JPH08138318A - Image signal recorder/player - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To obtain an image signal recorder/player having a function for reproducing an arbitrary recorded part under recording state. CONSTITUTION: An image signal obtained from a television signal through an antenna 1 and a tuner 2 is digitized and compressed through means for compressing an amount of information per unit time, e.g. an MPEG 1 encoder 4, and the output therefrom is written on a hard disc 8 through a magnetic head. The image signal recorder/player further comprises means for reading out a previously recorded compressed image signal from the hard disc 8 through same magnetic head and reproducing an image signal from the compressed image signal thus read out, e.g. an MPEG 1 decoder 12, and a TV monitor 13 for displaying the image, wherein the previously recorded image signal is read out simultaneously with writing the image signal on the hard disc 8.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a video signal recording / reproducing apparatus using a disk device capable of reproducing a video while recording it.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a recording device for home use,
A VTR is used. As is well known, in this VTR, a broadcast program transmitted by a broadcast station is received / recorded via an antenna and then reproduced after the recording. That is, the recording of a predetermined program is once completed, and then the tape rewinding operation is performed to reproduce and watch the received / recorded program.

[0003]

In the present VTR, it is impossible to record and reproduce at the same time. For example, 1
A broadcast program that starts at 0:00 and ends at 12:00
It is impossible to reproduce and watch from the beginning of the broadcast program from 11:00 while receiving and recording in TR. Furthermore, it was impossible to perform special playback such as fast-forward playback and reverse playback of the recorded portion while receiving and recording the broadcast program. This is a technique currently used in live broadcasting at broadcasting stations, and in an operation called chase playback, the video transmitted to the station is sent out in near real time with some time delay. However, in this case, multiple VTs
R is used, or recording / simultaneous reproduction is performed on an optical disc in which a recording head and a reproducing head are separately mounted. Therefore, a plurality of VTRs are required or a special optical disc device is required. However, there is a problem that the operation is troublesome and the cost is high.

An object of the present invention is to provide a video signal recording / reproducing apparatus capable of simultaneously reproducing a television signal while recording it.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, a video signal recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention comprises a receiving means for receiving a television signal and a digitizing of the received video signal for each unit time. Image compression means for compressing the amount of information, writing means for writing the compressed image signal obtained as the output of the image compression means to the hard disk device via a magnetic head, and the hard disk device via the same magnetic head as described above. , A read means for reading the written compressed image signal, a decoding means for restoring the read compressed video signal to the original video signal, and a display means for displaying the video, for compressing the video signal being received. It is characterized in that the video signal previously recorded is read at the same time as writing to the hard disk device.

[0006]

According to the present invention, with the above-described structure, a broadcast program is received, compression-encoded, and then recorded, and special reproduction such as fast-forward reproduction and reverse reproduction is performed on the recorded portion as an operation independent of the recording. It is possible to realize a device capable of
As a result, it is possible to start watching the recorded program without waiting for the program to end as in the case of recording / playback by one VTR. Further, even when the viewing is started after a long time from the initial broadcasting start time, the viewing can be completed almost at the same time as the ending of the broadcasting by using the fast-forward reproduction on the way together.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention. 1 is an antenna, 2 is a tuner, 3 is a demodulator, 4 is an MPEG1 encoder, 5 and 6 are recording buffer memories, 7 is a first switch, 8 is a hard disk device, 9 and 10 are reproduction buffer memories, and 11 is The second switch, 12 is an MPEG decoder, 13 is a television monitor, 14 is a hard disk controller, 15 is a table RAM, 16 is a system controller, 17 is a timer, and 18 is an operation panel.

The operation of this embodiment will be described below with reference to FIG. 1. Before that, the operation concept will be described with reference to FIG. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, it is assumed that the viewer desires to watch the broadcast program broadcasted from 10:00 to 12:00 ((a) in the same figure). However, for some reason, the viewer can view only after 11:00. In this case, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to start reproduction from the beginning of the program from 11:00 while recording from 10:00 to 12:00 ((b) in the same figure) ((c) in the same figure). If the normal reproduction mode is selected, the program ends at 1:00 am, which is two hours after the start of viewing.
Further, as shown in FIG. 7D, fast-forward reproduction can also be performed on the already recorded portion, so that the program actually ends.
It is also possible to end all when a little later than the time.

