JP4665670B2 - Recording / reproducing apparatus, recording / reproducing method, reproducing apparatus, reproducing method, receiving / reproducing apparatus, and receiving / reproducing method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention is, for example, a program advertisement or a commercial message (hereinafter abbreviated as CM) information before or after a section between program main program information and program main program information, such as a TV broadcast program, or the like. The present invention relates to a recording / reproducing apparatus and a recording / reproducing method for recording and reproducing an information signal in which a plurality of sections of specific information other than main information can be continuously inserted. The present invention also relates to an information signal reproducing apparatus and a reproducing method as described above.

  For example, a recording / reproducing apparatus that records a television broadcast program or the like on a recording medium such as a hard disk or a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) and reproduces the recorded television broadcast program is widely used.

  In broadcast media such as TV broadcasts, usually, other than the main information of one or a plurality of CMs and program advertisements, etc., between the main information of the broadcast program and the main information, or before or after the main program information. A section of specific information is inserted. The section of the specific information is also inserted between the main information and the main information, but the main information and the main information are before the main information from the viewpoint of the subsequent main information.

  In the recording / playback apparatus as described above, when a recorded television broadcast program is played back and viewed, if a scene such as a CM section or a program advertisement section is not desired to be viewed, the user uses a remote commander or the like. There are many cases where high-speed playback is performed by fast-forward playback operation.

  For example, Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-223666) has a function of jumping (skipping) to a previous scene after a predetermined time, for example, 15 seconds from the current playback position when a predetermined button is pressed during playback. A recording / reproducing apparatus provided is described. In the case of a recording / reproducing apparatus equipped with such a button, when a scene that the user does not want to view is reached, the user operates the button to skip to a scene after a predetermined time for reproduction. can do.

  Furthermore, recently, when recording a TV broadcast program, the user operation as described above is omitted, and the CM section as specific information other than the main information of the broadcast program is automatically cut, and only the main program information is recorded. Software with a function that enables video recording is also commercially available (Non-Patent Document 1).

The above prior art documents are as follows.
JP 2005-223666 A “TV capture card with automatic CM cut function is on sale”, [online], [Search August 18, 2005], Internet <http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/akiba/hotline/20040228/ etc_transgear.html>

  However, when the software described in Non-Patent Document 1 is used, all the CM sections other than the main part of the program are deleted, which is disadvantageous for the side providing the CM, and the broadcast program is not a CM. When the insertion of a section is used as an effect, there is a problem that the attractiveness of the program content is impaired.

  For example, by broadcasting the answer after the CM section in a quiz program, inserting the CM section at the beginning of the excitement can produce an effect that pulls the viewer's feelings, or creates an exhilarating feeling In such a case, if all the commercial sections are cut and the main part of the program is connected, the production effect cannot be obtained and the program becomes less attractive.

  Also, in some broadcast programs, after insertion of a CM section, there is a case where the same scene is replayed so as to be broadcast again by going back about a few seconds (rollback). If all the CM sections are cut using the function of Patent Document 1, there is a problem that the same scene is simply continued for several seconds in the rollback portion.

  In view of the above points, the present invention reduces the disadvantages for the CM provider, and also reduces the attractiveness of the program content when the broadcast program uses the insertion of the CM section as an effect. The purpose is to prevent it from happening.

In order to solve the above problems, the invention according to claim 1,
An information signal in which a plurality of pieces of specific information other than the main information are continuously inserted in a section before or after the main information is allowed to be recorded on the recording medium, and the information signal is recorded from the recording medium. In a recording / reproducing apparatus having a function of reproducing by skipping the specific information section during reproduction,
At the time of recording the information signal, a feature amount is detected for the information signal, and a separation between the main information and the specific information is detected using the detected feature amount, and the specific information is detected from the information signal. Specific information section detecting means for detecting a section;
Additional information recording means for recording the location information of the specific information section detected by the specific information section detecting means on the recording medium as additional information in association with the information signal;
When reproducing the information signal from the recording medium, the specific information section is determined based on the additional information, and at least one of the specific information sections is included in the section before or after the main information. Playback control means for controlling to skip and skip the section of the specific information
With
The specific information section detecting means is
For each detected section of the specific information, an identifier giving means for giving an identifier of the section of the specific information based on the feature amount of the section of the specific information;
Specific information reproduction history holding means for holding an identifier of the reproduced section of the specific information as a reproduction history of the specific information;
With
The reproduction control means reproduces the specific information held in the specific information reproduction history holding means when a plurality of sections of the specific information are continuously included in a section before or after the main information. Referring to the history, control is performed so that at least one section of the specific information that is not included in the playback history is left and other sections of the specific information are skipped and played.
To provide a recording and reproducing apparatus, characterized in that.

  For example, in a broadcast program, usually, a plurality of sections of specific information such as a plurality of CM sections are inserted continuously before or after the main program information.

In the invention according to claim 1 , not all of the plurality of specific information sections are skipped, but at least one specific information section is provided between the main information and the main information or between the main information. The section of the specific information is skipped before or after.

Therefore, as compared with the case where all the sections of specific information are skipped, the disadvantage for the side providing specific information such as CM can be reduced, and the insertion of the section of specific information is used as an effect. In this case, the attractiveness of the information content can be prevented from being impaired.
In the invention according to claim 1, the specific information other than the specific information that has already been reproduced and presented to the user is the specific information that remains between the main information and the main information or before or after the main information. Therefore, the disadvantage for the side providing specific information such as CM can be minimized.

The invention according to claim 2 is the recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1,
The reproduction control means may leave at least one section of the specific information selected at random when the plurality of sections of the specific information are continuously included in the section before or after the main information. This particular information section is controlled to be skipped for playback.

In the invention according to claim 2 , since the section of the specific information to be left between the main information and the main information or before or after the main information is selected at random, the different specific information includes the main information and the main information. It can be expected to remain before or after the main information.

  The invention according to claim 7 is the recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1,
  The reproduction control means, instead of the reproduction that skips the section of the other specific information based on the reproduction history of the specific information held in the specific information reproduction history holding means,
  When the reproduction of the information signal is instructed, the additional information is read prior to the reproduction, and when the plurality of specific information sections are continuously included in the section before or after the main information, The type of specific information section is reproduced at least once, and at least one of the specific information sections is left, and the other specific information sections are skipped and reproduced. Do
  It is characterized by that.

  In the invention according to claim 7, since all CMs and program advertisements scheduled to be broadcast in the broadcast program to be reproduced are reproduced at normal speed at least once, the intention on the broadcast side is reflected to the minimum. .

  According to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the disadvantage for the side providing specific information such as CM, and to reduce the attractiveness of the information content when the insertion of the specific information section is used as an effect. Can not be.

[First Embodiment]
The first embodiment of the present invention is a case where the present invention is applied to an apparatus for receiving and recording / reproducing a television broadcast signal. In the embodiment described below, the information signal to be reproduced or recorded / reproduced is, for example, a video signal and an audio signal of a received television broadcast program, or a video signal and an audio signal recorded on a recording medium. . The first embodiment of the playback apparatus and playback method is embodied in a playback system and processing during playback in the recording / playback apparatus of the first embodiment.

  In the first embodiment, a video signal and an audio signal as an information signal including the main information of the received TV broadcast program and specific information including CM and program advertisement are provided. The present invention is applied to a recording / reproducing apparatus having a function of recording on a recording medium or a removable external recording medium such as a DVD, and reading and reproducing information signals recorded on the internal recording medium or the external recording medium. This is an example.

  The recording / reproducing apparatus of this example has a function of recording a video signal and an audio signal of a television broadcast program on an internal recording medium or an external recording medium, and reproducing a video signal and an audio signal recorded on these recording media. In addition to providing, the video signal and audio signal of the TV broadcast program to be recorded or the feature quantity of the reproduced video signal and audio signal is detected, and the section of specific information such as CM and program advertisement (hereinafter referred to as specific information) is detected from the detected output. A function of detecting a section of information (referred to as a specific scene section).

  In this case, in this embodiment, the detection of the specific scene section is detection of position information of the start point and end point of the specific scene section or the start point and end point of the broadcast program. In this embodiment, when a specific scene section such as a plurality of CM sections continues, the start point and end point of each specific scene section are also detected.

  In this embodiment, as the position information, for example, a frame (or field) number from the head of the video signal of the information signal of the broadcast program to be recorded is used.

  In the first embodiment, an identifier corresponding to the content of the specific information included in each detected specific scene section (hereinafter referred to as a specific specific scene section identifier) is generated and assigned, and the detected specific scene section And a function of recording the position information in the information signal to be recorded and the information of the corresponding specific scene segment identifier as an additional information file for the information signal of the television broadcast program in a predetermined recording area of the recording medium.

[Hardware Configuration Example of Recording / Reproducing Apparatus of First Embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of the recording / reproducing apparatus according to the first embodiment. In FIG. 1, a system controller unit 20 includes a microcomputer, and controls various modes and other operations in the recording / reproducing apparatus of this example.

  The system controller unit 20 is supplied with operation input information through a user input interface unit 21 in accordance with a user operation input using, for example, a remote commander 22 or through an operation button of a recording / reproducing apparatus. The system controller unit 20 determines the input operation input information, and executes processing according to the operation input information.

  A display unit 24 such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) is connected to the system controller unit 20 through a display processing unit 23. The display unit 24 displays display information that serves as a reference when a user inputs an operation. Is done. The user inputs various operations while viewing the display on the display unit 24.

<Recording system processing>
First, the recording system of the recording / reproducing apparatus of the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
For example, when a user inputs a recording instruction command using the remote commander 22 or through an operation button of the recording / reproducing apparatus, the operation information is supplied to the system controller unit 20 through the user interface unit 21. Under the control of the unit 20, the recording / reproducing apparatus performs the following recording process.

  In this example, the receiving unit 2 includes a television tuner, a video and audio intermediate frequency circuit, and a video and audio detection circuit for receiving terrestrial analog television broadcasts.

  Prior to the above-described command input of the recording instruction, the user performs a channel selection input operation using the remote commander 22 or through the operation button of the recording / reproducing apparatus. Then, the operation information is supplied to the system controller unit 20 through the user interface unit 21, and the system controller unit 20 receives the channel selection control information for selecting a broadcast channel corresponding to the user's channel selection operation. Supply to part 2. At the time of this channel selection, the system controller unit 20 displays the broadcast channel being selected on the display unit 24 through the display processing unit 23, so that the user can perform the channel selection operation while watching the display on the display unit 24. To do.

  The receiving unit 2 receives the channel selection control information, selects and extracts a broadcast program of the broadcast channel selected by the user from the TV broadcast radio wave received by the receiving antenna 1, and receives the audio signal of the selected and extracted broadcast program and Output video signal.

  The audio signal and the video signal of the television broadcast program selected and extracted by the receiving unit 2 are supplied to the recording signal encoding processing unit 3 and are A / D (Analog to Digital) at a predetermined sampling frequency and a predetermined number of quantization bits. ) Conversion signal processing is performed, and the converted digital audio signal and digital video signal are subjected to recording encoding processing.

  Here, as the recording encoding process, the digital audio signal is subjected to a data compression process using a predetermined band compression method such as MPEG audio or AC-3 audio (Dolby AC-3 or Audio Code Number 3). .

  For digital video signals, data compression processing is performed as a recording encoding process by a predetermined band compression method such as MPEG video or wavelet conversion. Then, the video data subjected to the data compression process is multiplexed with the compressed audio data and recorded on the built-in recording medium 5 through the recording processing unit 4.

