JPH09214873A - Moving image reproduction system and its terminal equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To restart reproduction of a moving image from a desired position by starting transfer of moving image information from a stored re-start position based on the result of selection by a restart selection means. SOLUTION: An entry section 55 of a terminal equipment 3 enters a signal for moving image selection, and conducts various instruction entry such as reproduction/interruption of a moving image, storage of intermitted position and restart of moving image reproduction from the interrupted position. In this case, a storage device 56 to which a storage medium 57 is removably mounted forms a restart position storage means and the entry section 55 forms a restart position designation means, a restart selection means and a storage selection means respectively. Then a CPU 11 is a heart of a transfer restart control means, which allows a modulator 22 bing a moving image information transfer means to start transfer of the moving image information from the stored restart position based on the selection result by the restart selection means.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a moving picture reproducing system and a terminal device used for the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a moving image reproduction including a management device for centrally managing moving image information such as a video image and a plurality of moving image reproduction terminal devices (hereinafter, also simply referred to as terminals) connected to the management device. The system is known. In the above-described moving image reproduction system, the management device transmits the moving image data in response to the request from the terminal, and the terminal side reproduces the moving image based on the moving image data.

[0003]

In the above-described moving picture reproducing system, it is general that the moving picture is always reproduced from a fixed position such as the head. However,
In such a system, even if you want to watch the continuation after interrupting the playback of the video, the video will always be played from the beginning, so you need to fast-forward by yourself to find the restart position. It was troublesome.

An object of the present invention is to provide a moving picture reproducing system and a moving picture reproducing system capable of easily resuming moving picture reproduction from a desired position (for example, an interruption position) at the time of the next reproduction when the reproduction of the moving picture is interrupted midway. It is to provide a terminal device to be used.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the moving image reproducing system of the present invention is characterized by including the following requirements. Management device: moving picture information storage means for storing moving picture information,
And a moving picture information transfer means for reading the moving picture information from the moving picture information storage means in response to a request from the terminal device side and transferring this to the terminal device side. Terminal device: It has a moving picture reproducing means for reproducing a moving picture based on the moving picture information transferred from the management apparatus. Resume position designating means: It is provided on the terminal device side and designates the resuming position at the time of resuming the reproduction of the moving image after the reproduction of the moving image is temporarily stopped at an arbitrary position of the moving image. Resuming position storing means: Stores the designated resuming position. Resume selection means: provided on the terminal device side, and selects whether or not to reproduce the moving image from the stored restart position. Transfer restart control means: provided on the management device side, and causes the moving picture information transfer means to start the transfer of the moving picture information from the stored restart position based on the selection result by the restart selection means.

In the moving image reproducing system configured as described above, the restart position designated by the restart position designating unit is stored in the restart position storing unit, and when the reproduction from the restart position is selected, the stored restart is stored. Transfer of video information from the location is resumed. As a result, it is possible to easily resume the moving image reproduction from an arbitrary position.

Next, the restart position storage means can be provided on the side of the terminal device. In this case, the terminal device is provided with a restart position transmitting unit that transmits the restart position to the management device side in order to start the moving image reproduction from the stored restart position based on the selection result by the restart selecting unit. Also,
The management device side is provided with restart position receiving means for receiving this restart position.

Further, when the restart position storage means is provided on the side of the terminal device, the restart position can be stored in a storage medium detachably attached to the storage means. By doing this, when using the system with multiple users, it becomes easier to manage the interruption position of the video reproduction of each user, and it is possible to take out the interruption position information together with the storage medium from the system. Therefore, there is an advantage that, for example, after enjoying a moving image on a certain system, the reproduction of the moving image can be interrupted, and then the continuation can be watched on a similar system in another place.

On the other hand, the restart position storage means can be provided on the management device side. In this case, the terminal device, based on the selection result by the storage command transmission means for transmitting to the management device a storage command for storing the specified restart position in the restart position storage means, and the restart selection means, And a transfer restart command transmitting unit for transmitting a transfer restart command for restarting the transfer of the moving image information from the restart position to the management device side.
Correspondingly, the management device is provided with a storage command receiving means for receiving the storage command and a transfer restart command receiving means for receiving the transfer restart command.

