JP2009089424A - Video information output apparatus, video information output method, video information transmission apparatus, video information transmission method, video information reception apparatus and video information reproduction apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a video receiving apparatus protecting the copyrights of an information provider and ensuring the image quality within the scope of satisfying users in inputting high-definition (HD) video information and outputting it to an external device. <P>SOLUTION: The high-definition (HD) video information is converted into video information for progressive scanning having the standard (SD) number of scanning lines and is outputted. Control information defining this conversion is added to the video information. The information to be outputted is thereby so deteriorated that good duplication cannot be made, and a user is free from dissatisfaction owing to progressive scanning. Further, an operation processing manipulation is easy because of scanning line conversion. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an input / output device and an output method for controlling resolution and the like in order to protect copyright of input video information when inputting video information and outputting it to an external device. Furthermore, the present invention relates to an apparatus for transmitting video information with control information related to resolution added to the video information.

  In the fields of television broadcasting and information software services, digital broadcasting and HD (High Definition) broadcasting have started. As a result, not only multi-channel broadcasting is possible, but the quality of video / audio information has been greatly improved. Corresponding high-quality information software will appear in the future.

  Improvements in quality by digital technology in recent years have been effective in various devices, but new problems have also occurred. In particular, by using a digital recording method in a device that records and reproduces information, there is a problem that good quality dubbing software circulates where the copyright owner does not know and profits cannot be returned to the right holder. Since this became a problem when consumer-use digital audio recorders appeared, countermeasures have been studied in various directions. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-146378 discloses that information is intentionally deteriorated in quality when recorded.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-146378

  In the case of video information recording equipment, a digital output signal is encrypted so that it can be viewed only by a specific user, or a method of prohibiting unauthorized recording by multiplexing control data has been developed. . The most problematic is the analog output signal. However, even if a similar method is applied to analog output, means are limited and it is easily broken. For this reason, when outputting high quality information to an analog level in particular, it is effective in protecting the copyright holder's rights to deteriorate the quality before outputting.

  However, of course, from the user's point of view, degradation should be limited to a certain limit, and if the video obtained by the corner HD broadcast is, for example, less than half the resolution, it is unsatisfactory when viewed. Based on these conditions, there has never been a concrete proposal of a method suitable for this.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a quality restriction method suitable for both the copyright holder's rights protection and the user's interest, especially when recording and outputting high-quality video information.

In order to achieve the above object, the video information input / output device of the present invention receives video information transmitted through broadcasting or communication means, or receives video information reproduced from a recording medium, and receives a predetermined signal. When processing is performed and output to an external device, and the video information to be input is information of high-definition method of interlace scanning with about 1000 scanning lines, this is reduced to the number of scanning lines. A resolution limiting circuit for converting the output image information into progressive scanning output video information with 500 lines was provided.
Preferably, the resolution limiting circuit performs conversion when the video information to be output is an analog signal, and the resolution limiting circuit converts the number of scanning lines of the video information to be output to 540 lines.

  Further, the input video information includes control information related to resolution limitation that defines whether or not to convert the number of scanning lines, and has a detection circuit that detects the control information, and is based on the detection result of the detection circuit. The number of scanning lines is converted by a resolution limiting circuit. Furthermore, the input video information includes control information related to the broadcasting system indicating whether or not the video information is high-definition information, and the input video information is high-definition information and defines scanning line conversion. When doing so, the number of scanning lines is converted by the resolution limiting circuit.

  The video information input / output method according to the present invention receives video information transmitted via broadcast or communication means, or inputs video information reproduced from a recording medium, and performs predetermined signal processing to perform external signal processing. When the video information to be input is high-definition information information with about 1000 scanning lines and interlace scanning, this is converted to progressive scanning with about 500 scanning lines. Convert to output video information.

  Furthermore, the video information transmitting device of the present invention transmits video information to the receiving device, and when the video information has about 1000 scanning lines and is interlaced scanning high-definition information. When the receiving device that receives this information outputs it to an external device, the video information includes control information related to resolution limitation that defines whether or not the number of scanning lines is converted to progressive scanning video information. A transmission circuit for transmitting is provided.

  As described above, according to the present invention, a high-quality (HD) video information such as high-definition (HD) video information can be limited to a certain degree of resolution, especially when output as analog information. It is difficult to protect the rights of the copyright holder. In addition, since progressive conversion is used, the degradation of the image does not cause user dissatisfaction, and it is not necessary to change the arithmetic expression for each field or each scanning line at the time of conversion. There is an effect that there is no inconvenience and there is little occurrence of flicker.

  In one embodiment of the present invention, for example, whether or not the above-mentioned analog output is limited in information transmitted from an information providing unit such as a broadcasting station or information software recorded on a recording medium. Multiplex the control information that specifies whether or not. For example, it is possible to multiplex with 1 bit basically by setting 0 to apply and 1 to not. Due to the limitation of resolution and the like, the HD information can be changed to information similar to or similar to SD (Standard Definition) corresponding to the conventional television system such as NTSC and PAL. In addition, when the output once subjected to resolution limitation is displayed on the display, it is also considered that the number of scanning lines is changed to the same level as the HD information by interpolating the scanning lines. Furthermore, the number of pixels per frame is set to about 500,000 pixels, which is the same as the current SD information, as a condition for the resolution limitation when outputting HD information from the apparatus in the form of analog output. This is equivalent to vertical (number of scanning lines) 480 × horizontal 853 pixels, vertical 540 × horizontal 960 pixels, or the like, when expressed by a standard that has been used as a standard.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the entire video information transmission / reception system of the present invention, in which information is transmitted / received by broadcasting and recorded / reproduced. This system employs a method for limiting the resolution and the like according to the present invention. 1 is an information providing station (transmitting device) such as a broadcasting station, 2 is a relay station, 3 is a receiving device (input / output device), 4 is a first recording / reproducing device, 5 is a display, and 6 is a second recording / reproducing device. It is. The present invention can also be applied to the case where either one or both of the first recording / reproducing apparatus 4 and the second recording / reproducing apparatus 6 do not exist, and are in that category.