  In addition, when the user instructs recording to the removable external recording medium 7 instead of the built-in recording medium 5, the recording processing unit 4 performs recording according to a control signal from the system controller unit 20. The multiplexed data from the signal encoding processing unit 3 is recorded on the external recording medium 7 through the external recording medium processing unit 6.

  In this embodiment, identification information (recorded program identification information) is given to the broadcast program to be recorded, and the compressed video data and compressed audio data are added with the recorded program identification information, and the recording medium 5 and the external It is recorded on the recording medium 7. This recorded program identification information is used for retrieval during reproduction.

  Here, the built-in recording medium 5 is configured by a hard disk device in this example, and the external recording medium 7 is a DVD.

  The digital audio signal and the digital video signal from the recording encoding processing unit 3 are supplied to the feature amount detection unit 12 to detect various predetermined feature amounts, and the detected feature amount is used as the specific scene section detection unit. 13 is supplied.

  The feature amount detection performed by the feature amount detection unit 12 is to detect the start point and end point of each CM when a program main part is separated from a CM or program advertisement, and when a plurality of CMs are continuous. For example, detection of a silent interval for an audio signal, detection of a black level interval for a video signal, and the like are used. Also, since the time length of the CM section is a multiple of 15 seconds, such as 15 seconds, 30 seconds, 45 seconds, 60 seconds, etc., the time length of the detected silent section or black level section is 15 seconds. Is also used to detect the CM section.

  In addition, the feature amount detection unit 12 detects not only the feature amount for detecting the break of the specific information section but also the feature amount of the specific information in the specific information section. The resulting feature amount is supplied to the specific specific scene section identifier generation unit 14. As detection items for the feature amount of the specific information within the specific information section, for example, telop detection, person detection, skin color detection, talk detection, music detection, climax detection, and the like are used. Here, for example, swell detection is performed by detecting a sudden change in volume from a quiet state or a large applause.

  That is, in this example, the feature amount detection unit 12 uses predetermined video data, audio data, and predetermined parameter data to determine predetermined telop feature data (telop section determination data), person feature data, and other image feature data. Various feature amount extraction processes of (image feature section determination data), speaker voice feature data (speaker voice determination data), applause cheer feature data (applause cheer determination data), and other voice feature data are performed.

  In this example, data obtained in the course of the data compression process from the recording encoding processing unit 3 is input to the feature amount detection unit 12. In this example, as will be described later, feature amount detection is also performed on a reproduction signal, and detection of a feature amount is detected using data obtained during the data compression process in consideration of scene change point detection. The specific scene section detection unit 13 detects a scene change point.

  In this way, when performing feature detection and scene change point detection on the playback signal, it is not necessary to completely compress and decode the playback signal to restore the original digital audio data and digital video data. There is a merit that feature amount detection and scene change point detection can be performed using data in the middle of decoding processing, and detection processing is accelerated.

  The specific scene section detection unit 13 detects a specific scene section from the feature amount detected by the feature amount detection unit 12. In this case, as described above, the specific scene section detection unit 13 is not limited to, for example, a section between the program main part and the CM, but a start point and an end point of a program advertisement section in the main part of the program, and a plurality of CMs are consecutive. When this is done, the start point and end point of each CM are detected as specific scene sections. As described above, in the case of this example, the detection information of the specific scene section includes the position information of the start point and end point of the CM, program advertisement, and the main part of the program (for example, the start position of the broadcast program including the CM and the program advertisement). Reference frame number (or field number).

  When the received broadcast program information includes information such as the program title and the program genre, the feature amount detection unit 12 also includes the program title and genre information in the specific information section. It is detected as a feature amount for detection and sent to the specific scene section detection unit 13. Therefore, the specific scene section detection unit 13 detects the section of the specific information using the program title and genre information.

  Detection position information of the specific scene section detected by the specific scene section detection unit 13 is supplied to the specific scene section identifier generation unit 14. Information on the feature amount regarding the specific information of the specific scene section detected by the feature amount detection unit 12 is also supplied to the specific scene section identifier generation unit 14.

  Further, the feature quantity storage unit 15 stores the feature quantity of the specific scene section detected by the specific scene section detection unit 13 based on the feature quantity detected by the feature quantity detection unit 12 in the past, as a specific scene section identifier. Are stored in association with each other. However, the feature quantity storage unit 15 stores only one feature quantity of a scene to which the same specific scene section identifier is assigned. The feature amount data is stored after being compressed.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the specific scene section identifier generator 14 detects the position information of the specific scene section from the specific scene section detector 13 under the control of the system controller 20 at the time of recording or prior to playback. Each time a specific scene section identifier is assigned. In this case, the specific scene section identifier generation unit 14 obtains the feature amount of the specific scene section to which the specific scene section identifier is to be assigned from the feature amount detection unit 12.

  Then, the specific scene section identifier generation unit 14 sequentially compares the acquired feature amount of the specific scene section with the data obtained by decompressing the feature amount stored in the feature amount storage unit 15. 15, when it is determined that there is the same feature amount among the feature amounts stored in 15, the specific scene section corresponds to the feature amount determined as the same feature amount in the feature amount storage unit 15. The specific scene section identifier stored in this way is assigned.

  Further, the specific scene section identifier generation unit 14 is the same as the feature amount of the specific scene section acquired from the feature amount detection unit 12 in the data expanded from the feature amount stored in the feature amount storage unit 15. When it is determined that there is nothing to be determined, a new specific scene section identifier is given to the specific scene section. Then, the new specific scene section identifier and the feature amount data obtained by compressing the feature amount of the specific scene section are additionally stored in the feature amount storage unit 15.

  Here, the feature quantity used to generate the specific scene section identifier is partially different from the feature quantity used to detect the specific scene section. For example, feature quantities such as scene changes, information such as program titles and program genres are used as information for generating a specific scene section identifier even if they are used to detect a specific scene section. The feature amount information used to generate the specific scene section identifier is for expressing the characteristics of the specific scene section to which the specific scene section identifier is to be assigned, and includes a person or a telop. Or whether music is playing.

  The specific scene section identifier generation unit 14 detects the specific scene section detection position information (specific information) detected by the specific scene section detection unit 13 as described above when recording or when generating a specific scene section identifier prior to playback. The position information of the scene section) and the specific scene section identifier generated for the specific scene section are associated with each other as shown in FIG.

  Under the control of the system controller unit 20, the recording processing unit 4 records an additional information file including information that associates the position data of the specific scene section with the specific scene section identifier in association with the recording data of the broadcast program. Recording is performed in a predetermined recording area of the medium 5, in this example, an additional information file area.

  Alternatively, the position data of the specific scene section and the specific scene section identifier from the specific scene section identifier generation unit 14 are supplied from the recording processing unit 4 to the external recording medium processing unit 6, and recording processing is performed by the external recording medium processing unit 6. Then, the data is recorded in a predetermined recording area of the external recording medium 7, in this example, the additional information file area.

  In this case, the additional information file composed of the position data of the specific scene section and the specific scene section identifier is associated with the video data and audio data of the corresponding broadcast program by the recording program identification information described above, and built-in recording The information is recorded in the additional information file area of the medium 5 or the external recording medium 7.

  In this embodiment, as described above, the position data of the specific scene section is obtained by using the frame number (or field number) of the broadcast program to be recorded. And the frame position (or field position) of the audio data.

  Note that the position data of the specific scene section and the information of the specific scene section identifier from the specific scene section identifier generating unit 14 are not recorded as an additional information file but supplied to the multiplexing processing unit in the recording signal encoding processing unit 3. Then, it may be multiplexed with video data and audio data subjected to compression encoding processing and recorded in a predetermined recording area of the recording medium 5 or the external recording medium 7.

  Note that the processing of the feature amount detection unit 12, the specific scene section detection unit 13, and the specific scene section identifier generation unit 14 may be software processing by a microcomputer of the system controller unit 20.

<Reproduction system processing>
Next, the reproduction system of the recording / reproducing apparatus of this example will be described with reference to FIG.
The user interface 21 and the remote commander 22 of the recording / playback apparatus of this embodiment have a playback mode switching button for switching between a normal playback mode and a short playback mode in which a section of specific information such as CM is skipped to shorten the playback time. Prepare. Alternatively, the recording / reproducing apparatus may be provided with a normal reproduction button for designating the normal reproduction mode and a short-time reproduction button for designating the short-time reproduction mode. Alternatively, when the short-time playback mode is designated, a button for designating short-time playback may be operated in addition to the normal playback button.

  Next, the processing operation in the playback mode will be described. The user inputs a command for instructing to start any of the playback modes using the remote commander 22 or through the operation button of the recording / playback apparatus. Then, the operation information is supplied to the system controller unit 20 through the user interface unit 21. Under the control of the system controller unit 20, the recording / reproducing apparatus performs the following reproduction process.

[Normal playback mode operation]
First, the operation in the normal playback mode will be described.
When the user inputs a playback instruction in the normal playback mode from the recording medium 5 or the external recording medium 7 through the remote commander 22, for example, it is input into the system controller unit 20 through the user input interface unit 21. Upon receiving this user input, the system controller unit 20 controls the read control unit 8 to perform the normal reproduction mode. In the following description, for example, a case where the recording medium 5 is selected by the user as the recording medium will be described.

  In the normal reproduction mode, the reproduction processing unit 9 reads out the compressed video data and the compressed audio data of the broadcast program designated for reproduction by the user from the recording medium 5 and supplies the reproduction decoding output unit 10.

  In the reproduction decoding output unit 10, the video data and audio data of the reproduced broadcast program are separated into video data and audio data. The separated compressed audio data is subjected to a predetermined decoding process corresponding to a signal processing method in which band compression processing is performed at the time of recording, and a digital audio signal obtained by the decoding process is subjected to D / A (Digital to Analog) conversion. Then, the signal is output as an analog audio signal through the output terminal 11a.

  Also, in the reproduction decoding output unit 10, the separated compressed video data is subjected to a predetermined decoding process corresponding to a signal processing system subjected to a band compression process at the time of recording and converted into a digital video signal, and then D / A conversion Processing is performed and an analog video signal is output through the output terminal 11v.

  Further, the additional information file recorded on the recording medium 5 is read from the recording medium 5 by the reproduction processing unit 9 and supplied to the additional information file processing unit 16. Then, in this additional information file processing unit 16, the position data of the specific scene section and the information of the specific scene section identifier are extracted and supplied to the system controller unit 20. Normally, however, such information is not used in the playback mode. .

<Short playback mode>
In the short-time playback mode in the first embodiment, additional information files recorded corresponding to content data (video data and audio data) such as broadcast programs recorded on the recording medium 5 or the recording medium 7 are recorded. The presence of a specific scene section to be reproduced is determined by referring to prefetching. When only one specific scene section exists between the main program information and the main program information or before or after the main program information, the specific scene section is always reproduced normally.

  In addition, when a plurality of specific scene sections exist continuously between main program information and main program information or before or after the main program information, normal playback is performed with at least one specific scene section remaining. The other specific scene section is skipped. Here, the normal reproduction while leaving at least one specific scene section means that a plurality of specific scene sections may be normally reproduced.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, the system controller unit 20 acquires the additional information file read from the recording medium 5 or the recording medium 7 through the reproduction processing unit 9 and the additional information file processing unit 16, and determines a specific scene section reproduction mode. Transfer to unit 17. The specific scene section playback mode determination unit 17 can also be configured by software of a microcomputer configuring the system controller unit 20.

  The specific scene section playback mode determination unit 17 determines whether normal playback or skip is performed as each playback mode of the specific scene section, and supplies the determination result to the system controller unit 20. The system controller unit 20 controls the read control unit 8, the reproduction processing unit 9, and the reproduction decode output unit 10 according to the determination result to perform normal reproduction or skip reproduction of each specific scene section.

