JPH07226920A - Recorded accompaniment equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the recorded accompaniment (KARAOKE) equipment in which a singer surely recognizes character of a text to be sung with accompa niment. CONSTITUTION:The recorded accompaniment (KARAOKE) equipment extracting playing information from a storage medium storing information relating plural musics, reproducing a playing sound and extracting song information to display a text is provided with an input section 100 inputting music selection instruction, a sound reproducing means extracting music playing information and reproducing it from the storage medium, a synchronization information extract section 105 extracting the synchronization information of a music played at present from a storage medium, a text display section 115 retrieving music text information, a character segmentation means extracting a 1st character group including the song representing the synchronization information and extracting a 2nd character group including the 1st character group, and a text display section 115 increasing characters of the 1st character group more than character of the 2nd character group and displaying the 2nd character group onto a CRT.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a karaoke device,
For details, play the song and write the lyrics of the song on the CRT.
The present invention relates to a karaoke device which is displayed on a display device such as.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A karaoke device plays a song to be sung and displays the lyrics of the song by a predetermined operation.
By using this device, without preparing an orchestra,
You can sing along with the performance of the song. Therefore, at present, this karaoke apparatus is widely popular because it can easily and conveniently sing a desired piece of music along with the performance.

A conventional karaoke device displays a series of lyrics on a display device of the device itself before being played. Then, as the performance progresses, the lyrics that should be sung according to the current playing performance are displayed in a color different from the other lyrics among the displayed lyrics, and the singer side
I was informed of the lyrics position. By doing so, this karaoke device helped the singer to sing along with the performance.

[0004]

However, in the conventional karaoke apparatus, when the singer is at a position away from the display device of the karaoke device, on the display device, the lyrics to be sung according to the current playing performance are displayed. I understand that the color of the lyrics of the part has changed, but sometimes the letters of the lyrics cannot be recognized because of the distance. Further, if the singer is a person whose color is difficult to identify, there is a problem that the lyrics to be sung now cannot be identified even if the singer is near the display device.

In view of the above-mentioned circumstances, the present invention provides a method in which the singer is far from the display device of the karaoke machine,
Furthermore, even if the singer is a person whose color is difficult to identify, a karaoke device is provided that allows the singer to recognize the lyrics of the lyrics that should be sung according to the current playing performance among the lyrics displayed on the display device. The purpose is to

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention of claim 1 provides performance information about a plurality of songs,
From the storage medium that stores the lyrics information and the synchronization information between the performance and the lyrics in association with each other, the performance information is extracted to reproduce the performance sound, and the lyrics information related to the performance information is also extracted. A karaoke device that extracts and visually displays lyrics, and input means for inputting an instruction to select a desired song,
Of the sound reproduction means for reproducing the performance sound by extracting the performance information of the song selected and designated by the input means from the storage medium, and the synchronization information of the song selected and designated by the input means from the storage medium, A sync information extracting means for extracting the sync information of the music being played, and the lyrics information of the music selected and instructed by the input means are searched to extract a first character group including at least the lyrics indicated by the sync information. At the same time, the character cutting means for extracting the second character group included in the first character group, and the first character group are the second character groups excluding the first character group.
And a display unit for displaying the second character group on the display unit so as to be larger than the characters of the character group.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the character cutting means sets the range of the lyrics indicated by the lyrics information of the song selected and instructed by the input means for each predetermined number of characters, and the synchronization information from the synchronization information retrieval means is set. And a first setting unit for converting the character group of the range calculated by the calculating unit into the second character group.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the character slicing means of the first aspect of the invention is arranged to sing from the first character group within the lyrics indicated by the lyrics information of the song selected and instructed by the input means. Then, an extracting means for extracting a predetermined number of characters in a forward direction and a backward direction from the predetermined number of characters, and a character group obtained by combining the characters extracted by the extracting means with the first character group is the second character group. And a second setting unit that causes the setting.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the character cutting means of the first aspect of the present invention, the characters arranged in a singing sequence from the first character group extracted by the extracting means are set to a predetermined number of characters extracted in the forward direction. , And a first designating means for designating a predetermined number of characters extracted in the backward direction. The invention according to claim 5 is the first extracted by the character cutting means according to the invention according to claim 1.
And a second designating means for designating the number of characters of the character group.

The invention of claim 6 is characterized in that the character cutting means of claim 1 is provided with a third designating means for designating the number of characters of the second character group.

[0011]

According to the invention of claim 1, when the input means inputs an instruction to select a desired music piece from the music pieces of the music information storage means, the music performance means performs the performance information of the music piece selected and instructed by the input means. To play the song. Then, the synchronization information search means searches the synchronization information storage means and extracts the synchronization information of the song currently being played. Then, the character slicing unit searches the lyrics information storage unit to extract the first character group including at least the character indicated by the synchronization information, and to extract the second character group included in the first character group. Extract. Then, the display means makes the first character group larger than the characters of the second character group excluding the first character group,
The character group of is displayed on the display unit.