  An information providing station 1 such as a broadcasting station transmits a signal radio wave modulated by information via a relay station 2 such as a broadcasting satellite. Of course, other than that, for example, transmission by cable, transmission by telephone line, transmission by terrestrial broadcasting, or the like may be used. As will be described later, this signal radio wave received by the receiving device 3 on the receiving side is demodulated into an information signal and is suitable for recording on the first recording / reproducing device 4 or the second recording / reproducing device 6. The signal is recorded and sent to the display 5. Here, the user can directly view the information content. In addition, among the recording / reproducing apparatuses described above, at least information reproduced by the first recording / reproducing apparatus 4 is given to the display 5 via the receiving apparatus 3, and information such as the original video / audio is viewed. Information reproduced by the second recording / reproducing apparatus 6 can also be given to the display 5 via the receiving apparatus 3 as necessary. When information recorded in advance on a removable recording medium is provided, the reproduction operation and subsequent operations in the first recording / reproducing apparatus 4 or the second recording / reproducing apparatus 6 to which the information is attached are performed.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the information providing station 1 such as a broadcasting station in FIG. Reference numeral 11 denotes a source generation unit, 12 denotes an encoding circuit that performs compression by the MPEG method, 13 denotes a scramble circuit, 14 denotes a modulation circuit, 15 denotes a transmission antenna, 16 denotes a management information addition circuit, and 17 denotes an input terminal.

  Information such as video and audio generated by the source generation unit 11 including a camera and a recording / playback device is compressed by an encoding circuit 12 so that it can be transmitted in a smaller occupied band, and a scramble circuit 13 is used as necessary. After being encrypted so that only a specific viewer can view and modulated by the modulation circuit 14 to be a signal suitable for transmission, the signal is transmitted from the transmission antenna 15 to a relay station such as a broadcasting satellite. Are emitted as radio waves. At this time, the management information addition circuit 16 adds information such as the above-described restriction information such as resolution, copy control information, and current time. Further, although not shown in FIG. 1 above, for example, request information is input from the input terminal 17 via a telephone line or the like. This is utilized in a system for determining information to be transmitted in response to a viewer's request such as video on demand.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the receiving device (input / output device) 3 in FIG. 31 is an RF / IF conversion circuit, 32 is a demodulation circuit, 33 is an error correction circuit, 34 is a descrambling circuit for canceling the encryption applied to the signal, 35 is a first demultiplexing circuit, 36 is an input / output terminal, 37 is a second demultiplexing circuit, 38 is a decoding circuit, and 39 and 310 are output terminals.

For example, radio waves from a relay station such as a broadcasting satellite are input to the RF / IF conversion circuit 31. Here, the radio wave in the RF band is frequency-converted to an IF band (Intermediate Frequency), becomes a signal in a certain band independent of the reception channel, and the modulation operation performed for transmission by the demodulation circuit 32 is demodulated. Further, the error correction circuit 33 detects and corrects a code error occurring during transmission, and then the descrambling circuit 34 releases the code. Thereafter, the data is sent to the first and second demultiplexing circuits 35 and 37. Particularly in the case of digital broadcasting, a plurality of pieces of information are usually multiplexed on one channel by a method such as time division or spread spectrum. The demultiplexing circuit separates only desired information from this. The reason for providing the first and second and two of them is not only to enable so-called back program recording, but also to remove information not worth recording by the first demultiplexing circuit 35.
In other words, additional information such as weather forecasts, program broadcast schedules, etc. is often included in the information, which is good to see at the time of broadcasting, but it is not worth recording and seeing at a later date. It can also be removed.

  The output of the first demultiplexing circuit 35 is given to the input / output terminal 36, and exchanges signals with the first recording / reproducing apparatus 4 connected thereto. The input / output terminal 36 is a bidirectional terminal, and exchanges information to be recorded / reproduced with the first recording / reproducing apparatus 4 as digital data, for example. Of course, one information line does not necessarily have to be bidirectional, and may be composed of a plurality of unidirectional information lines. The information sent from the descrambling circuit 34 or the information reproduced by the first recording / reproducing device from the input / output terminal 36 is connected to the second demultiplexing circuit 37. Information to be viewed is selected and input to the decoding circuit 38.

  In the next decoding circuit 38, the data compression of the moving image performed before transmission is decoded, and further, if necessary, converted to be suitable for output from the apparatus by the method according to the present invention as described later, It is output to the output terminal 39 and sent to the external display 5. Information to be output to the output terminal 310 is given to the second recording / reproducing apparatus 6 connected thereto as necessary. This apparatus is made for, for example, conventional SD information, and a typical analog recording VTR for NTSC, PAL, etc. is representative. In order to enable recording / reproduction, the decoding circuit 38 down-converts the information to the format of SD information and supplies it to the output terminal 310 if the information is, for example, HD information.