The detailed operation of this embodiment will be described below. The viewer sets the TV channel, the recording start time, and the recording end time of the program desired to be watched in advance on the operation panel 18. For example, suppose that a program on channel 6 starting at 10 pm is set. Then, at 10 o'clock, the system controller 16 sets the tuner 2 to channel 6 based on the information of the timer 17, selects the radio wave of channel 6 from the radio waves received by the antenna 1, and demodulates it by the demodulator 3.

This signal can be viewed on the television monitor 13. This received signal is converted into a compressed video signal by the MPEG1 encoder 4, and 1.5 Mbps is obtained.
It becomes the bit stream of. This signal is, for example, 200
Data is written in the hard disk device 8 via the first and second recording buffer memories 5 and 6 having a capacity of K bytes and the first switch 7.

Details of the operation of this portion will be described later with reference to FIG. The correspondence between the sector information indicating the physical position of the written compressed video signal on the hard disk and the time information at that time is stored in the table RAM 15. This state is maintained until 11:00 when the viewer starts viewing.
At 1 o'clock, the viewer starts watching in front of the TV monitor 13. At this time, if the user wants to watch the program from the beginning at the reserved recording time (10:00), he or she may press the reproduction button (not shown in the figure) on the operation panel 18.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 2 (c), the program from 10:00 is played from the beginning and from 11:00 at normal speed. The compressed video signal recorded in the hard disk device 8 is reproduced through the reproduction buffer memories 9 and 10 and the second switch 11 under the control of the hard disk controller 14 based on the information in the table RAM 15. Detailed operation of this part is shown in FIG.
It will be described later. The reproduced compressed video signal is MPEG
The video signal is decoded by the 1 decoder 12. This is displayed on the television monitor 13.

During this time, the MPEG1 encoder 4
The compressed video signal compressed by is continuously written in the hard disk device 8 until 12:00 through the recording buffer memories 5 and 6 and the first switch 7. At 12:00, based on the information from the timer 17, the system controller 16 finishes recording on the hard disk device 8. The video signal written at this time can be viewed at the same time as the reproduced video signal on the TV monitor 13 by means such as screen division.

On the other hand, the reproducing operation is performed by the viewer's operation panel 18
By operating from, according to the command of the system controller 16, it is possible to slowly see a portion to be viewed in detail or skip an unnecessary portion. Correspondence between the sector information in which the compressed video signal on the hard disk is recorded and the time information necessary for these is stored in the table RAM 15.

The format of this table is shown in FIG. In the figure, 19 is time information indicated by a time code, and 20 is a sector number of the hard disk. In this example, since consecutive sectors are used every one second, sector addresses every one second are shown. Based on this time information, the hard disk controller 14 reproduces the necessary video signal according to the viewer's operation.

By the way, in MPEG1, image compression is usually performed with a plurality of frames as one unit, and the concept of GOP (Group of Pictures) is used as the unit. For example, in the case of 1 GOP = 15 frames, 1 GOP corresponds to an image for 0.5 seconds. Therefore, in the case of fast-forward reproduction or slow-motion reproduction, the motion becomes unsmooth when the video decoded in GOP units is thinned out in GOP units and interpolated. In order to smooth the movement, it is necessary to perform decimation and interpolation for each frame.

That is, in the case of 10 times fast-forward reproduction, it can be realized by reproducing 1 frame out of 10 frames, and in the case of 1/10 slow reproduction, the same frame is displayed 10 times in succession. It is possible by the method.

The time difference between the time at which the video screen currently being reproduced is recorded and the current time is obtained by using the time information from the table RAM 15, and this recording time and the current time are subtracted from each other. It can be calculated by performing the calculation, and can be monitored by displaying it on the TV monitor 13. Any part can be reproduced until the time difference becomes zero. Also, the output of the demodulator 3 and M
It is also possible to simultaneously display both times on the television monitor 13 by dividing both of the outputs of the PEG1 decoder 12 into screens. By doing this, it is possible to watch the currently broadcast video and the currently played video at the same time.

If the hard disk device has a capacity of 2 hours for the compressed image signal, 2 hours from the start of recording.
If the viewing is not started within the time, by updating the signal at that time, it is possible to always cover from the start of the viewing to the broadcast two hours before. It is also possible to set a mode in which updating is stopped. In this case, it is only possible to record for 2 hours like a normal VTR.

