JPH08265704A - Information reproducing device, decoder unit and information reproducing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To allow a user to reproduce target pictures without performing the troublesome operations of information reproduction by eliminating decoded pictures, reading information out of the prescribed position and reproducing the target pictures when the reproduction from the prescribed position of a video sequence is requested. CONSTITUTION: When a video CD is loaded to a CD player 10 and the application processing of the video CD is started, the user selects a mode by a control pad 18 and selects a reproduction mode from the middle of the video sequence. When it is judged that the loaded video CD is V1.0, the reproduction from the middle of the video sequence is executed. Data read-out is started. That is, a parameter for decoding is obtained and sent through a buffer memory 30 to an MPEG picture decoder 70. Here, the display of the pictures by a TV 20 is turned off. When a decoding operation by the picture decoder 70 is possible, after the reproduction is tentatively stopped, the reproduction is started, and when the decoder 70 judges that the pictures can be normally displayed, picture display by the TV 20 is started and the reproduction from a target part is performed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information reproducing apparatus, a decoder unit and an information reproducing method, and more particularly to reproducing information from a recording medium such as a video CD on which an image is recorded.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the progress of image compression technology, images (still images and moving images) along with audio are recorded on a compact disc (CD).
So-called video CDs that record the are becoming popular. When reproducing a video sequence from such a video CD, the conventional information reproducing apparatus reads a sequence start code (SSC) and the following decoding parameters from the video CD and uses the decoding parameters to read the group of Image data of a picture (GOP) is decoded. FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically showing a video sequence stored in the video CD. According to the standard of the video CD, it is recommended to insert the SSC and the decoding parameter at every predetermined time (normal reproduction) within 2 seconds of the recorded data. However, this is not always the case and the SSC and decoding parameters exist only at the beginning of the video sequence,
After that, there is a video CD in which only GOP follows.

[0003]

Such a conventional video C
In the D playback device, when playing back a video CD having a decoding parameter only at the beginning of the video sequence, it is impossible to start playback from the middle of the video sequence. Therefore, playback cannot be started from one scene in the middle of one video sequence, playback is once started from the beginning of the video sequence, the decoding parameters necessary for decoding are read, and then the target is manually set. However, it is not convenient when one video sequence is relatively long.

In view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, the present invention is a video C in which a sequence start code (SSC) and a decoding parameter are not inserted in recording data at predetermined intervals.
An object of the present invention is to provide an information reproducing apparatus and an information reproducing method capable of reproducing from the middle of one video sequence when reproducing D.

The present invention further provides a CD player, a first control section for controlling the information reading operation of the CD player, and an instruction to perform information reproduction to the CD player via the first control section in response to a user's operation command. The first control so that the game machine having the second control unit for processing and outputting the read information can be provided with a function equivalent to that of the information reproducing apparatus for reproducing the video CD. To provide a decoder unit having a decoder for decoding at least compressed image information sent from a unit, and a storage unit storing a series of programs for causing the second control unit to execute each function of each information reproducing apparatus. With the goal.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention reads a decoding parameter from the beginning of a video sequence when reproduction from a predetermined position of a video sequence recorded on a recording medium is requested. The read decoding parameters are sent to the decoder, the pickup of the information reading device is moved to perform reproduction from the predetermined position, the information is read, and the read information is decoded to display an image. .

