JPH10269145A - Information recording and reproducing device, and information recording and reproducing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make desired data not seeable nor erasable by others. SOLUTION: An authentication information inputting part 22 input authentication information about an image file that is desired to be locked among image files stored on a PCMCIA card 42 and the authentication information is stored on the card 42. Then, the image file is locked. Write and erase to the image file is inhibited by locking the image file, and the image file can not be seen. When authentication information that is the same with the stored authentication information is inputted, the lock of the image file is freed. A password and a fingerprint is used as authentication information.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information recording / reproducing apparatus and an information recording / reproducing method, and more particularly, to a digital still camera, a DVD (digital video disk),
The present invention relates to an information recording / reproducing apparatus and an information recording / reproducing method used for a disc recording / reproducing apparatus for recording / reproducing an MD (mini disc) or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a digital still camera, photographed image data is stored in a PCMCIA card in FAT format. When viewing image data, transfer it to a computer or project it on the built-in LCD screen.

[0003]

However, there is a possibility that image data taken by an individual may be seen by others before being transferred to a personal computer. Further, when a digital still camera is shared by an organization or a group, there is a possibility that other people may inadvertently delete image files. Therefore, a main object of the present invention is to provide an information recording / reproducing apparatus and an information recording / reproducing method for preventing desired data from being viewed by others. It is another object of the present invention to provide an information recording / reproducing apparatus and an information recording / reproducing method that prevent desired data from being erased.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above object, an information recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention comprises a data storage means for storing data, and authentication of desired data among data stored in the data storage means. An authentication information input unit for inputting information, a lock unit for locking data to which authentication information has been input, and a lock release unit for unlocking locked data are provided. The information processing apparatus further includes a storage unit configured to store the input authentication information, wherein the unlocking unit unlocks the data when the authentication information from the authentication information input unit matches the authentication information stored in the storage unit. May be provided.

[0005] Preferably, the authentication information is a password. Alternatively, the authentication information is preferably a fingerprint. The locking means may include means for prohibiting writing to data, means for prohibiting erasure of data, and means for making data invisible. The information recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention is a digital still camera, and the data may be an image file. The information recording / reproducing device of the present invention is a disk recording / reproducing device, and the data may be disk data.

According to the information recording / reproducing method of the present invention, data is stored, authentication information is input for desired data among the stored data, the input authentication information is stored, and the data to which the authentication information is input is stored. And unlocks the data when the stored authentication information matches the subsequently input authentication information.

[0007] In the information recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention, authentication information is input from the authentication information input means for desired data among the data stored in the data storage means. For example, a password or a fingerprint is used as the authentication information. Then, the data to which the authentication information has been input is locked by the lock means. Locking the data prohibits writing and erasing of the data and makes the data invisible. The locked data is unlocked by unlocking means.

[0008] If a storage means for storing authentication information is provided, the input authentication information is stored in the storage means. Then, it is determined by the lock release means whether or not the authentication information stored in the storage means matches the authentication information from the authentication information input means. If they match, the data is unlocked; if they do not match, the data remains locked. INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION This invention is used for a digital still camera, a disk recording / reproducing apparatus, etc. If the present invention is used in a digital still camera, the above data is an image file, and if the present invention is used in a digital recording / reproducing apparatus, the above data is disk data.

Further, according to the information recording / reproducing method of the present invention,
The data is stored, authentication information is input for the data to be locked, and the input authentication information is stored. Then, the data to which the authentication information is input is locked. After the data is locked, the authentication information is input. If the input authentication information matches the stored authentication information, the data is unlocked. If the authentication information does not match, the data remains locked.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, a case where the information recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention is applied to a digital still camera will be described. Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, a digital still camera 10 of the present embodiment includes a housing 12. A lens 14 is provided on the front of the housing 12, a monitor 16 is provided on the back of the housing 12, and a shutter button 1 is provided on an upper surface of the housing 12.
8, a setting dial 20, and an authentication information input unit 22 are arranged respectively. These arrangement states are merely examples, and the present invention is not limited thereto. In this embodiment, a case where a password is used as authentication information will be described.

The monitor 16 is formed of, for example, a TFT liquid crystal screen and can display a photographed image file. As shown in FIG. 4, the setting dial 20 includes a setting button 24 and a pointer 26 that can be turned independently of the setting button 24. Setting dial 2
0 indicates “single screen display” for displaying only one image file on the monitor 16, “16 split display” for displaying 16 image files on the monitor 16, and “previous screen” for switching the display of the monitor 16 to the previous screen ", Switch the display of the monitor 16 to the next screen," back screen ", specify an image file to be locked / unlocked, etc." screen specification ", delete one image file," delete one screen ", and delete all image files. Each function of “delete all” to be deleted can be executed. To execute each function, a desired function is first indicated by the pointer 26, and then the setting button 24 may be pressed.

