JPWO2019059313A1 - Recording / playback device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To display information about a performer of the program data on the lower side of a television display or the like during reproduction of the program data.
SOLUTION: A recording medium on which received program data is recorded, a storage medium in which metadata indicating an appearance target of video data of the program data is stored, and a reproduction of the program data recorded on the recording medium. The means and an output means for outputting the information about the appearance target corresponding to the metadata corresponding to the program data to the television receiver in a ticker display when the program data is reproduced by the reproduction means.
[Selection diagram] Fig. 1

Description

The present invention relates to a recording / playback device, and more particularly to a recording / playback device that provides a user with desired information when reproducing recorded program data.

Conventionally, the following techniques have been disclosed as means for recording and viewing television programs such as terrestrial broadcasting and satellite broadcasting (Patent Document 1). As the technique described in Patent Document 1, a technique for recording all television broadcasts for one day has been proposed.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10-234007

However, the invention disclosed in Patent Document 1 only reproduces the recorded program data (television program) as it is when reproducing the recorded program data (television program). If all the program data for one day is recorded, although various processing can be performed on the program data, the possibility is not explored and the one day's worth is recorded. The effect of recording all the program data is limited to the fact that there is a lot of reproducible program data.

An object of the present invention is to focus on CM data included in program data, search for a unique reproduction method thereof, and provide a useful recording / reproduction device, system, and server to users, CM clients, and the like. To do.

In order to solve the above problems, the recording / playback device of the present invention
A recording means for recording program data on a recording medium,
A reproduction means for reproducing the program data recorded on the recording medium, and
A detection means for detecting the on / off state of the power of the display medium of the video data of the program data reproduced by the reproduction means, and
An output means for outputting content to be notified to the user when the detection means detects that the power of the display medium is on and the program data is not reproduced by the playback means.
To be equipped.

In addition, a means for displaying a menu screen for allowing the user to select program data to be reproduced by the reproduction means may be provided. In this case, the output means can output the content when there is no instruction from the user for more than a predetermined time from the start of the display of the menu screen, and further, the content is displayed by the output means. When an arbitrary instruction is given by the user in, the display state of the menu screen may be returned.

Further, the output means can also output the content when the program data is displayed by the reproduction means and an arbitrary instruction other than the instruction to stop the reproduction of the program data is given. In this case, the optional instructions include an instruction to pause the reproduction of the program data, an instruction to turn on the power of the display medium, an instruction to fast forward the program data, an instruction to rewind the program data, and an instruction to skip the program data. Further, when an arbitrary instruction is given by the user while the content is being displayed by the output means, the display process by the reproduction means may be returned.

Furthermore, at least one of the video data and the audio data of the CM data is output as the content, or at least one of the video data and the audio data of the CM data explicitly requested by the advertiser is output as the content. Alternatively, it is also possible to output at least one of the video data and the audio data of the CM data determined based on the reproduction history as the content.

The present invention includes a recording medium on which content including program data having program corner data and CM data is recorded.
A reproduction means for reproducing the content recorded on the recording medium, and
A database that stores information indicating other content that can be interrupted by the content played by the playback means, and
It may be provided with an interrupt control means for interrupting the content being played when it is determined that the other content exists by referring to the database.

Further, in order to solve the above problems, the recording / reproducing device according to the embodiment of the present invention is used.
A recording medium on which content including program data having program corner data and CM data is recorded, and
A reproduction means for reproducing the content recorded on the recording medium, and
A database that stores information indicating other content that can be interrupted by the content played by the playback means, and
It is provided with an interrupt control means for interrupting the content being played when it is determined that the other content exists by referring to the database.

Further, information indicating whether or not the CM data recorded on the recording medium is to be reproduced is stored in the database.
By referring to the database prior to reproducing the CM data recorded on the recording medium, it is determined whether or not the CM data is a reproduction target.
When it is determined that the CM data is not a reproduction target, the CM data may be replaced with the other contents and reproduced without reproducing the CM data.

Further, the present invention provides a storage means for storing position data indicating a recording destination of the content to be reproduced when the other content is reproduced by the reproduction means and there is no interruption of the other content. You may prepare.

Further, the content can be moving image, still image, sound or character information captured from the outside of the recording / reproducing device itself.

Furthermore, the information stored in the database can be determined based on the attributes of the CM data, the attributes of the user, and the attributes of the other contents.