Details of the timing relating to the peripheral hardware of the hard disk 8 will be described below with reference to FIG.

Although details of the hard disk device are omitted in FIG. 1, the hard disk device is a general-purpose device as a peripheral device of a computer system, and the disk medium may have a structure of one disk or a plurality of disks. Is not a recording-only or reproduction-only head, but a recording / reproduction head.

FIG. 4 (a) shows the MPEG1 encoder output, A1, A2, A3, ... Are signals obtained by dividing each of them by 1.5 Mbits, and (b) is a 200 Kbyte recording buffer memory 5 of FIG. In the operation mode, W means writing to the memory and R means reading from the memory. Therefore, for example, A1-W means writing the signal of A1 in the buffer memory, and A1-R means reading the signal of A1 from the buffer memory. Writing to the buffer memory is performed in real time with the video signal, and reading is performed at high speed in accordance with the transfer speed to the hard disk device 8.

FIG. 4C shows the operation mode of the 200 Kbyte recording buffer memory 6, and W and R mean the same as those in FIG. The buffer memory 5 and the buffer memory 6 operate as a pair with each other, and while one is transferring data to the hard disk via the first switch 7, the other stores the compressed video signal from the MPEG1 encoder 4. There is.

(D) shows the seek timing for writing to the hard disk device 8. (E) shows the timing of transferring and writing data from the buffer memory 5 or 6 to the hard disk device 8. A1-W means to write the signal of A1 to the hard disk. In the figure, it is difficult to understand the context of timing, but A1 in (b)
Since there is a relation that what is read by -R is written by A1-W in (e), it is only (b)
(C) precedes (e).

(F) shows the seek timing for reading from the hard disk. (G) shows the read timing from the hard disk, and B1-R means that the signal of B1 is read from the hard disk.
(H) shows the operation mode of the reproduction buffer memory 9 of 200 Kbytes, and B1-W means that the signal of B1 is written in the buffer memory 9.

(I) shows the operation mode of the reproduction buffer memory 10 of 200 Kbytes, and W and R show the same as above. The buffer memories 9 and 10 operate as a pair with each other, and while one of them writes the signal read from the hard disk device 8, the other reads the stored signal from the hard disk device 8 at the speed of the video signal, and the second MPEG1 decoder 1 via switch 11
It works to send to 2.

(J) shows an input to the MPEG1 decoder 12. As can be seen from the figure, it is extended in the same period as (a) and is reproduced in an uninterrupted state.

As can be seen from the figure, A1, A2 and A3 are set so that recording and reproduction of the video signal can be simultaneously performed without interruption.
The cycle of ... is T = (seek time for recording on the hard disk) +
(Time required for writing data of the above cycle to the hard disk) + (Seek for reproduction) + (Read time of data of the above cycle from the hard disk) is set larger than.

The total of this time is A1, A2, A3 ...
If the period is larger than the period, the image is not recorded and overflows. Therefore, the period should be sufficiently larger than the total time. In particular, the seek time of a hard disk varies greatly depending on the case, so the maximum seek time must be estimated.

Here, the cycle of A1, A2, A3 ...
Time to occupy PEG bitstream, 200
k ÷ (1.5M ÷ 8) = about 1 second. If the data transfer rate of the hard disk is 1 Mbyte / sec, the time required for data transfer is 200 k ÷ 1 M = 0.2 sec. Even if the maximum seek time is expected to be 100 ms, T = 0.1 + 0.2 + 0.1 + 0 .2 = 0.6 seconds <1 second and a sufficient margin time can be obtained.

As described above, according to the video signal recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to realize a video signal recording / reproducing apparatus using a hard disk, which simultaneously records and reproduces in different parts of the same hard disk. I can do things.
Therefore, it is possible to realize an apparatus capable of performing special reproduction such as fast-forward reproduction and reverse reproduction of a recorded portion while receiving and recording a broadcast program.

As a result, it is possible to start watching the recorded program without waiting until the program ends, such as recording / playback by one VTR. In addition, even if you start watching after a long time from the start time of the initial broadcast, you can complete viewing at almost the same time as the end of the broadcast by using fast-forward playback in the middle of playback, which saves a lot of time. be able to.