The authentication information input unit 22 has a function not only for inputting a password as an example of authentication information but also for moving an active screen when an image file is displayed on the monitor 16 by dividing it into 16 parts. Here, the active screen refers to a screen surrounded by a thick frame as shown in FIG. 3, and is used to select an image file for which some processing is to be performed. The numbers shown in FIG. 3 are image IDs and identify each image file. Image ID
Is added to an image file each time an image file is created. FIG. 3 shows a state in which the image files with the image IDs “8” and “11” are locked, and that part is locked by a method such as displaying in reverse video or displaying “ROCK”. Is displayed.

As shown in FIG. 5, the authentication information input section 22 has a stick-like setting button 28 and a pointer 30 which can be turned independently of the setting button 28.
Around them, letters of the alphabets a to z are written in a ring. When entering the password, the pointer 3
A character is selected by 0 and the setting button 32 is pressed. By repeating this operation a predetermined number of times, a desired password is input.

When moving the active screen, the active screen on the monitor 16 is moved by tilting the stick-shaped setting button 28 in the direction of the white arrow in FIG. Therefore, the specification of the image file is
This is performed using the setting dial 20 and the authentication information input unit 22. That is, first, by the setting dial 20,
A screen including the desired image file is displayed on the monitor 16, the desired image file is surrounded by a thick frame with the setting button 28 of the authentication information input unit 22 (an active screen), and the “screen” is indicated by the pointer 26 of the setting dial 20. "Specify"
Press the setting button 24. Then, an image file to be locked, unlocked, erased, deleted, or displayed on a single screen is designated. In this manner, by specifying an image file on the monitor 16, the image ID of the image file is selected.

Returning to FIG. 1, the housing 12 includes a CPU 3
2. A ROM 34, a RAM 36, a solid-state imaging device 38, and an image processing unit 40 are built in, and a detachable PCMCIA card 42 is attached to the digital still camera 10.

The operation of the digital still camera 10 is controlled by the CPU 32. The ROM 34 stores a program for controlling the main body of the digital still camera 10 and a program for controlling operations related to authentication information such as locking and unlocking of image files. These programs are given to the CPU 32. The program for controlling the operation related to the authentication information includes a program for encrypting the image file. The encryption of an image file ensures that the image file is invisible. As the encryption, single-letter substitution encryption or transposition encryption used in a computer network is used. The RAM 36 temporarily stores authentication information such as a password and image files.

The solid-state image pickup device 38 comprises a CCD or the like.
The solid-state imaging device 38 photoelectrically converts the brightness of the subject received through the lens 14 and outputs the image signal to the image processing unit 40 as an analog signal. The image processing unit 40 includes an amplification circuit, an A / D conversion circuit, a signal processing circuit, and the like (not shown). When the shutter button 18 is pressed, the image processing unit 40 amplifies an image signal from the solid-state imaging device 38 by an amplifier circuit, and then converts the digital signal by an A / D conversion circuit to convert the digitized image signal into a signal processing circuit. And color adjustment is performed to obtain image data. This image data is stored in the RAM 36 via the CPU 32 and is also displayed on the monitor 16. Further, the image processing unit 40 processes data displayed on the monitor 16 according to an input from the setting dial 20.

The PCMCIA card 42 has a RAM 36
The authentication information and the image file temporarily stored in the file are written. In addition, the authentication information and the image file stored in the PCMCIA card 42 can be written in the RAM 36. The PCMCIA card 42 is a FAT (File Aloca
The table stores data in the PCMCIA card 42 format as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 6, the PCMCIA card 42 has a boot sector, a FAT, a copy of the FAT, a root directory area, and a data area. This FAT format is ATA
(AT Attachment) It is desirable to conform to the interface. In this case, the data of the PCMCIA card 42 can be read by many other information devices.

An image ID of an image file is stored in the data area. The boot sector includes an IPL (Initial Program Block) for starting MS-DOS and information unique to this card (BPB: BIOS Parameter).
Block) is stored and mainly used for system startup. Table 1 shows a setting example of BPB.

[0020]

[Table 1]

When the FAT format is a standard conforming to the ATA interface, (the number of bytes / sector) of BPB is 512. Other BPB items are not limited to the setting examples in Table 1, and can be set freely. FAT means that files and subdirectories are PC
This is a table that stores information for knowing which cluster of the MCIA card 42 is being used. Since this is an important table, its copy is also stored as a spare when it is broken. In the example of the FAT structure shown in FIG. 7, it can be seen that the files are recorded in the order of cluster 2 → cluster 3 → cluster 4 → cluster 5 → cluster 6. In this way, the FAT can know the usage status of clusters in the PCMCIA card 42 and the chain status of clusters.
However, the FAT does not know from which cluster a certain file starts, and the information is in the root directory area.