  It should be noted that the relay station 2, the first recording / reproducing device 4, the display 5, and the second recording / reproducing device 6 are respectively recognized only for relaying information radio waves, recording / reproducing or displaying information. Since the invention is understandable, a detailed description of the internal operation is not provided. The first recording / reproducing device 4 is suitable for recording a digitally transmitted or broadcast compressed bit stream as it is, mainly by a recent or future digital recording method. In this case, information with the receiving device 3 is suitable. As mentioned above, it is better to digitally send and receive. The recording medium is not limited to a tape, but can be a variety of media such as a removable disk such as a digital video disk and a disk built in a device such as a hard disk. When handling HD information, the display 5 having the number of scanning lines of 1000 or more is most suitable. The second recording / reproducing apparatus 6 is not particularly limited, but may be an analog recording apparatus corresponding to SD information as described above.

  Next, FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the control information signal in the present invention, which is generated and transmitted by the management information adding circuit 16 of the information providing station 1 of FIG. Are recorded on a recording medium by the first recording / reproducing apparatus 4. For example, in the case of a tape medium, it is sufficient that one piece is recorded on one recording track, but it is naturally recorded in a fixed relationship with information data such as video and audio, and can be easily separated during reproduction. .

The program number 100 indicates the number of the program on the medium.
The sector information 101 is a sector number obtained by dividing the program by a predetermined unit. The division may be a fixed unit, for example, a unit of 2 kbytes, or a fixed unit of information, for example, a unit for division when encoding. The number may be given in the program or may be a serial number for the entire recording medium. Information such as a recording time 106 to be described later is added in units of sectors.
The time information 102 indicates how long the recorded part has passed since the start of the program.
The type 103 indicates attribute information such as whether the program is sold, rented, self-made, or broadcast.

  The copy control 104 indicates whether or not the information can be recorded on the medium. There are specifications such as Copy Never, Copy One Generation, Copy No More, and Copy Free. In order, prohibition of recording / reproduction, permission of recording / reproduction for only one generation, and recording / reproduction for one generation means that no more is permitted, and that recording / reproduction is permitted. Copy No More is used to mean that no more duplication is allowed when recording a Copy One Generation signal. The designation of Copy Never, Copy One Generation, and Copy Free is determined by the copyright holder, such as the producer of the information, and there are a total of four, including Copy No More, and can be transmitted with 2-bit information.

  Reference numeral 105 denotes copy control information (APS; Analogue Protection System) to an analog recording device, which will be described later, and controls whether or not copying is possible by adding a pseudo sync pulse to the analog video signal. Thereby, separate copy control can be performed on the signals of the input / output terminal 36 and the output terminal 310 of FIG.

  As the recording time 106, for example, the time given by the management information adding circuit 16 of FIG. 2 is recorded. Recording at the recording time 106 is performed in units of sectors, for example. The viewing period 107 is added when a time limit is set for viewing information recorded on the medium. This is also often given by the previous management information adding circuit 16. For this time limit, the previous recording time 106 may be used.

Reference numeral 108 denotes a broadcasting system used by the information, such as the HD information or the SD information.
109 is for determining whether or not to limit the resolution and the like, and in the case of broadcasting, it is often given by the management information giving circuit 16, but when information software is given by a recording medium, Recorded at the time of creation by the right holder. The specific restriction method will be described later in detail. For example, in the case of a high-resolution video signal such as HD information, control is performed such that the resolution is reduced without being output as it is. In addition, here, a case where the limitation such as resolution is mainly performed on the analog output will be described, but similar control may be performed on the digital output without being limited thereto. In this case, control may be performed not only based on the resolution but also based on whether or not safety can be ensured by, for example, encryption.

The user identification 110 is recorded when a user-specific code is used so that the information recorded on the medium can be reproduced only by the same device or the same user as when recording.
The encrypted information 111 is used when decrypting at the time of reproduction when it is encrypted and recorded on a recording medium. Since the information itself has a large amount of data, a code number may be recorded, and the corresponding information stored in advance by the playback device may be extracted and used.

  The above is recorded at relatively fine time intervals such as every frame of video or every fixed amount of data as necessary. Of the above-described components, those indicated by 103 to 109 are often added in advance on the transmission side. Although the present invention can be implemented by adopting the configuration of the control information signal as shown here, the one shown in FIG. 4 is an example, and various configurations such as the configuration, the recording position on the medium, and the frequency can be applied. It is. Further, all of the contents are not essential, and some of them may be omitted. Of course, the order is not limited to this.

  FIG. 5 schematically shows a recording position of a control information signal and information data such as video and audio on a recording medium. In the figure, (a) is suitable for a tape medium. In this case, it is desirable that the control signal block be provided for each recording track, for example. Therefore, a block of control information is arranged in the header portion or the like, for example, preceding information such as video and audio for each track. (b) is suitable for a digital video disc or the like. In this case, it is desired that there is a certain amount of information for each sector. Therefore, each sector is arranged in its header portion. (c) is suitable for a hard disk or the like. In this case, it is preferable that information such as video and audio and control information are recorded at positions distant from each other on the disc so that the entire control information can be read within a short time at startup.

  Next, a specific method for limiting the resolution and the like will be described. First, let's talk about where to do this in the system. In FIG. 1, the first recording / reproducing apparatus 4 is a consumer digital VTR, the display 5 is HD compatible, and the second recording / reproducing apparatus 6 is an SD compatible consumer analog VTR. .