According to the invention of claim 2, the calculating means causes the character cutting means to set the range of the lyrics indicated by the lyrics information of the song selected and instructed by the input means for each predetermined number of characters, and the synchronization information searching means. And calculating the range in which the character indicated by the synchronization information is included. Then, the first setting means sets the character group in the range calculated by the calculating means to the second group.
Let the character group of.

According to the third aspect of the invention, the extraction means causes the character cutting means of the first aspect of the invention to include the first character group in the lyrics indicated by the lyrics information of the song selected and instructed by the input means. From, a predetermined number of characters are extracted in the forward direction and the backward direction in the sung sequence. And
The second setting means makes the second character group a character group in which the characters extracted by the extracting means and the first character group are combined.

According to the invention of claim 4, the first designating means causes the character slicing means of the invention of claim 1 to forward the characters in a sequence to be sung from the first character group extracted by the extracting means. A predetermined number of characters to be extracted and a predetermined number of characters to be extracted backward are specified. According to the invention of claim 5, the second designating means designates the number of characters of the first character group extracted by the character cutting means of the invention of claim 1.

According to the invention of claim 6, the third specifying means specifies the number of characters of the second character group by the character cutting means of claim 1.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. (Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a karaoke apparatus of Embodiment 1. 100 is an input unit, 101 is an LD
Extraction unit, 102 is a character generation unit, 103 is a clock, 10
4 is a counter, 105 is a synchronous character searching unit, 106 is a first character cutting unit, 107 is a second character cutting unit,
108 is a third character cutout unit, 109 is an output unit, 11
0 is a storage medium storage unit, 111 is a font storage unit, 112
Is a character storage unit, and 113 is a setting information storage unit.

The output unit 109 includes a video / music output unit 114 and a lyrics display unit 115. Video and music output section 11
Reference numeral 4 denotes a CRT and a speaker, and reads out the video / music information stored in the LD 116 (laser disk) stored in the storage medium storage unit 110, which will be described in detail later, and the video / CRT from the read video / music information. It is a well-known technique of displaying the performance sound and outputting the performance sound from a speaker.

The lyrics display section 115 includes a video / music output section 11
The lyrics are displayed on the CRT which 4 has.
Specifically, the lyrics of the portion to be sung according to the performance sound output from the speaker included in the video / music output unit 114 is displayed on the lower part of the CRT (hereinafter, referred to as "below").
The displayed lyrics are referred to as the displayed lyrics portion. ). The input unit 100 is composed of a keyboard. By operating this keyboard, it is possible to input the instruction to select the song you want to sing and the instruction to start playing the song, and to confirm the set number of the displayed lyrics part and the set number of the identification character group displayed below on the CRT. it can. The set number of characters in the displayed lyrics portion is the number of characters in the displayed lyrics portion displayed below the CRT. And the identification character group is the displayed lyrics part,
It is a character group including the characters of the lyrics to be sung (hereinafter referred to as performance sound matching characters) in accordance with the song being played.
The set number of the identification character group is the number of characters from the performance sound matching character to the character after which the character is expanded so as to be distinguishable from other characters.

The setting information storage unit 113 stores the set number of display lyrics portions and the set number of identification character groups input from the input unit 100. The storage medium storage unit 110 includes the LD 116.
Store multiple sheets. The LD 116 includes a lyrics information storage area 116 (a), a character size storage area 116 (b),
A synchronization information storage area 116 (c) and a video / music information storage area 116 (d) are provided.

The lyrics information storage area 116 (a) is a CRT.
This is an area for storing a lyrics database displayed above, and stores information indicating the characters of lyrics and information indicating the order in which the characters are sung in association with each other. An example of a conceptual diagram of the lyrics information storage area 116 (a) is shown in FIG.
As shown in the figure, an index number column and a JIS code number column are provided. The JIS code number column stores the JIS code number indicating the lyrics character. The index number column stores the index number indicating the order of the characters sung as described above. For example, the JIS code number “2” stored in association with the index number “5”
"44Fh" is 5 from the first character of the lyrics sung.
The JIS code number of the second sung character is "244F.
h ”. The song stored in the lyrics information storage area 116 (a) is "Spring Creek", and the JIS code number "244Fh" indicates the character "ha".

The character size storage area 116 (b) is CR
This is an area for storing the size of characters in the displayed lyrics portion displayed on T. An example of a conceptual diagram of the character size storage area 116 (b) is shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, "standard" and "enlargement" are stored. The "standard" indicates the reference size of the characters of the lyrics displayed on the CRT determined by this karaoke device. The "enlargement" is also a character size determined in this karaoke device as in the case of the "standard", and indicates a size larger than the reference size indicated by the "standard".

