recording and playback of content according to personal information. When each family member having a personal authentication IC card performs recording, content is recorded under each subdirectory.
JP 2002-354427 A

  According to the above-mentioned patent document 1, it is possible to record content that suits individual hobbies and preferences for each individual using a single authentication IC card for the number of family members for one recording / playback device. The recorded content can be protected by restricting access other than the recorded individual. However, in order to do so, each individual needs to self-manage the IC card for personal authentication. If the IC card for personal authentication is lost, the recorded content cannot be viewed. May occur. Also, regarding the recording of content on storage media, the capacity that can be recorded for each individual is not allocated, so for example, the father records a large amount of content, so the free space of the storage media is limited. If almost all of them are lost, there is a possibility that other users (such as children) cannot record even if they try to record. That is, there is a problem that one storage medium cannot be used by all the family members evenly and efficiently to some extent according to the use situation.

  The present invention was devised to solve such problems, and its purpose is not to require a management tool such as an IC card for personal authentication, but to record, reproduce and erase information on a built-in hard disk. An object of the present invention is to provide an information recording apparatus capable of performing recording data management to some extent equally and efficiently in accordance with the usage status of the whole family.

  In order to solve the above problems, an information recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention records information on a built-in recording medium and controls the reproduction and erasure of the recorded information, and the total capacity of the recording medium is determined by the number of users. And a setting means for setting a password for accessing each of the divided areas, and the control means is configured to store information on the recording medium. The recording medium specified by inputting a password at the time of reproducing information from the recording medium while recording information in a specific division area of the recording medium specified by inputting the password at the time of recording The information selected by the user from the information recorded in the specific section area is reproduced.

  That is, according to the information recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention, the total capacity of the recording medium is first divided into a plurality of small-capacity areas according to the number of family members (that is, the number of users). This classification is performed by, for example, selecting an area classification item from the menu screen to display the area classification screen on the monitor screen and inputting the number of users to be used for the area classification screen. For example, if the total capacity of the hard disk, which is a built-in recording medium, is 250 GB (gigabytes) and the number of people used is 4 (for example, father, mother, eldest daughter, eldest son, etc.), the area classification means In this case, the total capacity (250 GB) is divided by 5 obtained by adding 1 to the number of persons, and divided (divided) into five areas in which one recording capacity is 50 GB. Then, among the divided five divided areas, four divided areas are assigned to one of the families, and the remaining one divided area is assigned to a common divided area. Then, the password input screen is displayed for each of the above four divided areas, and each individual inputs his / her own password from this input screen and sets it. It becomes the allocated section area (recordable area). It should be noted that the partitioned area in which the password is set is prevented from being unexpectedly released by other users unless the setting is released by the user who uses the password. Moreover, about the number of divisions, an upper limit may be provided beforehand and it may be made impossible to classify any more. If it is classified too finely, the subsequent management becomes troublesome, so it is generally better to limit it to the number of family members.

  Further, according to the information recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention, the control means is operable to record the information in a divided area other than the divided area corresponding to the input password at the time of recording, reproducing and erasing information on the recording medium. It is configured to prohibit access. Thus, for example, when recording information including a violent scene etc., the father can restrict viewing of other family members (eg children) by recording this information in the divided area assigned to himself / herself. Thus, it can also be used as a conventional viewing restriction function (parental lock function). Furthermore, since the recorded information can be individually managed for each user in this way, even when searching for information (programs) that the user wants to watch, only the program information of the user's own segmented area entered by the password can be displayed on the monitor screen. Efficiency will also improve.

  In this way, by setting in advance a capacity that can be used by each user in one information recording / reproducing apparatus, each user can manage his / her own recording, reproduction, and erasure within that capacity. One information recording / reproducing apparatus can be managed equally and efficiently by the whole family.