That is, according to the present invention, an information reading device for reading record information including still image information recorded on a recording medium, a first storage means for temporarily storing the read still image information, and the first storage means. 1 second storage means for temporarily storing the still image information transferred from the storage means, third storage means for temporarily storing the still image information transferred from the second storage means, and from the third storage means A decoder for decoding the transmitted still image information and a user operation command, instructing the information reading device to reproduce information from the recording medium, and processing and outputting the read information. When the still image information is present in the first storage means, it is transferred to the second storage means, a sequence end code is searched, and the still picture information in the second storage means is retrieved. Transfers information to said third memory means,
When the sequence end code is detected, the decoder is controlled to decode the data of one still image represented by the still image information, and the still image according to the decoded still image information sent from the decoder. And an information reproducing apparatus having a control unit for controlling to display on the screen.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a CD player, a first controller for controlling the information reading operation of the CD player, a buffer memory for temporarily storing image information read from the CD, and a user. Operations of the second control unit for instructing the CD player to reproduce information via the first control unit and processing and outputting the read information, For reproducing a video CD using a game machine having a memory means for storing the video information, and a decoder for decoding the image information sent from the first control section, and a video sequence from a predetermined position. Is requested, the data is read from the beginning of the video sequence, the read data is sent to the decoder through the storage unit, and the data is decoded. When the image display is turned off, the decoder can perform decoding with the read data and the image can be displayed, the shared reading is stopped, the data in the storage device is cleared, and the image decoded by the decoder is displayed. When data is deleted, the pickup of the information reading device is moved to perform reproduction from the predetermined position, information is read, the read information is decoded, and image display is turned on when image display becomes possible. Thus, there is provided a decoder unit having a storage unit that stores a series of programs for the second control unit to control.

In another aspect of the present invention, an information reading device for reading record information including image information recorded on a recording medium, a decoder for decoding the image information sent from the information reading device, and the information reading. An information reproducing method by an information reproducing apparatus having a device and a control unit for controlling a decoder, wherein when reproduction from a predetermined position of a video sequence recorded on the recording medium is requested, decoding is performed from the beginning of the video sequence. For reading the read parameter, sending the read decoding parameter to the decoder, moving the pickup of the information reading device to perform reproduction from the predetermined position, and reading the information, read information Of reproducing information by decoding the image and displaying the image There is provided.

[0010]

According to the present invention, when the reproduction of the video sequence recorded in the information storage medium is instructed from the middle, the head portion of the video sequence is automatically accessed, and the decoding parameters necessary for decoding are read and used. Since the target data is decoded by the user, the target image can be immediately reproduced even if the user does not perform a troublesome operation of the information reproducing apparatus.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing the main part of the operation of the preferred embodiment of the information reproducing apparatus of the present invention.
Before describing this flowchart, the configuration of a preferred embodiment of the information reproducing apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. The information reproducing apparatus of the present invention can be configured as an image and audio reproducing apparatus, but here, the function is expanded to a game machine with a CD player which has already been commercialized and is on the market so that a video CD can be reproduced. An example will be described in which an information reproducing apparatus is configured as a whole by adding the decoder unit described above. Such game machines include multi-amusement players known as V Saturn (model number RG-JX1) of Victor Company of Japan, Ltd. and Sega Saturn (Saturn is a trademark of Canon Co., Ltd.) of Sega Enterprise Co., Ltd.

In FIG. 2, a portion surrounded by a dotted line is the game machine main body portion 19, to which a control pad 18 is connected, and a television (TV: TV) serving as an image and audio output portion. ) 20 is shown connected to the body. Game console body part 19
Has a CD player (CD drive) 10, a reproduction circuit 14, and a control unit 16. The CD player 10 is configured to control a motor that rotationally drives a CD by a servo control circuit (not shown), a traverse motor (not shown) that drives the optical pickup 12, tracking control, and focus control. . The output signal of the optical pickup 12 is given to the reproducing circuit 14. The control unit receives commands from the control pad 18 for the user to input various commands, and the reproduction circuit 14
A predetermined reproduction command to the reproduction circuit 14
In response to the reproduction signal from, the image and audio information is sent to the television 20, which is an output device. The configuration up to this point is already known as a game machine.

The above-mentioned game machine is provided with an expansion slot for adding a circuit for expanding its function. Various functions can be added by inserting a predetermined circuit board into the expansion slot. Therefore, in the embodiment of the present invention, the decoder unit 22 shown in FIG.
On a predetermined circuit board, which is inserted into an expansion slot and connected to the reproducing circuit 14 to expand / decode the MPEG image and audio compression signal recorded on the video CD and display various images. I'm trying to do.
Various displays include multi-screen display, image enlargement, reduction, scrolling, etc., but in the present embodiment, it is a display on a non-divided single screen, and the playback mode from the middle of the video sequence of the moving image is displayed. It will be described as what is to be done.