Further, the present invention includes a setting means for setting information stored in the database, which is connected to the recording / playback device via a network.

Further, the recording / reproducing system of the present invention includes the recording / reproducing device and the server.

Further, the recording / reproducing device of another embodiment of the present invention is
A recording medium on which received program data is recorded, and
A storage medium in which metadata indicating the appearance target of the video data of the program data is stored, and
A reproduction means for reproducing the program data recorded on the recording medium, and
When the program data is reproduced by the reproduction means, the output means for outputting the information about the appearance target corresponding to the metadata corresponding to the program data in a manner of causing the television receiver to display the ticker.
To be equipped.

The metadata includes period data indicating the appearance period of the appearance target in the program data.
The output means can output information about the appearance target when the video data of the appearance target is displayed on the television receiver based on the period data.

It is also possible to provide a setting means for setting a display position of the information regarding the appearance target when the output means outputs the information regarding the appearance target. In this case, the display position may be a peripheral portion including the lower part of the television receiver, or may be a portion generated by reducing the display of the program data without displaying the entire surface.

Further, the information regarding the appearance target may include a control means for controlling the speed or the number of characters to be displayed on the ticker according to the genre of the program data and the genre of the program corner constituting the program data.

The control means can also determine the display type of the ticker display, the number of times of display, the display interval, the display timing, and the display content based on the genre of the program data, the broadcast time of the program data, and the like.

Further, the system includes the recording / playback device and a remote controller for remotely controlling the operation of the recording / playback device, and the remote controller may be provided with a button for instructing the start of the ticker display. ..

In the case of a recording / playback device having a ticker display function in this way, information about the performers, for example, the name, year of birth, career, etc. of the commentator is displayed as a telop in the program data, or appears in a news program. For university professors, when the name, university, research theme, etc. are displayed as telops, it is possible to effectively display the information to be notified by the user.

Further, the recording / reproducing device of another embodiment of the present invention is
A recording medium on which received program data is recorded in file format,
A reproduction means for reproducing the program data recorded on the recording medium, and
A granting means for adding a flag to a file that is a target for restricting the playback of program data by the playback means, and
A storage means for storing newly received program data for a file flagged by the granting means is provided.

As a result, it is possible to realize a recording / playback device provided with a recording medium having a relatively small capacity by limiting the reproduction of program data that may not need to be recorded.

However, when the file to which the flag is added does not exist, the storage means can store the newly received program data for the file in which the oldest program data is stored. Further, the storage means may store each program data transmitted from a plurality of television program broadcasting stations in a plurality of different files at the same time.

Further, if a specific means for specifying a file to be flagged by the granting means is provided, the specific means can be used for the behavior of the user with respect to the recording / playback device main body and the viewer for the program data acquired via the network. It can be specified based on any of the evaluation of the program data, the audience rating of the program data, the type and broadcast time of the program data, and the elapsed time since the program data was broadcast.

In addition to the program data, CM data is recorded on the recording medium.

Further, it is also possible to provide a designation means for designating program data that is not the target to which the flag is given. As a result, it is possible to prevent the user from being overwritten in a short period of time by the TV program broadcasted thereafter by flagging the favorite program data.

Furthermore, the mobile terminals of some embodiments of the present invention
A means for receiving at least a part of program data transmitted from the recording / playback device via a wireless line, and
A means for outputting at least a part of the program data and
Can be provided.

In this case, the recording / playback system may include the mobile terminal, and specifically, the recording provided with means for transmitting at least a part of the program data played on the mobile terminal to the mobile terminal via a wireless line. It can be equipped with a playback device.

Embodiment of the invention

Hereinafter, the digital recording / playback system according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In this specification, the case of so-called digital broadcasting will be mainly described as an example, but it should be noted that this specification can also be applied to the case of so-called analog broadcasting.

FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of the digital recording / playback system of the present embodiment. FIG. 11 is a time chart showing the operation of the digital recording / playback system shown in FIG. First, an outline of the digital recording / playback system of the present embodiment will be described.

FIG. 4 shows a digital recording / playback device 10 for recording program data or the like transmitted from a television signal transmission station, and a time index used for playback of program data or the like recorded in the digital recording / playback device 10. The recorded time index server 50, a network such as the Internet connecting them, and a database attached to the time index server 50 (hereinafter, referred to as “DB”) are shown.