Further, although omitted in FIG. 1, the audio attached to the video can be treated in exactly the same manner as the video, and the description of "video" in this embodiment can be directly replaced with "video and audio". It is possible.

In order to prolong the life of the hard disk, the hard disk can be written only when necessary while watching a television program. In this case, the viewer presses the command button to start recording. In this case, the operation panel 18 is provided with a recording start button and a reproduction start button. These can also be used together. This function is effective when there is no choice but to interrupt viewing while watching a television program. For example, in the middle of a program, when it is necessary to interrupt viewing such as reception of guests, reception of telephone, bathing, meals, etc.,
After pressing the recording start button to record the program from that point in time, after finishing the use, press the playback start button to play the recorded program, so that you can listen to the program without missing the program from the recording start point. In addition, by providing an end setting button that allows you to easily set the recording end time, you can record only the desired time for the viewer even if you suddenly go home when the return time is not clear, so write the hard disk with confidence You can go out. The end setting button at this time is
For example, press the button once for 30 minutes, press it twice for 1 hour,
It is very easy and effective for the viewer to set the recording time by the number of button presses such that the program currently being viewed can be recorded.

Needless to say, since the program is continuously recorded during the reproduction, the program broadcast during the reproduction can be auditioned without missing.

In the demodulator 3 shown in FIG. 1, a television signal detection circuit (not shown) for detecting whether or not television broadcasting is being provided is provided. For example, this television signal detecting circuit does not need to add a new circuit if the synchronizing signal detecting circuit normally mounted on the existing television receiver is used. Hereinafter, a specific example in which a synchronization signal detection circuit is used as the television signal detection circuit will be described below.

First, it is determined whether or not there is a sync signal in the demodulated video signal. If there is no sync signal in the demodulated video signal, it is determined that it is outside the broadcast time, and writing to the hard disk device is prohibited. If the write operation has already been performed on the hard disk device, the write on the hard disk is temporarily stopped when the sync signal is no longer detected, and the write is resumed when the sync signal is detected again. As a result, it is not necessary to record unnecessary time (for example, the time of midnight when broadcasting is not performed), and the life of the hard disk device can be maintained. This means that when the recording capacity of the hard disk drive becomes large in the future and it becomes possible to always record TV images up to 24 hours ago, it is possible to omit useless operations such as recording during a time when there is no TV broadcast at midnight. Is effective for. The sync signal detection circuit is an existing technology and is well known, so a detailed description thereof will be omitted. However, a sync signal obtained from a generally known sync signal separation circuit is integrated and its DC level is normal. Whether the value is a value or the frequency of the sync signal is a predetermined value (for example, in the NTSC method, the frequency of the horizontal sync signal is 1
It is 5.73 KHz. ) Is a method of determining whether or not.

In this embodiment, the synchronizing signal detecting circuit is used as the television signal detecting circuit. However, when the broadcast format is digital broadcasting, a method of determining whether the error signal of the error signal detection circuit used for clock recovery such as PLL is at a predetermined level, or an error detection for error correction of the transmission signal There is a method of determining whether or not the amount of error flags output from the circuit is at a predetermined level.

Of course, recording is always performed, a signal is given by button operation when viewing is interrupted, and the time, address, etc. are stored, so that when the playback start button is pressed when viewing is resumed, playback is resumed when viewing is interrupted. It is also possible to do it.

Although not shown in FIG. 1, if a second tuner and a second demodulator are provided and the channel for viewing and the channel for recording are designated independently, the first program to be recorded is viewed. If the second program that you want to watch on another channel starts, the second program on another channel starts to be recorded, and when the first program you are watching finishes, the second program starts. You can audition from the beginning.

The second embodiment of the present invention will be described below.
The drawings for explaining the second embodiment are not particularly used. The basic configuration is the same as in FIG.

The configuration of this embodiment further includes an input unit for video / audio other than broadcasting, for example, a unit for inputting a reproduction signal of a VTR. Broadcast or store favorite video and audio input from here on the hard disk 8 for about 10 seconds,
It is also possible to use it as an alarm clock by automatically playing it at a fixed time every morning. With this, a comfortable awakening can be obtained.