  In this case, it is normal for each user to use how the divided area assigned to each user is used. That is, the usage situation varies depending on each user. Therefore, if the usable capacity of each user is fixed to 50 GB as described above, for example, as a result of frequent repetition of information recording and erasing by a certain user, the divided area assigned to the user is always While using it almost full, other users rarely recorded or erased, so they used only a part of their assigned partition (always with a lot of free space) Such a situation may occur. This means that the utilization efficiency when viewed as a whole recording medium is reduced.

  Therefore, in the information recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention, the information recording / reproducing apparatus further comprises management means for managing the recording status in each segmented area, and the control means is based on the recording status of each segmented area managed by the managing means, The capacity of the divided area allocated to each user is changed every predetermined period (for example, one month) set in advance.

  As an example of the capacity change, the control means increases the capacity of the partitioned area with a small free capacity based on the free capacity of each partitioned area based on the recording status, and decreases the capacity of the partitioned area with a large free capacity. The capacity can be changed. For example, the free capacity of each divided area at the time when one month has elapsed is calculated individually, and the average value is obtained. Then, by adding the free space of this average value to the capacity of each divided area actually recorded at the present time, a new allocated capacity of each divided area is obtained. For example, when one month has passed, the recorded capacity of the partitioned area 1 is 40 GB (free capacity 10 GB), the recorded capacity of the partitioned area 2 is 35 GB (free capacity 15 GB), and the partitioned area 3 If the recorded capacity is 30 GB (free capacity 20 GB) and the recorded capacity of the segmented area 4 is 25 GB (free capacity 25 GB), the average value of the total free capacity at that time is 17.5 (= (10 + 15 + 20 + 25) / 4) GB. Therefore, the new allocated capacity of the partitioned area 1 is changed to 57.5 GB by adding the current recorded capacity of 40 GB to the free space average value of 17.5 GB, and the new allocated capacity of the partitioned area 2 is changed to the current allocated capacity. Is changed to 52.5 GB by adding 17.5 GB, which is the average value of the free space, to 35 GB, which is the recorded capacity, and the new allocated capacity of the divided area 3 is averaged to 30 GB, which is the current recorded capacity The value is changed to 47.5 GB by adding 17.5 GB which is the value, and the new allocated capacity of the divided area 4 is 42.5 GB which is obtained by adding 17.5 GB which is the average value of the free capacity to 25 GB which is the current recorded capacity. Change to

  As another example of the capacity change, the control means increases the capacity of the divided area having a large accumulated capacity based on the accumulated capacity of information recorded for each divided area during the predetermined period, It is possible to adopt a configuration in which the capacity is changed so as to reduce the capacity of the divided area with a small amount. For example, the amount of information recorded in each segmented region for one month is sequentially added and stored in the memory. When one month has passed, the amount of information recorded in each segmented area is compared to determine the ratio, and the entire capacity of the recording medium is redistributed so that the determined ratio is obtained. For example, in one month, recording and erasing are repeated for one month to record, for example, 200 GB of information, and for segmenting area 2, recording and erasing are repeated for, for example, 150 GB. If, for example, 100 GB of information is recorded by repeating recording and erasing for the divided area 3 and 50 GB of information is recorded for the divided area 4, only 1 is recorded. The usage ratio of each segmented area for the month is: segmented area 1: segmented area 2: segmented area 3: segmented area 4 = 200: 150: 100: 50 = 4: 3: 2: 1. Here, if the total capacity of the recording medium individually allocated to each user is 200 GB (excluding 50 GB which is a common segmented area), the new allocated capacity of the segmented area 1 is changed according to the ratio from the first 50 GB. 80 (= 200 × 4/10) GB, and the new allocated capacity of the partitioned area 2 is changed from the first 50 GB to 60 (= 200 × 3/10) GB according to the ratio. The new allocated capacity is changed from the first 50 GB to 40 (= 200 × 2/10) GB corresponding to the ratio, and the new allocated capacity of the partition area 4 is changed from the first 50 GB to 20 (= 200 × 1) according to the ratio. / 10) Change to GB.

  In this way, by changing the capacity of the divided area that can be used by each user thereafter according to the usage ratio, it becomes possible to set an optimal capacity in accordance with the actual usage situation of each user, and consequently the recording medium. It is also possible to improve the use efficiency of.