  Here, there are several examples of how the specific scene section playback mode determination unit 17 performs the determination.

  The first example is a method in which the specific scene section playback mode determination unit 17 performs the determination while sequentially reproducing recorded data from the recording medium, and uses the determination result each time to execute the reproduction in the short-time playback mode. . In the case of the first example, the system controller unit 20 always pre-reads the additional information file while reproducing the information signal to be reproduced from the recording medium, and between the main information and the main information or between the main information and the main information. The specific scene section reproduction mode determination unit 17 is controlled so that the specific scene section before or after the information is detected in advance.

  Then, as described above, the specific scene section playback mode determination unit 17 determines that only one specific scene section exists between the main program information and the main program information or before or after the main program information. This specific scene section is always determined to be normally played, and a plurality of specific scene sections exist continuously between the main program information and main program information or before or after the main program information. In this example, at least one specific scene section selected at random is determined to be normally reproduced, and the other specific scene sections are determined to be skip-reproduced. Then, the system controller unit 20 performs playback of each specific scene section in the determined playback mode.

  In the case of the first example, it is not necessary to use the specific scene section identifier, and only the position information of the specific scene section is required. Therefore, if this first example is adopted, basically, it is not necessary to provide the specific scene section identifier generating unit 14 in the recording / reproducing apparatus, and the position information of the specific scene section is recorded in the additional information file. It only has to be done.

  In the second example of the determination method in the specific scene section playback mode determination unit 17, the determination in the specific scene section playback mode determination unit 17 is performed by sequentially reproducing recorded data from the recording medium, as in the first example described above. However, the determination result is used each time to execute playback in the short-time playback mode, but the method of determining the playback mode of each specific scene section is different from the first example.

  This second example is an example in which a specific scene section identifier is used. That is, in this second example, the specific scene section playback mode determination unit 17 stores the identifier of the specific scene section determined to be normally played back, and later there was a specific scene section with the same specific scene section identifier. Sometimes it is given priority as a skip candidate.

  That is, in the second example, when a plurality of specific scene sections exist continuously between the main program information and the main program information or before or after the main program information, Instead of normal playback of a specific scene section selected at random, the specific scene section previously selected for normal playback is selected as a skip candidate, and normal scenes that have not yet been selected for normal playback are given priority. Make a decision to play.

  Further, in this second example, when a plurality of specific scene sections exist continuously between main program information and main program information or before or after the main program information, the same specific scene section identifier is used. When the specific scene section is repeatedly inserted continuously, it is determined to skip one of the repeated specific scene sections.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the short-time reproduction of the first example and the second example described above. As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the information signal to be reproduced in this example has three specific scene sections SC1 to SC3 inserted before the main program information 1, and the main program information 1 and the program Three specific scene sections SC4 to SC6 are inserted between the main program information 2 and three specific scene sections SC7 to SC9 are inserted after the program main program information 2.

  The specific scene sections SC1 and SC9 are program advertisements to which the same specific scene section identifier IDa is assigned. The specific scene sections SC2, SC6, and SC8 are CM1 to which the same specific scene section identifier IDb is assigned, and the specific scene sections SC3 and SC5 are CM2 to which the same specific scene section identifier IDc is assigned. Sections SC4 and SC7 are CM3 to which the same specific scene section identifier IDd is assigned.

  In the first example described above, as shown in FIG. 3C, two randomly selected specific scene sections SC1 to SC3 inserted before the program main program information 1 are specified. The scene section SC1 (program advertisement (IDa)) and the specific scene section SC2 (CM1 (IDb)) are determined to be normally reproduced, and 3 inserted between the program main information 1 and the main program information 2 Among the specific scene sections SC4 to SC6, one randomly selected specific scene section SC5 (program advertisement (IDc)) is determined to be normally played back, and is inserted after the main program information 2. Among the three specific scene sections SC7 to SC9, one specific scene section SC7 (program advertisement (IDd)) selected at random is determined to be normally reproduced.

  In the case of this example, even when the above-described second example is applied, here, it happens to be the same as FIG. 3C.

  That is, in the second example, of the three specific scene sections SC1 to SC3 inserted before the program main part information 1, in this example, two specific scene sections SC1 (program advertisement (IDa)) and It is determined that the specific scene section SC2 (CM1 (IDb)) is normally reproduced and the specific scene section SC3 (CM2 (IDc)) is skipped. Next, for the three specific scene sections SC4 to SC6 inserted between the program main section information 1 and the program main section information 2, CM1 (IDd) of the specific scene section SC6 is normal in the previous specific scene section SC2. Since it has been reproduced, it is decided to skip, and in this example, the specific scene section SC4 is also skipped, and the specific scene section SC5 is determined to be normally reproduced.

  Next, for the three specific scene sections SC7 to SC9 inserted after the main program information 2, CM1 (IDb) of the specific scene section SC8 is normally reproduced in the previous specific scene section SC2 and thus determined to be skipped. Further, the program advertisement (IDa) in the specific scene section SC9 is determined to be skipped because it has been normally reproduced in the previous specific scene section SC1, and the specific scene section SC7 (CM3) is determined to be normally reproduced.

  In the third example of the determination method in the specific scene section playback mode determination unit 17, the system controller unit 20 sets all the additional information files of the information signal of the broadcast program title to be played before starting the playback in the short-time playback mode. Is detected, and all insertion positions of the specific scene section existing in the information signal of the broadcast program title to be reproduced are detected, and from the information of the specific scene section identifier, how many types of specific scene sections are to be reproduced. Is detected in the information signal, and the detection result is transferred to the specific scene section reproduction mode determination unit 17.

  Therefore, the specific scene section playback mode determination unit 17 determines that the specific scene section such as all types of CMs and program advertisements is normally played once under the control of the system controller unit 20. Make a regeneration plan. For example, a list of sections to be normally reproduced is created, and the system controller unit 20 executes short-time reproduction according to the list.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a third example of the determination method in the specific scene section reproduction mode determination unit 17. That is, in the information signal to be reproduced in this example, as shown in FIG. 4A, two specific scene sections SC11 and SC12 are inserted before the program main information 1, and the program main information 1 and the program main information are displayed. 2, two specific scene sections SC 13 and SC 14 are inserted, and two specific scene sections SC 15 and SC 16 are inserted after the program main part information 2.

  The specific scene sections SC11 and SC16 are CM1s to which the same specific scene section identifier IDb is assigned. The specific scene sections SC12 and SC13 are CM2 to which the same specific scene section identifier IDc is assigned, and the specific scene sections SC14 and SC15 are CM3 to which the same specific scene section identifier IDd is assigned.

  That is, the specific scene section is composed of three types of CM1, CM2, and CM3. Therefore, the specific scene section playback mode determination unit 17 creates a playback plan by scheduling each of the three types of CMs so as to perform normal playback at least once.

  In the example of FIG. 4B, the specific scene section reproduction determination unit 17 performs normal reproduction of the specific scene section SC11 out of the two specific scene sections SC11 and SC12 before the main program information 1, and the specific scene section SC12. Of the two specific scene sections SC13 and SC14 between the main program information 1 and the main program information 2, the specific scene section SC13 is normally reproduced and the specific scene section SC14 is skipped. Further, among the two specific scene sections SC15 and SC16 after the main program information 2, it is determined that the specific scene section SC15 is normally reproduced and the specific scene section SC16 is skipped and reproduced. Create a list of intervals.

  When the short playback mode is instructed by the user, when the additional information file is not recorded corresponding to the broadcast program data recorded on the recording medium 5 or the recording medium 7, the recording / playback apparatus The user is inquired "Do you want to generate it because there is no necessary additional information file?"

  In response to this inquiry, when the user performs a reply operation of “YES (generates additional information file)”, the system controller unit 20 of the recording / reproducing apparatus reads the recorded broadcast program before executing the reproduction mode. The recorded data is read out and supplied to the feature amount detection unit 12 through the reproduction processing unit 9 and the reproduction decoding unit 10, and the feature amount detection by the feature amount detection unit 12, the specific scene section detection and identification by the specific scene section detection unit 13 is performed. The scene section identifier generation unit 14 performs control so as to execute generation and provision of a specific scene section identifier.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 2, the additional information file including the position information of the detected specific scene section and the specific scene section identifier of each specific scene section is associated with the recording data of the broadcast program to be reproduced. Thus, recording is performed on the recording medium 5 or the external recording medium 7.

  Thus, for example, even if the external recording medium 7 is not recorded by the recording / reproducing apparatus of this embodiment and the additional information file is not recorded, the time-reproduction mode in the recording / reproducing apparatus of this embodiment can be performed. Become so. The same applies to the recording data of the broadcast program copied and recorded on the recording medium 5 from the external recording medium 7 in which no additional information file is recorded.

[Replication recording between recording medium 5 and external recording medium 7]
The recording / reproducing apparatus of this example has the function of copying and recording the additional information file to the external recording medium 7 in contrast to the video and audio data recorded on the recording medium 5 and, if recorded, the external recording medium. 7 is provided with the function of copying and recording the additional information file on the recording medium 5 when the video and audio data recorded on the recording medium 7 are further recorded.

  That is, when the user inputs an instruction to copy from the recording medium 5 to the external recording medium 7 through the user input interface unit 21, the read control unit 8 reads video and audio from the recording medium 5 according to the control of the system controller unit 20. Data is read and supplied to the reproduction processing unit 9. When the additional information file related to the information signal to be copied and recorded is also recorded on the recording medium 5, the read control unit 8 also reads out the additional information file and sends it to the reproduction processing unit 9. The reproduction processing unit 9 sends video and audio data and additional information file data to the recording processing unit 4 under the control of the system controller unit 20.

  The recording processing unit 4 sends data from the reproduction processing unit 9 to the external recording medium 7 through the recording medium processing unit 6 under the control of the system controller unit 20 so as to perform duplication recording.

  Even when an instruction input for copying and recording video and audio data recorded on the external recording medium 7 and data of the additional information file to the recording medium 5 is input to the system controller unit 20 through the user input interface unit 21. In the same manner as described above, duplicate recording is performed.

[Description of Main Operation Processing in Recording / Reproducing Apparatus of First Embodiment]
Next, main operation processing in the recording / reproducing apparatus according to the first embodiment configured as described above will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. The processing of each step of the flowchart described below is mainly executed under the control of the microcomputer that constitutes the system controller unit 20.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 5, the system controller unit 20 monitors whether there is a user operation input by monitoring the output of the user input interface unit 21 (step S1). When it is determined that there is a user operation input, the system controller unit 20 determines whether or not the user operation input is a recording start operation (step S2). The processing routine, the feature amount detection, the specific scene section detection, and the specific scene section identifier generation routine are executed in parallel (step S3).

  Then, the system controller unit 20 monitors whether or not a user operation for stopping recording has been performed (step S4). When no user operation for stopping recording is detected, the system controller unit 20 returns to step S3 to perform a recording process routine, feature amount detection, and identification. When it is determined that a user operation for stopping recording is performed in parallel with the scene section detection and the specific scene section identifier generation routine, the post-recording process is executed (step S5), and the process returns to step S1.

  In the post-recording process in step S5, the system controller unit 20 records the position data of the specific scene section detected by the specific scene section detection unit 13 and the information of the specific scene section identifier as an additional information file. It is recorded on a recording medium in association with the recording data of the program. In this case, the additional information file is associated with the recorded data of the recorded broadcast program based on the recorded broadcast program identification information.