In this case, the volume needs to be automatically switched to a sufficient volume regardless of the set value of the previous day.
Further, in addition to the configuration of FIG. 1, a voice recognition circuit is provided to recognize an alarm sound of another alarm clock instead of the clock in the present system and reproduce a predetermined image together with the sound, or not the alarm. It is also possible to provide a function of reading out from the hard disk 8 and reproducing a predetermined image by recognizing the voice of "just now" when returning home.

Further, although the user designates a desired video / audio, it is a troublesome operation, but by recording the compressed video / audio on an inexpensive medium such as a floppy disk or a CD-ROM and distributing it, A tool to make life comfortable, such as getting a wake-up call from a specific actor by recording it on a hard disk via a device for reading the above medium connected to this device and playing it at a fixed time every morning. Is also effective.

The third embodiment of the present invention will be described below.
In the present embodiment, in FIG. 1, the hard disk device 8 has at least two recording areas, and the first recording area is an area for recording the video signal received from the tuner 2 and has the function described in the second embodiment. This is a recording area used to realize The second recording area is an area for storing the video data arbitrarily extracted by the viewer among the video data recorded in the first recording area. This allows
Information sent by television broadcasting while the viewer is watching can be selectively stored in the second recording area.

For example, in a travel program that has been frequently broadcasted in recent years, the location of the inn, contact information, etc. are displayed on the screen, and only the scenes that introduce the contents of food and services are stored in the second recording area. Thus, the information can be stored more accurately without the need for the viewer to take notes. Further, by adding a file name to the video data taken out by the viewer and storing it in a predetermined directory, the search can be performed more easily when the viewer later searches for a desired file.

More specifically, for example, the second recording area of the hard disk is set in advance for restaurants, travel,
It is divided into directories such as inns, and further divided into cooking inns and hot spring inns under the inn directory. The viewer performs an operation of designating a start point and an end point of video data to be stored during viewing, and then selects which directory the extracted data corresponds to. As a result, the video data is automatically saved in the selected directory. The viewer can search later by selecting the desired directory and selecting the file name. In addition, the hard disk drive, SCS
Provide an external output terminal such as I interface,
By storing the stored video data in an external recording device such as a floppy disk drive or a PD drive, a database unique to the viewer can be produced.

In this embodiment, the hard disk device is divided into two recording areas for the sake of simplification of description, but the video data recorded in the hard disk is data that is automatically updated. It is sufficient if there is a means for designating whether the data is present or not updated unless the viewer operates it. For example, the type of recording data, sector information, etc. are recorded in the table RAM 15 shown in FIG. 1, and the hard disk controller 14 identifies whether or not each sector can be updated based on the information, and controls the hard disk device. There is a method.

The fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. In FIG. 5, 1 to 18 are the same as those described in the first embodiment, so the description thereof will be omitted. Further, 19 to 26 correspond to 4 to 7 and 9 to 12 of FIG. 5 respectively and have the same configuration, and therefore the description thereof will be omitted. In FIG. 5, 27 is a frame thinning circuit, 28 is a frame interpolation circuit, and 29 is a third switch.

The hard disk device 8 has at least two recording areas, and the first recording area is an area for recording the video signal received from the tuner 2 and is used for realizing the function described in the first embodiment. This is a recording area. If the first recording area has a recording capacity for 2 hours of the compressed video signal, for example, if viewing is not started within 2 hours from the start of recording, the video data previously recorded at that time is updated from the beginning. As described above, it is already described in the first embodiment that the user can always view as a normal video from the start of viewing to broadcasting within 2 hours.

In the present embodiment, when the video data is updated, the video data previously recorded is once read, and the decoder 26 decodes the original video signal via the buffer memories 23 and 24. Then, the frame thinning circuit 27 performs frame thinning processing on this video signal to reduce data. Then, the encoder 19 compresses the output of the frame thinning circuit 27 again. The frame-thinned compressed video signal thus obtained is stored in the second recording area. Depending on the frame thinning method, if one frame is taken out of four frames and compressed, for example, a recording time that is about four times longer than the time when a normal compressed video signal is recorded is secured with the same recording capacity. it can. That is, if the viewer uses a hard disk device having a recording capacity of 2.5 hours for normal recording, the first recording area is 2 hours, and the second recording area is 2 hours until a total of 4 hours before broadcasting. You can go back and watch it and check the contents.
As a result, the viewer can confirm more program contents with a smaller recording capacity, and while satisfying the viewer's demand for longer recording time while reducing the required recording capacity of the hard disk device. it can.