The "program data" includes program corner data and commercial data (hereinafter referred to as "CM data") obtained by dividing the program data, and includes video data and audio data, and is a digital signal or analog. It is data that can be obtained through broadcast waves consisting of signals or networks such as the Internet.

The digital recording / playback device 10 includes a recording medium such as a hard disk on which program data or the like is recorded, and as an example, program data or the like is constantly recorded. Further, the digital recording / playback device 10 is provided with a plurality of tuners, and is provided with an A / D converter so as to be able to process analog broadcast program data.

In the drawing, for convenience of notation, it is shown as "always start recording processing", but in reality, as long as the power of the digital recording / playback device 10 is turned on, as an example, program data can be recorded endlessly. Be done. (Step S1).

The recording target is program data, and therefore, CM data is also included in addition to the program corner data. In addition to the program data, the digital recording / playback device 10 can also record metadata incidental to the CM data, moving images, still images, audio, character information, etc. captured from the outside of the recording / playback device itself. .. In addition, when recording program data, for example, "time data" every second including "recording start time" when recording the program data, etc., and a physical or logical recording destination of the program data, etc. are indicated. "Position data" is recorded on a recording medium together with program data.

On the other hand, typically, the administrator of the time index server 50 creates the title data and the time index as follows (step S2).

The title data indicates a title assigned to each of the program data, the program corner data, and the CM data. The time index is an index for specifying the broadcast start time and the broadcast end time of the program corner data and the like.

As an example of the program corner data, the program corner data corresponds to the first front, the first back, the second front, the second back, etc. with respect to the program data of the baseball broadcast, and the news program For the program data, top news, today's special feature, weather forecast, today's fortune-telling and economic news, etc. will be the program corner data.

The administrator of the time index server 50 divides the program data while watching the TV program that has already been broadcast, and specifies when each program corner data and each CM data were broadcast from what time to what time. By doing so, a time index or the like is created and recorded in the DB attached to the time index server 50.

The time index or the like created by the administrator of the time index server 50 is recorded in the time index server 50 periodically or irregularly (step S3).

The digital recording / playback device 10 actively or passively receives the title data and the time index recorded in the time indexing server 50 (step S4).

As a result, when the digital recording / playback device 10 receives the title data or the like, it is possible to associate these with the already recorded program data. This association may be performed immediately after the execution of step S4, or may be performed at the time of execution of step S7, which will be described later.

In this state, when the user of the digital recording / playback device 10 tries to reproduce the program data, the user first operates the remote controller or the like to display the title data to the digital recording / playback device 10. Issue a display command. Specifically, as an example, when the user specifies specific program data through the remote controller and then presses the play button of the remote controller, a signal indicating the display command is transmitted to the digital recording / playback device 10. (Step S5).

Actually, as is known, the digital recording / playback device 10 is provided with a table memory or the like in which an identifier corresponding to each button of the remote controller and a pair of instruction contents corresponding to the identifier are recorded. When the digital recording / playback device 10 receives the signal transmitted from the remote controller, the digital recording / playback device 10 identifies the corresponding instruction by referring to the table memory or the like.

Then, the digital recording / playback device 10 outputs a list of received title data and the like to a television (hereinafter, referred to as “TV”) in accordance with the above command (step S6).

As a result, the user can select the title data of the program data to be reproduced while browsing the TV display. After that, when the user finishes selecting the program data to be reproduced, the user may transmit the result to the digital recording / reproduction device 10 by operating a remote controller or the like (step S7).

When the digital recording / playback device 10 receives the selection result from the user transmitted from the remote controller, the digital recording / playback device 10 refers to the "time index" of the program corner data or the like corresponding to the "title data" and refers to the program corner data or the like. Specify the "broadcast start time" of. Next, the digital recording / playback device 10 refers to the recording medium based on the specified broadcast start time, and searches for "position data" corresponding to the broadcast start time (step S8).

Then, the digital recording / playback device 10 executes playback of the program corner data or the like according to the searched "position data" (step S7).

The above is the outline of the digital recording / playback system of the present embodiment.