The synchronization information storage area 116 (c) stores information indicating the synchronization between the performance sound and the lyrics. Specifically, the performance time of the song and the characters of the lyrics are stored in association with each other. An example of a conceptual diagram of the synchronization information storage area 116 (c) is shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, an "elapsed time column" and an "index number column" are provided. The "elapsed time column" stores the time elapsed since the time when the performance was started as the time measurement start point. In the index number column, the same index number as that shown in FIG. 2 is stored, which indicates the order of singing. For example, the index number “5” stored in association with the elapsed time “16 ″” means that the character of the lyrics to be sung in accordance with the performance sound to be played, that is, the performance matching character 16 seconds after the performance starts. , And the character having the index number “5”.

The font storage section 111 stores information for expanding the JIS code number stored in the lyrics information storage area 116 (a) of the LD 116 into characters. Specifically, the font storage unit 111 stores the JIS code number and the bitmap data of the character indicated by the JIS code number in the sizes indicated by the above-mentioned "standard" and "enlarged" in association with each other.

The LD extraction unit 101 receives a music selection instruction from the input unit 100. Then, according to the received instruction, the LD 116 storing the information of the music piece is extracted (hereinafter, this extracted LD is referred to as the LD). The character generation unit 102 receives a performance start instruction from the input unit 100. Then, upon receiving it, the lyrics information in the lyrics information storage area 116 (a) of the LD and the character size in the character size storage area 116 (b) are read. Next, the font storage unit 111 is searched to read the read bitmap data of the JIS code number of the character size, and the read bitmap data and the index number of the JIS code number are associated with each other to store the character storage unit 112. To store. The character storage unit 11 associates the bitmap data with the index number.
FIG. 5 shows an example of a conceptual diagram of the character storage unit 112 stored in FIG. As shown in the figure, a "standard column", an "index number column", and an "enlargement column" are provided. "Standard column" stores bitmap data of the size indicated by "Standard",
The "index column" stores the index number. The “enlargement column” stores bitmap data of the size indicated by “enlargement”.

After this storing process, the counter 1
In 04, a signal indicating “execution of initialization” and a clock are
Signal indicating "timer start", sync character search unit 10
Signals indicating "start of extraction of elapsed time" are output to 5, respectively. The counter 104 is used by a sync character search unit 105, which will be described later, in order to find out a character matching the playing sound. Specifically, when the signal “execute initialization” from the character generation unit 102 is received, the count is initialized to “1”. Further, when a signal “count execution” is received from the synchronous character search unit 105 described later, “1” is added.

The clock 103 is also used by the synchronous character search unit 105, which will be described later, to search for a sound-character matching character, as in the case of the counter 104. Specifically, when the signal “timer start” from the character generation unit 102 is received, time measurement is started. The synchronous character search unit 105 has a function of finding out a performance matching character that changes according to the progress of a performance sound. Specifically, when the signal “start extraction of elapsed time” from the input unit 100 or the signal “execute extraction of next elapsed time” from the third character cutout unit 108 described later is received, the counter 1
The numerical value of 04 is read. Then, in the "elapsed time column" stored in the synchronization information storage area of the LD, the index number of the order indicated by the numerical value of the counter 104 is searched in the order from the smallest elapsed time to the largest elapsed time. As a result, if there is no corresponding index number, the processing operation ends. On the other hand, if there is a corresponding index number, that index number is read. Then, the index number is compared with the clock measurement time. If they match, the index number stored in relation to the elapsed time is output to the first character cutout unit 106 in the subsequent stage, and at the same time, the counter 104 outputs a signal indicating “count execution”.

The first character slicing section 106 has a function of checking out an identification character group, converting it into a predetermined size, and outputting it. Specifically, an index number (hereinafter referred to as the index number) is received from the synchronous character search unit 105, and the set number of identification character groups is read from the setting information storage unit 113. Then, the index numbers in the backward direction are calculated by the set number from the index numbers. The backward direction referred to here is a direction in which the lyrics are sung according to the progress of the performance in the line of lyrics.

Then, the character storage unit 11 uses the index number and the calculated index number as search keys.
2 is searched, and the bitmap data of the size indicated by “enlargement” is read out from the bitmap data indicated by both index numbers. Then, the bitmap data is output to the lyrics display section 115 together with the index number. Then, the index number is output to the second character cutout unit 107.

The second character slicing section 107 and the third character slicing section 108 mainly examine the displayed lyrics portion,
It works to output to a specified size. In particular,
When the second character cutout unit 107 receives the index number from the first character cutout unit 106, the second character cutout unit 107 searches the display lyrics part index block including the index number. The displayed lyrics portion index block indicates the lyrics displayed on the CRT in the index numbers stored in the character storage unit 112, that is, the index number group in the range corresponding to the displayed lyrics portion. Specifically, the index number "1" that can be stored in the character storage unit 112, that is, the lyrics to be sung first indicates the index number group of the range divided by the set number of the displayed lyrics portion starting from the index number of the character. It is a thing.

Then, the display lyrics portion index found as described above is used as a third character cutting section 108 in the subsequent stage.
Output to. The third character cutout unit 108 receives the displayed lyrics portion index from the second character cutout unit 107. Then, using the displayed lyrics portion index, index numbers other than the read index number are further searched. With respect to the index number thus found, the "standard" bitmap data is read out, and these bitmap data are output to the lyrics display section 115 together with the index number. Further, after outputting to the lyrics display section 115, a signal "execute next elapsed time" is output to the synchronous character searching section 105.