As a matter of course, the audio signal to be recorded in the second recording area is normally recorded without performing the thinning operation on a frame-by-frame basis. Further, when the video signal recorded in the second recording area is read out and displayed on the television monitor 13, the output of the decoder 12 of FIG. 5 is once input to the frame interpolation circuit 28, and the thinned frames are the same frame. Is interpolated and is displayed on the TV monitor 13 via the third switch 29. Further, although the frame thinning method is used for reducing the video data in the present embodiment, a method such as sub-sampling or color signal removal may be used.

In this embodiment, the hard disk device is divided into two recording areas for simplification of description. However, a normal video signal is recorded for the video data recorded in the hard disk. There may be a means for adding and saving information for discriminating whether the data is data that has been subjected to frame reduction or data that has undergone frame thinning. For example, there is a method in which the type of recording data, sector information, etc. are recorded in the table RAM 15 shown in FIG. 5, and the hard disk controller 14 controls the hard disk device 8 based on the information.

It is also possible for the viewer to independently set the time for normally recording a video signal and the time for recording by performing data reduction such as frame thinning. As a result, the operation is more suitable for each viewer.

The fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described below.
In this embodiment, a unique drawing is not used, but the basic configuration is the same as that of FIG.
By providing a plurality of (N), a plurality of video signals are simultaneously received. N encoders 4 may be provided, or a high-speed type that operates at a normal N-times encoding speed can be switched and used in time.

Further, regarding the hard disk device 8,
Whether N pieces similar to those in FIG. 1 are used in parallel, or the reading / writing speed to / from the hard disk device is made high while leaving one as in FIG. 1, a cycle of A1, A2, A3 ...
That is, by increasing the size of the buffer memory and making the time T _N required for reading and writing N channels smaller than the above period, it is possible to simultaneously read N channel images and read the desired 1 channel image. . By realizing this function, it is possible to select a favorite channel after the broadcast ends without designating a TV channel in advance.

The sixth embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. In FIG. 6, 1 to 18 are the same as those described in the first embodiment, so the description thereof will be omitted.

In FIG. 6, reference numeral 30 is a screen synthesizing circuit and 31
Is a screen separation circuit, and 32 is a pixel interpolation circuit. In this embodiment, a plurality of tuners 2 and a plurality of demodulators 3 (four in the figure) are provided to simultaneously receive a plurality of video signals. The received plurality of video signals are displayed on the screen synthesis circuit 30.
Is input to In the screen synthesizing circuit 30, after the phases of the synchronizing signals of the respective video signals are matched by a frame memory (not shown), the screen size is reduced by pixel thinning, line thinning, etc., and as shown in FIG. It is composited on the screen. The combined video signal is image-compressed by the encoder 4 and then recorded in the hard disk device 8 as described in the first embodiment. Further, at the time of reproduction, as shown in FIG. 8, the screen separation circuit 31 takes out only a portion corresponding to a desired channel from one combined screen, and the pixel interpolation circuit 32 performs pixel interpolation and line interpolation to perform normal operation. The image is enlarged to one screen and displayed on the TV monitor 13. As a result, more TV channels can be recorded in the hard disk device 8 having the same recording capacity, and the desired 1-channel image can be read out while simultaneously writing N-channel images, thereby pre-selecting the TV channel. You can watch your favorite channel after the broadcast ends without specifying it. Further, unlike the third embodiment, the recording capacity of N times the recording capacity of N channels is not required, which is effective for saving the recording capacity of the hard disk device.

Naturally, the combined video signal output from the decoder 12 may be displayed as it is on the television monitor 13 without screen separation.

In the above embodiments, the recording format, in particular, the relationship between the GOP unit and the sector unit on the hard disk is not mentioned. However, in consideration of special reproduction such as fast-forward, per GOP. K sectors or M GOs per sector
It is desirable that the format is formed of P (K and M are integers), or that the format is such that a simple relationship such as M GOPs per K sector is established.

Further, by replacing the hard disk device in the above embodiments with a hard disk device in which the drive part is detachable, which is currently used as a peripheral device such as a personal computer, backup of video data and specific video It can be used for data storage and is more effective.