  Here, the operation of a conventional apparatus already on the market will be described. Information received by the receiving device 3 and given to the display 5 via the descrambling circuit 34, the second demultiplexing circuit 37, and the decoding circuit 38 shown in FIG. In this case, the image is displayed as it is, that is, without being limited in resolution. That is, the HD information is displayed with a high resolution, and the SD information is displayed with a conventional resolution. Similarly, the signal is received by the receiving device 3 and is recorded / reproduced by the first recording / reproducing device 4 via the first demultiplexing circuit 35 in FIG. When displaying the information given to the display 5 via the circuit 38, that is, the information once recorded in the apparatus, the following operation was performed. If the copy control information 104 in FIG. 4 is “Copy Free” at the stage when information is input to the receiving device 3, the information is recorded and reproduced as it is without limiting the resolution, for example, and displayed. If “Never Copy” is indicated, the first recording / reproducing apparatus 2 does not perform the recording operation, and of course, it cannot be reproduced and displayed. The same applies when Copy No More is indicated by information from the information software, and the first recording / reproducing apparatus 4 does not perform the recording operation. In the case of Copy One Generation, when recording with the first recording / reproducing apparatus 4, this is rewritten as Copy No More and recorded, and when displayed on the display 5, the resolution is limited by the decoding circuit 38. Output from the output terminals 39 and 310 is displayed.

  The method of this restriction is as follows. Speaking of resolution, it may refer to horizontal resolution, but this can be limited by resampling or filtering with a low-pass filter or the like. On the other hand, vertical resolution is achieved by reducing the number of scanning lines. The specific method will be described later, but is limited to, for example, 480 interlaces. Since the number of effective scanning lines of SD information is originally about this level, there is no need to limit it. However, HD information is limited to, for example, about twice this to about 1080 interlace signals. This restriction operation can be provided as a function in the decoding circuit 38 of FIG. 3, for example. The information may be analog in the output terminal 39 as well as the output terminal 310, and may be operated before being output here.

  Next, the operation in this embodiment will be described. The information received by the receiving device 3 is attached with the control information indicated by the resolution restriction information 109 in FIG. This is given by, for example, the management information adding circuit 16 of FIG. 1, and may be 1-bit information such as 0 when limiting and 1 when not limiting. Here, when the resolution restriction information 109 requests restriction, both the information currently being broadcast and the information once recorded on the apparatus via the first recording / reproducing apparatus 4 are performed. This limitation is also set to about 500,000 pixels per frame, for example, about 960 pixels horizontally and 540 pixels vertically, due to resampling and filtering in the horizontal direction and reduction in the number of scanning lines. Further, when displaying on the display 5, conversion from here may be performed again, for example, the number of scanning lines may be doubled and displayed as 1080 interlaced, and all the scanning lines of the display 5 may be utilized. .

  A further feature of the present embodiment is that, for example, when the number of scanning lines is reduced to 540 lines, it is converted to progressive (non-interlace) instead of interlace. There are at least two meanings of this. One of course is to provide a constant pawl to reduce the image quality due to the operation of limiting the number of scanning lines. As described above, if the image quality is the same as that of the conventional SD information as a result of the restriction, the user who receives the corner HD information is greatly dissatisfied and unilaterally disadvantaged. Although it is about 500,000 pixels per frame, this disadvantage can be reduced by making it progressive. The remaining one is that this makes it easy to limit the number of scanning lines and to reconvert to 1080 interlaces, which will be described in detail later. These restrictions or reconversion operations can also be provided as functions in the decoding circuit 38.

  Next, FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the decoding circuit 38 in FIG. In FIG. 6, the terminals 39 and 310 may be the same as those shown in FIG. 3801 is an input terminal, 3802 is a decoding circuit for compression operation performed before transmission, such as MPEG, 3803 is a control information detection circuit, 3804 is an up converter, 3805 is a down converter, 3806 is a first switch, 3807 is a second switch , 3808 is a resolution limiting circuit, 3809 is an APS signal adding circuit, and 3810 is a third switch.

  The input terminal 3801 is, for example, information currently being broadcast, which is the output of the second demultiplexing circuit 37 shown in FIG. 3, or playback from the first recording / playback apparatus 4 input from the input / output terminal 36. Information is given. This is decoded by the decoding circuit 3802, and the compression operation by, for example, MPEG performed before transmission is restored. Among these, at least information such as video and audio is given to the up converter 3804, the down converter 3805, the first switch 3806, and the second switch 3807. At least the control information is supplied to the control information detection circuit 3803.

  In the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, it is shown that information is input from the decode circuit 3802 to the control information detection circuit 3803, but directly from the second demultiplexing circuit 37 shown in FIG. 3 to the control information detection circuit 3803. Information may be input. The control information detection circuit 3803 detects the APS 105 from the control information shown in FIG. 4 and gives the result to the APS signal addition circuit 3809. Further, the broadcasting system 108 is detected, and the result is given to the first switch 3806, the second switch 3807, and the third switch 3810. Further, limit information 109 such as resolution is detected, and the result is given to a limit circuit 3808 such as resolution.

  First, a case will be described in which the control information detection circuit 3803 determines that the information is SD information from the broadcast system 108 in FIG. At this time, the first switch 3806 and the second switch 3807 select the signal on the lower side (denoted by b in the figure), and the third switch 3810 selects the signal on the upper side (a in the figure). Connect to the next component. This information is about 480 to 540 interlace signals (hereinafter referred to as 480i to 540i) in terms of the number of scanning lines.

  Of the output of the decoding circuit 3802, the output sent from the output terminal 310 to the external second recording / reproducing apparatus 6 passes through the second switch 3807 as it is and is given to the APS adding circuit 3809. When the control information detection circuit 3803 detects a request for outputting the copy control information APS to the analog recording device from the APS 105 in FIG. 4, the APS addition circuit 3809 describes, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-288582. As described above, it is impossible to record normal information in the external second recording / reproducing circuit 6 by adding a pseudo-synchronizing signal.