(Digital recording / playback device)
Next, the digital recording / playback device 10 of the present embodiment will be described. In the digital recording / playback device 10, the digital TV signal received by each tuner is decompressed / recompressed as necessary by the converter and converted into a digital signal. The program data of the converted digital signal is compressed and recorded on the hard disk drive. The compressed program data is expanded and reproduced by the output device based on the reception of the input signal related to the reproduction. The “output device” corresponds to, for example, a TV to which the digital recording / playback device 10 of the present embodiment is electrically connected and a mobile terminal described later.

As an example, the digital recording / playback device 10 constantly records a television program of a broadcasting station 365 days a year for 24 hours according to the tuning content of the tuner 12. However, it is not intended to record a TV program in the middle of the night when it is not broadcast, or to record a TV program for which the user has set a recording prohibition.

This "constant recording" is a function of the digital recording / playback device 10 to record a television program even when the user does not set the recording operation. Hereinafter, each function of each part of the digital recording / playback device 10 will be described in detail.

FIG. 1 shows the hardware configuration of the digital recording / playback device 10. The digital recording / playback device 10 selects the radio wave of the channel specified by the user from the antenna 11 that receives the radio wave of the television signal and the radio wave that is received by the antenna 11 and distributed by the antenna distributor (not shown). A plurality of tuners 12 that demodulate to a John signal, a converter (recompression / converter) 14 that converts, for example, an MPEG stream output by the plurality of tuners 12 into an appropriate bit rate / resolution / compression method, and program data are recorded. In addition, it includes a plurality of hard disk drives (hereinafter referred to as HDDs) 17 (17a, 17b) that can be randomly accessed, and an HDD control unit 18 that writes, reads, and controls various data to the HDD 17.

The tuner 12 can be tuned so that a plurality of broadcast waves can be received. A plurality of tuners may be physically provided, or one tuner 12 may be capable of tuning corresponding to a plurality of broadcast waves. The tuner 12 is composed of, for example, eight tuners, and is capable of viewing and recording television for eight channels. Therefore, for example, in addition to the 7 terrestrial channels in the Tokyo area, one channel of a satellite broadcasting station such as BS or CS can be received. However, the digital recording / playback device 10 of the present embodiment is not limited to viewing television in Japan, and can also browse television overseas by adjusting the tuner 12. In the present embodiment, as a configuration example of the tuner 12, one tuner board containing eight tuners and two encoder boards equipped with encoders capable of simultaneously processing four video signals are used. There is. It is not essential to use an encoder, a multiplexer, or the like, and the program data or the like received through the tuner 12 may be recorded without being encoded or separated.

In addition, one tuner board with eight tuners in one and four encoder boards that process two video signals at the same time are configured. Two tuner boards with four tuners in one and two images. The configuration may include four encoder boards that process signals at the same time, two tuner boards that contain four tuners in one, and two encoder boards that simultaneously process four video signals. Although eight tuners 12 in this embodiment are mounted, the number of tuners 12 is not particularly limited and can be increased or decreased as needed.

The converter 14 is an A / D converter that converts an analog signal to a digital signal, and / or a D / A converter that converts a digital signal to an analog signal. The converter 14 is a converter including a translating means for converting a bit rate and a conversion of a resolution for an MPEG stream of digital broadcasting and a transcoding means for converting a compression method.

The transforming means employs a method of converting an MPEG-2 stream in the present embodiment, but is not limited to this, and for example, MPEG-4, AVI, DivX, XVD, H.A. It can also be 264 or Xvid. The transcoding means is, for example, H. Conversion to a method with higher compression efficiency than MPEG-2 such as 264 is performed, but conversion is not always required. The translating and transcoding means internally decode the MPEG stream and then re-encode it. It is preferable to have a transcoder means because the variation of the compression method increases.

Further, the digital recording / playback device 10 is not limited to this, but may have the following configuration. That is, when the program data is received by the tuner, the analog signal is converted into a digital signal by performing A / D conversion and demodulating by the demodulator. In the case of so-called digital broadcasting, it becomes an MPEG stream by processing the modulator. The tuner and the modulator may be configured by their respective hardware, or may be configured by a single hardware capable of realizing these operations. Next, the transcoder re-encodes the program data as a digital signal. As an example, in the case of digital broadcasting, the transcoder is encrypted to prevent unauthorized viewing of program data, so it is decrypted by a decoder and compressed by an MPEG decoder in the MPEG / MPEG-2 format. The program data is decoded and expanded, and the MPEG / H.M. Program data can be recompressed into 264 format, the MPEG stream can be re-encrypted as needed by an encryptor, and selectively multiplexed into a multi-channel MPEG stream by a multiplexer. It should be noted that if the program data is not decrypted, the encryption process and the decryption process are not necessary, and the multiplexing process is not essential. It is also possible to combine all these functions on one board and prepare them for each channel.