[0063]

According to the present invention, a general-purpose hard disk drive can be used without using a plurality of VTRs or using an expensive optical disk in which a recording head and a reproducing head are separately mounted. Thus, it is possible to realize an apparatus capable of performing normal reproduction of recorded portions and special reproduction such as fast-forward reproduction and reverse reproduction while receiving and recording a broadcast program. As a result, it is possible to start watching the recorded program without waiting for the program to end as in the case of recording / playback by one VTR. Further, even when the viewing is started after a long time from the start time of the initial broadcasting, the viewing can be completed almost at the same time as the end of the broadcasting by using the fast-forward reproduction on the way together, which is a great time saving. In addition, when the user sits in the middle of watching a program, even if the program continues at the time of resuming viewing, it is possible to continue the recording and perform the playback trial listening from the interrupted scene. Further, by recording the back program, it is possible to immediately start viewing from the start of the back program at the timing after the end of the front program and before the end of the back program.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a video signal recording / reproducing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram of the operation of the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of contents of a table RAM.

[Fig. 4] Detailed timing diagram of the main hardware

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a video signal recording / reproducing apparatus according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a video signal recording / reproducing apparatus which is a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of screen composition in the sixth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of screen separation according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 4, 19 MPEG1 encoder 5, 6, 20, 21 Recording buffer memory 8 Hard disk device 9, 10, 23, 24 Playback buffer memory 12, 26 MPEG1 decoder 13 Television monitor 14 Hard disk controller 27 Frame thinning circuit 28 Frame interpolation circuit 30 Screen synthesis circuit 31 Screen separation circuit 32 Pixel interpolation circuit

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Office reference number FI technical display location H04N 5/781 5/91

Claims (22)