  Of the output of the decode circuit 3802, the output sent from the output terminal 39 to the external display 5 is first converted into about 1080 interlace signals (hereinafter referred to as 1080i) by the up-converter 3804, and apparently displayed. The number of scanning lines corresponds to the upper HD information. Thereafter, the signal is supplied to the output terminal 39 via the first switch 3806 and the third switch 3810.

  Next, a case where the control information detection circuit 3803 determines that the information is HD information will be described. This information is, for example, about 1080 interlace signals (1080i) in terms of the number of scanning lines. At this time, the first switch 3806 and the second switch 3807 select the signal on the upper side (a in the figure), and the third switch 3810 selects the signal on the lower side (b in the figure) in the drawing. Connect to the component.

  Among the outputs of the decoding circuit 3802, the output sent from the output terminal 310 to the external second recording / reproducing apparatus 6 is first reduced in the number of scanning lines by the down converter 3805 to be, for example, a signal of 480i to 540i, The pseudo-synchronization signal is added to the output terminal 310 through the second switch 3807 by the APS adding circuit 3809 as required.

  Of the output of the decoding circuit 3802, the output sent from the output terminal 39 to the external display 5 passes through the first switch 3806 as it is and is supplied to the resolution limiting circuit 3808. When the control information detection circuit 3803 detects a request for limiting the resolution or the like when the HD information is output from the apparatus in analog form from the limitation information 109 such as the resolution of FIG. 4, the resolution limiting circuit 3808 detects the resolution or the like. Then, resampling or filtering in the horizontal direction is limited to, for example, about 960 pixels, and the vertical direction is converted into a progressive signal (hereinafter, 540P) having, for example, about 540 scanning lines, and is limited. Thereafter, the signal passes through the third switch 3810 and is given to the output terminal 39. By using a progressive signal, it is possible to prevent the image quality from deteriorating and to simplify the conversion operation of the number of scanning lines, as will be described later.

  Even if the information is HD information, if the resolution restriction is not required, the restriction information such as the resolution outputs the input information as it is without restricting the resolution. Alternatively, this can be realized by selecting input information on the a side of the third switch 3810.

  When information of 480i, 540i, 540P (or less than 720P) is output from the output terminal 39 and input to the display 5, it is up-converted on the display 5 and converted into a high-definition information format for display. There are many. This up-conversion process can also be performed by a resolution limiting circuit 3808.

  A DA converter circuit that converts information into analog information has not been described so far, but the location is not particularly limited. If the display is connected with analog information, a connection between the third switch 3810 and the output terminal 39, a connection between the APS addition circuit 3809 and the output terminal 310, or the like can be considered. Of course, in the former case, it may be outside the output terminal 39 and in front of the display 5. If it is connected to the display 5 by digital information, it is of course inside the display 5. Even in this case, particularly when an analog output is provided on the display 5, there may be a case where a restriction such as resolution is required. Next, there are several methods for determining whether the information is HD information or SD information, in addition to the method of determining by the broadcasting method 108 of FIG. For example, the determination can be made based on the period of the horizontal synchronization signal. In addition to the position shown in FIG. 6, the resolution limiting circuit 3808 may be placed between the first demultiplexing circuit 35 and the input / output terminal 36 shown in FIG. In this case, when a restriction such as resolution is requested, this is performed before recording in the first recording / reproducing apparatus 4. However, in this case, since the resolution of the recorded information itself is also limited, the user's merit is reduced.

  FIG. 7 shows a configuration example of the decoding circuit 38 different from FIG. Here, the position of the up-converter 3804A is different from that in FIG. 6, and the first switch 3806 does not exist. Here, the information output to the output terminal 39 is as follows. The SD information whose output of the decode circuit 3802 is 480i to 540i passes through the third switch 3810, is converted to 1080i information by the up-converter 3804A, and is given to the output terminal 39. Also, HD information whose output of the decoding circuit 3802 is 1080i is converted into information of 540P by a limiting circuit 3808 for resolution, etc., and then converted into information of 1080i through a third switch 3810 and an up-converter 3804A. And supplied to the output terminal 39. In this case, the original 1080i is restored, but since it is once set to 540P, a certain degree of resolution restriction is applied. In this case, the up-converter 3804A can be disconnected and incorporated in the display 5, for example.

  Next, a method for limiting the resolution and the like will be specifically described. As described above, the restriction in the horizontal direction can be performed by resampling or filtering. Here, the remaining vertical direction, that is, the conversion of the number of scanning lines will be described with reference to schematic drawings.

First, a conventional method for converting the number of scanning lines will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 8 schematically shows a case where 1080i information is converted to 540i having half the number of scanning lines, and FIG. 9 schematically shows a case where the information once converted to 540i is returned to 1080i again. In the figure, (a) shows an odd field of the two fields, and (b) shows an even field, and both are one frame. In the figure, the vertical direction indicates the relative position in the vertical direction of the display. The horizontal line corresponds to the scanning line, and the symbols AB,..., GH,.
The first 1080i information is shown by a solid line, a dotted line after conversion to 540i, and a two-dot broken line after conversion to 1080i again.

When converting 1080i on the left side to 540i on the right side in FIG. 8, paying attention to the relative position in the vertical direction before and after the conversion, in the odd field shown in (a),
M = (A + B) / 2, N = (C + D) / 2 Formula (1)
For example, the average value of the scanning lines A and B may be calculated with the scanning lines M sandwiched at equal intervals. On the other hand, in the even field shown in (b),
T = H, U = J (2)
Then, it is preferable to bring scanning lines at the same position, that is, to thin out every other line.