Next, the resumption position designating means can designate the interruption position as the resumption position when the reproduction of the moving image is interrupted midway. By doing so, when the reproduction of the moving image is once interrupted and the continuation is to be viewed later, the reproduction of the moving image from the interrupted position can be easily resumed.

Specifically, the terminal device can be provided with interruption selection means for selecting whether or not interruption of moving image reproduction is to be performed, and interruption selection result transmission means for transmitting the selection result to the management apparatus. In response to this, the management device is provided with interruption selection result receiving means for receiving the selection result and transfer interruption control means for interrupting the transfer of the moving picture information to the moving picture information transfer means based on the received selection result. Can be provided. In this case, it can be considered that the interruption selection means constitutes the restart position designation means. According to the above configuration, the management device side can accurately grasp the interruption position of the moving image reproduction as the transfer interruption position of the moving image information. Further, when the interruption position storage means is provided in the terminal device, the management device,
An interruption position transmitting means for transmitting the interruption position can be provided, and the terminal device can be provided with an interruption position receiving means for receiving the interruption position.

Here, when the reproduction of the moving image is interrupted,
Storage control means for automatically storing the interruption position in the restart position storage means can be provided. This allows
Since the interruption position is always stored when the video reproduction is interrupted, the video reproduction can be started from the continuation of the previously interrupted position next time without the user's particular awareness.

On the other hand, the terminal device can be provided with a storage selecting means for selecting whether or not to store the interruption position when the reproduction of the moving image is interrupted. In this way, the interruption position can be stored according to the user's request.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the examples shown in the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, a moving image reproducing system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a management device 2 that collectively manages moving image data as moving image information.
It is configured to include a plurality of terminal devices (hereinafter, also simply referred to as terminals) 3 for reproducing moving images, which are connected to the communication line 4 via the communication line 4.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the management device 2 and the terminal 3. The management device 2 has a CPU 11,
Management-side control unit 10 including ROM 12 and RAM 13
And a data storage device 14, a management input unit 15, a monitor control unit 16 and the like connected thereto, and a management monitor 17 is connected to the monitor control unit 16 (note that the input unit 15 and the monitor). 17 may be omitted). The data storage device 14 is composed of a large-capacity disc storage device, an optical video disc reading device, or the like, and has a moving image data storage unit 31 (moving image information storage means). The moving image data storage unit 31 stores a plurality of moving image data associated with moving image numbers in a digitally compressed state. In addition, the ROM 12 stores a control program 12a that controls the entire management device 2 and a communication program 12b that exchanges data with the terminal device 3. The CPU 11 is a main part of the transfer restart control means.

On the other hand, the terminal 3 has a CPU 51 and a ROM 52.
And a terminal-side control unit 50 including a RAM 53, a storage device 56 connected to the terminal-side control unit 50, to which a storage medium 57 is detachably mounted, an input unit 55, a VRAM 63, a D / A converter 58, a monitor control unit 61, and the like. Prepare A monitor 62 as a moving image reproducing means such as a CRT or a liquid crystal display is connected to the monitor controller 61, and an amplifier 59 is connected to the D / A converter 58.
A speaker 60 for outputting video and audio is connected via.
The input unit 55 is for inputting various commands such as input for selecting a moving image, reproduction / interruption of a moving image, storage of the interrupted position, and restart of moving image reproduction from the interrupted position. 50 is connected by wire or wirelessly. Further, the ROM 52 stores a control program 52a for controlling the entire terminal 3 and a communication program 52b for exchanging data with the management device 2. Here, the storage device 56 is the restart position storage means, and is the input unit 55.
Constitutes a restart position designating means, a restart selecting means and a memory selecting means, respectively.

The storage medium 57 is an IC card, a magnetic card,
It is composed of a perforated card, an optical reading card, a magnetic tape, a floppy disk, etc. (hereinafter referred to as an IC card, referred to as an IC card 57), and the storage device 56.
Is configured as a recording and reading device for these media (hereinafter referred to as an IC card reader having a data rewriting function, referred to as a card reader 56). IC card 5
7 is distributed to each user of the system, and as shown in FIG. 3A, a user ID 90 for identifying the user, a password 91 of the user, and a case where the reproduction of the moving image is temporarily suspended. The interruption data 92 indicating the interruption status is recorded. Among them, the interruption data 92 is rewritably recorded, and the moving picture number 93 for specifying the moving picture whose reproduction is interrupted, the interruption position data 94 indicating the interruption position, the interruption date 95 indicating the interruption date and time, etc. Is included. On the other hand, the data storage device 14 of the management device 2 is provided with a user list storage unit 32, and as shown in FIG. 3B (solid line portion), each user's password 91 corresponds to the user ID 90. It is associated and stored.

Here, the interruption position data can be, for example, data of a reading interruption position of the moving image data in the moving image data storage unit 31 when the reproduction is interrupted. It is also possible to transfer timing data representing the read timing from the beginning of the moving image data in synchronization with the moving image data, and use the last received timing data as the interruption position data when there is an interruption. .

Returning to FIG. 2, the management side control unit 10 has an output bus 19 for outputting compressed moving image data and an input / output bus for bidirectionally exchanging various commands with the terminal 3. 20 are connected to each other, and a modulator 22 for transmitting moving image data and a modulator / demodulator 2 for command communication, respectively.
It is connected to the mixer 24 via 3. On the other hand, a video data input bus 64 and a command input / output bus 65 are connected to the terminal side control unit 50, and a mixer is provided via a demodulator 68 for video data reception and a command / demodulator 67 for command communication. It is connected to 69. Then, the management device 2 and the terminal 3 are connected between the mixers 24 and 69 via the communication line 4 constituted by a multiplex communication line such as an optical fiber, a coaxial cable or radio. Here, a decompression unit 66 for decompressing the moving image data is provided between the demodulator 68 on the terminal device 3 side and the terminal control unit 50. Here, the modulator 22 on the management device 2 side constitutes a main part of the moving image information transfer means. The modulator / demodulator 67 on the terminal 3 side forms an essential part of the restart position transmitting means.

The operation of the moving picture reproducing system 1 will be described below with reference to a flow chart. FIG. 4 shows a processing flow on the terminal 3 side, and FIG. 5 shows a processing flow on the management device 2 side. That is, in T1 of FIG. 4, when the user mounts his / her IC card 57 on the card reader 56, the user ID is read and transmitted to the management device 2. The management device 2 receives the user ID in S1 of FIG. 5, searches the user ID in the user list of FIG. 3B, and if the ID is searched, instructs the terminal 3 to input the password. The user inputs the password from the input unit 55 (FIG. 2) according to the instruction at T1, and the management device 2
When this is received, collation is performed in S2, and if the collation matches, the reception command is transmitted in S3, and if the collation does not match, the alarm command is transmitted to the terminal 3 in S4. Terminal 3
The reception command is received at T2 and the process proceeds to T5 and below. on the other hand,
When the alarm command is received at T3, an alarm is displayed on the monitor 62 at T4, and the process ends.

Next, in the terminal 3, the moving image reproduction mode is selected. There are two types, new playback and continuous playback,
In the former, a process of reproducing a desired moving image from the beginning is performed, and in the latter, a process of continuously reproducing a moving image from which the previous reproduction is interrupted is performed from the interrupted position. First, the new reproduction process will be described. The process proceeds from T5 to T7 to select a desired moving image by the moving image number using the input unit 55, and at T8, the moving image number and the start command are transmitted to the management device. The management device 2 proceeds from S5 to S6 in FIG. 5 to receive the moving image number and the start command, starts reading the moving image data corresponding to the moving image number from the beginning in S7, and executes S
This is transferred to the terminal 3 at 9. The compressed moving image data transferred is decompressed by the decompression unit 66 and sent to the terminal-side control unit 50.

The moving picture data after decompression is stored in the VRAM 63.
Is sequentially taken in to form an image pattern for each frame, and the data of the image pattern of each frame is transferred to the monitor control unit 61 while being sequentially switched by receiving a predetermined clock, and reproduced as a moving image on the monitor 62. The digital audio data sent together with the moving image data is analogized by the D / A converter 58, further amplified by the amplifier 59, and then output from the speaker 60 in synchronization with the moving image reproduction. As shown in FIG. 2, it is also possible to provide a decompression unit 21 on the management device 2 side and decompress the moving image data here before transferring it to the terminal 3.
In this case, the decompression unit 66 on the terminal 3 side is unnecessary.

Returning to FIG. 5, the management device 2 continues to transmit the moving image data unless a stop or suspend command is received from the terminal device 3, and the process ends when there is no moving image data to be sent (S9, S12). , S13). The terminal 3 continues the reproduction while receiving the moving image data, and ends the reproduction when the data reception is stopped (T10, T11, T1).
7). Here, if it is desired to stop the reproduction once, the stop is input from the input unit 55. Next, when the interruption position of the reproduction due to the stop is to be stored, the process proceeds to T14, and the interruption process with memory is performed. On the other hand, when not storing,
In T15, the stop command is transmitted to the management device 2. The management device 2 receives this in S10, and stops reading and transmitting data in S15. This ends the reproduction of the moving image on the terminal 3 (T16).

FIG. 7A shows the details of the interruption process with storage. First, at T301, the interruption command is transmitted to the management device 2. The management device 2 receives this in S11 of FIG. 5, proceeds to S14, and is an interruption process. The details are as shown in FIG. 9A. The reading of the moving image data is interrupted in S301, and the interruption position is transmitted to the terminal 3 in S302. The terminal 3 receives this at T302 of FIG. 7A, and stores it in the IC card 57 in the format shown in FIG. 3 together with the interruption date 95 and the moving image number 93 at T303.
At the same time, the playback of the moving image is interrupted (T30
4).

Now, description will be given below of the processing in the case where it is desired to restart the reproduction from the interruption position after the reproduction is interrupted in this way. In this case, the processing from T1 onward in FIG. 4 proceeds in exactly the same manner, and when continuous playback is selected at T5, the processing proceeds to T9 and becomes continuous playback processing. The details are shown in Figure 6.
As shown in (a), the IC card 57
The interruption data 92 (FIG. 3) is read out from T, and whether or not the interruption date is valid is judged at T202 (for example, whether or not the separately set validity period has been exceeded).
In 3, the interruption data and the continuation command are transmitted to the management device 2. On the other hand, if the date is invalid, a predetermined invalid display is displayed, and the process proceeds to T7 in FIG. 4 to start a new reproduction process. In the management device 2, the continuation command is received in S5, the process proceeds to S8, and the continuation process is shown in detail in FIG. That is, S201
In step S202, the interruption data is received, and with reference to the interruption data, the reading of the moving picture data of the designated moving picture number is started from the interruption position. The following is the processing from S9 onward in FIG. As a result, the terminal 3 starts receiving the moving image data from the interruption position, and based on this, the continuous reproduction of the moving image is performed. It should be noted that when a new moving image is reproduced / interrupted and the accompanying interruption processing with storage is performed, the interruption data 92 newly created by the processing is overwritten on the old contents of the IC card 57.

Here, the interruption data 92 can be stored so that it is automatically executed when the reproduction of the moving image is interrupted. Also, the interruption data 92
The interruption position storage unit 82 (and the user list storage unit 81) is formed not in the removable storage medium 57 but in the data storage device 54 in which the storage medium is fixedly provided,
As shown with reference to FIG. 3B, the interruption data 9
2 can be stored in association with the user ID 90.

On the other hand, the interruption position storage unit can be provided in the management device 2. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, the data storage device 14 is provided with an interruption position storage unit 33,
The interruption data 92 can be stored here in the same format as shown in FIG. In this case, the interruption process with storage (T14 in FIG. 4) on the terminal 3 side is as shown in FIG. 7B. That is, at T311, the interruption command (storage command) is transmitted to the management device 2. The interruption processing (FIG. 5, S14) on the management device side is as shown in FIG.
In step 11, the interruption command is received and the reading of the moving image data is interrupted. In step S312, the interruption position is stored in the interruption position storage unit 33 as the interruption data 92 together with the moving image number and the date. At the terminal 3, the reception of data is interrupted and the reproduction is interrupted (T312).

On the other hand, the continuous reproduction process (T9 in FIG. 4) is shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), the continuation command is transmitted to the management device 2 at T211. In the management device 2, the continuation process (FIG. 5, S8) shown in FIG. 8B is performed, the continuation command (transfer resumption command) is received in S211, and the interruption data 92 of the user is received from the interruption position storage unit 33. read out. Then, the validity of the interruption date is judged, and if valid, the reading / transmission of the moving image data from the interruption position is started based on the interruption data, as in S202 (FIG. 8A) described above. On the other hand, if the interruption date is invalid, the date invalidity notification is transmitted to the terminal 3. The terminal 3 receives this at T212 and proceeds to T7 in FIG. 4 to start a new reproduction process.

In the above-described embodiment, the case of resuming the reproduction of the moving picture and then resuming the reproduction from the interruption position has been described as an example. However, for example, the reproduction of the moving picture is started by the input unit 55 in the terminal device 3. It is also possible to input and set the position to an arbitrary place by the above-mentioned timing data or the like, and to perform the reproduction from the input start position at the next reproduction.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a moving image reproduction system of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configurations of a management device and a terminal device.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a storage format of interruption data in a storage medium, a user list in a data storage device, and a storage format of interruption data.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing on the terminal device side.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing on the management device side.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of continuous reproduction processing on the terminal device side.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a suspending process with storage on the terminal device side.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of continuation processing on the management device side.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of interruption processing on the management device side.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Video Playback System 2 Management Device 3 Terminal Device 4 Communication Line 10 Management Side Control Unit 11 CPU (Transfer Restart Control Means) 14 Data Storage Device 22 Modulator (Movie Information Transfer Means) 31 Video Data Storage Unit (Movie Information Storage Means) 33 interruption position storage unit (restart position storage unit) 50 terminal side control unit 51 CPU 55 input unit (restart position designation unit, restart selection unit, storage selection unit) 56 storage device (restart position storage unit) 57 storage medium 62 monitor ( Video playback means) 67 Modulator / demodulator (restart position transmission means)

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A moving image information storage unit for storing moving image information, and a moving image information transfer unit for reading out the moving image information from the moving image information storage unit in response to a request from the terminal device side and transferring this to the terminal device side. And a terminal device having a moving image reproducing means for reproducing a moving image based on moving image information transferred from the managing device, and a terminal device provided on the terminal device side, and the reproduction of the moving image is temporarily suspended. The restart position when restarting this later, the restart position designating unit that specifies the restart position at an arbitrary position of the moving image, the restart position storing unit that stores the specified restart position, and the terminal device side, Restart selection means for selecting whether or not to play the moving image from the stored restart position; and a selection result by the restart selection means provided on the management device side. Based on moving image reproduction system, characterized in that it and a transfer resumption controlling means for starting the video information transfer means to transfer the video information from the stored restart position. 2. The moving image reproducing system according to claim 1, wherein the resuming position designating unit designates the interrupted position as the resuming position when the reproduction of the moving image is interrupted midway. 3. The moving picture reproducing system according to claim 2, further comprising storage control means for automatically storing the interruption position in the restart position storing means when the reproduction of the moving picture is interrupted. 4. The restart position storage means is provided on the side of the terminal device, and the restart position is stored in a storage medium detachably attached to the storage means.
The video playback system according to any one of 1. 5. A moving picture reproducing means for reproducing a moving picture on the basis of moving picture information transferred from a management device, and a resuming position at the time of resuming the reproduction of the moving picture after resuming the reproduction of the moving picture at an arbitrary position of the moving picture. Resuming position designating means for designating the designated resuming position, resuming position storing means for storing the designated resuming position, and resuming selecting means for selecting whether or not to reproduce the moving image from the stored resuming position. And a restart position transmitting means for transmitting the restart position to the management device side based on the selection result, and a terminal device of the moving image reproducing system. 6. A moving picture reproducing means for reproducing a moving picture on the basis of moving picture information transferred from a management device, and a restart position at the time of resuming the reproduction of the moving picture after resuming the reproduction once Resuming position designating means for designating the location, and storage command transmitting means for transmitting to the management device a storage command for storing the designated resumption position in the restarting position storage means provided on the management device side. , Resuming selection means for selecting whether or not to reproduce the moving image from the stored resuming position, and a transfer resuming instruction for instructing resumption of transfer of moving image information from the resuming position based on the selection result. A terminal device of a moving image reproducing system, comprising: a transfer restart command transmitting unit for transmitting to the management device. 7. The terminal device according to claim 5, wherein the resumption position designating unit designates the interruption position as the resumption position when the reproduction of the moving image is interrupted midway. 8. The terminal device according to claim 5, further comprising storage selection means for selecting whether or not to store the interruption position when the reproduction of the moving image is interrupted.