As described above, the lyrics display section 1
15 displays the input bitmap data on the lower part of the CRT in the order according to the index number. less than,
The operation of the karaoke apparatus having the above configuration will be described with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. As a specific example used to explain this operation, "Haru no Ogawa" shown in FIG. 5 is selected, the set number of displayed lyrics is set to "7", and the set number of identification character groups is set to "0", that is, a playing sound. Only the matching characters are displayed in the size indicated by "enlargement".

First, the operator wants to sing through the input unit 100, the set number of displayed lyrics portions ("7" in the specific example), the set number of identification character groups ("0" in the specific example), and sing. Song selection information (in the specific example, selection information indicating "Spring Creek")
, And then the instruction to start the performance (S100,
S101). Then, the LD extracting unit 101 stores the song information indicated by the selection information from the storage medium storage unit 110 in the LD.
Is extracted.

Next, the lyrics information is read from the lyrics information storage area 116 (a) of the LD (the LD) extracted by the character generation unit 102, and the character size storage area 1 is read.
Character size information is read from 16 (b). next,
J of the lyrics information searched in the font storage unit 111
The bit map data of the character size information is searched by the IS code number. Then, the searched bitmap data and the index number are associated with each other and stored in the character storage unit 112 (S102, S103). In the case of the specific example, the lyric information of "Haru no Ogawa" shown in FIG. 2 and "standard" and "enlarged" showing the character size shown in FIG. 3 are read. Next, the font storage unit 111 is searched to read the bipmap data of the size indicated by "standard" and the bipmap data of the size indicated by "enlarge" for each JIS code number of the lyrics information in FIG. Be done. Then, the read out bipmap data is stored in the character storage unit 112 as shown in FIG.

Next, the character generator 102 reads out the video and music information from the video and music information storage area 116 (d) of the LD, displays the video on the CRT, and displays the music desired by the singer from the speaker. The performance sound is output.
Then, as the clock 103 starts measuring time,
The counter 104 counts "1" (S10)
4).

Next, the L
The "elapsed time column" of the synchronization information storage area 116 (c) stored in D is searched (S105), and the smallest elapsed time among the elapsed times stored in the "elapsed time column" is searched. (Hereinafter referred to as “first elapsed time”) and its first
The index number (hereinafter referred to as the first index number) stored in association with the elapsed time of is read (S105). Next, the measured time of the clock 103 is detected and collated with the first elapsed time. When the detected elapsed time matches the first elapsed time,
"1" is added to the counter 104, and the first index number associated with this first elapsed time is the first
Is output to the character clipping unit 106 (S105 to S11).
0), a character cutout process which will be described in detail later is performed. (S
111) As a result of the processing, the identification character group including the characters of the lyrics to be sung according to the performance sound currently being played, that is, the performance sound matching character is set to the size indicated by "enlargement", and the display characters other than the identification character group are displayed. The part is sized according to the "standard" C
It is displayed at the bottom of the RT. After this display, the synchronous character search unit 105 reads the numerical value “2” of the counter 104, and the second smallest elapsed time indicated by the numerical value “2” (hereinafter, this elapsed time is referred to as the second elapsed time). And the index number stored in association with the second elapsed time (hereinafter, this index number is referred to as the second index number) and the synchronization information storage area 116.
It is extracted from the "elapsed time column" in (c). Then, as in the case of the first index number, the clock measurement time is detected and collated with the second elapsed time. When the detected elapsed time and the second elapsed time match, the second index number related to the second elapsed time is output to the first character cutout unit 106, and the character cutout process is performed. . As a result of the processing, the identification character group including the performance sound matching character is set to the size indicated by "enlargement",
The display character portion other than the identification character group is displayed in the lower part of the CRT in the size indicated by "standard". After that, “1” is added to the counter 104. Then counter 10
Elapsed time of the sequence according to the number counted by 4, that is,
3rd smallest elapsed time, 4th smallest time ...
As described above, the elapsed time is sequentially increased, and the above process is repeated for all the index numbers stored in the character storage unit 112, so that the performance sound matching characters that change according to the progress of the performance are obtained. The included identification character group is displayed in the size indicated by “enlargement”, and the display character portion other than the identification character group is displayed in the lower portion on the CRT in the size indicated by “standard”.