The root directory area has a size of 32.
Consists of multiple directory entries of bytes. MS-DOS creates one directory entry for one file. The format of the directory entry is shown in Table 2.

[0023]

[Table 2]

As can be seen from Table 2, the directory
The entry includes data on a file name, a file attribute, a reserved area, a file update time, a file update date, a first cluster number of the file, and a file size. File attributes are represented by 1 byte (8 bits),
It indicates whether or not the information is read-only, whether or not the information is invisible, whether or not recognition information (here, a password) is input, and the like.

For example, if the read only bit, that is, the least significant bit is "1" (XXXXXX1),
The image file is read-only, and writing (including overwriting) and erasing of the image file is prohibited. If the least significant bit is “0”, (××××××××
0), the image file is not read only. If the invisible bit, that is, the lower-order second bit is “1” (××××× 1 ×), the image file is invisible, and if the lower-order second bit is “0”, (× ×
(Xxxx0x), the image file is visible.
Furthermore, if the authentication information bit, that is, the upper-order second bit is “1” (× 1 ×××××××××××××××××××××××)), this indicates that recognition information has been input and the image file is in a locked state. If the upper second bit is “0”, (× 0 ××××
× xxx), no authentication information has been entered, and the image file has been unlocked.

As can be seen from Table 2, the first cluster number of the file can be known from the directory entry. Then, the MS-DOS combines the directory entry, the FAT and the BPB information, and accesses the file entity from the given file name.

The operation of the digital still camera 10 thus configured will be described. First, an operation when locking an image file will be described with reference to FIG. First, an image ID is input. Input of image ID is
This is performed by selecting an image file to be locked from the image files displayed on the monitor 16 by the setting dial 20 and the authentication information input unit 22 (step S1). Then, authentication information, that is, a password is input by the authentication information input unit 22 (step S3). The authentication information is temporarily stored in the RAM 36, and finally the PC
It is stored in the MCIA card 42 (step S5). Preferably, the authentication information is encrypted when stored in the PCMCIA card 42 and decrypted when the authentication information is read. Accordingly, the PCMCIA card 42
The read only bit, the invisible bit, and the authentication information bit included in the file attribute in the directory entry are set (step S7), the image file is read from the PCMCIA card 42 into the CPU 32 (step S9), and the image file is read. It is encrypted (step S11). Then, the encrypted image file is written to the PCMCIA card 42 via the RAM 36 (Step S13). Thus, the image file is locked by inputting the authentication information.

Next, the operation when the digital still camera 10 deletes an image file will be described with reference to FIG. Instructing “delete one screen” or “delete all” with the indicator needle 26 of the setting dial 20, and pressing the setting button 24
Pressing will generate an erase interrupt. Then, it is determined whether or not all are to be erased (step S15). If all are erased, num is initialized (step S17), and the image I
The number of num is given as D (step S19).
Then, the one-screen erasing process shown in FIG. 10 is performed (step S21), and num is incremented (step S21).
23) It is determined whether or not num exceeds the maximum value of num (step S25). Here, the maximum value of num is equal to the maximum value of the image ID. If num does not exceed the maximum value of num, the process returns to step S19, and the above processing is repeated. If num exceeds the maximum value of num in step S25, there is no image file to be deleted, and the process ends.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S15 that the erasure is not complete erasure, that is, it is erasure of one screen,
The image ID of the image file to be deleted is input (step S27). The input of the image ID is performed by setting a desired image file among the image files displayed on the monitor 16 as an active screen and pressing a setting button 24. Then, the one-screen erasing process of FIG. 10 is performed (step S29), and the process ends.

Here, the operation of the one-screen erasing process shown in FIG. 10 will be described. The parameter is the image ID of the image file to be deleted. In the one-screen erasing process, first, the image ID is converted into a file name (step S3).
1) A corresponding directory entry is searched from the file name (step S33), and it is determined whether or not the authentication information bit of the file attribute of the directory entry is 1 (step S35). Authentication information bit is 0
If so, the image file is deleted (step S3
7), end. If the authentication information bit is 1, an error message is displayed on the monitor 16 (step S3).
9), end. As described above, the locked image file is not inadvertently erased by the digital still camera 10, but can be erased when the authentication information is input again and unlocked.