  On the other hand, when the capacity change is performed by directly applying the usage ratio as described above, there is a possibility that a large difference occurs in the capacity that can be used by each user. Therefore, in the present invention, the width of the capacity change may be limited to a predetermined constant width. For example, in the above example, the capacity of the segmented area 1 is greatly increased from 50 GB to 80 GB, the capacity of the segmented area 4 is greatly decreased from 50 GB to 20 GB, and the difference is 60 GB. Therefore, for example, the change width may be limited to ± 20 GB so as not to have such a large difference. That is, even if the usage ratio is the above, the new allocated capacity of the segment area 1 is set to the upper limit of 70 (= 50 + 20) GB regardless of the usage ratio, and the new allocated capacity of the segment area 4 is also related to the usage ratio. The upper limit is 30 (= 50-20) GB. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the capacity of the divided area allocated to each user from being changed extremely.

  In the present invention, as described above, one of the plurality of divided areas is set as a common divided area that can be recorded, reproduced, and erased without inputting a password. When recording information on a recording medium, the control means records information in the common segment area when a recording execution instruction is input without inputting a password. In this way, by recording information that the entire family wants to view in the common segment area, each user can view the information recorded at the timing he / she wants to view.

  In the information recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention, by setting a capacity that can be used by each user in advance, each user can manage his / her own recording, reproduction, and erasing within that capacity. The information recording / reproducing apparatus can be managed equally and efficiently by the whole family. In addition, when recording information on the recording medium, at the time of reproduction and at the time of deletion, it is configured to prohibit access to a partitioned area other than the partitioned area corresponding to the input password. When recording the included information, the father can limit the viewing of other family members (such as children) by recording this information in the divided area assigned to him. It can be used as an alternative function. Furthermore, since the recorded information can be managed individually for each user, even when searching for information (programs) that you want to watch, only the program information of your own segmented area entered with a password can be displayed on the monitor screen, improving search efficiency Will do. Furthermore, by changing the capacity that can be used by each user thereafter according to the usage ratio, it is possible to change the setting of the optimal capacity according to the actual usage status of each user each time. Efficiency can also be improved.

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

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of a hard disk drive (HDD) built-in DVD recorder which is an embodiment of the information recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention.

  The DVD recorder with built-in HDD of this embodiment includes a control unit 1, a tuner 3 connected to an antenna 2 for receiving a broadcast signal (program information) such as a TV program, a signal processing unit 4, and a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk) as a recording medium. ) 20 includes a removable disk reading unit 5, a remote control receiving unit 6 that receives a control signal from the remote control 15, a display unit 7, an operation unit 8, and a built-in hard disk drive (HDD) 9. The output is connected to a television receiver (hereinafter referred to as a television) 30.

  The control unit 1 includes a CPU 1a, a memory unit 1b, and a counter 1c that counts time for reproduction and recording. The memory unit 1b includes a ROM that stores various operation programs of the present collider, a RAM that temporarily stores various data during operation, and a RAM that functions as a work area. The tuner 3 extracts an analog signal including video from the broadcast signal received by the antenna 2. The signal processing unit 4 includes an analog or digital signal processing circuit. The signal processing unit 4 outputs an analog signal input from the tuner 3 to the television 30 or digitizes it and then processes it into compressed data in the MPEG2 (Moving Picture Experts GroupPhase 2) format or the like to process the data on the disk reading unit 5 or Output to the control unit 1.

  The disk reading unit 5 is composed of a pickup, a pickup driving circuit, a disk driving circuit, and the like. The disc reading unit 5 records the data output from the signal processing unit 4 on the DVD 20, reads the data recorded on the DVD 20, and outputs the data to the signal processing unit 4. The signal processing unit 4 reproduces the data of the DVD 20 output from the disc reading unit 5, processes it into an analog signal, and outputs it to the television 30. The signal processing unit 4 includes an OSD circuit, and displays a menu screen, an area division screen, a password input screen, and the like on the monitor of the television 30 under the control of the control unit 1. Yes. The television 30 projects an image on a monitor such as a CRT based on the analog signal output from the signal processing unit 4, and outputs sound from a speaker.