  In addition, the additional information file is not recorded as post-recording processing, but the detection result of the specific scene section detection and the information of the specific scene section identifier performed in real time in parallel with the recording processing are stored in the recording area of the additional information file. In the post-recording process, the detection result of the specific scene section detection performed in real time in parallel with the recording process and the information of the specific scene section identifier itself are included in the additional information file. Instead of recording, the specific scene section detection unit 13 further examines the detection result of the specific scene section detection performed in parallel with the recording process, detects a more specific scene section, and more likely The position information of the specific scene section and the specific scene section identifier are included in the additional information file and recorded.

  The parallel processing routine of the recording process, the feature amount detection, the specific scene section detection, and the specific scene section identifier generation process executed in step S3 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, the system controller unit 20 takes in data to be recorded (step S11). That is, when the data to be recorded is broadcast program information (video information and audio information) from the reception unit 2, the system controller unit 20 performs recording signal encoding processing on the broadcast program information selectively received by the reception unit 2. Instruct the unit 3 to supply.

  Next, the system controller unit 20 instructs the recording signal encoding processing unit 3 to perform recording encoding processing of broadcast program information (step S12), and controls the recording processing unit 4 to be selected and designated by the user. Video information and audio information of the broadcast program subjected to the recording and encoding process are recorded on one of the recording medium 5 and the external recording medium 7 (step S13).

  Then, the system controller unit 20 determines whether or not a recording end instruction has been given by the user (step S14), and when determining that the recording end instruction has not been made, the system controller unit 20 returns to step S11 and continues the recording process.

  Steps S11 to S14 constitute a recording processing routine. In parallel with this recording processing routine, a feature amount detection, a specific scene section detection, and a specific scene section identifier generation processing routine are performed. That is, the system controller unit 20 instructs the feature amount detection unit 12 to supply the data to be recorded captured in step S11 and also instructs the feature amount detection unit 12 to execute the feature amount detection process. (Step S15). As described above, in this example, the data being compressed from the recording signal encoding processing unit 3 is supplied to the feature amount detection unit 12.

  In response to this execution instruction, the feature amount detection unit 12 executes the detection of the various feature amounts described above and supplies the processing results to the specific scene section detection unit 13. The specific scene section detection unit 13 receives the execution instruction from the system controller unit 20 and executes the above-described specific scene section detection processing (step S16). Then, the system controller unit 20 stores and holds the feature amount data detected by the feature amount detection unit 12 and the position data of the specific scene section detected by the specific scene section detection unit 13 in a built-in buffer memory or the like. (Step S17). Here, the feature quantity data detected by the feature quantity detection unit 12 is also stored and retained in order to regenerate a more probable specific scene section.

  Then, the system controller unit 20 determines whether or not a recording end instruction has been given by the user (step S18). When it is determined that no recording end instruction has been made, the system controller unit 20 returns to step S15 to detect the feature amount and to detect the specific scene The section detection and specific scene section identifier generation processing is continued.

  Note that the determination process in step S14 and the determination process in step S18 are actually the same determination process, not separate determination processes, but here, since two processing routines are described in parallel, As shown in FIG. 6, it is described separately in two discrimination steps.

  When the system controller unit 20 determines in step S14 or step S18 that the user has instructed recording termination, the system controller unit 20 instructs the specific scene section detection unit 13 to specify the feature amount data held in the buffer memory and the specific amount data. Using the position data of the scene section, the recording medium 5 or the recording medium 7 generates the position information of the more specific scene section to be recorded together with the recording data of the broadcast program, and generates the specific scene section identifier. Is performed (step S19).

  Then, the system controller unit 20 provides the recording processing unit 4 with an additional information file including the position information of the specific scene section generated in step S19 and the information of the specific scene section identifier, as shown in FIG. Is recorded on the recording medium on which the recording data of the broadcast program is recorded in a state associated with the recording data of the broadcast program (step S20).

  Next, the specific scene section identifier generation processing in step S19 in FIG. 6 will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG. In this example, the processing of each step in the flowchart of FIG. 7 is executed by the specific scene section identifier generation unit 14 under the control of the system controller 20. Note that the microcomputer of the system controller 20 may be configured to include the function of the specific scene section identifier generation unit 14 as software.

  First, the system controller unit 20 designates the first specific scene section (step S31), the position information of the specific scene section held in the buffer memory for the specific scene section identifier generation unit 14, The feature amount of the specific scene section specified by the position information of the specific scene section is passed (step S32).

  The specific scene section identifier generation unit 14 compares the acquired feature amount of the specific scene section with the feature amount of the specific scene section identifier assigned in the past stored in the feature amount storage unit 15 (step S33). . At this time, since the feature amount stored in the feature amount storage unit 15 is compressed, the specific scene section identifier generation unit 14 decompresses the compression and compares it with the acquired feature amount of the specific scene section.

  Then, the specific scene section identifier generation unit 14 determines whether or not the feature quantity determined to be the same as the acquired feature quantity of the specific scene section is in the one stored in the feature quantity storage unit 15. (Step S34).

  When it is determined in step S34 that the feature quantity determined to be the same as the acquired feature quantity of the specific scene section is in the one stored in the feature quantity storage unit 15, the feature quantity storage unit 15 stores the feature quantity. The specific scene section identifier assigned to the feature amount determined to be the same is assigned to the acquired specific scene section (step S35).

  If it is determined in step S34 that the feature quantity determined to be the same as the acquired feature quantity in the specific scene section is not present in the stored feature quantity storage unit 15, a new one is created. A specific scene section identifier is generated and assigned to the specific scene section (step S36), and the generated and assigned new specific scene section identifier and the feature amount of the specific scene section are stored in the feature amount storage unit 15. (Step S37).

  Then, after step S35 or step S37, the system controller unit 20 proceeds to step S38, and whether or not the generation process of the specific scene section identifier for the last specific scene section of the recorded broadcast program has ended. If it is determined that the process has not ended, the next specific scene section is designated (step S39), the process returns to step S32, and the processes after step S32 are repeated.

  If it is determined in step S38 that the specific scene section identifier generation processing has been completed for the last specific scene section of the recorded broadcast program, the specific scene section identifier generation and grant processing routine is terminated. Returning to the recording processing routine of No. 6. As described above, the system controller unit 20 ends the specific scene section identifier generation and assignment processing routine, as shown in FIG. 2, and the specific scene section position information and the specific scene section identifier of the specific scene section. Is associated with the recording data of the corresponding broadcast program and recorded as an additional information file.

  Next, when it is determined in step S2 of FIG. 5 that the operation input is not a recording start operation, the system controller unit 20 determines whether or not the operation input is a playback start instruction operation in the short playback mode ( Step S41 in FIG. When it is determined in step S41 that the operation input is not a playback start instruction operation in the short playback mode, the system controller unit 20 determines whether or not the operation input is a playback start instruction operation in the normal playback mode ( Step S42) When it is determined that this is not the case, other processing corresponding to the operation input is executed (step S43). Then, after that process, the process returns to step S1, and the processes after step S1 are repeated.

  When it is determined in step S42 that the operation input is a reproduction start instruction operation in the normal reproduction mode, the system controller unit 20 starts from the recording medium 5 or 7 on which the reproduction target designated by the operation input is recorded. The recording data of the designated broadcast program and its additional information file are read out, and normal speed playback is started (step S44).

  Next, the system controller unit 20 determines whether or not the program to be played has been played to the end (step S45), and when it is determined that the program has been played to the end, executes a playback end process (step S54).

  If it is determined in step S45 that the reproduction has not been completed, the system controller unit 20 determines whether or not the reproduction end instruction operation has been performed by the user (step S46), and the reproduction end instruction operation is performed by the user. If it is determined that it is not, the process returns to step S44 and the normal reproduction process is continued. If it is determined in step S46 that the user has performed a reproduction end instruction operation, a reproduction end process is executed (step S54).

  On the other hand, when it is determined in step S41 in FIG. 8 that a playback start instruction for the short-time playback mode has been issued, the following playback processing for the short-time playback mode is executed. FIG. 8 shows processing in the short-time playback mode when the specific scene section playback mode determination unit 17 determines the first example.

  The system controller 20 starts reading the recorded data of the broadcast program while pre-reading the position information and the specific scene section identifier of the specific scene section of the additional information file of the broadcast program to be reproduced from the recording medium 5 or 7. (Step S47).

  Then, the system controller unit 20 pre-reads the position information of the specific scene section of the additional information file from the recording medium, and the specific scene section playback mode determination unit 17 performs the playback mode of each specific scene section for the pre-read specific scene section. And the read control unit 8, the reproduction processing unit 9, and the reproduction decode output unit 10 are controlled to reproduce each specific scene section in the decided reproduction mode.

  That is, the system controller unit 20 first determines from the position information of the specific scene section read from the additional information file whether a specific scene section between the main information and the main information or before or after the main information is detected. When it is determined (step S48) and a specific scene section is detected, it is determined whether or not a plurality of detected specific scene sections exist continuously (step S49).

  If it is determined in step S49 that a plurality of detected specific scene sections exist continuously, the system controller unit 20 leaves at least one specific scene section to play back at normal speed, The specific scene section is determined to be skipped (step S50). Then, along with the main information, playback of the specific scene section determined to be played back at normal speed is executed (step S51).

  When the specific scene section is not detected in step S48, the system controller unit 20 proceeds to step S51 and executes normal speed reproduction of the recorded data of the broadcast program. If it is determined in step S49 that there is only one detected specific scene section instead of a plurality of consecutive specific scene sections, the process proceeds to step S51 as it is, and the broadcast program is skipped. Normal speed playback is performed together with the main data.

  After step S51, the system controller unit 20 determines whether or not the program to be played has been played back to the end (step S52). When it is determined that the program has been played back to the end, a playback end process is executed (step S52). Step S54).

  If it is determined in step S52 that the reproduction has not been completed, the system controller unit 20 determines whether or not a reproduction end instruction operation has been performed by the user (step S53), and the reproduction end instruction operation is performed by the user. If it is determined that it is not, the process returns to step S47, and the processes after step S47 are repeated. If it is determined in step S53 that the user has performed a playback end instruction operation, a playback end process is executed (step S54). And it returns to step S1 of FIG.

  As described above, according to the first example of FIG. 8, the specific scene section such as the CM section and the program advertisement section is 1 between the main program information and the main program information or before or after the main program information. When only one piece is inserted, normal speed reproduction is performed as it is, and when there are a plurality of pieces between the program main part information and the program main part information or before or after the program main part information, at least any randomly selected Since one specific scene segment is played at normal speed and the others are skip-played, broadcast program content that reduces the disadvantage for the CM provider and uses the insertion of the CM segment as an effect The charm of will not be impaired.

  Next, FIG. 9 shows a flowchart of processing in the short-time playback mode when the specific scene section playback mode determination unit 17 determines the second example. In FIG. 9, the same step numbers as those in FIG. 8 are given the same step numbers, and the flowchart portion of the normal playback mode process is also shown corresponding to FIG.

  That is, the second example shown in FIG. 9 differs from FIG. 8 only in that step S55 is provided instead of step S50 in FIG.

  In other words, in the second example, as shown in FIG. 9, it is determined in step S49 that there are a plurality of specific scene sections between the main program information and the main program information or before or after the main program information. In this case, the system controller unit 20 refers to the specific scene section identifier and sets the same specific scene section as the normal scene previously reproduced normally as a candidate for skip reproduction, while at least one specific scene section is normally reproduced. However, other skip candidates are skipped.

  In other words, if there is a plurality of specific scene sections that existed before or after the main program information and before or after the main program information, they are determined to be normally reproduced. In addition, a specific scene section that is the same as the specific scene section that has been normally reproduced first is determined to be skipped.