When re-converting the right side 540i in FIG. 9 (same as the right half of FIG. 8) to the left side 1080i, when focusing on the relative position before and after, in the odd field shown in FIG.
Re B = (3M + N) / 4, Re C = (M + 3N) / 4 Equation (3)
Then, a weighted average is taken in consideration of the distance from two scanning lines sandwiching these. On the other hand, in the even field shown in (b),
Re H = T, Re I = (T + U) / 2 Equation (4)
Then, every other scanning line is brought to the same position, and the average value is calculated.
As described above, especially when re-conversion is performed, there is an inconvenience of changing the arithmetic expression for each field and for each scanning line.

As can be seen by substituting Equations (1) and (2) into Equations (3) and (4), even with the same 1080i information, before and after this conversion,
Re B = (3A + 3B + C + D) / 8, Re C = (A + B + 3C + 3D) / 8,
Re H = H, Re I = (H + J) / 2 Formula (5)
In the same scanning line, the information originally in the other scanning lines is mixed, and the vertical resolution is lost. This amount is a limiting effect on the resolution in the vertical direction. In addition, since the filter characteristics are different for each line and each field, image quality degradation such as flicker is also added.

  Next, a method for converting the number of scanning lines used in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 10 schematically shows a case where 1080i information is converted to 540P having half the number of scanning lines, and FIG. 11 schematically shows a case where the information once converted to 540P is returned to 1080i again. At the stage of 1080i, (a) shows an odd field of the two fields, and (b) shows an even field, and both are one frame. However, at the stage of 540P, there is no distinction between even and odd fields, and one field becomes one frame. The first 1080i information is shown by a solid line, a dotted line after conversion to 540P, and a two-dot broken line after conversion to 1080i again.

When converting the left 1080i into the right 540P in FIG. 10, focusing on the vertical relative position before and after the conversion, for example, the ratio of the distance between A and B in M after conversion is 1: 3. Therefore, in the odd field shown in (a),
M = (3A + B) / 4, M ′ = (3B + C) / 4 Formula (6)
It becomes. On the other hand, in the even field shown in (b),
T ′ = (G + 3H) / 4, U = (H + 3I) / 4 (7)

When re-converting the right side 540P in FIG. 11 (same as the right half of FIG. 10) to the left side 1080i, when focusing on the relative position before and after, the odd field shown in FIG.
Re B = (M + 3M ′) / 4, Re C = (M ′ + 3N) / 4 Equation (8)
It becomes. On the other hand, in the even field shown in (b),
Re H = (3T ′ + U) / 4, Re I = (3U + U ′) / 4 (9)
It becomes.

  As can be seen from the above, in the process of conversion and re-conversion between 1080i and 540P, a three-to-one weighted average may be taken while sandwiching the converted scanning line. That is, it is not necessary to change the arithmetic expression for each field or each scanning line as in the conventional example, and there is an advantage that there is no troublesome operation.

Note that here, as can be seen by substituting Equations (6) and (7) into Equations (8) and (9),
Re B = (3A + 10B + 3C) / 16, Re C = (3B + 10C + 3D) / 16,
Re H = (3G + 10H + 3I) / 16, Re I = (3H + 10I + 3J) / 16
... Formula (10)
In the same scanning line, the information originally in the other scanning lines is mixed, and the vertical resolution is lost. This is the resolution limiting action. However, there is an advantage that the image quality does not make the user feel unsatisfied because the conversion is made progressively when converting once. Each of the converted scanning lines is a weighted average of 3 to 10 to 3 of the original three scanning lines, and flicker for each scanning line can be reduced, and flicker between fields due to processing does not occur. There is.

  Next, another example to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to FIGS. When digitizing a film medium such as a movie as an original plate, progressive scanning (hereinafter referred to as 720P) with 24 frames per second and 720 scanning lines may be performed. A case will be described in which this is converted to 60 frames per second, 540P, and then reconverted to 1080i.

First, the left side of FIG. 12 schematically shows a 720P scanning line. Since this is converted into 540P, a conversion operation for forming three scanning lines from four scanning lines is performed. In the figure, scanning lines A ′ to C ′ are formed by scanning lines A to D, and the arithmetic expression is as follows.
A ′ = (5A + B) / 6, B ′ = (B + C) / 2, C ′ = (C + 5D) / 6
... Formula (11)
Of course, in the adjacent frame, A may be replaced with G and B may be replaced with H. Around this time, the number of frames per second is adjusted. Since 60 frames are formed by 24 frames, 5 frames are formed by using 2 frames. This can be realized by repeating the frames sent in the order of 1, 2, 3, 4 as 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4,.

Next, the case where the 540P is converted back to 1080i will be described with reference to FIG. This is basically the same as in FIG.
Re A = (3A ′ + B ′) / 4, Re B = (3B ′ + C) / 4,
Re-G = (G ′ + 3H ′) / 4, Re-H = (H ′ + 3I ′) / 4 Equation (12)
Therefore, it is not necessary to change the arithmetic expression for each field or each scanning line, and there is no troublesome operation.

Substituting equation (11) into equation (12),
Re A = (15A + 6B + 3C) / 24, Re B = (9B + 10C + 5D) / 24,
Re G = (5G + 10H + 9I) / 24, Re H = (3H + 6I + 15J) / 24
... Formula (13)
In the same scan line, information that was originally in the other scan line is mixed and the resolution in the vertical direction is lost. However, since the conversion is made progressively when it is once converted, the user feels unsatisfied. The image quality will not be the same. Further, since the same filter characteristic is obtained for each restored field, flicker is less likely to occur.

  In the above description, the limitation on resolution and the like when outputting information from the apparatus has been mainly described for analog output. However, the present invention is similarly applied to digital output. Needless to say, what you can do.

When the output signal of the receiving device 3 is output as a 540P signal with limited resolution, the conversion shown in FIG. 10, that is, the equations (6) and (7), or the conversion shown in FIG. (11) may be applied to the resolution limiting circuit 3808 shown in FIGS.
When the output signal of the receiving device 3 is output in a high-definition signal format after limiting the resolution or the like, the conversion shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, that is, Expression (10) or FIGS. That is, the conversion shown in FIG. 9, that is, the expression (13) may be applied to the resolution limiting circuit 3808. If the processes shown in the equations (10) and (13) are used, two conversion processes can be performed at a time, and signal processing can be performed efficiently.

  Further, although the circuit block configuration is shown in the embodiments shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, it may be realized by arithmetic signal processing using a microprocessor.

  Furthermore, in the embodiments shown in FIGS. 10, 11, 12, and 13, the case where the calculation is performed using the information of two lines is shown. However, if the calculation is performed using the information of four lines, for example, Decrease in resolution can be reduced. The present invention is not limited to the filter coefficients shown in the equations (6), (7), (8), (9), (10) and the equations (11), (12), (13). If the following filter is used, the reduction in vertical resolution can be further reduced.

  FIG. 14 is a circuit block diagram showing an example of the resolution limiting circuit 3808. The resolution restrictions in the horizontal and vertical directions described above can be performed independently. Reference numeral 38081 is an input terminal, 38082 is a horizontal limit circuit, 38083 is a vertical limit circuit, and 38084 is an output terminal. For example, in the case of the embodiment of FIG. 6, the output of the first switch 3806 is supplied to the input terminal 38081. This information signal is subjected to horizontal resolution limitation by resampling or filtering by a horizontal limitation circuit 38082. Next, after the conversion of the number of scanning lines as described above is performed in the vertical limit circuit 38083, it is output to the output terminal 38084 and supplied to the third switch 3810 in FIG. Of course, the horizontal limit circuit 38082 and the vertical limit circuit 38083 may be arranged in reverse. Further, as described above, a circuit for reverse conversion may be added to perform two processes at a time.

  The present invention is particularly effective when the receiving device 3 and the display 5 in FIG. 1 are connected by an analog signal. When the digital signal is connected, when the receiving device 3 and the display 5 are in the same housing, the resolution restriction according to the present invention is not necessarily required. However, even in this case, when outputting an analog signal to the outside, this is not necessary. It is effective to apply the present invention to the category.

The examples disclose the following.
1. In a video information input / output device that receives video information transmitted through broadcasting or communication means, or inputs video information reproduced from a recording medium, performs predetermined signal processing, and outputs it to an external device.
When the input video information is high-definition information information with about 1000 scanning lines and interlaced scanning, the resolution is converted into output video information with progressive scanning about 500 scanning lines. A video information input / output device comprising a limiting circuit.
2. 2. The video information input / output device according to 1, wherein the resolution limiting circuit performs conversion when the video information to be output is an analog signal.
3. 2. The video information input / output device according to 1, wherein the resolution limiting circuit converts the number of scanning lines of video information to be output to 540 lines.
4). The input video information includes control information relating to resolution limitation that defines whether or not to convert the number of scanning lines.
A detection circuit for detecting the control information;
2. The video information input / output device according to 1, wherein the number of scanning lines is converted by the resolution limiting circuit based on a detection result of the detection circuit.
5). The input video information further includes control information related to a broadcast system indicating whether or not the video information is high-definition information,
The detection circuit further detects control information related to the broadcasting system,
The number of scanning lines is converted by the resolution limiting circuit when the input video information is high-definition information and defines scanning line conversion based on the detection result of the detection circuit. The video information input / output device described.
6). In a video information input / output method for receiving video information transmitted through broadcasting or communication means or inputting video information reproduced from a recording medium, performing predetermined signal processing and outputting the information to an external device,
If the input video information is high-definition information information with about 1000 scanning lines and interlace scanning, this information should be converted into progressive scanning output video information with about 500 scanning lines. A video information input / output method characterized by
7). 7. The video information input / output method according to 6, wherein the number of scanning lines is converted when the video information to be output is an analog signal.
8). 7. The video information input / output method according to 6, wherein the number of scanning lines of video information to be output is converted to 540 lines.
9. The input video information includes control information relating to resolution limitation that defines whether or not to convert the number of scanning lines.
7. The video information input / output method according to claim 6, wherein the control information is detected, and the number of scanning lines is converted based on the detection result.
10. The input video information further includes control information related to a broadcast system indicating whether or not the video information is high-definition information,
Detecting control information related to the broadcasting system and control information related to the resolution limitation;
10. The video information input / output method according to 9, wherein the number of scanning lines is converted when the input video information is high-definition information and defines the conversion of scanning lines.
11. In a video information transmitting device that transmits video information to a receiving device,
When the number of scanning lines of the video information is about 1000 and the information is a high-definition method of interlace scanning, when the receiving apparatus receiving this information outputs to an external device, the number of scanning lines is about 500 and is progressive. A video information transmission apparatus comprising: a transmission circuit for transmitting control information relating to resolution limitation that defines whether or not to convert into video information for scanning.
12 12. The video information transmitting apparatus according to 11, wherein the transmission circuit further transmits the video information to be transmitted including control information related to a broadcasting system indicating whether or not the information is high-definition information. .