  The display unit 7 displays the operating state of the recorder, and includes an FLD (fluorescent display tube), an LED lamp, and the like. The operation unit 8 is an operation panel unit provided with buttons, switches and the like provided on the front surface of the main body of the recorder.

  The HDD 9 is hermetically sealed with a metal casing and incorporates a thermistor (not shown) that detects the internal temperature. If the temperature detected inside the device by the thermistor is lower than the predetermined lower limit temperature or higher than the predetermined upper limit temperature at the time of information recording, the recorded information is read again to confirm the recorded contents. It has a function to execute a self-diagnosis function (write verify).

  The remote controller 15 and the operation unit 8 are provided with keys that are operated to instruct the operation of the recorder such as playback, recording, fast forward, rewind, and stop. In addition, a recording key or the like for setting a recording reservation (timer recording) is also provided.

  FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a key arrangement structure of the remote controller 15. That is, the remote controller 15 is provided with a power key 111, a numeric key 112, a menu key 113, a recording key 114, an up / down / left / right key 115, an enter key 116, and other various function keys 117.

  For example, when the power key 111 of the remote controller 15 is turned on, for example, the built-in HDD 9 is selected as a recording destination, and the recording key 114 is operated, the control unit 1 is input from the outside through the antenna 2 and the tuner 3 to perform signal processing. The program information data compressed by the unit 4 is recorded in a hard disk (not shown) built in the HDD 9. At this time, when simultaneous playback (that is, viewing on the television 30) is selected, playback is performed simultaneously with recording, and the reproduced data is processed by the signal processing unit 4 and then output to the television 30. As a result, the TV program being recorded is displayed as a video on the monitor of the TV 30 and output as sound from the speaker.

  In addition, when the recording key 114 of the remote controller 15 is operated or the recording start time of a preset recording reservation is reached, the control unit 1 receives program information data received by the tuner 3 and compressed by the signal processing unit 4. Are recorded and stored in the hard disk of the HDD 9.

  Further, the control unit 1 has a dubbing function from the HDD 9 to the DVD 20, and when setting the dubbing mode, “immediate execution dubbing mode” in which dubbing is immediately performed, and dubbing is performed by the user specifying the dubbing execution time. Either a “time designation dubbing mode” for making a reservation or an “auto dubbing mode” for setting a dubbing time on the recorder side can be selected. This selection is performed by key operation of the remote controller 15, but since this dubbing process is not a main part of the present invention, description thereof is omitted here.

  The control unit 1 also sets a function for dividing the entire capacity of the hard disk of the HDD 9 into a plurality of small-capacity areas according to the number of users, and a password for accessing each divided area (partition area). It has a function. When information is recorded on the hard disk, information is recorded in a specific area of the hard disk specified by inputting a password, and at the time of reproducing information from the hard disk, it is specified by inputting a password. The information selected by the user from the information recorded in the specific section area of the hard disk is reproduced.

  Furthermore, the control unit 1 has a management function for managing the recording status in each partitioned area of the hard disk, and for each predetermined period set based on the recording status of each managed partitioned area. It has a function to change the capacity of the partitioned area assigned to the user.

  Next, a process for managing information to be recorded on the hard disk for each user in the HDD built-in type DVD recorder will be described step by step.

(1) Description of processing for dividing the capacity of the hard disk When the power is turned on for the first time after purchasing this recorder, a setting screen for dividing an area not shown is displayed on the monitor screen of the television 30. The number for dividing the recording area of the hard disk is input from the setting screen by the remote controller 15 or the like. For example, if it is a family of four of father, mother, eldest daughter and eldest son, “4” is input as the number to be classified. Thereby, the control unit 1 controls the HDD 9 to equally classify the entire capacity of the hard disk according to the designated number.

