JP4991671B2 - Information processing apparatus and control method thereof - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus that receives content data streamed via a communication network and a control method thereof.

  Along with the widespread use of broadband communication network infrastructure such as optical communication and ADSL, the form of downloading content (program) data composed of video, audio, and the like via the Internet line has become widespread. In recent years, not only a personal computer but also a mode in which a television apparatus is connected to the Internet line is becoming widespread.

  For example, there is a service called VOD (Video on Demand) that receives and reproduces content data streamed from a content distribution server. When viewing streamed content data, it is possible to reproduce and view the received data while accumulating them in a buffer without waiting until all the data has been downloaded.

  In the case of wireless connection to the Internet line, communication may be cut off due to, for example, an electric wave being blocked by an obstacle or the like. Further, when a wired connection is made to the Internet line, communication may be cut off due to a line failure, a connector being dropped, or a cable being physically cut. Conventionally, there is a technique for prompting the user to restore the connection by detecting a communication timeout or the like and immediately displaying an error message when the communication is disconnected.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-228561 discloses a technique for automatically terminating software for operating a connected device and displaying an automatic termination notification dialog when communication disconnection is detected.

Patent Document 2 below discloses a technique for automatically playing back alternative content when the network is disconnected while buffering a video stream received via the network. Yes.
JP 2004-185173 A JP 2006-279544 A

  Here, when the content data distributed by streaming is reproduced and viewed while being stored in the buffer, if the communication disconnection is detected and an error message is immediately displayed as described above, the content viewing is disturbed. is there. For example, when the communication is disconnected after the content data is downloaded, it is not necessary to immediately notify the communication disconnection because the content data can be viewed to the end. In addition, when the communication is disconnected while the content data is sufficiently stored in the buffer, the content data can be viewed without any problem for a certain period of time even if the communication disconnection is not immediately notified.

  In view of this, the present invention reduces the unnecessarily disturbed viewing by appropriately controlling the timing of notifying the user that the communication has been cut off when viewing content data distributed in a streaming manner. It is an object of the present invention to provide an information processing apparatus and a control method thereof.

To solve the problem described above, the information processing apparatus according to the present invention communicates with the distribution server, a communication unit that will receive the content data that is streamed over the communication network, received by the communication unit In addition, the communication control unit detects that the communication data has been disconnected by monitoring whether the content data is normally received by the communication unit and a reproduction control unit that controls the content data to be reproduced while being stored in the storage unit. Monitoring means for determining, when the disconnection is detected by the monitoring means, a determination means for determining whether or not the storage of the content data in the storage unit has been completed, and the content data by the determination means When it is determined that the storage of the content data has not been completed, the data amount of the content data stored in the storage unit and not reproduced is acquired An acquisition unit that, the by Ri communication disconnection monitoring means is detected, and when said storage of the content data is determined to have been completed by determination means, a reproduction the reproduction control means of said content data After the end, the user is notified that the communication disconnection has been detected, and when the communication means has been detected by the monitoring means, and the storage of the content data has not been completed by the determination means, Notification control means for comparing the amount of data acquired by the acquisition means with a first threshold value and notifying the user that communication disconnection has been detected if the data amount is less than the first threshold value ; Prepare.

The control method of an information processing apparatus according to the present invention communicates with the distribution server, a receiving step of receiving content data which is streamed over the communication network, storing the content data received by the receiving step A reproduction control step for controlling to reproduce while accumulating in a unit, a monitoring step for detecting communication disconnection by monitoring whether or not the reception of the content data in the reception step is normally performed, when it is detected a communication disconnection monitoring step, a determination step of determining whether or not the accumulation of the content data to the storage unit is completed,
In the determination step, when it is determined that the storage of the content data has not been completed, an acquisition step for acquiring the data amount of the content data stored in the storage unit and not reproduced, and a communication disconnection in the monitoring step user that but is detected, and when said storage of the content data in the determination step is determined to have been completed, the after the reproduction control step has finished playing of the content data, the communication disconnection is detected If the communication disconnection is detected in the monitoring step and it is determined that the storage of the content data is not completed in the determination step, the data amount acquired in the acquisition step is set to a first threshold. compared with the values, the notification control the amount of data to notify the user that the communication disconnection is less than the first threshold value is detected Has a step, a.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, when viewing the content data distributed by streaming, it controls the timing which notifies a user that communication has been cut off, thereby reducing unnecessarily disturbed viewing. It becomes possible.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The information processing apparatus according to the present invention is, for example, a television apparatus or a personal computer that can receive content data distributed in a streaming manner and reproduce and view it while accumulating it in a buffer. The form of streaming distribution in the present invention may be unicast distribution including one server and one client, or multicast distribution including one server and a plurality of clients.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an information processing apparatus 100 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The information processing apparatus 100 is connected to a broadband communication network such as an Internet line via a cable 101. A connector 102 of the cable 101 is connected to a terminal of the information processing apparatus. The information processing apparatus 100 includes a data receiving unit 103, a buffer (storage unit) 104, a reproduction control unit 105, a decoding unit 106, a display control unit 107, a display unit 108, a communication monitoring unit 109, a download completion determination unit 110, and a remaining buffer capacity. An acquisition unit 111, a notification control unit 112, and a remote control reception unit 113 are provided.