  Here, when there are a plurality of specific scene sections that have not been normally reproduced before, in the plurality of specific scene sections existing between the program main section information and the program main section information or before or after the program main section information, It may be determined to perform normal reproduction, or it may be determined to perform normal reproduction of only one randomly selected one of them.

  In addition, when a plurality of specific scene sections existing between the program main section information and the program main section information or before or after the program main section information are all the specific scene sections that have been normally reproduced first, any randomly selected one of them Alternatively, it may be determined to perform normal reproduction of one specific scene section.

  According to the second example, since a plurality of types of specific scene sections inserted in the information signal of the broadcast program are reproduced as much as possible, the intention of the information signal providing side is more respected. become.

  Next, FIG. 10 shows a flowchart of processing in the short-time playback mode when the specific scene section playback mode determination unit 17 determines the third example. In FIG. 10, the same step numbers as those in FIG. 8 are given the same step numbers, and the flowchart portion of the normal playback mode process is also shown corresponding to FIG.

  That is, in this third example, when it is determined in step S41 that there has been an instruction to start playback in the short-time playback mode, the system controller unit 20 broadcasts the playback target broadcast from the recording medium 5 or 7 prior to actual playback. All the additional information files of the program are read, and the position information and specific scene section identifier of the specific scene section are prefetched (step S61).

  Next, the system controller unit 20 discriminates all types of the specific scene section inserted in the information signal to be reproduced from the types of the specific scene section identifier so as to satisfy the following two conditions. Then, for all the specific scene sections, a playback mode for skipping or normal speed playback is determined, and a playback plan is generated (step S62).

  The first condition is that at least one specific scene section is normally reproduced between the main program information and the main program information or before or after the main program information. The second condition is that all kinds of specific scene sections are reproduced at normal speed at least once.

  The reproduction plan in step S62 is generated, for example, as a list in which sections for normal speed reproduction are represented by frame numbers (field numbers), for example. When the creation of the reproduction plan is completed, the system controller unit 20 performs control so that only the section of the information signal indicated by the list is reproduced at normal speed based on the generated list of reproduction plans (step S63).

  After step S63, the system controller unit 20 determines whether or not the program to be played has been played to the end (step S52). When it is determined that the program has been played to the end, a playback end process is executed (step S52). Step S54).

  If it is determined in step S52 that the reproduction has not been completed, the system controller unit 20 determines whether or not a reproduction end instruction operation has been performed by the user (step S53), and the reproduction end instruction operation is performed by the user. If it is determined that it is not, the process returns to step S63, and the processes after step S63 are repeated. If it is determined in step S53 that the user has performed a playback end instruction operation, a playback end process is executed (step S54). And it returns to step S1 of FIG.

  According to the third example, all CMs and program advertisements scheduled to be broadcast in the broadcast program to be played are reproduced at normal speed at least once, so that the intention on the broadcast side is reflected to the minimum. Also, since at least one specific scene section is played back at normal speed between the main program information and the main program information or before or after the main program information, insertion of the specific scene section is used as an effect. The attractiveness of the broadcast program content is not impaired.

[Second Embodiment]
In the first embodiment, only the recorded broadcast program information is used to determine the playback mode of each specific scene section inserted between the main information and the main information or before or after the main information. I made it. On the other hand, in the second embodiment, the playback mode of each specific scene section is determined with reference to the user's viewing history of the broadcast program played back from the recording medium 5 or 7. To do.

  That is, in the second embodiment, when the recorded data of a plurality of broadcast programs is reproduced instead of the recorded broadcast program unit, the specific scene section normally reproduced at the time of reproducing the recorded data of the plurality of broadcast programs Is stored, and the stored viewing history of the specific scene section is referred to, and a specific scene section that has been viewed in the past and has a high degree of recognition is set as a skip target.

  In the second embodiment, the viewing history of the specific scene section that has been normally reproduced is stored even during reproduction in the short-time reproduction mode.

[Hardware Configuration Example of Recording / Reproducing of Second Embodiment]
FIG. 11 shows an example of the hardware configuration of a recording / reproducing apparatus when the second embodiment is applied. The hardware configuration of FIG. 11 is equivalent to the hardware configuration of the recording / reproducing apparatus of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 with a specific scene section viewing history holding unit 18 added. Others are the same as those of the recording / reproducing apparatus of the first embodiment.

  The specific scene section viewing history holding unit 18 stores and holds the number of times of viewing (normal speed reproduction number) corresponding to the specific scene section identifier.

  In the second embodiment, the system controller unit 20 uses the specific scene section playback mode determination unit 17 to obtain the position information and the specific scene section of the specific scene section acquired through the additional information file processing unit 16 in the short-time playback mode. In addition to passing information on the identifier, information on the number of times of viewing of the specific scene section represented by each specific scene section identifier held in the specific scene section viewing history holding unit 18 is read and passed.

  The specific scene section playback mode determination unit 17 specifies a playback mode for normal speed playback or skipping for each of the specific scene sections inserted between the main program information and the main program information or before or after the main program information. Based on the viewing history information of the scene section, a specific scene section with a high degree of recognition is set as a skip target, and at least one specific scene section is reproduced at normal speed between the main program information and the main program information. This should be determined on the condition.

  In the second embodiment, the viewing history information of the specific scene section held in the specific scene section viewing history holding unit 18 is reset (cleared) by the system controller unit 20 every predetermined period.

Here, there are several cases as follows for each predetermined period to be reset.
(1) Every time the power of the recording / reproducing apparatus is turned off or every time the power is turned on.

(2) Every day.

(3) Every week.

(4) Every month.

(5) Every 3 months.

(6) Every time a broadcast program is played.

  In the case of (1), while reproducing and viewing an information signal from the recording medium 5 or 7, the reproduction history is retained, and during the viewing period, the same specific scene section is This is a skip candidate.

  When clearing each broadcast program playback in (6) above, a specific scene in a specific scene section that is determined to be played back at normal speed and is actually played back at normal speed in broadcast playback units in the short-time playback mode. This corresponds to the case where the section identifier is held in the specific scene section viewing history holding unit 18. This is an operation equivalent to the second example of the determination method in the specific scene section reproduction mode determination unit 17 in the first embodiment.

[Description of Main Operation Processing in Recording / Reproducing Apparatus of Second Embodiment; Description of Reproducing Mode]
Since the recording operation in the recording / reproducing apparatus of the second embodiment is exactly the same as that of the first embodiment described above, the description thereof is omitted here.

  In the second embodiment, when it is determined in step S2 that the operation input is not a recording start operation in the flowchart of FIG. 5 in the first embodiment, instead of the flowchart of FIG. 9 in the first embodiment. In step S71 of FIG. 12, the system controller unit 20 determines whether or not the operation input is a reproduction start instruction operation in the short-time reproduction mode.

  When it is determined in step S71 that the operation input is not a reproduction start instruction operation in the short-time reproduction mode, the system controller unit 20 determines whether or not the operation input is a reproduction start instruction operation in the normal reproduction mode. However, if it is determined that this is not the case, other processing corresponding to the operation input is executed (step S73). Then, after that process, the process returns to step S1 in FIG. 5, and the processes after step S1 are repeated.

  When it is determined in step S72 that the operation input is a reproduction start instruction operation in the normal reproduction mode, the system controller unit 20 starts from the recording medium 5 or 7 on which the reproduction target designated by the operation input is recorded. The recording data of the designated broadcast program and its additional information file are read out, and normal speed playback is started (step S74).

  Then, the system controller unit 20 refers to the position information of the specific scene section and the specific scene section identifier in the additional information file to monitor whether or not the specific scene section has been played back at normal speed (step S75). When it is determined that normal speed playback has been performed, the number of playbacks is stored in the specific scene section viewing history holding unit 18 in association with the specific scene section identifier (step S76).

  Next, the system controller unit 20 determines whether or not the program to be played has been played to the end (step S77), and when it is determined that the program has been played to the end, executes a playback end process (step S85). When it is determined in step S75 that the specific scene section is not reproduced at normal speed, the process proceeds to step S77 and the same processing is performed.

  If it is determined in step S77 that the reproduction has not been completed, the system controller unit 20 determines whether or not a reproduction end instruction operation has been performed by the user (step S78), and the reproduction end instruction operation is performed by the user. If it is determined that it is not, the process returns to step S74, and the normal reproduction process described above is continued. If it is determined in step S78 that a reproduction end instruction operation has been performed by the user, a reproduction end process is executed (step S85).

  On the other hand, when it is determined in step S71 of FIG. 12 that a playback start instruction for the short-time playback mode has been issued, the following playback processing for the short-time playback mode is executed. FIG. 12 shows processing in the short-time playback mode when the method of determination by the specific scene section playback mode determination unit 17 is the same as in the second example described above.

  The system controller unit 20 pre-reads the position information and the specific scene segment identifier of the specific scene section of the additional information file of the broadcast program to be played back from the recording medium 5 or 7, and specifies the specific scene section viewing history storage unit 18 While reading the viewing history of the scene section, reading of the recorded data of the broadcast program is started (step S79).

  Then, the system controller unit 20 pre-reads the position information of the specific scene section of the additional information file from the recording medium, and the viewing history of the specific scene section from the specific scene section viewing history holding unit 18 for the pre-read specific scene section. Referring to the above, the read control unit 8 determines the playback mode of each specific scene section by the specific scene section playback mode determination unit 17 and plays back each specific scene section in the determined playback mode. The processing unit 9 and the reproduction decoding output unit 10 are controlled.

  That is, the system controller unit 20 first determines from the position information of the specific scene section read from the additional information file whether a specific scene section between the main information and the main information or before or after the main information is detected. If it is determined (step S80) and a specific scene section is detected, it is determined whether or not a plurality of detected specific scene sections exist continuously (step S81).

  If it is determined in step S81 that a plurality of detected specific scene sections exist continuously, the system controller unit 20 determines that at least one specific scene section is to be played back at normal speed, The specific scene section is determined with priority given to the specific scene section that has already been normally played back, with reference to the viewing history of the specific scene section from the specific scene section viewing history holding unit 18 (step S82).

  Then, along with the main information, playback of the specific scene section determined to be played back at normal speed is executed, and when the specific scene section is played back at normal speed, the number of playbacks is associated with the specific scene section identifier and It is stored and held in the section viewing history holding unit 18 (step S83).

  If the specific scene section is not detected in step S80, the system controller unit 20 proceeds to step S83 and executes normal speed reproduction of the recorded data of the broadcast program. If it is determined in step S81 that the detected specific scene section is not a plurality of consecutive scenes but only one, the process proceeds to step S83 as it is, and the broadcast program is skipped. Normal speed playback is performed together with the main data.

  After step S83, the system controller unit 20 determines whether or not the program to be played has been played to the end (step S84), and when it is determined that the program has been played to the end, executes a playback end process (step S84). Step S86).

  If it is determined in step S84 that the reproduction has not been completed to the end, the system controller unit 20 determines whether or not the reproduction end instruction operation has been performed by the user (step S85), and the reproduction end instruction operation is performed by the user. If it is determined that it is not, the process returns to step S79, and the processes after step S79 are repeated. If it is determined in step S85 that the user has performed a reproduction end instruction operation, a reproduction end process is executed (step S86). And it returns to step S1 of FIG.

  Next, FIG. 13 shows a flowchart of processing in the short-time playback mode of the second embodiment when the method of determination by the specific scene section playback mode determination unit 17 is the third example. In FIG. 13, the same step numbers as those in FIG. 12 are given the same step numbers, and the flowchart portion of the normal playback mode process is also shown corresponding to FIG.

  That is, in this example, when it is determined in step S71 that there is an instruction to start playback in the short playback mode, the system controller unit 20 adds the broadcast program to be played back from the recording medium 5 or 7 prior to actual playback. All the information files are read, the position information and the specific scene section identifier of the specific scene section are pre-read, and the viewing history of the specific scene section from the specific scene section viewing history holding unit 18 is read (step S91).