  Specifically, when the total capacity of the hard disk is 250 GB (gigabytes), “4” is entered as the number of users to be used. (250 GB) is divided and divided (divided) into five areas in which the capacity of one section is 50 GB. That is, among the divided five divided areas, four divided areas are assigned to one of the families, and the remaining one divided area is assigned to a common divided area. This completes the hard disk partitioning.

  In this embodiment, the user first performs such hard disk partitioning. However, this partitioning may be performed from the beginning when the recorder is shipped.

(2) Description of Processing for Recording Information on Hard Disk FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a basic processing procedure when information is recorded on the hard disk. Hereinafter, description will be given with reference to a flowchart shown in FIG. 3 and a display screen example of the television 30 shown in FIG.

  When the power of the recorder is turned on (step S1), the control unit 1 displays a screen (see FIG. 4A) for inquiring whether or not the user-specific account is set on the monitor screen of the television 30. Is inquired about whether or not a user-specific account is set (step S2).

  Here, when the user operates the remote controller 15 to select the setting of the account for each user (that is, “NO” is selected on the screen shown in FIG. 4A) (when it is determined No in step S2), First, the control unit 1 determines whether or not the number of registered accounts has reached the user limit number (that is, whether or not the number of accounts has reached “4” divided in the above-described hard disk capacity classification process). (Step S3), and confirming that the user limit number has not been reached (No is determined in Step S3), a new user registration setting screen (see FIG. 4B) is displayed on the monitor screen of the television 30. ) Is displayed (step S4). In other words, a vacant divided area (here, “divided area 1”) is displayed, and a user ID (account) and password input window is displayed below it. In accordance with this screen, the user inputs a user ID (for example, user “A”, etc.) and his / her password (for example, 4-digit number “1234”) in each input window, and clicks the “OK” button at the bottom of the screen. Select (step S5). Thereby, a user account and a password for using “partition area 1” of the hard disk are set (step S6). It should be noted that the partitioned area where the password is set should not be canceled unexpectedly by other users unless the password setting is canceled by the user who uses the password.

  On the other hand, if four accounts, which are the upper limit of the number of users, have already been set at the stage where the setting of the account for each user is selected in step S2, the control unit 1 This is displayed on the monitor screen of the television 30 (step S7), and the process ends.

  On the other hand, when “YES” on the screen is selected in order to select an account that has already been set on the screen for inquiring about the setting of the account for each user shown in FIG. 4A (Yes in step S2) If so, the user-specific account selection screen (not shown) is displayed on the monitor screen of the television 30 (step S8), and the user selects his / her account (for example, “user“ A ”) from the screen. (Step S9). As a result, the password authentication screen shown in FIG. 4C is displayed on the monitor screen of the television 30 (step S10), and the user inputs his / her password (for example, “1234”) here. The lower “OK” button is operated (step S11). The control unit 1 checks whether or not the input password is a password set for the user “A” (step S12), and if the passwords match (if Yes is determined in step S12) ), The subsequent process is executed with the account of the user “A” (step S13).

  That is, when the subsequent processing is program recording (manual recording, recording reservation, etc.), the program is recorded (recorded) in “partition area 1” of the hard disk. Further, when the subsequent processing is reproduction, a list of all information already recorded in “partition area 1” is displayed on the monitor screen of the television 30, and when the user selects desired information, Play back the selected information. If the subsequent process is to delete information, the information is deleted from “partition area 1”. Further, when the subsequent processing is a movement from “partition region 1” to “partition region 5” which is a common partition region, the information is moved from “partition region 1” to “partition region 5”. That is, the information can be viewed by anyone in the family.

  As described above, in the HDD built-in type DVD recorder of this embodiment, the program is recorded, reproduced, erased, etc., for each divided area of the hard disk assigned to each user, so that the user is assigned to himself / herself. The information is recorded, reproduced, and erased by self-management within the range of the hard disk capacity (50 GB in this example). Also, when recording, playing back, or erasing information on the hard disk, it is necessary to select a user account and enter a password. For example, a child selects a father's user account and records the father's Even if you try to view the information, you cannot view it unless you know the password. Accordingly, by recording information including a violent scene or the like in, for example, a divided area assigned to the father, it is possible to limit the viewing of the child. In addition, even when searching for desired information from the recorded information, it is only necessary to search for information recorded in the section area assigned to itself, so that the search time can be shortened.

  In this way, in a single HDD built-in DVD recorder, the capacity of the hard disk that can be used by each user is set in advance, so that each user can manage his / her own recording, playback and erasure within that capacity. This makes it possible to manage a single HDD built-in DVD recorder equally and efficiently by the whole family.

(3) Description of the process of changing the capacity of the partitioned area of the hard disk How each user uses the partitioned area assigned to him / her depends on each user. That is, the usage situation varies depending on each user. Therefore, if the usable capacity of each user is fixed to 50 GB as described above, for example, as a result of frequent repetition of information recording and erasing by a certain user, the divided area assigned to the user is always While it is almost fully used and used efficiently, other users rarely recorded or erased, so they used only a part of their own allocated area (always a lot of free space exists) May occur). This means that the utilization efficiency when viewed as a whole hard disk is reduced.

  For this reason, in the HDD built-in DVD recorder of this embodiment, the recording status in each segmented area is managed by the control unit 1, and a predetermined period (for example, 1 or more) is set based on the recording status in each segmented area. The capacity of each divided area assigned to each user is changed every month).

  Hereinafter, the capacity changing process will be specifically described.

<Specific example 1>
In specific example 1 of the capacity change, the capacity change is performed based on the free capacity of each partitioned area based on the recording status so as to increase the capacity of the partitioned area with a small free capacity and decrease the capacity of the partitioned area with a large free capacity. It is configured.

  That is, the free capacity of each divided area at the time when one month has elapsed is calculated individually, and the average value is obtained. Then, by adding the free space of this average value to the capacity of each divided area actually recorded at the present time, it is set as a new allocated capacity of each divided area.

  More specifically, as shown in the upper part of FIG. 5, for example, when one month has passed, the recorded capacity of the segmented area 1 is 40 GB (free capacity 10 GB), and the recorded capacity of the segmented area 2 is 35 GB (free). If the recorded capacity of the partitioned area 3 is 30 GB (free capacity 20 GB) and the recorded capacity of the partitioned area 4 is 25 GB (free capacity 25 GB), the average value of the total free capacity at that time is 17 .5 (= (10 + 15 + 20 + 25) / 4) GB. Therefore, as shown in the lower part of FIG. 5, the new allocated capacity of the segmented area 1 is changed to 57.5 GB, which is the current recorded capacity of 40 GB and the average value of the free capacity of 17.5 GB. The new allocated capacity of the partitioned area 2 is changed to 52.5 GB, which is 35 GB which is the current recorded capacity and 17.5 GB which is the average value of the free capacity, and the new allocated capacity of the partitioned area 3 is The recorded capacity is changed to 47.5 GB by adding 17.5 GB, which is the average value of the free capacity, to 30 GB, which is the recorded capacity, and the new allocated capacity of the divided area 4 is set to 25 GB, which is the current recorded capacity. The average value is changed to 42.5 GB by adding 17.5 GB.

  As a result, for example, in the segmented area 1, the recordable free space was 10 GB before the capacity change, but increased to 17.5 GB after the capacity change. Therefore, for example, when newly recording 15 GB of information, it is necessary to erase any information recorded in the segmented area 1 before the capacity change to newly reserve at least 2.5 GB of free space. However, as a result of automatically changing the capacity, it is possible to record 15 GB of information without securing a new free capacity. That is, for users who often use the allocated partition area, the capacity of the partition area allocated to them increases according to the usage status, so when recording new information, Since the number of deletion processes such as deleting such information to secure the recording capacity can be reduced, it is convenient for the user.

  In this way, it is possible to set the optimum capacity according to the actual usage situation of each user by changing the capacity of the partitioned area that can be used by each user thereafter according to the free capacity of each partitioned area. As a result, the use efficiency of the hard disk can be improved.