FIG. 11 shows the operation of viewing an image file on the monitor 16 of the digital still camera 10.
This will be described with reference to FIG. When the user designates “1 screen display” or “16-split display” with the pointer 26 of the setting dial 20 and presses the setting button 24, a display interrupt occurs. Then, an image ID is input (step S41). When "16-split display" is selected, the image ID is input by setting a desired image file from the image files displayed on the monitor 16 as the active screen and pressing the setting button 24. On the other hand, when “single screen display” is selected, for example, first, the latest image file is displayed on the monitor 1.
The image ID is displayed by switching the screen using functions such as “previous screen” and “back screen”, selecting an image file, and pressing the setting button 24 to input an image ID.

Then, the image ID is converted to a file name (step S43), a corresponding directory entry is searched for from the file name (step S45), and whether the authentication information bit of the file attribute of the directory entry is 1 or not. Is determined (step S47). If the authentication information bit is 1, authentication information, that is, a password is input (step S49), and it is determined whether the authentication information is correct (step S51). If the authentication information is incorrect, that is, if the authentication information stored in the PCMCIA card 42 does not match the input authentication information, an error message is displayed on the monitor 16 (step S5).
3), end.

If the authentication information is correct, ie, PCMC
If the authentication information stored in the IA card 42 matches the input authentication information, the image file stored in the PCMCIA card 42 is decrypted (step S5).
5) The decoded image file is read and displayed on the monitor 16 (step S57), and the process ends. on the other hand,
If the authentication information bit is 0 in step S47, the image file stored in the PCMCIA card 42 is read and displayed on the monitor 16 (step S47).
59), and end.

When the data amount of the image file is large, the decoded image file is temporarily stored in the PCMCIA card 42, and then the image file is read and displayed on the monitor 16. In this case, after step S57, the decrypted image file may be encrypted again, the encrypted image file may be stored in the PCMCIA card 42, and the process may end. Thus, the locked image file cannot be viewed on the monitor 16 of the digital still camera 10 unless correct authentication information is input.

As the locking means, the digital still camera 10 can be locked, for example, the shutter button 18 or the setting button 24 cannot be pressed to prevent photographing or deletion of image files, or PCMCI.
A mechanical lock that inhibits any operation other than the input of authentication information, such as preventing the A card 42 from being taken out, may be performed. Alternatively, authentication information may be added to each image file. Furthermore, when locking / unlocking an image file, the shutter button 18
Alternatively, the authentication information may be input by inputting a Morse code from.

Next, an operation when an image file is processed by a personal computer will be described with reference to FIGS. The prerequisite is that the personal computer should be capable of operating a driver conforming to the ATA standard. Further, the PCMCIA card 42 storing the image file is inserted in a card slot (not shown) of the personal computer.

First, with reference to FIG. 12, an operation when an image file is deleted by a personal computer will be described. When a file erase command is input from the input means of the personal computer, an erase interrupt occurs. Then, the user inputs the file name of the image file to be deleted from the input means of the personal computer (step S63). Then, a corresponding directory entry is searched from the file name (step S65), and it is determined whether or not the read only bit of the file attribute of the directory entry is 1 (step S67). If the read only bit is 1, an error message is displayed on the monitor 16 (step S69), and the process ends. If the read only bit is 0, the file is deleted (step S7).
1), end.

When the image file is locked, the invisible bit of the directory entry is set, so that the image file cannot be seen by the DIR command or the like. Even if there is a command for displaying a hidden file, since the read only bit is set, neither writing nor deletion of the file by a DEL command or the like is possible.
As described above, the locked image file is not inadvertently deleted by the personal computer, but can be deleted when the authentication information is input again and the lock is released.

Next, with reference to FIG. 13, the operation of referring to an image file on a personal computer (for example, viewing the attributes of the image file) will be described. When a command for referring to a file is input from the input means of the personal computer, a reference interrupt occurs. Then, the file name of the image file to be referred to is inputted from the input means of the personal computer (step S73). Then, a corresponding directory entry is searched for from the file name (step S75), and it is determined whether or not the invisible bit of the file attribute of the directory entry is 1 (step S77). If the invisible bit is 1, an error message is displayed on the monitor 16 (step S79), and the process ends. If the invisible bit is 0, a file reference process is performed (step S81), and the process ends.

As described above, the locked image file cannot be referred to by the personal computer. Also, by operating the PC, the invisible bit is artificially lowered,
Even if the image file is referred to, the true image file itself cannot be seen because the image file is encrypted.

Further, referring to FIG. 14, the operation when writing to an image file by a personal computer will be described. When a file write command is input from the input means of the personal computer, a write interrupt occurs. And
The file name of the image file to be written is input from the input means of the personal computer (step S83). Then, a corresponding directory entry is searched for from the file name (step S85). Then, it is determined whether or not the read only bit of the file attribute of the directory entry is 1 (step S87). If the read only bit is 1, an error message is displayed on the monitor 16 (step S89), and the process ends. If the read only bit is 0, a file write process is performed (step S91), and the process ends. Thus, the locked image file cannot be written on the personal computer.