  The data receiving unit 103 receives content data that is streamed and distributed via a broadband communication network such as optical communication or ADSL. The buffer 104 is a recording medium (storage unit) having a certain storage capacity for temporarily storing the content data received by the data receiving unit 103. The reproduction control unit 105 controls the buffer 104 and the decoding unit 106 to reproduce the content data. The decrypting unit 106 decrypts the playback content data stored in the buffer 104. The display control unit 107 performs control to display the content data decrypted by the decryption unit 106 on the display unit 108.

  The remote control device 114 is a remote operation device (remote control device) that converts a user operation into an electric signal and transmits the electric signal to the remote control receiving unit 113 by means of information transmission means such as infrared rays and radio waves. The remote control receiving unit 113 receives a signal from the remote control device 114 and instructs the playback control unit 105 to perform playback control such as playback, fast forward, rewind, slow playback, and pause.

  The communication monitoring unit 109 can monitor whether the receiving unit 103 has received the content data distributed from the distribution server normally, and can detect the disconnection when the communication is disconnected due to some trouble. . Possible causes of communication disconnection include a failure on the line, the connector 102 being disconnected, or the cable 101 being physically disconnected. In addition, when wirelessly connecting to the Internet line, communication may be cut off due to, for example, an electric wave being blocked by an obstacle or the like. The communication monitoring unit 109 can detect communication disconnection due to a communication timeout or the like, detect insertion / removal of the connector 102, or detect disconnection of the cable 101.

  The download completion determination unit 110 determines whether or not the distributed content data has been downloaded and the content data has been accumulated in the buffer 104 to the end. For example, by determining that EOF (End Of File) information is added to the end of the content data, it is possible to determine whether or not the download has been completed. When content data is transmitted in units of blocks, EOF information is added to the header of the block. When content data is transmitted in a stream format, EOF information is transmitted at an arbitrary timing.

  The buffer remaining amount acquisition unit 111 acquires the data amount (buffer remaining amount) of the content data that has been accumulated in the buffer 104 and has not been reproduced. More specifically, the remaining buffer capacity is calculated from information such as playback position information and playback bit rate of the content data stored in the buffer 104.

  When the communication monitoring unit 109 detects a communication disconnection, the notification control unit 112 acquires the buffer remaining amount from the buffer remaining amount acquiring unit 111, and determines whether or not the content download from the download completion determining unit 110 is completed. Get information. Then, control is performed to generate an error message and notify the user of communication disconnection. The display control unit 107 performs processing for combining the generated error message with the content data decrypted by the decryption unit 106 and displaying it on the display unit 108. The display unit 108 such as a liquid crystal display or a plasma display is not limited to the one built in the information processing apparatus 100, and may be configured to be connected to the outside of the information processing apparatus 100.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the information processing apparatus 100. In step S101, the communication monitoring unit 109 determines whether communication disconnection is detected. If communication disconnection is detected, the process proceeds from step S101 to step S102. In step S102, the notification control unit 112 inquires of the download completion determination unit 110 whether or not the content data has been downloaded. If the download has not been completed, the process proceeds from step S102 to step S103. If the download has been completed, the process proceeds from step S102 to step S117.

  In step S117, the notification control unit 112 inquires of the reproduction control unit 105 whether or not the reproduction of the content data has been completed. When the content data has been reproduced to the end, the process proceeds from step S117 to step S118, and the notification control unit 112 generates an error message indicating that “communication has been disconnected”. In step S119, the display control unit 107 controls the display unit 108 to display the generated error message “communication disconnected”, and notifies the user that communication has been disconnected. However, the method of notifying the user that the communication has been disconnected is not limited to displaying a message, and may be a form of notifying by voice, for example.