Further, the digital recording / playback device 10 includes a demultiplexer 19 that separates the MPEG stream read from the HDD 17 into a video signal stream and an audio signal stream, an MPEG decoder 20 that receives the video signal stream, and an audio signal. The audio decoder 21 that receives the stream of the above, the second converter 22a that receives the stream of the video signal decoded by the MPEG decoder 20, converts the received video signal into a digital signal or an analog signal, and outputs the signal to the TV, and the audio decoder. It is provided with a third converter 22b that receives a stream of audio signals decoded by 21 and converts the received audio signals into digital signals or analog signals and outputs them to a speaker or the like.

The second converter 22a and the third converter 22b perform conversion processing according to the input format of the TV or the speaker. That is, when the TV can input only analog signals, it performs digital-to-analog conversion processing.

Further, the digital recording / playback device 10 includes a CPU 23 that controls the entire digital recording / playback device 10 and a memory 24 that is used as a work area for temporarily recording the work area and system stream of the CPU 23 and recording the system stream in the HDD 17. A signal receiving unit 25 that receives various input signals from the input unit 28 of the remote controller or the digital recording / playback device 10 and transmits them to the CPU 23, and a network controller that is connected to a LAN or WAN and is capable of Internet communication. It includes 26.

According to the program stored in the memory 24, the CPU 23 issues a time index reception instruction in step S4, a title data output instruction in step S5, a reproduction instruction such as program corner data in step S7, which has been described with reference to FIG. Do. In other words, the memory 24 is provided with a program necessary for the CPU 23 to execute these instructions.

Further, the digital recording / playback device 10 has a real-time clock 26b indicating time data, and an OSD (On Screen Display) function for displaying menus, program information, and the like so as to cover the video during program data reproduction. It includes an image processing unit 27 that performs various image processing, and a DVD drive 29 for recording the recorded program data on an optical disk (recording means) such as a DVD. As the optical disc, not only a DVD disc but also a Blu-ray disc can be adopted. In this case, a Blu-ray drive may be adopted instead of the DVD drive 29. Further, the digital recording / playback device 10 may be configured not to include the DVD drive 29.

The main function of the network controller 26 is to access the server according to NTP (Network Time Protocol), inquire about the current time, adjust the real-time clock 26b, receive EPG data, and program corner data described later. And receive the time index, and send the viewing data related to the user.

The HDD 17 includes a constantly recording HDD 17a provided for constant recording, and a storage HDD (storage-only recording means) 17b for storing (transferring) a part of recorded program data. The continuous recording HDD 17a enables recording for, for example, 8 days. Generally, data that has undergone data compression processing is recorded in the HDD 17, and this data is decompressed (compressed to its original state) at the time of reproduction.

The storage HDD 17b stores the program data that the user wants to save while avoiding being overwritten by the constant recording. The user selects the program data that he / she wants to save, and converts the video data and audio data bit rate of the program data, the resolution (size) of the video data, and the compression format (for example, MPEG-2 to MPEG-4). And save) etc. to save.

Since the constant recording HDD 17a is connected to the DVD drive 29, a DVD (not shown) can be used as a storage destination for program data through the DVD drive 29 instead of the storage HDD 17b.

The recording medium is not limited to the HDD, and a data recording medium such as a hard disk drive, a DVD, or a flash memory capable of random access can be adopted.

The HDD 17 of the present embodiment physically mounts two HDDs, but the HDD 17 is not limited thereto. For example, one HDD may be divided into partitions (separate areas). Further, the HDD 17 can be expanded as needed. For example, the additional HDD may be used as a storage HDD, an HDD for editing program data, and a work HDD for recording on an optical disk such as a DVD.