<Specific example 2>
In the specific example of the capacity change, the capacity of the divided area having a large accumulated capacity is increased based on the accumulated capacity of the information recorded for each divided area during a predetermined period (for example, one month). The configuration is such that the capacity is changed so as to reduce the capacity of a small section area.

  That is, the amount of information recorded in each of the divided areas 1 to 4 for one month is sequentially added and stored in a predetermined area of the memory unit 1b. When one month has passed, the amount of information recorded in each of the divided areas 1 to 4 is compared to determine the ratio, and the entire capacity of the hard disk is redistributed so that the determined ratio is obtained.

  More specifically, as shown in the upper part of FIG. 6, for example, for one month, information about 200 GB is recorded by repeating recording and erasing for the divided region 1, and recording is performed for the divided region 2. For example, information for 150 GB is recorded by repeating erasure, information for 100 GB is recorded for segmented area 3 by repeating recording and erasure, and information for 50 GB is recorded for segmented area 4 by only recording. If recorded, the usage ratio of each of the divided areas 1 to 4 for one month is as follows: divided area 1: divided area 2: divided area 3: divided area 4 = 200: 150: 100: 50 = 4: 3: 2: 1 Here, since the total capacity of the hard disk individually allocated to each user is 200 GB (excluding 50 GB which is a common partitioned area), as shown in the lower part of FIG. From 50 GB to 80 (= 200 × 4/10) GB corresponding to the ratio, and the new allocation capacity of the partitioned area 2 is changed from the first 50 GB to 60 (= 200 × 3/10) GB corresponding to the ratio Change and change the new allocated capacity of the partitioned area 3 from the first 50 GB to 40 (= 200 × 2/10) GB according to the ratio, and change the new allocated capacity of the partitioned area 4 from the first 50 GB to the ratio. To 20 (= 200 × 1/10) GB according to

  In this way, by changing the capacity of the divided area that can be used by each user thereafter according to the usage ratio, it becomes possible to set the optimum capacity according to the actual usage situation of each user, and consequently the hard disk capacity. Usage efficiency can be improved.

  However, the capacity change by the method of this specific example 2 is performed based only on the past use ratio, and does not consider the recording state of information on the hard disk at the time of capacity change. Therefore, whether or not the capacity after the change can be used depends on how much information is recorded on the hard disk at that time (in other words, how much free capacity exists). .

  For example, for the user of the segmented area 1, since it has increased from 50 GB so far to 80 GB, it seems that 30 GB can be newly recorded, but if there is almost no free space on the hard disk at that time, It is impossible to record physically. In this case, for example, if 50 GB of information is recorded in the segmented area 4 at that time, unless the user of the segmented area 4 organizes the recorded information in the segmented area 4 and deletes unnecessary information. The usable capacity of the user in the divided area 1 is not substantially increased.

  At this time, if the user of the divided area 4 deletes, for example, 35 GB of information, the recorded capacity is 15 GB at that time, and this is 20 GB or less, which is the new allocated capacity after the capacity change. For users in area 4, the upper limit of the allocated capacity after the change is substantially limited to 20 GB from this point. In addition, the user in the segmented area 1 is substantially secured 80 GB, which is a new allocated capacity at this point.

  As described above, when the capacity changing method according to the second specific example is applied, depending on the recording state of the hard disk at that time, the allocation capacity after the change can be applied immediately, and the case where it cannot be applied immediately. Will occur.

  Therefore, when the present specific example 2 is applied, the user may be notified that the capacity has been changed. As this notification method, for example, when the power of the recorder is turned on, “YES” is selected from the screen of FIG. Since the password authentication screen shown in FIG. 4C is displayed, the allocated capacity of the user may be displayed in the corner of the password authentication screen by a figure or a numerical value each time. Thus, the user can check the current allocated capacity of his / her partitioned area when recording or erasing information on his / her partitioned area. At this time, if the allocated capacity has increased but the situation cannot be used immediately for the above reasons, a message to that effect may also be displayed. As a result, even if the user cannot record to his / her assigned capacity, he / she can use the allocated capacity when another user erases the recording. it can. Such display is also preferably performed in the case of the first specific example.