  FIG. 3 is a first diagram comparing the data amounts of downloaded data (solid line) and reproduced data (dotted line). The vertical axis in FIG. 3 indicates the ratio (%) of downloaded data and the ratio (%) of reproduced data with respect to the total amount of data for one content, and the horizontal axis indicates time t.

  When the user operates remote control device 114 at time t0 to request playback of content data, download of content data streamed from the distribution server is started. The reproduction of the content data is started after the downloaded content data is accumulated in the buffer 104 to some extent. Therefore, the playback of the downloaded content data is started at time t1 slightly after time t0 when the download is started. When the content data to be reproduced has a variable bit rate, the slanted line indicating “reproduced data” has a slight slope, but in the present embodiment, it is represented by a straight line as being reproduced at a fixed bit rate.

  A period from time t0 to time t2 is a period in which rapid download is executed immediately after the start of download by a technique called fast start. During the period up to time t3, download and playback of the streamed content data are executed in parallel. The download is completed at time t3, and the content data is accumulated in the buffer 104 until the end.

  It is assumed that communication disconnection is detected by the communication monitoring unit 109 at time t4. However, since the content data is accumulated in the buffer 104 to the end, the user can view the content data to the end without interrupting the reproduction. For this reason, in the present embodiment, the notification control unit 112 performs control so as not to display an error message during a period from time t4 to time t5.

  When the reproduction of the content data is completed at time t5, the notification control unit 112 displays an error message “Communication has been disconnected” and notifies the user of the disconnection of communication. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an error message “Communication has been cut off” displayed on the display unit 108. After viewing the content data to the end, the user recognizes the message of FIG. 4 and takes measures to resume communication. Thereby, the user can continue viewing without being disturbed by an error message during the reproduction of the content data.

  Returning to FIG. 2, when the communication is disconnected before the download of the content data is completed, the process proceeds from step S102 to step S103. In step S103, the notification control unit 112 inquires of the buffer remaining amount acquisition unit 111 about the data amount (buffer remaining amount) of content data stored in the buffer 104 and not reproduced, and acquires the buffer remaining amount. The remaining buffer capacity is calculated from the reproduction position information and the reproduction bit rate of the content data stored in the buffer 104. For example, when 100 MB (megabytes) of content data is stored in the buffer 104, the reproduction bit rate is fixed at 1 MB / s (megabyte / second), and 20 seconds have elapsed since the start of reproduction, the remaining buffer capacity is 80. Second.

  Next, in step S104, the notification control unit 112 determines whether or not the remaining buffer capacity is less than 30 seconds. If the remaining buffer capacity is 30 seconds or longer, the process proceeds from step S104 to step S112. If the communication is not recovered, the process returns to step S103. In this case, no error message is generated and displayed. Thus, the notification control unit 112 performs control so that an error message is not displayed if the remaining buffer capacity is equal to or greater than a threshold value (for example, 30 seconds or more).

  On the other hand, if the remaining buffer capacity is less than 30 seconds, the process proceeds from step S104 to step S105. In step S105, the notification control unit 112 determines whether the remaining buffer capacity is less than 5 seconds. When the remaining buffer capacity is 5 seconds or more (when the remaining buffer capacity is 5 seconds or more and less than 30 seconds), the process proceeds from step S105 to step S108, and an error message indicating that “communication has been disconnected” is generated. In step S111, the notification control unit 112 displays an error message indicating that “communication has been cut off” over the video being played back. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of an error message “communication cut off” displayed on the display unit 108. In this case, since the error message “Communication has been disconnected” is displayed in a small portion on the lower right part of the screen of the display unit 108, the user can confirm that the communication has been disconnected while continuing to view the content data. Can be recognized.

  In step S106, the notification control unit 112 determines whether or not the remaining buffer capacity is 0 seconds. When the remaining buffer capacity is greater than 0 seconds (when the remaining buffer capacity is greater than 0 seconds and less than 5 seconds), the process proceeds from step S106 to step S109, and an error message stating “Video playback will stop soon” is displayed. Generate. In step S111, the notification control unit 112 displays an error message indicating that “the video playback will stop soon” superimposed on the video being played back. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of an error message displayed on the display unit 108 to the effect that “video playback will stop soon”. In this case, an error message stating “Video playback will stop soon” is displayed in the middle of the screen of the display unit 108 to warn the user. In this way, by gradually increasing the visibility of the error message, the user is gradually alerted.