FIG. 3 shows the block diagram of FIG. 2 in more detail. The same parts are designated by the same reference numerals and symbols. The reproducing circuit 14 has a selector 24, a first CPU 26, a gate circuit 28, and a buffer memory 30. First
The CPU 26 controls the selector 24 and the buffer memory 30 in the reproducing circuit 14 and a servo control circuit (not shown) in order to read information from an optical disk (video CD) as an information recording medium. The selector 24 outputs the signal read by the instruction of the first CPU 26 to the gate circuit 2
8 or the buffer memory 30.
The buffer memory 30 temporarily holds the read signal input via the first CPU 26. The gate circuit 28 outputs the output signal of the selector 24 and the output signal of the buffer memory 30 to the system control unit (SCU) 3.
4 or a decoder unit 22, and a gate array in which a logic circuit for sending a signal of which decoding by MPEG from the decoder unit 22 is completed to a system control unit (SCU) 34 is integrated.

The decoder unit 22 is an IC MPE that decodes image data in the MPEG stream.
The G image decoder 70 includes an IC-based MPEG audio decoder 72 for decoding audio data in an MPEG stream, a decoding RAM 76 connected to the MPEG image decoder 70, and a program ROM 74. The program ROM 74 stores programs for controlling various image displays described later. MPEG
The image decoder 70, the MPEG audio decoder 72, and the program ROM 74 can be connected to the system control unit (SCU) 34 in the control unit 16 by being connected to the gate circuit 28 of the reproduction circuit 14.

The control unit 16 includes a second CPU 32, a dynamic RAM control circuit (DCC) 36, a first work RAM 38, a second work RAM 40, a bus driver 4 in addition to the system control unit (SCU) 34.
2, IPLROM44, backup RAM46, clock OSC48, SMPC50, SCSP52, DAC
54, an RGB encoder 56, and a display control unit 68. System control unit (SCU) 34
Is the second CPU 32, the reproduction circuit 14, the display control unit 68, S
CSP52, SMPC50, etc. are connected. The dynamic RAM control circuit (DCC) 36 is a DRAM that controls the second work RAM 40 composed of DRAM.
It is a control circuit. The bus driver 42 controls the bus line. The IPLROM 44 is a memory that stores a program for controlling the entire game machine, and is used to start up various applications. Backup RA
M46 is a memory for holding data to be saved such as the progress of the game even when the power is off. The clock OSC 48 is a clock oscillator that provides reference timing. The SMPC 50 is a peripheral device control unit that controls peripheral hardware connected to the game machine such as the control pad 18 and sends and receives signals.

The display control unit 68 includes a video display processor (VDP1) 58 connected to the system control unit (SCU) 34, a video display processor (VDP2) 60, and an SPCRAM 62 connected to the video display processor (VDP1) 58.
It has a frame RAM 64 and a video RAM 66 connected to a video display processor (VDP2) 60. The video RAM 66 is a memory for expanding bitmap data. The SPCRAM 62 is a memory for sprite characters, and stores data forming the sprite. As a result of arranging the sprites, the frame RAM 64 stores data forming one screen. The video display processor (VDP1) 58 is a video display processor that performs sprite data processing among image components. The video display processor (VDP2) 60 is a video display processor that performs bitmap data processing among image components. The video display processor (VDP1) 58 and the video display processor (VDP2) 60 are connected to each other, and
1) The sprite data that has passed through 58 is output to the RGB encoder 56 through the video display processor (VDP2) 60.

The RGB encoder 56 is a converter for converting an RGB digital video signal sent from the video display processor (VDP2) 60 into an analog color video signal (composite signal), and its output signal is given to the television 20 as a display device. To be SCSP52
Is a voice control circuit connected to the system control unit (SCU) 34 for controlling the tone, volume, etc. of voice, and its output is converted to an analog signal by the DAC 54 and given to the television 20. Control pad 18
Is provided with a plurality of push button switches and a single directional key for instructing up, down, left and right, as in the case of the operation unit of a so-called video game machine such as the above game machine.