  On the other hand, when the usage ratio is applied as it is as in the above specific example 2, there is a possibility that a large difference occurs in the capacity that can be used by each user. For this reason, in this embodiment, the capacity change width may be limited to a predetermined constant width. For example, in the specific example 2 described above, the capacity of the segmented area 1 is greatly increased from 50 GB to 80 GB, the capacity of the segmented area 4 is greatly decreased from 50 GB to 20 GB, and the difference is 60 GB. Therefore, for example, the change width may be limited to ± 20 GB so as not to have such a large difference. In other words, even if the usage ratio is as described above, the divided area 1: the divided area 2: the divided area 3: the divided area 4 = 4: 3: 2: 1, the new allocated capacity of the divided area 1 is The upper limit of 70 (= 50 + 20) GB is set regardless of the usage ratio, and the new allocated capacity of the division area 4 is also set to the upper limit of 30 (= 50-20) GB regardless of the usage ratio. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the capacity of the divided area allocated to each user from being changed extremely.

  In the present embodiment, as described above, one of the plurality of divided areas is set as a common divided area that can be recorded, reproduced, and deleted without inputting a password. When recording information to the hard disk, the control unit 1 records information in the common segment area when a recording execution instruction is input from the remote controller 15 without inputting a password. In this way, by recording information that the entire family wants to view in the common segment area, each user can view the information recorded at the timing he / she wants to view.

1 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of a hard disk drive (HDD) built-in DVD recorder as an embodiment of the information recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention. FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the structure of key arrangement | positioning of a remote control. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the basic process in the case of recording information on a hard disk. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of a display screen of the television for demonstrating the procedure of the basic process in the case of recording information on a hard disk. It is explanatory drawing which shows the specific example 1 of a capacity | capacitance change. It is explanatory drawing which shows the specific example 2 of a capacity | capacitance change.

Explanation of symbols

1 Control unit 1a CPU
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1b Memory part 1c Counter 2 Antenna 3 Tuner 4 Signal processing part 5 Disc reading part 6 Remote control receiving part 7 Display part 8 Operation part 9 Hard disk drive (HDD)
15 Remote control 20 DVD
30 TV 111 Power key 112 Numeric keypad 113 Dubbing key 114 Recording key 115 Up / down / left / right key 116 Enter key

Claims (7)

Control means for recording information on a built-in recording medium and controlling reproduction and erasure of the recorded information;
Area dividing means for dividing the total capacity of the recording medium into a plurality of small capacity areas according to the number of users;
Setting means for setting a password for accessing each divided area,
The control means records information in a specific section area of the recording medium specified by inputting a password when recording information on the recording medium, and outputs a password when reproducing information from the recording medium. An information recording / reproducing apparatus for reproducing information selected by a user from information recorded in a specific section area of the recording medium specified by the input of.   2. The control means for prohibiting access to a partitioned area other than the partitioned area corresponding to the input password at the time of recording, reproducing and erasing information on the recording medium. Information recording / reproducing apparatus. A management means for managing the recording status in each of the divided areas;
The control means changes the capacity of the partition area allocated to each user for each predetermined period set based on the recording status of each partition area managed by the management means. The information recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2.   The control means performs the capacity change so as to increase the capacity of the partitioned area with a small free capacity and to decrease the capacity of the partitioned area with a large free capacity based on the free capacity of each partitioned area based on the recording status. The information recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 3.   The control means increases the capacity of the divided area having a large accumulated capacity and decreases the capacity of the divided area having a small accumulated capacity based on the accumulated capacity of information recorded for each divided area during the predetermined period. 4. The information recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the capacity is changed.   6. The information recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein a width of the capacity change is limited to a predetermined constant width. One of the plurality of divided divided areas is set as a common divided area that can be recorded, reproduced and deleted without entering a password,
The control means records information in the common section area when recording execution instructions are input without inputting a password when recording information on the recording medium. 6. The information recording / reproducing apparatus according to any one of 6