  Next, the system controller unit 20 discriminates all types of the specific scene section inserted in the information signal to be reproduced from the types of the specific scene section identifier so as to satisfy the following two conditions. Thus, for all the specific scene sections, a playback mode for skipping or normal speed playback is determined, and a playback plan is generated (step S92).

  The first condition is that at least one specific scene section is normally reproduced between the main program information and the main program information or before or after the main program information. The second condition is that all kinds of specific scene sections are reproduced at normal speed at least once. The third condition is that the specific scene segment reproduced at normal speed is set as a skip reproduction candidate using the specific scene segment viewing history information. As described above, even in a specific scene section set as a skip reproduction candidate, it may be determined that normal speed reproduction is performed in order to satisfy other conditions.

  The reproduction plan in step S92 is generated, for example, as a list in which sections for normal speed reproduction are represented by frame numbers (field numbers), for example. When the creation of the reproduction plan is completed, the system controller unit 20 controls to reproduce only the section of the information signal indicated by the list at normal speed based on the generated list of reproduction plans (step S93).

  When the specific scene section is played back at normal speed, the number of times of reproduction is stored in the specific scene section viewing history holding unit 18 in association with the specific scene section identifier (step S94).

  Then, after step S94, the system controller unit 20 determines whether or not the program to be reproduced has been reproduced to the end (step S95), and when it is determined that the program has been reproduced to the end, a reproduction end process is executed (step S95). Step S97).

  If it is determined in step S95 that the reproduction has not been completed to the end, the system controller unit 20 determines whether or not the reproduction end instruction operation has been performed by the user (step S96), and the reproduction end instruction operation is performed by the user. If it is determined that it is not, the process returns to step S93, and the processes after step S93 are repeated. If it is determined in step S96 that the user has performed a reproduction end instruction operation, a reproduction end process is executed (step S97). And it returns to step S1 of FIG.

[Other Modifications of First and Second Embodiments]
[Chase playback mode]
The recording / playback apparatuses according to the first and second embodiments have a so-called chasing playback mode, and in this chasing playback mode as well, the specific scene section is skipped and played back in a time-saving manner as described above. Can do.

  That is, the chasing playback mode is a processing mode in which the built-in recording medium 5 is used as a temporary buffer memory, and the broadcast program received by the receiving unit 2 is played back with a delay of a predetermined time. That is, the system controller unit 20 always temporarily stores in the built-in recording medium 5 information signals for a predetermined time or more of the broadcast program being received by the receiving unit 2. Then, the system controller unit 20 reads information broadcasted a predetermined time before the actual broadcast time from the built-in recording medium 5 and always reproduces the information.

  When the system controller unit 20 receives an instruction to start the chasing playback mode, the system controller unit 20 starts recording (temporarily storing) the information signal of the broadcast program received by the receiving unit 2 in the internal recording medium 5. In this case, the feature amount detection, the specific scene section detection, and the generation of the specific scene section identifier are performed in real time, and the additional information file is recorded together with the recording of the information signal of the broadcast program.

  When a reproduction start instruction is received after a predetermined time, the information signal recorded (temporarily stored) from the start instruction point of the chasing reproduction mode is read from the internal recording medium 5 and reproduction is started. Thereafter, recording (writing) of the information signal of the broadcast program to the internal recording medium 5 and reproduction (reading) of the temporarily stored information signal from the internal recording medium 5 are executed in parallel.

  Then, when reproducing (reading) the information signal, it is determined whether normal playback or skip playback of the specific scene section is performed while referring to the temporarily stored additional information file, and according to the determination. Similarly to the description of the above-described embodiment, normal speed reproduction or skip reproduction is performed for a specific scene section.

  However, in this chasing playback, the third example of the playback mode determination method in the specific scene section playback mode determination unit 17 in the above-described embodiment is not applied.

[Modified example of generation method of specific scene section identifier]
In the description of the first embodiment and the second embodiment described above, it is determined whether the specific scene section identifier is the same as the feature amount detected in the past by using the feature amount in the feature amount detection unit 12. If they are the same, the same specific scene section identifier is assigned, and if they are different, a new specific scene section identifier is assigned, and the feature quantity storage unit 15 associates each particular scene section identifier with the feature quantity. To remember. This assumes that the specific scene section identifier is assigned an identification number, for example.

  However, in this case, since the specific scene section identifier and the feature amount need to be stored in the recording medium and the feature amount storage unit 15, the capacity of the feature amount storage unit 15 becomes large and the recording medium is added. There is a problem that the area of the information file becomes large.

  As a method of reducing this problem, there is a method of forming a specific scene section identifier using the feature quantity itself. According to this method, since it is only necessary to store the feature quantity as the specific scene section identifier, it is possible to reduce an increase in the storage capacity of the feature quantity storage unit 15.

  FIG. 14 illustrates an example of a method for generating a specific scene section identifier using a feature amount. In FIG. 14, for the sake of simplicity of explanation, a specific scene section identifier for a scene consisting of a section of 10 frames will be described as a case where two feature evaluation values (feature quantities) are generated. Here, the feature evaluation value 1 is, for example, the presence / absence of a person, and the feature evaluation value 2 is, for example, the presence / absence of a telop character.

  In the 10-frame scene section shown in FIG. 14A, the feature evaluation value 1 changes as shown in FIG. 14B, and the feature evaluation value 2 changes as shown in FIG. 14C. Suppose you make a change.

  In this example, the feature evaluation value 1 and the feature evaluation value 2 each obtain a difference in the time direction. Then, the difference results between the feature evaluation value 1 and the feature evaluation value 2 are as shown in FIGS. 14D and 14E, respectively.

  The specific scene section identifier is generated by performing run-length encoding compression on the difference result. That is, in the example of FIG. 14, the high level value is “A”, the low level value is “B”, and the length of each value in the time axis direction is expressed by a numerical value. it can. In the example of FIG. 14, the feature evaluation value 1 can be expressed as “A1B4A2B3” for the scene, and the feature evaluation value 2 can be expressed as “A1B1A2B6” for the scene. The specific scene section identifier is constituted by a compressed value of each of the plurality of feature evaluation values.

  According to this example, the specific scene section identifier detection unit 14 restores the original feature evaluation value from the compressed value of each feature evaluation value, and detects the feature amount in the scene section detected by the specific scene section detection unit 13. By comparing with the corresponding feature evaluation value detected by the unit 12, it is possible to determine whether or not the scenes can be given the same specific scene section identifier.

  In this example, since the specific scene section identifier is the feature amount data of the scene section, the data capacity stored in the feature amount storage unit 15 can be reduced, and the area of the additional information file on the recording medium can be reduced. It can be done.

  The method for generating the specific scene section identifier using the feature amount data as it is is not limited to the above-described method, and various methods can be employed. If the recording capacity and the storage capacity may be large, the feature data itself can be used as the specific scene section identifier.

[Third Embodiment]
In the third embodiment, the recording / playback apparatus does not detect the specific scene section from the feature amount of the information signal as in the first and second embodiments described above. The information signal indicating the location of the specific scene section and the skip enable / disable information indicating whether or not to allow skipping during reproduction for each specific scene section are broadcasted in a superimposed manner.

  Here, various methods can be used as a method of superimposing the information indicating the existence position of the specific scene section and the skip availability information of each specific scene section. For example, in the case of a terrestrial analog TV broadcast signal, the specific method is used. A method of superimposing information indicating that a specific scene section is included in the vertical blanking period of each field of the scene section and skip enable / disable information can be employed. In the case of digital television broadcasting, the frame number of the specific scene section A method of superimposing (or field number) and skip enable / disable information for each specific scene section as additional information can be employed.

  FIG. 15A is a diagram for explaining an example of a broadcast signal in the third embodiment, and this example is an example in the case of terrestrial analog television broadcasting, and 1-bit skip enable / disable flag information FLG. Is broadcast as the skip enable / disable information superimposed on the vertical blanking period. In this example, whether or not it is a specific scene section is also shown depending on whether or not the skip enable / disable flag information FLG exists in the vertical blanking period.

  In the example of FIG. 15A, three specific scene sections, “program advertisement”, “CM1”, and “CM2” are inserted before the program main information 1 and the specific scene section of “program advertisement” is The skip enable / disable flag information FLG is set to the high level (= “1”) to prohibit the skip, and the skip enable / disable flag information FLG is set to the low level (= “=” for the specific scene sections “CM1” and “CM2”. 0 ") and skip permission is permitted.

  Further, two specific scene sections, “CM2” and “CM3” are inserted between the program main section information 1 and the program main section information 2, and the skip enable / disable flag information FLG is included in the specific scene section of “CM2”. The high level (= “1”) is set to prohibit skipping, and the skip enable / disable flag information FLG is set to low level (= “0”) for the specific scene section of “CM3” to allow skipping. ing.

  Further, after the program main information 2, two specific scene sections, “CM1” and “CM3”, are inserted. In both of the specific scene sections of “CM1” and “CM3”, the skip enable / disable flag information FLG is high. The level (= “1”) is set, and skipping is prohibited.

  As described above, the recording / reproducing apparatus of the third embodiment extracts information indicating the position of a specific scene section superimposed on the information signal of the broadcast program and skip enable / disable information from the information signal of the broadcast program. To do.

  At the time of recording the broadcast program information signal, information indicating the position of the specific scene section and skip enable / disable information are added to the recording medium 5 or 7 as an additional information file in association with the broadcast program information signal. Record. During short-time playback, the position of the specific scene section is determined from the information in the additional information file, and each specific scene section is played back normally or skipped based on the skip information of the additional information file. The mode is determined and playback is executed. In other words, the specific scene section for which skipping is prohibited is always played back at normal speed, and the specific scene section for which skipping is possible includes at least one specific scene section between the main part information and the main part information. While observing the condition of normal playback, playback is determined and decided to skip.

[Hardware Configuration Example of Third Embodiment]
FIG. 16 shows a hardware configuration example of the third embodiment. That is, FIG. 16 shows a hardware configuration example when the third embodiment is applied to an apparatus for receiving and recording and reproducing a broadcast program, as in the above-described embodiment. The same parts as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  The example of FIG. 16 is an example corresponding to the case where the skip enable / disable flag information FLG is superimposed only in the field of the specific scene section in the vertical blanking period, as shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 16, in the recording / reproducing apparatus of the third embodiment, instead of the feature amount detection unit 12, the specific scene section detection unit 13, and the specific scene section identifier generation unit 14 of the first embodiment described above. In addition, a specific scene section detection unit 31 and a skip enable / disable flag determination unit 32 are provided. Others have the same configuration as in the first embodiment.

  Then, the specific scene section detection unit 31 extracts the skip enable / disable flag information FLG inserted in the vertical blanking period of the video signal of the broadcast program received by the reception unit 2. In this case, the specific scene section detection unit 31 indicates that the field in which the skip enable / disable flag information FLG is inserted in the vertical blanking period is the field of the specific information in the specific scene section, and the field that is not inserted is the program main part. It is determined that the field is information.

  And the specific scene area detection part 31 produces | generates the positional information on a specific scene area as the determination result. As described above, the field number (or frame number) is used as the position information of the specific scene section. The specific scene section detector 31 sends the extracted skip enable / disable flag information FLG to the skip enable / disable flag determination section 32 together with the position information of the specific scene section.

  The skip enable / disable flag determining unit 32 determines whether FLG = “1” or FLG = “0” depending on whether the received skip enable / disable flag information FLG is at a high level or a low level. . Then, the skip enable / disable flag determining unit 32 generates an additional information file including position information of the specific scene section and the skip enable / disable flag information FLG as shown in FIG. 17, for example, and the generated additional information file is a recording processing unit. Send to 4. The recording processing unit 4 records the additional information file on the recording medium 5 or the external recording medium 7 in association with the information signal to be recorded under the control of the system controller unit 20.

  In the third embodiment, in the short-time playback mode, the system controller unit 20 acquires the additional information file through the additional information file processing unit 16 and passes it to the specific scene section playback mode determination unit 33. The specific scene section playback mode determination unit 33 detects the specific scene section to be played back from the position information of the specific scene section of the additional information file, and determines the playback mode of each specific scene section based on the skip enable / disable flag information FLG. decide.

  In this case, as described above, the specific scene section playback mode determination unit 33 performs normal speed playback of at least one specific scene section between the main program information and the main program information or before or after the main program information. The reproduction mode of each specific scene section is determined based on the skip enable / disable flag information FLG while satisfying the above condition.

  When there are a plurality of specific scene sections that are permitted to be skipped by the skip enable / disable flag information FLG, when satisfying the condition of normal speed playback of at least one specific scene section, which one is to be played back at normal speed? For the selection, a method of performing selection at random, a method of performing selection based on a reproduction history (a higher number of reproductions skips preferentially), and the like can be employed.

  Similar to the above-described embodiment, in the third embodiment, the reproduction mode of the specific scene section is determined while sequentially reading the additional information file while reproducing the information signal. Any playback mode can be executed in the case where a playback plan for determining a playback mode for all specific scene sections in a broadcast program is generated in advance and playback is executed according to the playback plan. .

  Also in the third embodiment, when chasing playback is performed, the playback mode of the specific scene section is determined using the skip enable / disable flag information FLG of the additional information file, and based on the determination, playback is performed in a short time. can do.

[Fourth Embodiment]
The above embodiment is a case where the present invention is applied to the recording / playback of a television broadcast program. In the fourth embodiment, the present invention is not a television broadcast program but a continuous acquisition of an Internet homepage. This is an example applied to an information providing apparatus that performs display.

  That is, when a certain home page 1 is accessed in response to an instruction of a URL (UNIFORM RESOURCE LOCATOR) by the user, the display screen includes specific information such as CM information in addition to the main information that is the original information of the home page 1. In many cases, it is embedded and displayed.

  In this case, the specific information such as the CM information is obtained from the server or the like at the URL by accessing on the Internet according to the URL instructed in the display processing routine of the home page 1.

  Then, it is possible to jump from one homepage 1 to another homepage 2 in accordance with a user instruction or in accordance with an automatic access process on the homepage 1. Similarly, in the other home page 2, specific information such as CM information is accessed on the Internet according to the URL as link information instructed in the display processing routine of the home page 2, respectively. , Acquired from the server or the like at the URL, and incorporated into the home page 2 for display. In the same manner, it is possible to fly to other home pages 3 and thereafter.

  In the case of performing such access on the Internet, in the fourth embodiment, the URL obtained by acquiring specific information such as CM information during the continuous acquisition operation of the homepage is held as the acquisition history. In addition, on each homepage, on the condition that the display of at least one specific information such as CM information is left, the specific information such as the CM information displayed on the homepage that has been viewed before should not be acquired on the subsequent homepage. And

  In the example of FIG. 18, the home page 1, the home page 2, and the home page 3 are displayed in order and displayed. In the first home page 1, CM1 is acquired from the server indicated by [URL1], CM2 is acquired from the server indicated by [URL2], and CM3 is acquired from the server indicated by [URL3]. .

  Similarly, it is assumed that the homepage 2 is instructed to acquire CM1, CM2, and CM3. Further, it is assumed that the homepage 3 is instructed to acquire CM4 and CM3.

  In such a case, in the fourth embodiment, the URL1, URL2, and URL3 of CM1, CM2, and CM3 acquired on the home page 1 are held as acquisition history information of specific information. Then, when the next home page 2 is displayed, it can be seen from the acquisition history of this specific information that CM1, CM2, and CM3 have already been acquired and displayed on the previous home page 1.

  Therefore, in the fourth embodiment, when the home page 2 is displayed, CM 1 is left in order to satisfy the condition that the display of specific information such as at least one CM information is left in the example of FIG. Thus, the other two CM2 and CM3 acquisition routines are skipped, and the information of the CM2 and CM3 is not acquired.

  In addition, since the acquisition of CM4 is the first acquisition when moving from the homepage 2 to the display of the homepage 3, the acquisition is executed, and CM3 is acquired when the homepage 1 is displayed and held in the acquisition history information. Therefore, the CM3 acquisition routine is skipped, and information on the CM2 and CM3 is not acquired.

  In FIG. 18, the acquisition processing routine is skipped, and the CM information that is not acquired is indicated by an X mark, and when the CM information is actually used, it is indicated by a circle mark.

  FIG. 19 shows a hardware configuration example of an information providing apparatus for realizing the above fourth embodiment. The example of FIG. 19 is an example of a personal computer. A program ROM (Read Only Memory) 43 and a work area RAM (Random) are connected to a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 41 via a system bus 42. (Access Memory) 44, a user interface 45, a communication interface 46, a display controller 47, a specific information acquisition history storage unit 48, and a specific information access control unit 49 are connected to each other.

  An operation input unit 50 such as a mouse or a keyboard is connected to the user interface 45. The communication interface 46 is connected to the Internet 51. The display controller 47 is connected to a display 52 such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display).

  The specific information access control unit 49 can also be configured as software that is executed by the CPU 41 in accordance with a program stored in the ROM 43.

  FIG. 20 is a flowchart for explaining a homepage acquisition processing routine according to the fourth embodiment. Each process of this flowchart is executed by the CPU 41 using the RAM 44 as a work area according to the program of the ROM 43.

  In the fourth embodiment, as shown in FIG. 20, when a homepage acquisition request based on a user requesting a connection request to the Internet 51 and a predetermined homepage acquisition request is detected through the operation input unit 50. (Step S101), the CPU 41 connects to a predetermined server on the Internet through the communication interface 46, and executes an operation for acquiring the home page from the server (Step S102).

  And CPU41 acquires the information for opening a homepage, and starts the opening process (step S103). Then, the CPU 41 determines whether or not there is an instruction to acquire specific information such as CM information during the process of opening the home page (step S104). When it is determined that there is an instruction, the specific information is acquired. It is determined whether or not the URL to be stored is already stored in the specific information acquisition history storage unit 48 (step S105).

  If it is determined in step S105 that the URL is not stored in the specific information acquisition history storage unit 48, the CPU 41 uses the URL to acquire specific information such as CM information and paste it on the homepage. The display process is performed (step S107), and the URL is written and stored as one of the acquisition history information in the specific information acquisition history storage unit 48 (step S108).

  When it is determined in step S105 that the URL is stored in the specific information acquisition history storage unit 48, the CPU 41 has already pasted specific information such as other CM information on the home page that is being opened. If it is determined whether it has been pasted (step S106), the specific information acquisition process using the URL is skipped and not performed (step S109).

  If it is determined in step S106 that no specific information such as other CM information has been pasted on the home page being opened, the CPU 41 proceeds to step S107 and sets the URL. It is used to acquire specific information such as CM information and paste it on a home page for display. In step S108, the URL is written and stored in the specific information acquisition history storage unit 48 as one of the acquisition history information.

  Then, after step S108 or step S109, the process proceeds to step S110, where it is determined whether or not the home page display process has been completed. If it is determined that the display process has not been completed, the process returns to step S103, and after step S103. Repeat the process.

  If it is determined in step S110 that the display processing of the home page has been completed, it is determined whether or not there is a request for acquisition of the next home page (step S111). If there is an acquisition request, the process returns to step S102, The processes after step S102 are repeated. The acquisition request in step S111 may be based on a user operation, or may be an automatic acquisition request by a call from a previously opened home page.

  If it is determined in step S104 that an instruction to acquire specific information such as CM information is not detected when opening the home page, the CPU 41 jumps to step S110, and the processing after step S110 is performed. repeat.

  If it is determined in step S111 that there is no request for acquisition of the next home page, this processing routine is terminated.

  If it is determined in step S101 that there is no homepage acquisition request, other instructed processes are executed (step S112).

  If it is determined in step S105 that the specific information acquisition history storage unit 48 has already stored the specific information such as other CM information on the home page that is being opened in step S106. If it is determined that none has been pasted, the CPU 41 performs processing for obtaining specific information such as CM information by using the URL, pasting it on the home page, and displaying it in step S107. The information acquisition history storage unit 48 increments the number of acquisitions as the acquisition history information of the URL.

  In the description of the fourth embodiment, the CM to be left on each homepage is selected based on the acquisition history of the specific information. However, the CM to be left on each homepage as in the above embodiment. May be selected at random.

[Other variations]
The receiving unit 2 of the above-described embodiment is a case of a terrestrial analog TV broadcast receiving unit, a terrestrial digital TV broadcast receiving unit, a satellite digital TV broadcast receiving unit, a cable TV broadcast receiving unit, and Internet distribution The present invention is applicable even to a television broadcast receiving unit.

  In the above-described embodiment, the present invention is applied to the case of recording / reproducing a television broadcast program. However, the present invention is not limited to recording / reproducing a television broadcast program. In addition to recording and reproduction, the present invention can be applied to recording and reproduction of various information signals.

  In addition, the specific scene section is not only detected from the feature amount of both video information and audio information as in the above-described embodiment, but also from the feature amount of only video information or from the feature amount of audio information. It can also be detected.

It is a block diagram which shows the hardware structural example of 1st Embodiment of the recording / reproducing apparatus by this invention. It is a figure used in order to demonstrate embodiment of the recording / reproducing apparatus by this invention. It is a figure used in order to demonstrate embodiment of the recording / reproducing apparatus by this invention. It is a figure used in order to demonstrate embodiment of the recording / reproducing apparatus by this invention. 4 is a flowchart for explaining a recording processing operation in the first embodiment of the recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention; 6 is a part of a flowchart for explaining a recording / reproducing processing operation in the first embodiment of the recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention; 6 is a part of a flowchart for explaining a recording / reproducing processing operation in the first embodiment of the recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention; 6 is a part of a flowchart for explaining a recording / reproducing processing operation in the first embodiment of the recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention; 6 is a part of a flowchart for explaining a recording / reproducing processing operation in the first embodiment of the recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention; 6 is a part of a flowchart for explaining a recording / reproducing processing operation in the first embodiment of the recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention; It is a block diagram which shows the hardware structural example of 2nd Embodiment of the recording / reproducing apparatus by this invention. 7 is a part of a flowchart for explaining a recording / reproducing processing operation in the second embodiment of the recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention; It is a part of flowchart for demonstrating the processing operation | movement of the recording / reproducing of the other example in 2nd Embodiment of the recording / reproducing apparatus by this invention. It is a figure used in order to demonstrate an example of the production | generation process of the specific scene area identifier in embodiment of the recording / reproducing apparatus by this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the processing operation | movement of the recording / reproducing in 3rd Embodiment of the recording / reproducing apparatus by this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the hardware structural example of 3rd Embodiment of the recording / reproducing apparatus by this invention. It is a figure used in order to demonstrate the principal part of 3rd Embodiment of the recording / reproducing apparatus by this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the processing operation in embodiment of the information provision apparatus by this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the hardware structural example of embodiment of the information provision apparatus by this invention. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the processing operation in embodiment of the information provision apparatus by this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  2 ... receiving unit, 3 ... recording signal encoding processing unit, 4 ... recording processing unit, 5 ... built-in recording medium, 7 ... external recording medium, 8 ... read control unit, 9 ... reproduction processing unit, 10 ... reproduction decoding output unit, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 12 ... Feature-value detection part, 13 ... Specific scene area detection part, 14 ... Specific scene area identifier production | generation part, 15 ... Feature-value memory | storage part, 16 ... Additional information file process part, 17 ... Specific scene area reproduction | regeneration aspect determination part, 18 ... specific scene section viewing history holding section, 32 ... skip enable / disable flag determining section