  If the notification control unit 112 determines that the remaining buffer capacity is 0 seconds in step S106, the process proceeds to step S107. In step S107, when the notification control unit 112 instructs the playback control unit 105 to stop playback of content data, the playback control unit 105 instructs the decoding unit 106 to stop decoding processing, and playback of content data stops. Is done. Next, in step S110, the notification control unit 112 generates an error message indicating that “video playback has been stopped”. In step S111, the notification control unit 112 displays an error message that “the reproduction of the video has been stopped” over the stopped video. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of an error message “Video playback has been stopped” displayed on the display unit 108. In this case, an error message “Video playback has been stopped” is displayed large in the center of the display unit 108. Note that the stop video may be a fixed blackout screen as shown by diagonal lines in the drawing, or a still video at the time when playback is stopped may be displayed.

  In step S112, the communication monitoring unit 109 determines whether or not the communication is disconnected from the disconnected state. If the communication remains disconnected, the operations from step S103 to step S112 are repeatedly executed. On the other hand, when the communication is disconnected and the normal communication state is restored, the process proceeds from step S112 to step S113.

  In step S113, the notification control unit 112 determines whether an error message is displayed. If an error message is being displayed, the process proceeds to step S114, the notification control unit 112 requests the display control unit 107 to delete the error message, and the display control unit 107 deletes the error message being displayed. On the other hand, if no error message is being displayed, the process proceeds directly from step S113 to step S115.

  In step S115, the playback control unit 105 determines whether the video playback has been stopped in step S107. If the reproduction has been stopped, the process proceeds to step S116, and the reproduction of the video is resumed.

  As described above, when the communication is disconnected, the error message is not displayed immediately, but the display timing is controlled based on the remaining buffer capacity. When the remaining buffer capacity is greater than or equal to a threshold (for example, 30 seconds or more), control is performed so that an error message is not displayed. Control to do. If communication is disconnected while the content data is sufficiently stored in the buffer, it is possible to view the content data without any problem for a certain period of time, without notifying the communication disconnection immediately. Therefore, it is possible to reduce unnecessarily disturbing the user's viewing, and to realize comfortable content viewing.

  FIG. 8 is a second diagram comparing the temporal changes in the data amount of downloaded data (solid line) and reproduced data (dotted line). The vertical axis in FIG. 8 indicates the ratio (%) of downloaded data and the ratio (%) of reproduced data with respect to the total amount of data for one content, and the horizontal axis indicates time t.

  At time t10, when the user operates remote control device 114 to request reproduction of content data, download of content data streamed from the distribution server is started. Reproduction of the downloaded content data is started at time t11, which is a little later than time t10 when the download is started. A period from time t10 to time t12 is a period in which rapid download is executed immediately after the start of download by a technique called fast start. During the period up to time t13, download and playback of the streamed content data are executed in parallel.

  It is assumed that communication disconnection is detected by the communication monitoring unit 109 at time t13. At this stage, the content data is sufficiently accumulated in the buffer 104, so that no error message is displayed. At time t14, the display of the error message “communication cut off” is started from the time when the remaining buffer capacity is less than 30 seconds (see FIG. 5). Although not shown in the drawing, when the remaining amount of the buffer is shorter than 5 seconds, an error message “Video playback will stop soon” is displayed (see FIG. 6). At time t15, when the remaining buffer capacity becomes 0 seconds, the video playback stops and an error message indicating “video playback stopped” is displayed (see FIG. 7).

  As indicated by the dotted line in FIG. 8, when the normal communication state is automatically restored between time t13 and time t14, an error message is not displayed, and the user is obstructed by an extra error message. You can continue watching.

  In this embodiment, the user is alerted in two stages, an error message “communication cut off” and an error message “video playback will stop soon”. You may follow the above procedure. In addition, an error message stating that “communication was lost” is displayed when the remaining buffer capacity is less than 30 seconds, and an error message indicating that “video playback will stop soon” is less than 5 seconds. Although an example of displaying at the point of time has been described, this is merely an example, and it may be controlled to display with the remaining buffer capacity that is considered appropriate for prompting the user to call.