[Claims] 1. Receiving means for receiving a television signal,
Image compression means for compressing the amount of information per unit time of the received video signal, writing means for writing the compressed image signal obtained as the output of the image compression means to a hard disk device via a magnetic head, and the hard disk. From the device through the same magnetic head as above,
A read means for reading the written compressed image signal, a decoding means for restoring the read compressed video signal to the original video signal, and a display means for displaying the video are provided, and the video signal being received is compressed. A video signal recording / reproducing apparatus characterized by reading a video signal previously recorded at the same time as writing to a hard disk device. 2. An image compression signal recorded earliest in time is sequentially updated to an image compression signal newly received at the time when writing to all recording areas in the hard disk device is completed. The video signal recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein 3. The video signal recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an audio signal is recorded together with the compressed video signal to the hard disk device. 4. A video signal recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a command means for starting / stopping recording of the compressed video signal in the hard disk device. 5. A video signal recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising command means for starting / stopping reproduction of the compressed video signal from the hard disk device. 6. The video signal recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the command means for starting recording of the compressed video signal to the hard disk device is manually driven immediately. 7. The video signal recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the command means for starting the recording of the compressed video signal to the hard disk device is driven by a timer means. 8. The video signal recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the command means for ending the recording of the compressed video signal to the hard disk device is driven by a timer means. 9. The video signal recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the command means for starting the reproduction of the compressed video signal from the hard disk device is manually driven immediately. 10. The video signal recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display means displays at least the time difference between the time when the video signal being reproduced is recorded and the current time in addition to the video. 11. The video signal recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display means displays at least the current time and the time when the video signal being reproduced is recorded in addition to the video. 12. A video signal recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising operation means for normal reproduction, fast-forward reproduction, reverse reproduction, and slow reproduction as reproduction modes. 13. The video signal recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display means simultaneously displays the received video signal and the output of the decoding means which has been previously recorded, reproduced and decoded. 14. A receiving means for receiving a television signal and an audio signal, a television signal detecting means for detecting whether or not the receiving means receives a normal television signal, and the received video signal and audio. Image compression means for digitizing the signal and compressing the amount of information per unit time, writing means for writing the compressed image signal obtained as the output of the image compression means to the hard disk device via a magnetic head, and the hard disk device to the above Read means for reading the written compressed image signal through the same magnetic head, decoding means for restoring the read compressed video signal to the original video signal, and display means for displaying the video, Writing to the hard disk device is possible only when the TV signal detecting means detects a normal TV signal. Video signal recording and reproducing apparatus characterized by caulking. 15. An image compression unit for digitizing a video signal and an audio signal input by a television signal receiving unit or another video / audio input unit and compressing the information amount per unit time; and the image compression unit. Writing means for writing a compressed image signal obtained as an output to a hard disk device via a magnetic head, reading means for reading the written compressed image signal from the hard disk device via the same magnetic head as described above, and read compression A video signal recording / reproducing apparatus comprising a decoding means for restoring a video signal to an original video signal and a display means for displaying a video, and reading a predetermined video / audio signal at a predetermined time. 16. An image compression means for digitizing a video signal and an audio signal input by a television signal receiving means or another video / audio input means and compressing an information amount per unit time; and the image compression means. Writing means for writing a compressed image signal obtained as an output to a hard disk device via a magnetic head, reading means for reading the written compressed image signal from the hard disk device via the same magnetic head as described above, and read compression A decoding means for restoring a video signal to an original video signal, a display means for displaying a video, and a voice recognition means for recognizing a voice signal are provided, and a predetermined time is given when the voice recognition means recognizes a predetermined voice. A video signal recording / reproducing apparatus, which reads out the video / audio signal of. 17. An image compression means for digitizing a video signal and an audio signal inputted by a television signal receiving means or another video / audio input means and compressing an information amount per unit time, and the image compression means. Writing means for writing a compressed image signal obtained as an output to a hard disk device via a magnetic head, reading means for reading the written compressed video signal from the hard disk device via the same magnetic head as described above, and read compression The video signal is restored to the original video signal, and the display means for displaying the video is provided. The video signal being received or the video signal previously recorded can be arbitrarily operated by the viewer. The video signal at that time is taken out for an arbitrary time, and the information that prohibits the rewriting of the taken-out video signal data is added. Video signal recording and reproducing apparatus characterized by storing in the hard disk drive. 18. When a video signal taken out is stored by a viewer's operation, search information necessary for searching a video signal desired by the viewer at a later date is added, and based on the search information. 18. The compressed video signal read out is decoded and displayed on the display means after the video signal previously fetched and stored is retrieved and read out.
The described video signal recording / reproducing apparatus. 19. An output terminal for outputting recorded digital data in at least a hard disk device to the outside of the device, wherein a video signal taken out by a viewer is transferred to another recording device via the output terminal. 18. The video signal recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 17, which is characterized in that. 20. An image compression means for digitizing a video signal and an audio signal inputted from a television signal receiving means and compressing an information amount per unit time, and a compressed image signal obtained as an output of the image compression means. To the hard disk device via a magnetic head, a read means for reading the written compressed video signal from the hard disk device via the same magnetic head as described above, and an image based on the read compressed video signal. A decoding means for restoring the signal and a display means for displaying the video are provided, and while compressing the video signal being received and writing it in the hard disk device, the previously recorded video signal is read and decoded into the original video signal. After reducing the data of the decoded video signal, re-compress the image and write it to the hard disk device. Video signal recording and reproducing apparatus characterized. 21. Receiving means for simultaneously receiving television signals of a plurality of channels, image compression means for compressing the information amount per unit time of the received video signals of a plurality of channels, and output of the image compression means. Writing means for writing the respective compressed image signals obtained as the above into the hard disk device via the magnetic head, and from the hard disk device via the same magnetic head as above,
A read means for reading the written compressed image signal, a decoding means for restoring the read compressed video signal to the original video signal, and a display means for displaying the video are provided, and the video signals of a plurality of channels being received are displayed. A video signal recording / reproducing apparatus characterized by reading out a video signal of a previously recorded specific channel at the same time as compressing and writing to a hard disk. 22. Receiving means for simultaneously receiving television signals of a plurality of channels, synthesizing means for synthesizing the received video signals of a plurality of channels into one screen, and unit time of the video signals synthesized by the synthesizing means. Image compression means for compressing the amount of information per unit, writing means for writing a compressed image signal obtained as an output of the image compression means to a hard disk device via a magnetic head, and the same hard disk device from the hard disk device via the same magnetic head as described above. Read means for reading the written compressed video signal,
A decoding means for restoring the read compressed video signal to the original video signal and a display means for displaying the video are provided, and at least a plurality of video signals are combined into one screen to be image-compressed and written in the hard disk device. Characteristic video signal recording / reproducing device.