Claims (20)

An information signal in which a plurality of pieces of specific information other than the main information are continuously inserted in a section before or after the main information is allowed to be recorded on the recording medium, and the information signal is recorded from the recording medium. In a recording / reproducing apparatus having a function of reproducing by skipping the specific information section during reproduction,
At the time of recording the information signal, a feature amount is detected for the information signal, and a separation between the main information and the specific information is detected using the detected feature amount, and the specific information is detected from the information signal. Specific information section detecting means for detecting a section;
Additional information recording means for recording the location information of the specific information section detected by the specific information section detecting means on the recording medium as additional information in association with the information signal;
When reproducing the information signal from the recording medium, the specific information section is determined based on the additional information, and at least one of the specific information sections is included in the section before or after the main information. Playback control means for controlling to skip and skip the section of the specific information
With
The specific information section detecting means is
For each detected section of the specific information, an identifier giving means for giving an identifier of the section of the specific information based on the feature amount of the section of the specific information;
Specific information reproduction history holding means for holding an identifier of the reproduced section of the specific information as a reproduction history of the specific information;
With
The reproduction control means reproduces the specific information held in the specific information reproduction history holding means when a plurality of sections of the specific information are continuously included in a section before or after the main information. Referring to the history, control is performed so that at least one section of the specific information that is not included in the playback history is left and other sections of the specific information are skipped and played.
Recording and reproducing apparatus, characterized in that. The recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1,
The playback control means may further leave at least one section of the specific information selected at random when the section of the specific information is continuously included in the section before or after the main information. In addition, the recording / reproducing apparatus is characterized in that the other specific information section is also skipped and reproduced. The recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1 ,
The specific information reproduction history holding means clears the reproduction history of the specific information every predetermined period. The recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1 ,
The specific information reproduction history holding means clears the reproduction history of the specific information every time the power is turned on or off. The recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1 ,
The information signal is a broadcast program signal,
The specific information reproduction history holding means clears the reproduction history of the specific information in units of the broadcast program. The recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1,
The identifier of the specific information section is obtained by performing a predetermined calculation on the detected characteristic amount of the specific information section .   The recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1,
  The reproduction control means, instead of the reproduction that skips the section of the other specific information based on the reproduction history of the specific information held in the specific information reproduction history holding means,
  When the reproduction of the information signal is instructed, the additional information is read prior to the reproduction, and when the plurality of specific information sections are continuously included in the section before or after the main information, The type of specific information section is reproduced at least once, and at least one of the specific information sections is left, and the other specific information sections are skipped and reproduced. Do
  And a recording / reproducing apparatus. The recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1,
The information signal includes presence position information of the specific information section and skip enable / disable information indicating whether or not the specific information section may be skipped for each of the specific information sections. If you have
The specific information section detection means detects each of the specific information sections using the position information of the specific information section, and extracts the skip enable / disable information from the information signal.
The reproduction control means, when a plurality of sections of the specific information are continuously included in the section before or after the main information, based on the extracted skip propriety information, A recording / reproducing apparatus characterized in that control is performed such that information sections are left and other specific information sections are skipped and reproduced. In the interval before or after the main information, and the information signal whose state is a variable that is a plurality inserted the consecutive specific information other than main information, along with the location information of the section of the specific information, the specific For each section of information, from the recording medium on which the additional information including the identifier of the section of the specific information given based on the feature amount of the specific information is recorded, the information signal is transmitted through the section of the specific information. In a playback device having a function of skipping playback,
The specific information section is determined based on the additional information, and at least one of the specific information sections is left in the section before or after the main information, and the specific information section is skipped. Playback control means for controlling to play back ,
Specific information reproduction history holding means for holding an identifier of the reproduced section of the specific information as a reproduction history of the specific information;
With
The reproduction control means reproduces the specific information held in the specific information reproduction history holding means when a plurality of sections of the specific information are continuously included in a section before or after the main information. A playback apparatus that controls to play back by skipping at least one section of the specific information that is not included in the playback history and skipping other sections of the specific information with reference to the history . The playback device according to claim 9, wherein
The playback control means may further leave at least one section of the specific information selected at random when the section of the specific information is continuously included in the section before or after the main information. In addition, the playback apparatus is characterized in that the other specific information section is also skipped for playback. The playback device according to claim 9, wherein
The reproduction control means, instead of the reproduction that skips the section of the other specific information based on the reproduction history of the specific information held in the specific information reproduction history holding means,
When the reproduction of the information signal is instructed, the additional information is read prior to the reproduction, and when the plurality of specific information sections are continuously included in the section before or after the main information, The type of specific information section is reproduced at least once, and at least one of the specific information sections is left, and the other specific information sections are skipped and reproduced. A reproducing apparatus. The playback device according to claim 9, wherein
The identifier of the specific information section is obtained by performing a predetermined calculation on the detected feature amount of the specific information section . The playback device according to claim 9, wherein
Said additional information of said recording medium, wherein with the location information of the specific information section, the each section of the specific information, included skip availability information indicating whether or not may skip the section of the specific information is If you have
The reproduction control means, based on the skip propriety information extracted from the additional information, when a plurality of sections of the specific information are continuously included in the section before or after the main information. The playback apparatus is characterized in that one of the specific information sections is left and the other specific information sections are skipped for playback. Receives an information signal in which a plurality of pieces of specific information other than the main information are continuously inserted before or after the main information and temporarily stores them in a temporary storage unit for a predetermined time. And receiving and reproducing apparatus having a function of skipping and reproducing the specific information section when reading the temporarily stored information signal with a time shorter than the predetermined time and reproducing the information signal. Because
Specific information section detecting means for detecting a section of the specific information from the information signal at the time of temporary storage of the information signal;
Together with the location information of the section of the specific information detected by the specific information section detection means, for each section of the specific information, an identifier of the section of the specific information given based on the feature amount of the specific information , Specific information section storage means for storing in the temporary storage unit in association with the information signal;
At the time of reproducing the information signal from the temporary storage unit, the section of the specific information is determined based on the existence position information of the section of the specific information, and at least the specific section is included in the section before or after the main information. Reproduction control means for controlling to skip and reproduce the specific information section while leaving one of the information sections ;
Specific information reproduction history holding means for holding an identifier of the reproduced section of the specific information as a reproduction history of the specific information;
With
The reproduction control means reproduces the specific information held in the specific information reproduction history holding means when a plurality of sections of the specific information are continuously included in a section before or after the main information. Referring to the history, control is performed so that at least one section of the specific information that is not included in the playback history is left and other sections of the specific information are skipped and played.
Receiving and reproducing device, characterized in that. The reception / playback apparatus according to claim 14,
The playback control means may further leave at least one section of the specific information selected at random when the section of the specific information is continuously included in the section before or after the main information. In addition, the reception / reproduction apparatus is characterized in that the other specific information section is also skipped and reproduced. The reception / playback apparatus according to claim 14,
The identifier of the section of the specific information is obtained by performing a predetermined calculation on the detected feature amount of the section of the specific information . The reception / playback apparatus according to claim 14,
The information signal includes presence position information of the specific information section and skip enable / disable information indicating whether or not the specific information section may be skipped for each of the specific information sections. If you have
The temporary storage unit stores presence position information of the section of the specific information acquired from the information signal, and skip enable / disable information indicating whether or not the section of the specific information may be skipped,
The reproduction control means, when the section of the specific information is continuously included in the section before or after the main information, the at least one section of the specific information is based on the skip propriety information The receiving / reproducing apparatus is characterized in that the other specific information section is controlled to be skipped and reproduced. An information signal in which a plurality of pieces of specific information other than the main information are continuously inserted in a section before or after the main information is allowed to be recorded on the recording medium, and the information signal is recorded from the recording medium. In a recording / reproducing method that enables reproduction by skipping the specific information section during reproduction,
At the time of recording the information signal, a feature amount is detected for the information signal, and a separation between the main information and the specific information is detected using the detected feature amount, and the specific information is detected from the information signal. A specific information section detection step of detecting a section;
An additional information recording step of recording in the recording medium in association with the information signal, as additional information, the presence position information of the specific information section detected in the specific information section detection step;
When reproducing the information signal from the recording medium, the specific information section is determined based on the additional information, and at least one of the specific information sections is included in the section before or after the main information. A reproduction control step of controlling to skip and reproduce the section of the specific information,
With
The specific information section detection step includes
An identifier providing step for assigning an identifier of the section of the specific information based on the feature amount of the section of the specific information, for each detected section of the specific information;
A specific information reproduction history holding step of holding an identifier of a section of the reproduced specific information as a reproduction history of the specific information;
With
The reproduction control step reproduces the specific information held in the specific information reproduction history holding means when a plurality of the specific information sections are continuously included in the section before or after the main information. Referring to the history, control is performed so that at least one section of the specific information that is not included in the reproduction history is left and other sections of the specific information are skipped and reproduced.
Recording and reproducing method, wherein a. In the interval before or after the main information, and the information signal whose state is a variable that is a plurality inserted the consecutive specific information other than main information, along with the location information of the section of the specific information, the specific For each section of information, from the recording medium on which the additional information including the identifier of the section of the specific information given based on the feature amount of the specific information is recorded, the information signal is transmitted through the section of the specific information. In a playback method that allows skipping and playback,
The specific information section is determined based on the additional information, and at least one of the specific information sections is left in the section before or after the main information, and the specific information section is skipped. A reproduction control process for controlling the reproduction to be performed ,
A specific information reproduction history holding step of holding an identifier of the reproduced section of the specific information as a reproduction history of the specific information;
With
The reproduction control step reproduces the specific information held in the specific information reproduction history holding means when a plurality of the specific information sections are continuously included in the section before or after the main information. A playback method characterized in that, by referring to the history, control is performed such that at least one section of the specific information that is not included in the playback history is left and other sections of the specific information are skipped for playback. . Receives an information signal in which a plurality of pieces of specific information other than the main information are continuously inserted before or after the main information and temporarily stores them in a temporary storage unit for a predetermined time. In addition, when the information signal is temporarily stored and read out with a time shorter than the predetermined time and the information signal is reproduced, the information signal can be skipped and reproduced. In the playback method,
A specific information section detection step of detecting a section of the specific information from the information signal when temporarily storing the information signal;
Together with the location information of the section of the specific information detected in the specific information section detection step, for each section of the specific information, the identifier of the section of the specific information given based on the feature amount of the specific information , A specific information section storing step for storing in the temporary storage unit in association with the information signal;
At the time of reproducing the information signal from the temporary storage unit, the section of the specific information is determined based on the existence position information of the section of the specific information, and at least the specific section is included in the section before or after the main information. A reproduction control step for controlling to skip and reproduce the specific information section, leaving one of the information sections ;
A specific information reproduction history holding step of holding an identifier of the reproduced section of the specific information as a reproduction history of the specific information;
With
The reproduction control step reproduces the specific information held in the specific information reproduction history holding means when a plurality of the specific information sections are continuously included in the section before or after the main information. Referring to the history, control is performed so that at least one section of the specific information that is not included in the playback history is left and other sections of the specific information are skipped and played.
Receiving and reproducing wherein the.

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