  Note that a setting table as shown in FIG. 9 may be held, the type (cause) of communication disconnection may be identified, and error messages may be displayed at different timings depending on the type of communication disconnection. In the example shown in FIG. 9, when the wireless communication is interrupted, as described above, when the remaining buffer capacity becomes less than 30 seconds, an error message indicating that “communication has been disconnected” is displayed, and the buffer When the remaining amount becomes less than 5 seconds, an error message stating “Video playback will stop soon” is displayed. Also, if the cause is a dropout of the connector, an error message stating that “communication was lost” is displayed when the remaining buffer capacity is less than 60 seconds (or immediately), and the remaining buffer capacity is less than 10 seconds. An error message stating “Video playback will stop soon” is displayed. Also, if the cause is cable disconnection, an error message stating that “communication has been disconnected” is displayed immediately upon detection of communication disconnection. When the remaining buffer capacity is less than 10 seconds, An error message saying “Playback will stop” is displayed. For other causes, an error message stating “Communication was lost” is displayed when the remaining buffer capacity is less than 120 seconds. An error message saying “Playback will stop” is displayed. In either case, an error message indicating that “video playback has stopped” is displayed when the remaining buffer capacity becomes 0 seconds.

  Further, in the present embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the example in which the message display is controlled according to the remaining amount of the buffer only when the download of the content data is not completed has been described, but the present invention is not limited thereto. It is not something. Specifically, steps S102 and S117 to S119 in FIG. 2 may be deleted, and message display control according to the remaining buffer capacity may be performed even when the download is completed. The flowchart in this case is as shown in FIG.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 11, after the disconnection of communication is detected, when the user performs some operation (for example, fast-forward operation), an error message “communication has been disconnected” is displayed immediately. Also good.

(Embodiment 2)
FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the information processing apparatus 200 according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. 12, blocks that perform the same operations as the blocks shown in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will not be repeated. In contrast to the information processing apparatus 100 of FIG. 1, the information processing apparatus 200 is different in that it includes a CM determination unit 201 and a notification control unit 202.

  The CM discriminating unit 201 discriminates whether or not CM (commercial) video is included in unreproduced content data stored in the buffer 104. Further, the CM discriminating unit 201 discriminates whether or not the content data being reproduced is in the CM period from the reproduction position information of the content data stored in the buffer 104. An example of the CM discrimination method is a method of discriminating whether or not the metadata multiplexed in the content data includes a flag indicating the CM period. Alternatively, a method may be used in which the content data is analyzed and the CM is discriminated based on information such as a scene change or a change in audio level.

  When the communication monitoring unit 109 detects a communication disconnection, the notification control unit 202 acquires the buffer remaining amount from the buffer remaining amount acquiring unit 111, and whether the CM data is included in the content data from the CM determining unit 201. Get information about whether or not. Then, control is performed to generate an error message and notify the user of communication disconnection.

  FIG. 13 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the information processing apparatus 200. In step S201, the communication monitoring unit 109 determines whether communication disconnection is detected. If communication disconnection is detected, the process proceeds from step S201 to step S202. In step S202, the notification control unit 202 inquires of the buffer remaining amount acquisition unit 111 about the data amount (buffer remaining amount) of content data stored in the buffer 104 and not reproduced, and acquires the buffer remaining amount. The remaining buffer capacity is calculated from the reproduction position information and the reproduction bit rate of the content data stored in the buffer 104.

  In step S203, the notification control unit 202 determines whether the remaining buffer capacity is 0 seconds. If the remaining buffer capacity is 0 seconds, the process proceeds from step S203 to step S204. In step S204, when the notification control unit 202 instructs the playback control unit 105 to stop playback of content data, the playback control unit 105 instructs the decoding unit 106 to stop decoding processing, and playback of content data stops. Is done. Next, in step S <b> 205, the notification control unit 202 generates an error message indicating that “video playback has stopped”. Then, the process proceeds to step S209, and the notification control unit 202 displays an error message indicating that “the reproduction of the video has been stopped” over the stopped video (see FIG. 7).

  If the notification control unit 202 determines in step S203 that the remaining buffer capacity is 0 seconds, the process proceeds to step S206. In step S206, the notification control unit 202 inquires of the CM determination unit 201 whether or not a CM (commercial) period is included in the unreproduced content data stored in the buffer 104. When the CM period is not included in the content data stored in the buffer 104 and not reproduced, the process proceeds from step S206 to step S208, and the notification control unit 202 generates an error message indicating that “communication has been disconnected”. . In step S209, the notification control unit 202 displays an error message indicating that “communication has been cut off” over the video being played back (see FIG. 5).

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S206 that the CM period is included in the unreproduced content data stored in the buffer 104, the process proceeds to step S207. In step S207, the notification control unit 202 inquires of the CM determination unit 201 whether or not the content data being reproduced is in the CM period. If the CM video is being reproduced, the process proceeds from step S207 to step S208, and the notification control unit 202 generates an error message indicating that “communication has been disconnected”. Then, in step S209, the notification control unit 202 displays an error message “communication cut off” superimposed on the CM video being reproduced. FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of an error message “Communication has been cut off” displayed on the display unit 108. An error message “communication cut off” is displayed small in a part of the lower right of the screen of the display unit 108 displaying the CM video.

  As described above, when the CM period is included in the content data stored in the buffer 104 and not reproduced, an error message is not displayed until the CM video is reproduced, so that the user's viewing is not disturbed. Then, an error message is displayed after the CM video starts, and the user can recognize that the communication has been disconnected. Note that the method of notifying the user that the communication has been disconnected is not limited to displaying a message, and for example, a form of notifying by voice may be used.

  In step S210, the communication monitoring unit 109 determines whether or not the communication has been restored from the disconnected state to the normal communication state. If the communication remains disconnected, the operations from step S202 to step S210 are repeatedly executed. On the other hand, when the communication is disconnected and the normal communication state is restored, the process proceeds from step S210 to step S211.

  In step S211, the notification control unit 202 determines whether an error message is displayed. If an error message is being displayed, the process advances to step S212, the notification control unit 202 requests the display control unit 107 to delete the error message, and the display control unit 107 deletes the currently displayed error message. On the other hand, if the error message is not being displayed, the process proceeds directly from step S211 to step S213.

  In step S213, the playback control unit 105 determines whether or not video playback has been stopped in step S204. If the reproduction has been stopped, the process proceeds to step S214, and the reproduction of the video is resumed.

  FIG. 15 is a diagram comparing the elapsed time of the data amount of downloaded data (solid line) and reproduced data (dotted line). The description of the same portion as FIG. 8 shown in the first embodiment will not be repeated. In contrast to FIG. 8, the time t21 at which the error message display starts is different.

  At the time when communication disconnection is detected by the communication monitoring unit 109 at time t13, since the CM period is included in the content data stored in the buffer 104 and not reproduced, no error message is displayed. When playback of the CM video starts at time t21, an error message indicating that “communication has been disconnected” is started (see FIG. 14). At time t15, when the remaining buffer capacity becomes 0 seconds, the video playback stops and an error message indicating “video playback stopped” is displayed (see FIG. 7).

  Therefore, when viewing content data including a CM, it is possible to prevent viewing from being disturbed by the display of an error message during a period excluding the CM (main video playback period). As described above, when communication is disconnected, an error message is not displayed immediately, but it is determined whether or not a CM period is included, and an error message is displayed at an appropriate display timing. As a result, an extra error message is not displayed during reproduction of the main video, so that the user can perform comfortable viewing.

It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the information processing apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. 3 is a flowchart for explaining an operation of the information processing apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1. It is the 1st figure which compared the time change of the data amount of downloaded data and reproduced data. FIG. 11 is a first diagram illustrating an example of an error message “communication cut off” displayed on the display unit of the information processing apparatus. FIG. 10 is a second diagram illustrating an example of an error message indicating “communication cut off” displayed on the display unit of the information processing apparatus. It is a figure which shows an example of the error message of "the video reproduction will stop soon" displayed on the display part of information processing apparatus. It is a figure which shows an example of the error message of "the reproduction | regeneration of an image | video stopped" displayed on the display part of information processing apparatus. It is the 2nd figure which compared the time change of the data amount of downloaded data and reproduced data. It is a figure which shows an example of a setting table. It is the example of a change of the flowchart for demonstrating operation | movement of information processing apparatus. FIG. 10 is a third diagram illustrating an example of an error message indicating “communication cut off” displayed on the display unit of the information processing apparatus. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the information processing apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. 13 is a flowchart for explaining an operation of the information processing apparatus illustrated in FIG. 12. It is a figure which shows an example of the error message of "the communication was cut | disconnected" displayed on the display part of information processing apparatus. It is the figure which compared the time passage of the data amount of downloaded data and reproduced data.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Information processing apparatus 101 Cable 102 Connector 103 Data receiving part 104 Buffer 105 Playback control part 106 Decoding part 107 Display control part 108 Display part 109 Communication monitoring part 110 Download completion determination part 111 Buffer remaining amount acquisition part 112 Notification control part 113 Remote control reception Part 114 Remote control device

Claims (8)

It communicates with the distribution server, a communication unit that will receive the content data that is streamed over the communication network,
Playback control means for controlling the content data received by the communication means to be played back while being stored in a storage unit;
Monitoring means for detecting communication disconnection by monitoring whether the content data is normally received by the communication means;
If the communication disconnection is detected by the monitoring means, and judging means for judging whether the accumulation of the content data to the storage unit is completed,
An acquisition means for acquiring a data amount of the content data stored in the storage unit and not reproduced when it is determined by the determination means that the storage of the content data is not completed;
The detected monitoring means by Ri communication cut is and the case where the accumulation of the content data by discriminating means is determined to have been completed, after the reproduction control means has completed playback of the content data, the communication When the disconnection is detected, the user is notified, and when the communication disconnection is detected by the monitoring unit, and the determination unit determines that the storage of the content data is not completed, the acquisition unit acquires A notification control means for comparing the data amount with a first threshold value and notifying the user that communication disconnection has been detected if the data amount is less than the first threshold value. Information processing apparatus. The notification control means determines the amount of data acquired by the acquisition means when the disconnection is detected by the monitoring means and the storage of the content data is not completed by the determination means. if it is less than first threshold value, a different notification forms depending on the amount of data, the information processing apparatus according to claim 1 in which communication cut and notifies the user that is detected. When the communication control unit detects disconnection of communication and the determination unit determines that the storage of the content data is not completed,
If the amount of data acquired by the acquisition means is less than the first threshold and greater than or equal to the second threshold, control is performed to display a message indicating that communication has been cut off on the display unit,
If the amount of data acquired by the acquisition unit is less than the second threshold value, control is performed to display a message indicating that the playback of the content data will be stopped soon.
The information processing apparatus according to claim 2. Before Ki監 vision means identifies a type of the communication disconnection,
The notification value for the first threshold value the control means used is, the information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in varies depending on the type of the communication disconnection. A receiving step of communicating with a distribution server and receiving content data streamed via a communication network;
A reproduction control step for controlling to reproduce the content data received in the reception step while accumulating in the accumulation unit;
A monitoring step of detecting communication disconnection by monitoring whether the reception of the content data in the reception step is normally performed;
When it is detected a communication disconnection in the monitoring step, a determination step of determining whether or not the accumulation of the content data to the storage unit is completed,
An acquisition step of acquiring a data amount of the content data stored in the storage unit and not reproduced when it is determined in the determination step that the storage of the content data is not completed;
If the communication disconnection is detected in the monitoring step and it is determined in the determination step that the storage of the content data has been completed , the communication disconnection is performed after the reproduction control step ends the reproduction of the content data. If the communication disconnection is detected in the monitoring step and it is determined that the accumulation of the content data is not completed in the determination step, the data acquired in the acquisition step is notified to the user. A notification control step of comparing the amount with a first threshold and notifying the user that communication disconnection has been detected if the amount of data is less than the first threshold. A method for controlling a processing apparatus. In the notification control step, when the communication disconnection is detected in the monitoring step and it is determined in the determination step that the accumulation of the content data is not completed, the data amount acquired in the acquisition step is 6. The method of controlling an information processing apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein if it is less than one threshold value , the user is notified that a communication disconnection is detected in a different notification form depending on the amount of data. . In the notification control step, when communication disconnection is detected in the monitoring step and it is determined that the accumulation of the content data is not completed in the determination step,
If the amount of data acquired in the acquisition step is less than the first threshold and greater than or equal to the second threshold, control is performed to display a message indicating that communication has been disconnected on the display unit,
If the amount of data acquired in the acquisition step is less than the second threshold value, control is performed to display a message indicating that the playback of the content data will be stopped soon.
The information processing apparatus control method according to claim 6. The monitoring step identifies the type of communication disconnection,
The information processing apparatus control method according to claim 5, wherein a value of the first threshold value used in the notification control step is different depending on a type of the communication disconnection.

Images