In the operations shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, a plurality of image files included in the same directory can be processed simultaneously by inputting a directory name after an interrupt occurs. At this time, with respect to the erasure interrupt in FIG. 12, the image file whose read-only bit is 1 is not erased, and only the image file whose read-only bit is 0 is erased. Similarly, the reference interrupt of FIG. 13 cannot refer to an image file whose invisible bit is 1 but can refer only to an image file whose invisible bit is 0.

The operation for unlocking the image file will be described with reference to FIG. First, an image file is input. The input of the image ID is performed by selecting the image file to be unlocked from the image files displayed on the monitor 16 by the setting dial 20 and the authentication information input unit 22 (step S93). Then, the authentication information, that is, the password is input in the authentication information input section 22 (step S9).
5) It is determined whether the authentication information is correct (step S97). If the authentication information is correct, the read-only bit, the invisible bit, and the authentication information bit of the file attribute of the directory entry corresponding to the image file are dropped (step S99). Then, the encrypted image file is transferred from the PCMCIA card 42 to the CPU 3.
2 (step S101), the image file is decrypted (step S103), and the original image file is written to the PCMCIA card 42 (step S10).
5), end. On the other hand, if the authentication information is incorrect in step S97, an error message is displayed on the monitor 16 (step S107), and the process ends. In this way, the lock of the image file is released.

As described above, the PCMCIA card 4
2 stores the locked or unlocked data even when the PCMCIA card 42 is used in an information device (for example, a personal computer) other than the digital still camera 10 by storing the authentication information in the PC 2. Data security. When the data is processed only by the digital still camera 10 and not processed by another information device, the authentication information may be stored only in the built-in memory such as the RAM 36.

In the digital still camera 10 described above, a password is used as authentication information. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a fingerprint may be used. When a fingerprint is used as authentication information, a setting dial 44 for fingerprint and a fingerprint input unit 46 shown in FIGS. 16 and 17 are used instead of the setting dial 20 for password and the authentication information input unit 22. Other configurations of the digital still camera 10 are the same as the configurations shown in FIGS.
The overlapping description is omitted.

As shown in FIG. 17, the setting dial 44 includes a stick-shaped setting button 48 and an indicating needle 50 that can be turned independently of the setting button 48.
The setting dial 44 is a setting dial 20 for the password.
In addition to the function described above, a "fingerprint input" function for inputting a fingerprint is provided. As with the execution of other functions, this function may be executed by first instructing "fingerprint input" with the pointer 50 and then pressing the setting button 48. In addition, setting button 4
Reference numeral 8 denotes a stick that can be tilted in the direction of the white arrow in FIG. 17 and also has a function of moving the active screen. Therefore, when moving the active screen, the active button on the monitor 16 is moved by tilting the setting button 48 in the direction of the white arrow in FIG. The fingerprint input unit 46 reads a fingerprint of a finger placed thereon, for example, like a scanner.

The digital still camera 10 of the fingerprint input type configured as described above operates in the same manner as the digital still camera 10 of the password input type described above, except for the points described with reference to FIGS. Since it can be obtained, the overlapping description will be omitted.

First, the fingerprint input operation of the digital still camera 10 will be described with reference to FIG. This operation corresponds to step S3 shown in FIG. 8, and will be described with reference to FIG. First, when an image ID is input (step S
1) A message or the like prompting fingerprint input is displayed on the monitor 16 (step S3a), a finger is placed on the fingerprint input unit 46 to input a fingerprint (step S3b), and it is determined whether the fingerprint information has been correctly input. Is determined (Step S3
c). If the fingerprint information has not been correctly input, the process returns to step S3a, and the fingerprint input is repeated until the fingerprint information is correctly input. If the fingerprint information can be correctly input, a message or the like indicating that the fingerprint information has been correctly input is displayed on the monitor 16 (step S3d), and the fingerprint information is stored in the RAM.
Via the PC 36 (step S5). Note that the operation in FIG. 18 also corresponds to step S49 shown in FIG.

The fingerprint authentication operation of the digital still camera 10 will be described with reference to FIG. This operation is performed in steps S95 and S97 shown in FIG.
Therefore, a description will be given also with reference to FIG. First,
When the image ID is input (step S93), the image I
The fingerprint information of D is called out from the PCMCIA card 42 (step S95a), a message or the like prompting fingerprint input is displayed on the monitor 16 (step S95b), and a fingerprint is input by placing a finger on the fingerprint input unit 46 (step S95b). S9
5c), it is determined whether the fingerprint information has been correctly input (step S95d). If the fingerprint information has not been correctly input, the process returns to step S95b, and the fingerprint input is repeated until the fingerprint information is correctly input. If the fingerprint information can be correctly input, pattern matching between the fingerprint information called from the PCMCIA card 42 and the input fingerprint information is performed (step S97a). Then, the degree of coincidence between the two is determined. That is, it is determined whether the input fingerprint information is correct (step S97b). If the fingerprint information is correct, a message indicating that the input fingerprint information is correct is displayed on the monitor 16 (step S97).
c) and proceed to step S99. On the other hand, step S97b
In step S10, if the fingerprint information is not correct,
Go to 7.