Next, the recording format of the program data will be described. As an example, the program data broadcast on each channel is endlessly recorded on the continuous recording HDD 17a for 24 hours on 365 days. Here, recording is performed by the ring buffer method. The ring buffer is a data structure that manages a data area such as an HDD in a ring shape and treats the finite length area as an apparently infinite length area. One program data of a plurality of channels is stored in the constantly recording HDD 17a. Record as a long endless file. At this time, the program data of a plurality of channels may be recorded as an endless file for each channel. In the present embodiment, the time index distributed from the server is recorded in a medium physically different from the program data recorded by the ring buffer method or in another area of the same medium as described below. , The time index is used to realize the reproduction of desired program data.

(Time index)
The "time index" is an index including a broadcast start time and a broadcast end time of program data, program corner data, and CM data. As an example, the time index for each program data is a TV program created by a server administrator or the like based on a TV program guide (including newspapers, magazines, etc.) created by each TV station, or transmitted by a broadcast wave. The table may be used as it is. As an example, the time index for each corner unit or CM unit of the program corner data is created by the administrator of the time index server 50 or the like based on the content of the program data after broadcasting. Each time index is recorded in the time index server 50. The entity that creates the time index is not limited to the server administrator. For example, the user of the digital recording / playback device 10 may be the subject of creating the time index, soliciting the created time index to be transmitted via the Internet or the like, and recording the created time index on the server.

(Fig. 2 and Fig. 3)
With reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, the relationship between the program data, the program corner data and the CM data, and the title data and the time index thereof will be described. FIG. 2 shows an example of program data of a cooking program. It is assumed that this program data is composed of program corner data called three corners "A to C" and CM data "CM1 to CM3" located between each corner. In this example, the cooking program corresponds to the program data, and the A to C corners correspond to the program corner data.

Further, in the example shown in FIG. 2, "A corner" is broadcast from 11:00 to 11:15, "CM1" is broadcast for 2 minutes from 11:15, and "B" is broadcast from 11:17 to 11:32. "Corner" will be broadcast. Then, it is said that "CM2" for 2 minutes was broadcast from 11:32, "C corner" was broadcast from 11:34 to 11:54, and "CM3" was broadcast for 6 minutes from 11:54. Furthermore, it is said that French food recipes have been released in "A corner", Chinese food recipes have been released in "B corner", and Indian food recipes have been released in "C corner". Further, it is said that "CM1" and "CM2" broadcast food-related sponsor CMs, and "CM3" broadcast magazine-related sponsor CMs.

The server administrator or the like browses this cooking program and identifies that the cooking program is composed of each corner of "A to C" and "CM1 to CM3". Then, the server administrator or the like creates a time index or the like for each of them. The title data makes it possible to see the program title and the corner title at a glance. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3A, the title data is "Cooking program-French food recipe" in "A corner" and [Cooking program-Chinese food recipe] in "B corner". Similarly, as shown in FIG. 3B, the titles are [○ × confectionery- ○○ chocolate], [○ × ○ shop- × ○ rice cracker], and the like. However, it is an example to classify into the formats shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B. For example, in the case of CM data, a CM name may be assigned to each title. That is, in the example shown in FIG. 3B, the CM name CM1 is assigned to one CM data [○ × confectionery- ○○ chocolate], and CM2 is assigned to one CM data [○ × ○ shop- × ○ rice cracker]. It is like assigning a CM name.

As described with reference to FIG. 11, the time index or the like created by the server administrator or the like is uploaded to the time index server 50 on the Internet. On the other hand, the digital recording / playback device 10 periodically accesses the time index server 50 via the network controller 26, and the time index or the like uploaded to the time index server 50 is from the one at the time of the previous access. Determine if it has been changed.

As a result of the determination, if the time index or the like is changed, the time index receiving means downloads the time index or the like, and the time index recording means stores the time index or the like in the HDD 17.

However, here, the case where the digital recording / playback device 10 obtains the time index or the like by a so-called pull-type method has been described as an example, but the time index or the like is actively and periodically distributed from the time index server 50. You may adopt the push type method.

In this state, when the user of the digital recording / playback device 10 attempts to reproduce the program data, the user operates a remote controller (not shown) to issue a title data display command to the digital recording / playback device 10. Send to. Subsequent operations are as described with reference to FIG.

As described above, in the digital recording / playback system of the present embodiment, it is possible not only to start-play the program data itself, but also to start-play the program corner data and CM data.