As described above, the preferred embodiment of the present invention operates according to the flow chart of FIG. 1. However, before entering this flow, it is necessary to transfer the program previously stored in the program ROM 74 to the first work RAM 38. The program is transferred to the first work RAM 38 not when the game machine is used as the original game machine but when the video CD is reproduced. The flowchart of FIG. 4 shows a processing procedure for transferring the program from the program ROM 74 to the first work RAM 38 only when the disc loaded in the CD player 10 is a video CD, and performing a predetermined process according to the transferred program. There is. That is, it is determined in step S1 whether or not the decoder unit 22 is attached. This step is MPE that is not built in the game console body 19.
The G decoder is provided because it is indispensable for reproducing the video CD. If YES, it is determined in step S2 whether the loaded disc is a video CD. This judgment is based on specific data on the disc, for example, KARIN.
FO. BIH and INFO. This is performed by judging the presence or absence of VCD.

If NO in step S1 or S2, in step S3 a CD other than a video CD, that is, a game CD, an audio-only CD, a CD (CD-G) containing a still image, a photo CD, an electronic book, etc. Start each application corresponding to the CD and start playing.
If YES in step S2, the first program is executed from the program ROM 74 through the gate circuit 28 and the system control unit (SCU) 34 in step S4.
Transfer to the work RAM 38. When the transfer is completed, control is transferred to the transferred program. That is, application processing of the video CD is performed in step S5. Although not shown in the flowchart of FIG. 4,
When the disc is exchanged and a disc other than the video CD is loaded, the disc is removed, or the door of the disc insertion portion is opened for a predetermined time, for example, 3 minutes or more, the process of step S5 ends.

When a video CD is loaded in the CD player 10 and application processing of the video CD is started,
The user uses the control pad 18 to select a mode. Here, it is assumed that the reproduction mode from the middle of the video sequence is selected. Then loaded video C
It is determined whether D is V1.0. This is V1.
This is because, as described above, the video CD indicated by 0 does not have the SSC and the decoding parameter inserted every 2 seconds as defined by the standard. Video CD is V1.0
If it is determined that, the process according to the flowchart of FIG. 1 for executing the reproduction from the middle of the video sequence is performed.

When reproduction is started from the middle of this video sequence, in step S11 the CD player 10 is controlled to reach the corresponding position on the CD so as to read from the beginning of the video sequence containing the target data. The optical pickup 12 is moved to start reading data. That is, the decoding parameters are acquired and given to the MPEG image decoder 70 via the buffer memory 30. At this time, the display is turned off so that the screen is not displayed on the television 20. Next, in step S12, it is determined whether or not all the decoding parameters are read and the decoding operation by the MPEG image decoder 70 is possible, and thus the image can be displayed. This can be determined, for example, by looking at whether the first picture of the video sequence was successfully decoded. When step S12 is YES, reading and reproduction of data are stopped in the next step S13. That is, the decoding operation of the MPEG image decoder 70 is stopped, and the decoded image in the MPEG image decoder 70 is deleted.

Next, in step S14, the optical pickup 12 is moved (jumped) to a designated frame address in the middle of the video sequence to reproduce the desired scene, and read from that position to start (restart) reproduction. .
At this stage, since all the decoding parameters have already been acquired in the previous steps S11 and S12, M
It is possible to decompress / decode PEG compressed image data. In step S15, it is determined whether the MPEG image decoder 70 is ready to display an image. That is, the determination can be made by checking whether or not the picture of the target scene has been successfully decoded. Step S
If YES is obtained in step 15, the image display by the television 20 is turned on in step S16. Then, in step S17, the process for starting the reproduction is ended, and the process performed during the normal reproduction is performed. Therefore, the reproduction from the target scene is started.