The digital still camera 10 of the fingerprint input type has the following features except for the points shown in FIG. 18 and FIG.
Operations similar to those in FIGS. 8 to 15 are performed, but at this time, “authentication information” may be appropriately replaced with “fingerprint” or “fingerprint information”. In the digital still camera 10 of the fingerprint input type, since a fingerprint having a large data amount is used as the authentication information,
Authentication information is less likely to be stolen and data security is further enhanced.

Next, the information recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention
A case where the present invention is applied to a VD recording / reproducing apparatus will be described. Referring to FIG. 20, a DVD recording / reproducing apparatus 100 of this embodiment includes an operation unit 102, a CPU 104, a ROM 10
6, RAM 108, audio / video input / output unit 110,
Signal processing circuit 112, disk drive unit 114, display unit 1
The optical disk 118 is mounted on the DVD recording / reproducing apparatus 100 including the optical disk 118.

The operation unit 102 is provided on a remote controller or the main body (not shown) of the DVD recording / reproducing apparatus 100 and has a recording button for recording DVD data, a reproduction button for reproducing DVD data, and erasing DVD data. And an authentication information input unit 120. The authentication information input unit 120
Used to enter authentication information such as a password.

The operation of the DVD recording / reproducing apparatus 100 is controlled by the CPU 104. The ROM 106 has a DVD
A program for controlling the main unit of the recording / reproducing apparatus 100 and a program for controlling operations related to authentication information such as lock / unlock of DVD data are stored, and these programs are given to the CPU 104. The program for controlling the operation related to the authentication information includes a program for encrypting the DVD data as in the digital still camera 10. The encryption of the DVD data ensures that the DVD data is invisible. As the encryption, a single character substitution encryption, a transposition encryption, or the like is used.

Authentication information such as a password is temporarily stored in the RAM 108. The audio / video input / output unit 110 includes an analog circuit for outputting an audio / video signal including a D / A converter and the like, and an analog circuit (not shown) for inputting an audio / video signal including an A / D converter and the like. Audio and video signals are input and output.

The signal processing circuit 112 includes a CD-DA signal processing unit, a CD-ROM encoder, a CD-ROM decoder, an MPEG encoder, and an MPEG decoder (not shown). A predetermined signal processing is performed on the signal, and an audio / video signal subjected to the predetermined signal processing is provided to the audio / video input / output unit 110. The disk driving unit 114 drives the optical disk 118 under the control of the CPU 104. The display unit 116 is, for example, a DVD.
The display unit 11 is formed on the front of the recording / reproducing apparatus 100 main body.
6 displays the processing status of the DVD recording / reproducing apparatus 100, and displays an error message when the authentication information is incorrect.

The optical disk 118 is a DVD here, and is driven by the disk drive unit 114 to
08 and the DVD data temporarily stored therein are written. The authentication information is preferably written in an encrypted form, and is preferably decrypted when read. As shown in FIG. 21, the data configuration of the entire optical disc 118 includes an information management unit in which various types of disc information are recorded on the first track. The information management unit includes an authentication information bit which is set when the authentication information is input. In this embodiment, when the authentication information bit is set, D
VD is locked. Data is recorded from the second track. Then, the authentication information is recorded on the Nth track. When the authentication information is recorded on the Nth track, it is desirable that no other data be recorded on the Nth track.

The operation of the DVD recording / reproducing apparatus 100 thus configured will be described. First, an operation when locking DVD data will be described with reference to FIG. First, when authentication information is input by the authentication information input unit 120 (step S111), the input authentication information is stored on the optical disk 118 via the RAM 108 (step S113). Accordingly, the optical disk 1
The authentication information bit of the information management unit in the first track of No. 18 is set (step S115). And the optical disk 1
The DVD data is read from the CPU 18 into the CPU 104 (step S117), the DVD data is encrypted (step S119), the encrypted DVD data is written to the optical disk 118 (step S121), and the process ends.
Thus, the DVD data is locked.