(Bit rate conversion function)
In this embodiment, the bit rate conversion function is adopted for recording the program data. This determines whether or not the program data for 8 days of all channels (8 tuners) can be recorded in the continuous recording HDD 17a, and if it is determined that the program data can be recorded, the programs are recorded at a uniform preset compression rate for all programs. It is a function to change the compression rate of program data to be recorded for each program genre when it is determined that recording is impossible. Note that the bit rate conversion itself is not essential, and it is possible to record without performing this type of compression.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the bit rate conversion process. As shown in FIG. 6, first, when the time set in the previous step S14 arrives, the CPU 23 performs a process different from the operation shown in FIG. 6 via the Internet or the like according to the program stored in the memory 24 or the like. The process of reading the latest acquired EPG data is executed (step S11).

Next, the CPU 23 calculates the program data capacity for the next eight days from the acquired EPG data (step S12).

Specifically, (1) the average capacity of program data for each program genre such as sports, drama, news, variety, and movie is stored in advance in a memory (not shown), and (2) EPG data. Based on this, the total capacity of program data for 8 days from the present is calculated with reference to the memory.

The compression rate should be high because there is relatively little movement in news and variety shows, and low compression rate because sports and movies often have a lot of movement. It is good to do.

By the way, for the digital recording / playback device 10, a means for performing morphological analysis on EPG data and highly related words and genres such as the word "major league" and the genre "sports" are linked. If a synonym dictionary is provided, the process of step S12 can be efficiently executed.

Next, the CPU 23 determines whether or not the storage capacity of the constantly recording HDD 17a is larger than the total capacity of the calculated program data for eight days (step S13).

As a result of the determination, if the storage capacity of the constantly recording HDD 17a is not large with respect to the calculated total capacity of the program data for 8 days, the specified compression rate stored in the memory (not shown) is used for 8 days. In order to record the program data, the process shown in FIG. 6 is terminated.

On the other hand, when the storage capacity of the constantly recording HDD 17a is larger than the total capacity of the calculated program data for 8 days, the specified compression rate is changed (step S14).

Specifically, the compression rate is increased by multiplying the specified compression rate by [the total capacity of the calculated program data for 8 days / the storage capacity of the constantly recording HDD 17a].

However, instead of changing the compression rate of program data uniformly in this way, even if the user can set the change priority of the compression rate for each program genre and change the compression rate according to the priority. Good. That is, for example, a user who does not want to change the compression ratio for a movie sets the change priority of the program data of the movie to "low" and the change priority of the program data such as news to "high". To enable. Prior to the compression rate change process, the CPU 23 refers to the user's change priority and changes the compression rate for the program data set as "high", and as a result, the total of the program data after the compression rate change process. If the storage capacity of the constantly recording HDD 17a is not large with respect to the capacity, the compression rate of the program data whose change priority is set to "medium" or "low" is not changed.

Next, the CPU 23 refers to the latest EPG data and sets the reading time of the EPG data in the next step S11 (step S15).

The read time of the EPG data may be set to be, for example, a few minutes before the broadcast start time of the program data. For example, when the program data for about 1 hour is broadcast from 13:00 and then the program data for about 1 hour is broadcast from 14:00, the read times are set at 12:58 and 13:58, respectively. To do. This set time is determined based on the timed time of the real-time clock 26b and the scheduled broadcast time of the program data indicated by the EPG data.

The bit rate conversion process shown in FIG. 6 is actually executed for each channel set in the tuner 12. Therefore, as a result of executing the bit rate conversion process shown in FIG. 6, the compression rate related to the first channel and the compression rate related to the second channel may be different.

A modified example of the processing of the bit rate conversion function will be described. In the example shown in FIG. 5, the next EPG data read time was set in step S15 of FIG. 6, but when the following modified example is adopted, first, instead of step S15, for example, every day. At 23:55, the genre of the program data related to the broadcasting station set in the tuner 12 is specified from the EPG data scheduled to be broadcast the next day (step S101).

Next, the CPU 23 sets the compression rate of each program data by referring to the compression rate stored in a memory (not shown) and subjected to the compression rate change processing shown in FIG. 5 as needed (step S102). (Step S103).

This eliminates the need to read the EPG data shown in step S11, which is performed every hour, for example, and also eliminates the process of step S15 as described above.