In the case of the specific example, the first one from the synchronization information of FIG.
Elapsed time "10 seconds" and the first index number "1"
Is read out. Then, the elapsed time of the clock is detected and the detected time is collated with "10 seconds". They match in the matching process 10 seconds after the start of clock measurement. Then, "1" is added to the counter 104 to count "2", and the first index number "1" stored in association with this "10 seconds" is output to the first character cutout unit 106. To be done. Therefore, the first character cutout process is performed. As a result of the processing, the identification character group including the performance sound matching character is displayed in the size indicated by "enlargement", and the display character portion other than the identification character group is displayed in the lower portion on the CRT in the size indicated by "standard". It Next, the count “2” of the counter 104 is read. The second elapsed time "12 seconds" and the second index number "2" of the synchronization information in FIG. 4 are read from this numerical value. Then, the elapsed time of the clock is detected and the detected time is collated with "12 seconds". 12 from the start of clock measurement
Matches in the matching process after a second. Then, "1" is added to the counter 104 to count "3", and the second number stored in association with "12 seconds" is stored.
The index number “2” of the first character cutout unit 10
6 is output. Then, the character cutting process is performed.
As a result of the processing, the identification character group including the performance sound matching character is displayed in the size indicated by "enlargement", and the display character portion other than the identification character group is displayed in the lower portion on the CRT in the size indicated by "standard". It Thereafter, according to the count number of the counter 104, the third elapsed time “13 ″”, then the fourth elapsed time “14 ″” ... The above process is repeated for all index numbers.

Synchronous character retrieval unit 10 as time passes
The index number from 5 is the first character cutout unit 106.
When is received, the character cutout process (S111) is performed using the index number. In the character cutout process, as shown in FIG. 7, the first character cutout unit 106 reads the set number of identification character groups from the setting information storage unit 113 (S200). Next, the index numbers corresponding to the set number are calculated backward from the received index number (the index number) (S20).
1). Then, using the index number and the calculated index number as search keys, the character storage unit 112 is searched to extract the bipmap data of the size indicated by "enlargement" with respect to this search key (S202). And
These bipmap data and index numbers are associated with each other and output to the lyrics display unit 115 (S203).
At the same time, the index number and the calculated index number are output to the second character cutout unit 107.

Specifically, for example, when the index number "6" is accepted, the set number "0" of the identification character group is read from the setting information storage unit 113. As described above, the set number "0" indicates that only performance matching characters are used as identification characters, and that there is no character of the size indicated by "enlargement" other than the index number.
Therefore, only the index number "6" is searched as a search key in the character storage unit 112 of FIG.
The bipmap data “sa” having the size indicated by is extracted. Then, the bipmap data “sa” and the index number “6” are associated with each other and are output to the lyrics display unit 115, and only the index number “6” is output to the second character cutout unit 107.

Next, by using the index numbers received by the second character cutout unit 107 and the third character cutout unit 108, in the lyrics portion displayed on the CRT, other than the previously calculated identification character group. Extraction processing is performed for the character (S204). As shown in FIG. 8, in this extraction processing, first, in the character storage unit 112, the displayed lyrics partial index block including the accepted index number is searched.

Here, the set number of the displayed lyrics portion (this set number is represented by N) is read from the setting information storage unit 113 (S300), the accepted index number is divided by the set number N, and the quotient ( This quotient is represented by a). The first index number “a * N + 1” and the last index number “(N +
1) * a ”is calculated (S301). In addition, "*"
Is the operator that represents the product. Next, after the index block of the displayed lyrics portion is searched out, the index numbers other than the accepted index number are changed from "a * N + 1" to "(a + 1) *.
The index numbers up to "N" are searched (S302).
Search the character storage unit 112 for the index number "a
For the index numbers including "* N + 1" and "(a + 1) * N", and between them, the bipmap data of the size indicated by "standard" is extracted (S303). Then, the index numbers and the bipmap data are associated with each other and output to the lyrics display unit 115 (S304).

Specifically, when the received index number is "6", the set number "7" of the displayed lyrics portion is read from the setting information storage unit 113. Then, the accepted sixth index number “6” is divided by “7”, and the quotient “0” is calculated. The index number “1” (“6 * 0 + 1 = 1”) at the beginning of the displayed lyrics portion and the index number “7” (“(0 + 1) * 7 =
7 ”) is calculated. Then, index numbers “1”, “2”, other than the sixth index number “6”,
"3", "4", "5", "7" are searched. Then, from the character storage unit 112, the bipmap data “spring”, “no”, “small”, “river”, “ha” of the size indicated by “standard” corresponding to the index numbers thus found,
“La” is extracted. These are output to the lyrics display unit 115 together with the index number. When the lyrics display unit 115 receives the index number and the bipmap data that are input each time the time elapses, the received bipmap data is displayed on the lower portion of the CRT in the order according to the associated index number (S205). ). FIG. 9 shows the concept of the operation of extracting the displayed lyrics portion from the character storage unit 112 and displaying it on the CRT in this specific example. Then, FIG. 10 shows the transition of the labeled lyrics portion as the performance progresses. In FIG. 10, it can be seen that only the performance-matching characters are displayed in the size of the character “enlarged”.

As described above, the lyrics of the part to be sung according to the song are C
The characters can be displayed on the RT, and the identification characters including the characters to be sung according to the song (characters matching the playing sound) are changed to the character size indicated by "Enlarge", and the other characters are changed to the character size indicated by "Standard". Can be identified throughout the performance of the song. (Embodiment 2) The karaoke apparatus in this embodiment 2 is C
Example 1 in the way of displaying the lyrics part displayed on RT
Karaoke device is different. That is, in the karaoke apparatus of the first embodiment, the display position of the identification character group changes as the identification character group moves in the displayed lyrics portion as the performance progresses. The identification character group is stationary, and the displayed lyrics portion is displayed to move.

The major difference between the karaoke apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention and that of the first embodiment is that the number of leading positions of the identification character group is added to the setting information storage section, and the second character cutting section 107 and The third character cutout unit 108 is changed to a fourth character cutout unit and a fifth character cutout unit. The identification character group start position number is the input unit 100.
This is position information which is input by the keyboard of No. 1 and which position in the displayed lyrics portion the leading character of the identification character group is fixed. In other words, the identification character group start position number is indicated by the number from the first character of the displayed lyrics portion to the first character of the identification character group. For example, if the number of leading positions of the identification character group is "3", regardless of the progress of the performance,
It indicates that the first character of the identification character group is always located at the third character from the first character of the displayed lyrics portion.

The fourth character cutout portion and the fifth character cutout portion are for always displaying the leading character of the identification character group at the identification character group start position number set by the input unit 100. . The fourth character cutout unit first performs a process of searching out an index of the front surplus character group. Here, the front surplus character group is a group of characters from the start character of the displayed lyrics portion to the character immediately before the identification character group.

The index number of the front surplus character group is searched out from the index number input from the sync character search unit 105, that is, the index number of the performance matching character, from the last index of the front surplus character group. Calculate the number. Then, the index number at the head of the front surplus character group is calculated by referring to the set number of the displayed lyrics portion of the setting information storage unit 113 and the index. This calculation will be described in detail later in the description of the operation.

Next, index numbers between the leading and trailing index numbers of the front surplus character group thus found are searched out to calculate all index numbers of the front surplus character group. Further, the character storage unit 112 is searched to extract the bipmap data of the size indicated by "standard" for the index number of the front surplus character group that has been previously searched, and the bitmap data is displayed along with the index number in the lyrics display. It is output to the unit 115. Then, the index number is output to the fifth character cutout unit.

When the fifth character cutout unit receives the index number from the fourth character cutout unit, the fifth character cutout unit searches for the index number of the backward surplus character group for this index number. Here, the rear surplus character group is a group of characters from the character immediately after the identification character group to the last character of the displayed lyrics portion in the displayed lyrics portion.

In the process of finding the index number of the rear surplus character group, first, the index number of the first character of the rear surplus character group is calculated. This calculation uses the set number of identification character groups in the setting information storage unit 113 as the synchronization character search unit 1
It is calculated in addition to the index number received from 05. Next, the index number of the last character of the rear surplus character group is calculated. This calculation is performed by the setting information storage unit 1
The number of characters from the first character of the displayed lyrics portion to the last character of the identification character group is calculated with reference to the number of identification character group start positions of 13 and the set number of identification character groups. Next, the set number of the displayed lyrics portion, the number of characters calculated previously, and the number of characters from the last character of the identification character group to the last character of the displayed lyrics portion are calculated. Then, the index number of the head of the rear surplus character group is calculated by referring to the calculated number of characters and the index number of the last character of the rear surplus character group calculated previously. Then, the index numbers between the head and tail index numbers of the rear surplus character group thus found are searched out to calculate all the index numbers of the rear surplus character group. The calculation of the index number of the last character of the rear surplus character group and the index number of the head of the rear surplus character group will be described in detail in the operation described later. Next, the character storage unit 112 is searched to extract bitmap data having a size indicated by "standard" for the index number of the rear surplus character group. The lyrics display section 115 includes the bitmap data together with the index numbers.
Output to. After that, the signal “Extract execution of next elapsed time” is output to the synchronous character search unit 105.

In the operation of the karaoke apparatus having the above configuration, the operation of the part different from the operation of the karaoke apparatus of the first embodiment will be described below. The difference between the operation of the second embodiment and the operation of the first embodiment is S100 in FIG.
“Input of setting information” and operation of “extraction processing of characters other than identification character group” in S204 of FIG.

In the "input of setting information" of S100, in addition to the operator inputting the setting number of the displayed lyrics portion, the setting number of the identification character group, and the selection information of the song to be sung via the input unit 100. , The number of leading positions of the identification character group is input. In the “extraction processing of characters other than identification character group” in S204, the surplus character group extraction processing shown in FIG. 11 is replaced.

The surplus character group extraction processing is for the identification character group to always be displayed at the number of positions of the identification character group head set by the input unit 100. First, the index number output from the synchronous character search unit 105 by the process of S109 of FIG. 6, that is, the index number is accepted by the fourth character cutout unit, and the index number of the forward surplus character group is received by the fourth character cutout unit. Are searched out (S500). In this search, the first correction value "1" is removed from the index number to calculate the index number of the last character of the front surplus character group. The first correction value is generated by taking a numerical value for the number of leading positions of the identification character group. Next, the number of leading positions of the identification character group is read from the setting information storage unit 113. Then, the head position number of the identification character group is subtracted from the index number, and the first correction value "1" is added to find the index number of the head character of the front surplus character group.
Then, the index numbers between the leading and trailing front surplus character groups are searched for, and all the index numbers of the front surplus character group are calculated.

FIG. 12 specifically shows the concept of the operation of extracting the front surplus character group from the character storage unit 112 and displaying it on the CRT. More specifically, in this figure, as in the case of the first embodiment, the music selection is “Spring Brook”, the number of identification character group head positions stored in the character storage unit 112 is “3”, and the synchronous character search is performed. If the index number input from the unit 105 is “6”, the second character cutout unit 107 accepts the index number “6”. And "1" is removed from this "6",
The index number "5" of the last character of the front surplus character group is searched. Next, the identification character group start position number “3” is read from the setting information storage unit 113. Then, after subtracting the set number "3" from the accepted index number "6", "1" is added to calculate the index number "4" of the last character of the front surplus character group. All index numbers "4" and "5" of the front surplus character group are searched from the index numbers at the beginning and end of the front surplus character group.

Next, the character storage unit 112 is searched, and with respect to the index number of the front surplus character group that has been previously searched, the bipmap data of the size indicated by "standard" is extracted, and these bitmap data are index numbers. It is output together with the lyrics display section 115. Then, the index number is output to the fifth character cutout unit.

The index number output to the fifth character slicing section is output by the fifth character slicing section.
The index number of the rear surplus character group is searched out (S501). In this process, first, the index number of the first character of the rear surplus character group is calculated. This calculation is based on the set number of identification character groups in the setting information storage unit 113 and the second
The correction value “1” of is calculated in addition to the index number received from the synchronous character search unit 105. It should be noted that the second correction value is generated by taking a numerical value of the identification character group. Next, the index number of the last character of the rear surplus character group is calculated. In this calculation, the number of identification character groups set is subtracted from the number of display lyrics portions set in the setting information storage unit 113, and the number of characters from the first character to the last character of the rear surplus character group is calculated. Next, the calculated number and the set number of identification character groups are added to the index number from the synchronous character search unit 105 to calculate the index number of the last character of the rear surplus character group. Then, from the index numbers at the beginning and the end of the rear surplus character group that were found out, the index numbers between them are found out,
All the index numbers of the backward surplus character group are calculated.

FIG. 12 specifically shows the concept of the operation of extracting the rear surplus character group from the character storage unit 112 and displaying it on the CRT. In detail, in this figure, like the above-mentioned front surplus character group, "Haru no Ogawa" shown in FIG. 4 is selected, the identification character group start position number is "3", and the index number accepted from the synchronous character search unit 105 is set. Set to "6". Then, the following setting information is added to these. That is, the set number of lyrics display portions stored in the setting information is "7",
The set number of the identification character group is “0” (note that, as described in the first embodiment, only the character of the lyrics that should be sung in accordance with the song being played (characters matching the playing sound) is used. "Expansion"
Indicates that it will be displayed in the size indicated by.

First, the set number “0” of the identification character group and the second correction value “1” in the setting information storage unit 113 are added to the index number “6” received from the synchronous character search unit 105, and The index number "7" of the first character of the surplus character group is calculated. Next, the identification character group starting position number “3” and the identification character group setting number “0” are subtracted from the setting number “7” of the displayed lyrics portion of the setting information storage unit 113, from the first character of the rear surplus character group. Number of characters up to the last character "4"
Is calculated. Next, the calculated number “4” is added to the index number “6” from the synchronous character search unit 105,
Index number "1" of the last character in the backward surplus character group
0 ”is calculated. Then, the index numbers "7" and "1" at the beginning and the end of the rear surplus character group that have been found are found.
The index numbers "8" and "9" in between are searched out from "0", and all the index numbers "7", "8", "9" and "10" of the backward surplus character group are calculated.

Next, with respect to the index number of the rear surplus character group that has been found out, the bipmap data having the size indicated by "standard" is extracted (S502). After that, the bitmap data is output to the lyrics display unit 115 together with the index number. After that, the synchronous character search unit 105
The signal "Extract execution of next elapsed time" is output to. In addition,
In the lyrics display unit 115, the bipmap data of the size indicated by “enlarge” and the bipmap data indicated by “standard” are displayed on the lower part of the CRT according to the index number. That is, the identification character group including the characters of the lyrics that should be sung in the performance sound of the song currently being played, that is, the characters matching the performance sound are made into characters of the size indicated by "enlarge", and are displayed in advance from the beginning of the displayed lyrics portion. It is displayed at the set position number of the identification character group. FIG. 13 shows the transition of the labeled lyrics portion as the performance progresses. In FIG. 13, it can be seen that the identification character group is always set at a fixed position and the displayed lyrics portion is moved and displayed.

In the first and second embodiments, the storage medium storage unit 1
Although 10 is constituted by the LD 116, the present invention is not limited to this, and may be constituted by a storage means such as a magnetic tape, a magnetic disk, an IC memory or the like. Also,
In the first and second embodiments, the video is displayed on the CRT, but it is also possible to display only the music without displaying the video.

In the first and second embodiments, the video and the lyrics are displayed on the same CRT, but they may be displayed by different devices. In the first and second embodiments, the lyrics are displayed on the CRT independently of the video, but the lyrics may be displayed as one piece of video information after being combined with the video.
Further, in the first and second embodiments, the lyrics are stored in the LD as a character code, and the character storage unit stores the character code as the bipmap data, but the character is directly stored in the LD as the bipmap data. You may let me.

Further, the font may be expanded into a character size stored in the character size storage unit by using an outline font instead of bitmap data, and the size may be changed. Further, as a method of determining the size of the lyrics to be displayed, not only the ones having different sizes are stored in advance, but the size may be changed by an algorithm.

The character size stored in the character size storage area may be freely set by the input unit.

[0062]

As described above, according to the present invention, the lyrics can be displayed according to the performance, and the character to be sung according to the performance sound currently being played is made larger than the other characters. Since it can be displayed, the character to be sung can be recognized even when the singer is at a position away from the display device of the karaoke device, and also when the singer has difficulty in identifying the color.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a karaoke device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of lyrics information in a lyrics information storage area of an LD stored in a storage medium storage unit of the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a character size of a character size storage area of an LD stored in a storage medium storage unit of the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of synchronization information in an LD synchronization information storage area stored in a storage medium storage unit according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a character storage unit according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of the karaoke apparatus of the first embodiment.

7 is a flowchart of one processing step (character cutout processing processing) of the flowchart of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of one processing step (extraction processing of characters other than the identification character group) in the flowchart of FIG.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a concept of an operation of extracting a display lyrics portion from the character storage unit 112 of the first embodiment and displaying it on a CRT.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a transition of a labeled lyric portion as a performance progresses in the first embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a processing step (excessive character group extraction processing) of the operation procedure of the karaoke apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a concept of an operation of extracting a display lyrics portion from the character storage unit 112 of the second embodiment and displaying it on a CRT.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the transition of the displayed lyrics portion as the performance progresses in the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 100 Input Unit 101 LD Extraction Unit 102 Character Generation Unit 105 Synchronous Character Search Unit 106 First Character Cutout Unit 107 Second Character Cutout Unit 108 Third Character Cutout Unit 109 Output Unit 110 Storage Medium Storage Unit 111 Font Storage Unit 112 Character storage unit 113 Setting information storage unit 114 Video music output unit 115 Lyrics display unit 116 LD 116 (a) Lyrics information storage area 116 (b) Character size storage area 116 (c) Synchronization information storage area 116 (d) Video music information Storage area

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Internal reference number FI Technical display location G11B 20/02 M 9294-5D 27/34 P 8224-5D H04N 5/262 (72) Inventor Miyabe Yoshiyuki, 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor ▲ Yoshi ▼ Kento I, 1006, Kadoma, Kadoma, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. Performance information is extracted by extracting performance information from a storage medium that stores performance information about a plurality of songs, lyrics information, and synchronization information between the performance and the lyrics in association with each song. A karaoke device for extracting lyrics information related to the performance information and visually displaying lyrics, and inputting means for inputting an instruction to select a desired song; The sound reproduction means for extracting the performance information of the music selected and instructed to reproduce the performance sound, and the synchronization information of the music selected and instructed by the input means from the storage medium, are currently playing. The synchronization information extracting means for extracting the synchronization information of the music and the lyrics information of the music selected and instructed by the input means are searched to extract the first character group including at least the lyrics indicated by the synchronization information, and Contains the first character group A character cutting-out means for extracting a second character group; and making the first character group larger than the characters of the second character group excluding the first character group to display the second character group. A karaoke device characterized by comprising: 2. The character cutting means sets the range of the lyrics indicated by the lyrics information of the song selected and instructed by the input means for each predetermined number of characters, and the characters indicated by the synchronization information from the synchronization information retrieval means are set. The calculation means for calculating the range to be entered, and the first setting means for causing the character group of the range calculated by the calculating means to be the second character group are provided. Karaoke device. 3. The character slicing means, in the lyrics indicated by the lyrics information of the song selected and instructed by the input means, is arranged to be sung by the first character group in a predetermined number of characters in a forward direction. Extracting means for extracting a predetermined number of characters in the backward direction, second setting means for making a character group obtained by combining the characters extracted by the extracting means and the first character group into the second character group, The karaoke apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: 4. The character cut-out means has a predetermined number of characters extracted in the forward direction from the first character group extracted by the extraction means, and a character extracted in the backward direction. 3. The karaoke apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a first designating unit for designating a predetermined number of. 5. The karaoke apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising second designating means for designating the number of characters of the first character group extracted by the character cutting means. 6. The karaoke apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a third designating means for designating the number of characters of the second character group by the character cutting means.