Next, the operation of the DVD recording / reproducing apparatus 100 for erasing DVD data will be described with reference to FIG. When an erase button of the operation unit 102 is pressed, an erase interrupt occurs. Then, it is determined whether the authentication information bit of the information management unit is 1 (step S12).
3). If the authentication information bit is 1, the authentication information input unit 1
After inputting authentication information from step 18 (step S125),
It is determined whether or not the authentication information is correct, that is, whether or not the input authentication information matches the authentication information stored on the optical disk 118 (step S127). If the authentication information is incorrect, an error message is displayed on the display unit 116 (step S129), and the process ends.

In step S127, if the authentication information is correct, the information management unit is cleared to 0, and the DV
The D data is erased (step S131), and the process ends.
In step S131, as a result of the information management unit being cleared to 0, the authentication information bit is also lowered. On the other hand, if the authentication information bit is 0 in step S123, the DV
The D data is deleted (step S133), and the process ends.
As described above, the locked DVD data is not inadvertently erased by the DVD recording / reproducing apparatus 100.

Referring to FIG. 24, the operation of reproducing DVD data by DVD recording / reproducing apparatus 100 will be described. When the play button of the operation unit 102 is pressed,
A playback interrupt occurs. Then, it is determined whether the authentication information bit of the information management unit is 1 (step S1).
35). If the authentication information bit is 1, after inputting the authentication information from the authentication information input unit 118 (step S137), it is determined whether or not the authentication information is correct, that is, the authentication information stored in the optical disc 118 is determined. It is determined whether the information matches the information (step S139).
If the authentication information is incorrect, an error message is displayed on the display unit 116 (step S141), and the process ends.

In step S139, if the authentication information is correct, the DVD data is decrypted (step S14).
3) The decoded DVD data is read, and an audio signal and a video signal are output from the audio / video input / output unit 110 (step S145), and the process ends.
On the other hand, in step S135, the authentication information bit is set to 0.
If so, the DVD data stored in the optical disc 118 is read, and the audio / video input / output unit 110 outputs an audio signal and a video signal (step S147), and the process ends. As described above, for the locked DVD data, the DVD recording / reproducing apparatus 100
Cannot be played.

Further, referring to FIG. 25, DVD data is recorded (for example, overwritten) by DVD recording / reproducing apparatus 100.
The operation at the time of performing will be described. When a recording button of the operation unit 102 is pressed, a recording interrupt occurs. Then, it is determined whether or not the authentication information bit of the information management unit is 1 (step S149). If the authentication information bit is 1, after inputting the authentication information from the authentication information input unit 118 (step S151), it is determined whether the authentication information is correct, that is, the authentication information stored in the optical disc 118 is stored. It is determined whether the information matches the information (step S153). If the authentication information is incorrect, the display unit 11
6 displays an error message (step S15).
5), end.

In step S153, if the authentication information is correct, the authentication information bit of the information management unit is lowered (step S156), and thereafter, the DVD data is recorded (step S157), and the process ends. On the other hand, step S1
In 49, if the authentication information bit is 0, DVD data is recorded (step S159), and the process ends. As described above, if the DVD data is locked, the DVD recording / reproducing apparatus 100 cannot record (overwrite) another DVD data on the DVD data.

The operation for unlocking the DVD data will be described with reference to FIG. First, when authentication information is input from the authentication information input unit 120 (step S161), it is determined whether the authentication information is correct (step S163). If the authentication information is correct, the authentication information bit of the information management unit is dropped (step S165). Then, the encrypted DVD data is read from the optical disk 118 into the CPU 104 (step S167), and the DVD data is decrypted (step S167).
169), the original DVD data is written to the optical disk 118 (step S171), and the process ends. On the other hand, if the authentication information is incorrect in step S163, an error message is displayed on display unit 116 (step S17).
3), end. Thus, the lock of the DVD data is released.

The information recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention is
It can also be applied to a recording / reproducing device. When the information recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention is applied to an MD recording / reproducing apparatus, FIG.
In the block diagram shown in FIG. 0, if the data audio / video input / output unit 110 is an audio input / output unit (audio signals are input / output) and the signal processing circuit 112 has a unique circuit configuration of the MD, the configuration of the MD recording / reproducing apparatus Let's be.

Here, the MD is a digital disk capable of recording / reproducing, and the MD employs a unique data compression technique and data format. That is, in MD, ATRAC (Adaptive transform Aco
data compression by ustic coding, and 36
Link sector (3 sectors) with one sector as one cluster
-Sub data (1 sector)-Compressed audio data (3
2 sectors). Such M
In the D recording / reproducing apparatus, the authentication information and the authentication information bit are stored in a predetermined area of the MD. When the present invention is applied to the MD recording / reproducing apparatus, the same effect as in the case of the DVD recording / reproducing apparatus 100 can be obtained.

The information recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention
The present invention is not limited to the VD recording / reproducing device and the MD recording / reproducing device, and can be applied to any disc recording / reproducing device. At this time,
In the configuration of the disk recording / reproducing apparatus, in the block diagram of FIG. 20, the audio / video input / output section 110 is an input / output section for a signal corresponding to the disk recording / reproducing apparatus, and the signal processing circuit 112 is corresponding to the disk recording / reproducing apparatus. It will be a circuit configuration. Further, the information recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention can be applied to a digital video camera. Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, a password or a fingerprint is used as recognition information. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and any authentication information such as a voiceprint, a handwriting, and a face can be used.

[0068]

According to the information recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention,
By inputting authentication information for desired data among the stored data, the data itself can be locked (claim 1). When locked, the locked data cannot be viewed or erased by another person, and no other data can be written on the locked data (claim 5). Further, if the authentication information is stored, the data can be unlocked by inputting the same authentication information as the stored authentication information (claim 2).

When a password is used as the authentication information, the authentication information can be easily input (claim 3). When a fingerprint is used as the authentication information, not only can the authentication information be input easily, but also the authentication information is less likely to be stolen, and the data security is further improved (claim 4). Further, the information recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention can be applied to a digital still camera and a disc recording / reproducing apparatus (claims 6 and 7).

According to the information recording / reproducing method of the present invention, by inputting authentication information for desired data,
You can lock that data, and by entering the same credentials that are stored,
The data can be unlocked (claim 8).

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a password input type digital still camera according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the appearance of the digital still camera of the input type shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an illustrative view showing a state where 16 screens are displayed on the monitor;

FIG. 4 is an illustrative view showing a setting dial of the type of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an illustrative view showing an authentication information input unit;

FIG. 6 is an illustrative view showing a sector map;

FIG. 7 is an illustrative view showing a structure of a FAT;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an operation of locking an image file by the digital still camera of FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an operation of deleting an image file by the digital still camera of FIG. 1;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an operation of a one-screen erasing process.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the operation when viewing an image file on the monitor of the digital still camera in FIG. 1;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing an operation when an image file is deleted by a personal computer.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing an operation when referring to an image file on a personal computer.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing an operation when writing to an image file by a personal computer.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing an operation of unlocking an image file by the digital still camera of FIG. 1;

FIG. 16 is a schematic view showing an appearance of a digital still camera of a fingerprint input type.

FIG. 17 is an illustrative view showing a setting dial of a digital still camera of a fingerprint input type;

FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing a fingerprint input operation.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing the operation of fingerprint authentication.

FIG. 20 is a block diagram showing a DVD recording / reproducing apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 21 is an illustrative view showing a data structure of an entire optical disc;

FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing an operation of locking DVD data by the DVD recording / reproducing device.

FIG. 23 is a flowchart showing an operation of erasing DVD data.

FIG. 24 is a flowchart showing an operation of reproducing DVD data.

FIG. 25 is a flowchart showing an operation of recording DVD data.

FIG. 26 is a flowchart showing an operation of unlocking DVD data by a DVD recording / reproducing device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 digital still camera 12 housing 14 lens 16 monitor 18 shutter button 20, 44 setting dial 22, 120 authentication information input section 24, 28, 48 setting button 26, 30, 50 pointer 32, 104 CPU 34, 106 ROM 36, Reference Signs List 108 RAM 38 Solid-state imaging device 40 Image processing unit 42 PCMCIA card 46 Fingerprint input unit 100 DVD recording / reproducing device 102 Operation unit 110 Audio / video input / output unit 112 Signal processing circuit 114 Disk drive unit 116 Optical disk 118 Display unit

Claims (8)

[Claims] A data storage unit for storing data; an authentication information input unit for inputting authentication information for desired data among the data stored in the data storage unit; An information recording / reproducing apparatus comprising: a lock unit for locking; and an unlocking unit for unlocking the locked data. 2. The storage device according to claim 1, further comprising a storage unit configured to store the input authentication information, wherein the lock release unit determines whether the authentication information input from the authentication information input unit matches the authentication information stored in the storage unit. 2. The information recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: means for unlocking the data. 3. The information recording and reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said authentication information is a password. 4. The information recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the authentication information is a fingerprint. 5. The data processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the lock means is means for inhibiting writing to the data, means for inhibiting erasure of the data,
5. The information recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for making said data invisible. 6. The information recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information recording / reproducing apparatus is a digital still camera, and the data is an image file. 7. The information recording / reproducing device is a disc recording / reproducing device, and the data is disc data.
An information recording / reproducing device according to any one of the above. 8. Storing data, inputting authentication information for desired data among the stored data, storing the input authentication information, and locking the data to which the authentication information has been input. An information recording / reproducing method for unlocking the data when the stored authentication information and the subsequently input authentication information match.