1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the entire video information transmission / reception system of the present invention. The block diagram which shows an example of a structure of the information provision station (transmission apparatus) 1 in FIG. The block diagram which shows an example of a structure of the receiver (input / output device) 3 in FIG. The block diagram which shows one structural example of the control information signal in this invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing recording positions of control information signals and video information data on a recording medium according to the present invention, where (a) is a tape medium, (b) is a video disk medium, and (c) is an example of a hard disk medium. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a decoding circuit 38 in FIG. 3. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing another configuration example of the decoding circuit 38 in FIG. 3. Schematic diagram showing a conventional method for converting the number of scanning lines 1080i to 540i. The schematic diagram which shows the conventional method which reconverts the scanning line number 540i to 1080i. The schematic diagram which shows the method of this invention which converts the scanning line number 1080i into 540P. The schematic diagram which shows the method of this invention which reconverts the scanning line number 540P to 1080i. The schematic diagram which shows the method of this invention which converts the scanning line number 720P into 540P. The schematic diagram which shows the method of this invention which reconverts the scanning line number 540P to 1080i. FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a resolution limiting circuit 3808 in FIGS. 6 and 7.

Explanation of symbols

1. Information provider (transmitter)
11... Source generator 16... Management information adding circuit 104... Copy control 105.
108 ··· Broadcast method 109 ··· Restriction information such as resolution 2 ··· Relay station 3 ··· Receiving device 31 ··· RF / IF conversion circuit 32 ··· ..Demodulation circuit 33... Error correction circuit 34... Descramble circuit 35... First demultiplex circuit 37. Decoding circuit 3802 Decoding circuit 3803 Control information detection circuit 3804 Up converter 3805 Down converter 3808 Resolution etc. limiting circuit 3809 APS signal adding circuit 39 .... Output terminal 310 ... Output terminal 4 ... First recording / reproducing device 5 ... Display 6 ... Second recording / reproducing device

Claims (10)

In a video information output device that receives video information transmitted via broadcasting or communication means, or inputs video information reproduced from a recording medium and outputs it to an external device.
The video information is high-definition information, and is accompanied by copy control information indicating whether or not the video information can be copied, and resolution restriction information indicating whether or not there is a resolution limitation when outputting the compressed video information. And
Detecting means for detecting the control information accompanying the video information;
In accordance with the control information detected by the detection means, a resolution restriction that restricts the resolution of video information to about 500,000 pixels corresponding to a half of the vertical resolution and horizontal resolution of the information of the high-definition method. Means,
A video information output apparatus comprising output means for outputting video information whose resolution is limited by the resolution limiting means.   The video information output apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the resolution limiting circuit performs limiting when video information to be output is an analog signal. In a video information input / output method for receiving video information transmitted via broadcast or communication means, or inputting video information reproduced from a recording medium and outputting it to an external device,
The video information is high-definition information, and is accompanied by copy control information indicating whether or not the video information can be copied, and resolution restriction information indicating whether or not the resolution is limited when the compressed video information is output. And
Detecting the video information associated with the video information;
According to the control information, the video information is output with a resolution limited to about 500,000 pixels corresponding to a half of the vertical resolution and horizontal resolution of the high-definition information. output method.   4. The video information output method according to claim 3, wherein the resolution is limited when the video information to be output is an analog signal. In a video information transmitting device that transmits video information to a receiving device,
The video information is high-definition information,
Whether copy control information indicating whether or not the video information can be copied, and whether the resolution of the video information is limited to about 500,000 pixels, which corresponds to a half of the vertical resolution and horizontal resolution of the high-definition information, respectively. Information generating means for generating control information relating to resolution limitation that defines whether or not;
A video information transmission apparatus comprising: a transmission unit configured to transmit the control information together with the video information.   6. The video information transmitting apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the control information related to the resolution limitation is information that defines whether or not the video information to be output is limited when it is an analog signal. In a video information transmission method for transmitting video information to a receiving device,
The video information is high-definition information,
Whether copy control information indicating whether or not the video information can be copied, and whether the resolution of the video information is limited to about 500,000 pixels corresponding to a half of the vertical resolution and horizontal resolution of the high-definition information. Control information about resolution restrictions that define whether or not,
A video information transmission method comprising transmitting the control information together with the video information.   8. The video information transmitting method according to claim 7, wherein the control information relating to the resolution limitation is information that defines whether or not the video information to be output is limited when it is an analog signal. In a video information receiving device that receives video information and outputs it to an external device,
The video information is high-definition information, and is accompanied by copy control information indicating whether or not the video information can be copied, and resolution restriction information indicating whether or not there is a resolution limitation when outputting the compressed video information. And
Receiving means for receiving the video information;
Detecting means for detecting the control information accompanying the received video information;
In accordance with the control information detected by the detection means, a resolution restriction that restricts the resolution of video information to about 500,000 pixels corresponding to a half of the vertical resolution and horizontal resolution of the information of the high-definition method. Means,
A video information receiving apparatus comprising: output means for outputting video information whose resolution is limited by the resolution limiting circuit. In a video information playback device that outputs video information played back from a recording medium to an external device,
The video information is high-definition information, and is accompanied by copy control information indicating whether or not the video information can be copied, and resolution restriction information indicating whether or not the resolution is limited when the compressed video information is output. And
Playback means for playing back the video information;
Detecting means for detecting the control information accompanying the reproduced video information;
In accordance with the control information detected by the detection means, a resolution restriction that restricts the resolution of video information to about 500,000 pixels, which corresponds to a half of the vertical resolution and horizontal resolution of the high-definition information, respectively. Means,
A video information reproducing apparatus comprising output means for outputting video information whose resolution is limited by the resolution limiting means.

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