[0024]

As described above, according to the information reproducing apparatus and the information reproducing method of the present invention, the video CD in which the sequence start code (SSC) and the decoding parameter are not inserted at a predetermined interval in the recorded data is reproduced. In doing so, it is possible to start playback from the middle of one video sequence, which is convenient. By incorporating the decoder unit of the present invention into a predetermined game machine, the control circuit of the game machine main body is provided with a procedure for executing reproduction from the middle of the video sequence so that the same operation as that of the information reproducing apparatus is performed. Obtainable.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing a procedure for executing reproduction from the middle of a video sequence in a preferred embodiment of an information reproducing apparatus and an information reproducing method of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a preferred embodiment of the information reproducing apparatus of the present invention.

3 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration of the information reproducing apparatus of FIG.

4 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure when a video CD is loaded in the information reproducing apparatus and the information reproducing method of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a video sequence and a procedure for executing reproduction from the middle of the video sequence according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 CD Player (Information Reading Device) 12 Optical Pickup 14 Playback Circuit (First Control Section) 16 Control Section (Second Control Section) 18 Control Pad 19 Game Machine Main Body Section 20 Television (TV) 22 Decoder Unit 24 Selector 26 First CPU 28 gate circuit 30 buffer memory (storage means) 32 second CPU 34 system control unit (SCU) 36 dynamic RAM control circuit (DCC) 38 first work RAM 40 second work RAM 42 bus driver 44 IPLROM 46 backup RAM 48 clock OSC 50 SMPC 52 SCSP 54 DAC 56 RGB encoder 58 Video display processor (VDP1) 60 Video display processor (VDP2) 62 SPCRAM 4 frame RAM 66 Video RAM 68 the display control unit 70 MPEG video decoder 72 MPEG audio decoder 74 Program ROM (program storage means) 76 decoding RAM

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Kazuhito Okayama 3-12 Moriya-cho, Kanagawa-ku, Kanagawa Prefecture Victor Company of Japan, Ltd. (72) Masahiro Ando 3-chome, Moriya-cho, Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama 12th at Victor Company of Japan, Ltd. (72) Inventor Kinya Kondo 3-12 Moriya-cho, Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture At Victor Company of Japan, Ltd.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An information reading device for reading record information including image information recorded on a recording medium, a storage means for temporarily storing the read image information, and a decoding means for decoding the image information sent from the storage means. A decoder for receiving an operation command from a user, instructing the information reading device to read information from the recording medium, and processing and outputting the read information,
When reproduction from a predetermined position of the video sequence is requested, data is read from the beginning of the video sequence, the read data is sent to the decoder via the storage means, and image display by the decoded data is turned off, When the decoder can perform decoding with the read data and display of an image becomes possible, the shared reading is stopped, the data in the storage device is cleared, and the decoded image data in the decoder is deleted. A control unit that moves the pickup of the information reading device to perform reproduction from a predetermined position, reads information, decodes the read information, and turns on the image display when image display becomes possible. An information reproducing apparatus having: 2. A CD player, a first control section for controlling an information reading operation of the CD player, a buffer memory for temporarily storing image information read from a CD, and a first operation section for receiving a user operation command. A second control section for instructing the CD player to reproduce information through the first control section, and processing and outputting the read information;
A decoder for decoding a video CD using a game machine having a storage unit for operation of a control unit, the decoder decoding image information sent from the first control unit, and a predetermined video sequence. When reproduction from the position is requested, data is read from the beginning of the video sequence, the read data is sent to the decoder via the storage means, image display by the decoded data is turned off, and the decoder When the read data can be decoded and the image can be displayed, the reading is stopped, the data in the storage device is cleared, the decoded image data is deleted by the decoder, and the data from the predetermined position is deleted. The pickup of the information reading device is moved to reproduce, the information is read, and the read information is And a program storage means for storing a series of programs for the second control unit controls to the image displayed over de is possible and on the image display, the decoder has unit. 3. An information reading device for reading recording information including image information recorded on a recording medium, a decoder for decoding the image information sent from the information reading device, and a control for controlling the information reading device and the decoder. And a step of reading a decoding parameter from the beginning of the video sequence when reproduction from a predetermined position of the video sequence recorded on the recording medium is requested. Sending the read decoding parameters to the decoder; moving the pickup of the information reading device to perform reproduction from the predetermined position to read the information; and decoding the read information to display an image. A method for reproducing information, comprising: