JP4654302B2 - Video information receiving apparatus, video information receiving method, and video information transmitting / receiving method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an input / output device that controls and outputs a resolution or the like in order to protect copyright of input video information when the video information is input and output to an external device. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a video information recording medium suitable for performing such control.

  In the fields of television broadcasting and information software services, digital broadcasting and HD (High Definition) broadcasting have been 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 in a place unknown to the copyright holder 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 only a specific user can view it, or a method of multiplexing control data and prohibiting unauthorized recording has been developed, and has high confidentiality. . The most problematic is the analog output signal. 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 video information input / output device that performs quality restriction suitable for both copyright protection and user's interest, especially when recording / reproducing and outputting high-quality video information, and also suitable for this. Is to provide a simple recording medium.

[Means for solving problems]
In order to achieve the above object, an embodiment of the present invention is described in, for example, the claims.
The technical idea that is used may be used.

As described above, according to the present invention, when a large amount of information such as high definition (HD) video information is output as analog information in particular, a certain degree of resolution or the like can be restricted, so a high-quality copy is created. This makes it difficult to protect the rights of copyright holders .

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. The figure which shows typically the recording position of the control information signal and video information data on a recording 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. The schematic diagram which shows the method of converting the scanning line number 1080i to 540i. The schematic diagram which shows the method of reconverting the scanning line number 540i to 1080i. The schematic diagram which shows the method of converting the scanning line number 1080i to 540P. The schematic diagram which shows the method of reconverting the scanning line number 540P to 1080i. The block diagram which shows an example of a structure of the receiver (input / output device) 3 in FIG.

  In one embodiment of the present invention, for example, whether the resolution for the analog output described above is restricted in the information transmitted from the information providing unit such as a broadcasting station or the information software recorded on the recording medium. The control information indicating whether or not is multiplexed. 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 displaying the output once the resolution is limited, it is also considered to change the number of scanning lines to the same level as the HD information by interpolating the scanning lines. Further, the number of pixels per frame is set to about 500,000 pixels, which is the same level as the current SD information, as a condition for 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. In addition, the user is charged for the display, and the resolution restriction is canceled when the user is charged. Alternatively, it is canceled in stages according to the payment amount. Although the case where the resolution limitation is mainly performed on the analog output will be described, it may be performed on the digital output as necessary.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the entire video information transmission / reception system of the present invention, and shows a case where 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 transmission methods such as cable transmission, telephone line transmission, and terrestrial broadcast transmission 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 that determines 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. 301 is an RF / IF conversion circuit, 302 is a demodulation circuit, 303 is an error correction circuit, 304 is a descrambling circuit for canceling the encryption applied to the signal, 305 is a first demultiplexing circuit, 306 is an input / output terminal, 307 is a second demultiplexing circuit, 308 is a decoding circuit, 309 and 310 are output terminals, 311 is a control circuit for the entire receiving apparatus 3, 312 is an information management circuit, 313 is an accounting information management circuit, 314 is a modem (MODEM) ) Circuit, 315 is an output terminal, 316 is an input terminal, and 317 is a command input circuit. In the figure, the solid line indicates the flow of main information such as video and audio, and the dotted line indicates the flow of control signal information between the components.

  First, the flow of information such as video and audio indicated by solid lines will be described. For example, radio waves from the relay station 2 such as a broadcasting satellite are input to the RF / IF conversion circuit 301. 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 302 is demodulated. Further, after the error of the code generated during transmission is detected and corrected by the error correction circuit 303, the descrambling circuit 304 releases the encryption. Thereafter, the data is sent to the first and second demultiplexing circuits 305 and 307. In particular, 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 is not only to enable so-called back program recording, but also to remove information not worth recording in the first demultiplexing circuit 305. 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 305 is given to the input / output terminal 306, and exchanges signals with the first recording / reproducing apparatus 4 connected thereto. The input / output terminal 306 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 304 or the information reproduced by the first recording / reproducing device 4 from the input / output terminal 306 is connected to the second demultiplexing circuit 307. Information to be viewed is selected and input to the decoding circuit 308.

  In the next decoding circuit 308, the data compression of the moving image performed before the 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, The data is output to the output terminal 309 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 308, if the information is, for example, HD information, down-converts it to the SD information format and supplies it to the output terminal 310.

  Next, control signals indicated by dotted lines will be described. The control circuit 311 exchanges control signals with the components 305, 307, and 308 from the above 301, and controls the entire receiving apparatus 3 to perform a desired operation. Among these, what is given to the decoding circuit 308 also controls the operation for limiting the resolution and the like, as will be described later.

  The information management circuit 312 supplies management data when the control circuit 311 performs control in response to a request. For example, reception contract information is managed here. When the user designates a channel to be viewed, this designation is input from the input terminal 316 and sent to the control circuit 311 via the command input circuit 317. The control circuit 311 requests the reception contract information from the information management circuit 312. When it is determined that there is a contract with the channel designated by the user, a control signal is sent to each of the above-described components to instruct the receiving operation of the corresponding channel. The information management circuit 312 manages timer reservation information by the user. When it is time to reserve viewing, the control circuit 311 sends a control signal to each component described above to start a receiving operation.

  The control circuit 311 also exchanges control signals with the accounting information management circuit 313. The operation of the billing information management circuit 313 in the present invention, particularly the billing method, will be described later. When billing to the user occurs, this information is given to the modem circuit 314. Here, the information is further output to the output terminal 315 as information suitable for transmission to a communication transmission line such as a telephone line. After that, it is sent to the copyright holder, the financial institution or the information providing station 1 shown in FIG. 1 through the communication transmission path so that a prescribed amount can be obtained from the user. Of course, the communication transmission path may be wireless.

  Note that the relay station 2, the first recording / reproducing device 4, the display 5, and the second recording / reproducing device 6 in FIG. 1 are each for relaying information radio waves, for recording / reproducing information, or for displaying information. Since the present invention can be understood by recognition, a detailed description of the internal operation will not be given. The first recording / reproducing apparatus 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 apparatus 3 is suitable. As mentioned above, it is preferable to exchange digitally. 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, most of which is generated and transmitted by the management information adding circuit 16 of the information providing station 1 of FIG. In particular, the data is recorded on the recording medium by the first recording / reproducing apparatus 4 of FIG. 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 / duplication, permission of recording / duplication for only one generation, recording of one generation of recording / duplication means no more, and permission for recording / duplication. 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 a total of four, including Copy No More, can be transmitted as 2-bit information.

  APS 105 is 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 an analog video signal. Thereby, separate copy control can be performed on the signals of the input / output terminal 306 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 used to determine whether or not to limit the resolution used in the present invention, and in the case of broadcasting, it is often given by the management information adding circuit 16, but the information software is a recording medium. If given, the right holder records it at the time of creation. 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, the case where the limitation such as the 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, the 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. If the information software is provided on a recording medium, the right holder records it at the time of creation. The configuration of the control information signal as shown here can be applied to the present invention, but 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 disk 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. To do.

  Here, the operation of a conventional apparatus already on the market will be described. Information received by the receiving apparatus 3 and given to the display 5 via the descrambling circuit 304, the second demultiplexing circuit 307, and the decoding circuit 308 shown in FIG. When displayed, the image was displayed as it was, 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 data is received by the receiving device 3 and is recorded / reproduced by the first recording / reproducing device 4 via the first demultiplexing circuit 305 in FIG. 3 therein, and the second demultiplexer circuit 307 is decoded. When displaying the information given to the display 5 via the circuit 308, that is, the information once recorded in the apparatus, the following 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. If it is 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 etc. are limited by the decoding circuit 308. Output from the output terminals 309 and 310 is displayed.

  The method of this restriction is as follows. Speaking of resolution simply refers to horizontal resolution, but this limitation can be achieved 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 to 540 interlaces. Since the number of effective scanning lines of SD information is originally about this level, there is no need to limit it. However, since HD information is, for example, about 1080 interlaced signals, it is limited. This restriction operation can be provided as a function in the decoding circuit 308 of FIG. 3, for example. The information may be analog at the output terminal 309 as well as at the output terminal 309, 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 restricted. This limitation is 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, it may be converted again from here, 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. Note that the resolution restriction information 109 is detected by the control circuit 311 in FIG. 3, and a predetermined restriction action is performed by the decoding circuit 308 based on this.

  A further feature of the present embodiment is that, when necessary, 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 308.

  Also, whether to convert to interlaced or progressive may be determined by the amount of billing described later. Furthermore, even when the resolution restriction information 109 requests a restriction, the restriction may not be made depending on the amount of billing. These are determined, for example, based on whether the amount paid is commensurate with the rights of the copyright holder. These can be realized by sending a control signal from here to the decoding circuit 308 based on the judgment of the control circuit 311 that exchanges information with both the accounting information management circuit 313 and the command input circuit 317.

  Next, FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the decoding circuit 308 in FIG. In FIG. 6, the terminals 309 and 310 may be the same as those shown in FIG. 30801 is an input terminal, 30802 is a decoding circuit for compression operation such as MPEG performed before transmission, 30803 is an input terminal, 30804 is an up converter, 30805 is a down converter, 30806 is a first switch, 30807 is a second switch, Reference numeral 30808 denotes a resolution limiting circuit, 30809 denotes an APS signal addition circuit, and 30810 denotes a third switch.

  At the input terminal 30801, for example, information currently being broadcast, which is the output of the second demultiplexing circuit 307 shown in FIG. 3, or playback from the first recording / playback apparatus 4 input from the input / output terminal 306 Information is given. This is decoded by the decoding circuit 30802, and the compression operation such as MPEG performed before transmission is restored. Among these, at least information such as video and audio is supplied to the up converter 30804, the down converter 30805, the first switch 30806, and the second switch 30807.

  A control signal from the control circuit 311 in FIG. 3 is supplied to the input terminal 30803. The result of detecting the APS 105 from the control information shown in FIG. 4 is given to the APS signal adding circuit 30809. The result of detecting the broadcast system 108 is given to the first switch 30806, the second switch 30807, and the third switch 30810. Further, information indicating the content such as resolution limitation determined based on the limitation information 109 such as resolution and the charging status is provided to the resolution limitation circuit 30808.

  First, a case where the information is determined to be SD information from the broadcasting system 108 in FIG. 4 will be described. At this time, the first switch 30806 and the second switch 30807 select the signal on the lower side (denoted by b in the drawing) in FIG. 6, and the third switch 30810 selects the signal on the upper side (in the drawing, a). 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 30802, the output sent from the output terminal 310 to the external second recording / reproducing apparatus 6 passes through the second switch 30807 as it is and is given to the APS adding circuit 30809. When the APS 105 in FIG. 4 detects a request to output by applying the copy control information APS to the analog recording device, the APS addition circuit 30809, as described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-288582, By adding a signal or the like, it is impossible to record normal information in the second external recording / reproducing circuit 6.

  Of the output of the decoding circuit 30802, the signal sent from the output terminal 309 to the external display 5 is first converted into about 1080 interlace signals (hereinafter referred to as 1080i) by the up-converter 30804, and it appears. The number of scanning lines corresponds to the upper HD information. Thereafter, the signal is supplied to the output terminal 309 via the first switch 30806 and the third switch 30810.

  Next, a case where it is determined 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 30806 and the second switch 30807 select the signal on the upper side (a in the drawing), and the third switch 30810 selects the signal on the lower side (b in the drawing). Connect to the component.

  Among the outputs of the decoding circuit 30802, 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 30805 to be a signal of, for example, 480i to 540i, The pseudo-synchronization signal is added to the output terminal 310 through the second switch 30807 by the APS adding circuit 30809 as required.

  Of the output of the decode circuit 30802, the output sent from the output terminal 309 to the external display 5 passes through the first switch 30806 as it is and is given to the limit circuit 30808 for resolution or the like. When the HD information is output from the apparatus in analog form, for example, from the restriction information 109 such as the resolution shown in FIG. 4, when a request for restricting the resolution is detected, the resolution etc. restriction circuit 30808 resamples the horizontal direction. For example, filtering is limited to about 960 pixels, and the vertical direction can be converted into an interlace signal (hereinafter, 540i) having about 540 scanning lines or a progressive signal (hereinafter, 540P), for example. Thereafter, the signal passes through the third switch 30810 and is supplied to the output terminal 309. In particular, when the progressive signal is used, it is possible to prevent the image quality from deteriorating and to simplify the operation of converting the number of scanning lines, as will be described later, compared to the case of using the interlaced signal.

  Whether to limit the resolution or the like is determined by the control circuit 311 in FIG. 3 and is controlled according to a control signal input from the input terminal 30803. For example, it is assumed that the output can be selected in three stages: (a) unlimited resolution, (b) limited to 540P, and (c) limited to 540i, and the billing amount corresponding to this can be determined. In general, (a) is the most expensive, followed by (b) and (c). (C) may be free. The user selects one of these, and the command is input from the input terminal 316 in FIG. 3 and sent to the control circuit 311 via the command input circuit 317. Depending on the selected contents, the resolution limiting circuit 30808 determines the operation. The selected information is also transmitted to the billing information management circuit 313 and sent from the modem circuit 314 and the output terminal 315 to the copyright holder, the financial institution, the information providing station or the like, and the amount corresponding thereto is billed to the user. Is done. Of course, the selection of output is not limited to the above-described three stages, and may be performed in two stages (a) and (b), for example.

  Note that even if the information is HD information, if resolution limitation is not required, or if resolution limitation is not performed according to billing, the resolution limiting circuit 30808 outputs the input information as it is without limiting the resolution. This can also be realized by selecting input information on the a side from the third switch 30810.

  Further, when information of 480i, 540i, 540P (or less than 720P) is output from the output terminal 309 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 limiting circuit 30808 for resolution or the like.

  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 309, a connection between the APS addition circuit 30809 and the output terminal 310, or the like can be considered. Of course, in the former case, it may be in front of the display 5 outside the output terminal 309. If it is connected to the display 5 by digital information, it is naturally 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. The limiting circuit 30808 for resolution or the like may be placed between the first demultiplexing circuit 305 and the input / output terminal 306 in FIG. In this case, when a restriction such as resolution is requested, this is performed before recording on the first recording / reproducing apparatus 4. However, in this case, the resolution of the recorded information itself is also limited, and the user's merit is reduced.

  FIG. 7 shows a configuration example of a decoding circuit 308 different from FIG. Here, the position of the up-converter 30804A is different from that in FIG. 6, and the first switch 30806 does not exist. Here, the information output to the output terminal 309 is as follows. The SD information whose output of the decoding circuit 30802 is 480i to 540i passes through the third switch 30810, is converted to 1080i information by the up-converter 30804A, and is given to the output terminal 309. Also, HD information whose output of the decoding circuit 30802 is 1080i is converted into information of 540i to 540P as required by the resolution limiting circuit 30808, and then again through the third switch 30810 and the up-converter 3804A. , 1080i information is converted and provided to the output terminal 309. In this case, the original 1080i is restored, but once 540i to 540P, the corresponding resolution restriction is applied. In this case, the up-converter 30804A can be disconnected and incorporated in the display 5, for example.

  In FIGS. 6 and 7, when the limitation in the limiting circuit 30808 such as the resolution is converted to only an interlaced signal such as 480i to 540i, the down converter 30805 can be shared.

  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 method of converting the number of scanning lines shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 will be described. 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 Formula (4)
Then, every other scanning line is brought to the same position, and the average value is calculated. In this way, when reconverting in particular, the troublesomeness of changing the arithmetic expression for each field and for each scanning line is recognized.

As can be seen by substituting equations (1) and (2) into equations (3) and (4), the same 1080i information can be
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, 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, there is a problem that image quality deterioration such as flicker is added.

  Next, a method for converting the number of scanning lines shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 will be described. 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 Formula (7)
It becomes.

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 Equation (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, there is an advantage that there is no troublesome operation because it is not necessary to change the arithmetic expression for each field or each scanning line as in the case of once converting to 540i.

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
... or more 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.

  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.

  In addition, when the output signal of the receiving device 3 is limited as to the resolution or the like, and is output as a 540i signal, the conversion shown in FIG. In this case, the conversion shown in FIG. 10, that is, the expressions (6) and (7) may be applied to the resolution limiting circuit 30808 shown in FIGS.

  When the output signal of the receiving device 3 is output in a high-definition signal format after limiting the resolution and the like, the conversion shown in FIGS. In other words, the conversion shown in FIG. 10, that is, the expression (10) may be applied to the resolution limiting circuit 30808. By using the processing shown in equations (5) and (10), 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. 8, 9, 10, and 11, 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, the calculation is performed vertically. Decrease in resolution can be reduced. The present invention is not limited to the filter coefficients shown in the equations (1) to (10), and if a higher-order filter is used, the vertical resolution can be further reduced.

  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 connection is made with a digital signal, the resolution limitation according to the present invention is not necessarily required when the receiving device 3 and the display 5 are in the same housing, but 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.

  FIG. 12 shows another example of the configuration of the receiving device (input / output device) 3 according to the present invention. The embodiment shown in the embodiment of FIG. 3 is suitable for use in a general household, for example, and is configured so that cash is not required on the spot even if the user is charged. On the other hand, FIG. 12 is suitable, for example, when it is placed in a room in an accommodation. Here, a deposit detection circuit 319 is added. In accommodations, etc., package software is broadcasted in the hall, and some are supplied for a fee. In such a case, it is effective when providing a resolution limited according to the amount of money. Cash is input from the input terminal 318, and the amount information (including free of charge) detected by the receipt detection circuit 319 is transmitted to the control circuit 311, and the resolution limit corresponding to this amount is applied by the decoding circuit 308. Is done. This is suitable for the owner of the accommodation to collect the cash, but the accounting information management circuit 313, the modem circuit 314, etc. You may provide similarly to FIG.

  This package software is generally provided to the above-mentioned owners and general consumers in a form in which information data such as video and audio is recorded in advance on a recording medium such as a disk or tape. The control information signal shown in FIG. 4 may be recorded together with the information data such as video and audio. In particular, if restriction information 109 such as the broadcasting system 108 and resolution is recorded, the same charging fee as in the above-described embodiment and resolution restriction corresponding to this can be applied. As for the broadcast system 108, package software is different from the broadcast system, but it is preferable to describe a broadcast system similar to the television system used.

  If the limiting operation such as resolution and the charging conditions for this are not uniformly determined for all information, it is preferable to add a charging condition for each piece of information. For example, a plurality of types of charging conditions are prepared, each is assigned a code number, and this is added to the information control signal of FIG. If this is detected by the receiving apparatus 3 of FIG. 3 and notified to the charging information management circuit 313 from the control circuit 311, different charging can be performed for each information.

1. Information provider (transmitter)
16... Management information adding circuit 108... Broadcasting system 109... Restriction information such as resolution 2... Relay station 3.
Input / output terminal 308 Decoding circuit 30801 Decoding circuit 30802 Decoding circuit 30803 Input terminal 30804 Up converter 30805 Down converter 30806 First switch 30807 Second switch 30808... Resolution limiting circuit 30809... APS signal addition circuit 30810... Third switch 309... Output terminal 310... Output terminal 311. · Information management circuit 313 ··· Billing information management circuit 314 ··· Modem (MODEM) circuit 315 ··· Output terminal 316 · · · Input terminal 317 ··· Command input circuit 318 ··· Input terminal 319... Deposit detection circuit 4... First recording / reproducing device 5. ...... second of the recording and reproducing apparatus

Claims (3)

In a video information receiving device that receives video information transmitted via broadcast or communication means and outputs it to an external device,
Receiving means for receiving the video information and copy control information;
Output means for outputting the video information received by the receiving means to an external device;
Information management means for managing contract information when the video information is paid video information;
Control means for controlling the receiving means, the output means and the information management means,
The output means has a first output for outputting the received video information as a digital signal, and a second output for outputting the received video information as an analog signal,
The control means determines whether a receiving contract is made when the video information received by the receiving means is paid video information, and receives the video information when the receiving contract is made. Control to output
The output state from the output means is:
When the video information for which the copy control information can be copied is output as a digital signal from the first output , the video information is not encrypted and output without limiting the resolution of the video information. A possible first state;
A second state that can be output without limiting the resolution of the video information when the video information that the copy control information is copyable is output as an analog signal from the second output ;
A third state in which the resolution of the video information is limited and output when the video information whose copy control information indicates copy restriction is output as an analog signal from the second output ;
A fourth state in which the video information is output as a digital signal encrypted from the first output and can be output without limiting the resolution of the video information;
A video information receiving apparatus comprising: In a video information receiving method for receiving and outputting video information transmitted together with copy control information via broadcast or communication means at a receiving device,
When the video information is paid video information,
Determining whether a subscription has been made,
Receiving a video signal and outputting the digital information from the first output as a digital signal, or outputting from the second output as an analog signal when a reception contract is made,
The output state in the step of receiving and outputting the video information is:
When the video information for which the copy control information can be copied is output as a digital signal from the first output , the video information is not encrypted and output without limiting the resolution of the video information. A possible first state;
A second state that can be output without limiting the resolution of the video information when the video information that the copy control information is copyable is output as an analog signal from the second output ;
A third state in which the resolution of the video information is limited and output when the video information whose copy control information indicates copy restriction is output as an analog signal from the second output ;
A fourth state in which the video information is output as a digital signal encrypted from the first output and can be output without limiting the resolution of the video information;
A video information receiving method comprising: In a video information transmission / reception method for transmitting video information from a transmission device via broadcast or communication means, and receiving at a reception device,
When the video information is paid video information,
In the transmission device, the steps of both transmitting information and the copy control information indicating that the image information the image information is the image information of the toll,
In the receiving device, when receiving the transmitted video information, it is determined whether or not a reception contract is made. If the reception contract is made, the received video information is received and digitally received. Outputting from the first output as a signal or from the second output as an analog signal,
The output state in the step of receiving and outputting the video information is:
When the video information for which the copy control information can be copied is output as a digital signal from the first output , the video information is not encrypted and output without limiting the resolution of the video information. A possible first state;
A second state that can be output without limiting the resolution of the video information when the video information that the copy control information is copyable is output as an analog signal from the second output ;
A third state in which the resolution of the video information is limited and output when the video information whose copy control information indicates copy restriction is output as an analog signal from the second output ;
A fourth state in which the video information is output as a digital signal encrypted from the first output and can be output without limiting the resolution of the video information;
A video information transmission / reception method comprising:

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