(Delete program data)
As for the program data, for example, the latest eight days' worth is recorded in the constant recording HDD 17a. For example, when looking at the program data recorded in the constantly recorded HDD 17a with respect to Sunday, the program data for eight days from the current Sunday to the previous Sunday is recorded. Then, new program data is sequentially recorded on the constantly recorded HDD 17a in such a manner that the oldest program data is overwritten.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the operation of image processing after the title data display command. As shown in FIG. 12, when the title data display command is issued, the CPU 23 refers to the DB and acquires the time index of the program data recorded in the constantly recorded HDD 17a (step S21).

Next, the CPU 23 identifies, for example, the oldest title data for 48 hours from the acquired time index (step S22).

Then, the CPU 23 performs image processing such as displaying title data other than the specified title data in color and displaying the specified title data in black and white (step S23).

The image processing itself is not limited to this, and the character font related to the title data of the program data having a relatively short time to be overwritten is identified as the program data having a relatively long time to be overwritten. It should be possible.

(No signal detection function)
As described above, the digital recording / playback device 10 can stop recording program data in the constantly recording HDD 17a when broadcasting is not performed such as at midnight, that is, when a video signal is not received. is there.

Here, some tuners 12 are provided with means for outputting the strength of the received television signal. When this type of tuner 12 is used, the CPU 23 can detect the presence or absence of a video signal by reading the data output from the output means. Further, some A / D converters (video decoders) are provided with means for determining whether or not a valid video signal is input by utilizing the presence or absence of a synchronization signal or the like. The CPU 23 can detect whether or not a valid video signal is input by acquiring the determination result of the A / D converter. Alternatively, the CPU 23 can detect that the time has not been broadcast based on the EPG data and the real-time clock 26b.

Therefore, when the CPU 23 detects that a valid video signal is not received by any of the above methods, the CPU 23 instructs the HDD control unit 18 to stop recording the program data in the HDD 17. The HDD control unit 18 stops recording program data in the HDD 17 in accordance with a command from the CPU 23.

Further, when the CPU 23 detects that a valid video signal has been received, the CPU 23 instructs the HDD control unit 18 to restart the recording of the program data. The HDD control unit 18 resumes recording of program data in the HDD 17 in accordance with a command from the CPU 23.

As a result, in the no-signal state in which the program is not broadcast, recording is stopped, so that the capacity of the HDD is saved, which also contributes to the longer recording time of the HDD.

(Personal identification function)
FIG. 7 is a time chart showing an operation of assigning each user to, for example, four "individual buttons" provided on the remote controller. Create a user menu corresponding to each of multiple users.

As shown in FIG. 7, first, for example, when the user presses the "individual button 1", the remote controller transmits a signal corresponding to the "individual button 1" to the digital recording / playback device 10. (Step S301).

In the digital recording / playback device 10, it is specified that the signal is received by the signal receiving unit 25 and the "individual button 1" is pressed by the CPU 23. When the CPU 23 identifies that the "individual button 1" has been pressed, it confirms whether or not the user information for the "individual button 1" is registered in the personal information management memory. If the user information is not registered in the personal information management memory, a display command for the personal information setting menu is issued to an image processing unit (not shown).

The image processing unit reads out the image data of the personal information setting menu stored in the image memory and outputs it to the TV in accordance with the command from the CPU 23. As a result, the personal information setting menu is displayed on the display (step S302).

When the user sets information such as his / her name, age, and gender in the digital recording / playback device 10 by operating the remote controller while referring to the display contents of the personal information setting menu (step S303), the digital recording is performed. The playback device 10 associates the transmitted setting information with the "personal button 1" and registers it in the personal information management memory (step S304).

However, the self-name is an example, and the user can select any of "father", "mother", "sister", and "brother".

Similarly, when the user selects the "individual button 2" and the setting is transmitted, the digital recording / playback device 10 performs a linking operation between the transmitted setting information and the "individual button 2".

However, the same user may set his / her own personal information for a plurality of "individual buttons". In this way, the user can manage the program data by setting information in the "individual button" for each of his / her tastes, for example.

Next, when the "individual button 1" is pressed after the user information is registered in the personal information management memory (step S305) and the CPU 23 specifies that the "individual button 1" is pressed, the CPU 23 causes the CPU 23. Confirm that the user information is registered in the personal information management memory, read out the personal information related to "Individual button 1", and ask the image processing unit "Mr. XX's menu" (XX "Individual" A user menu display command such as (name of user related to button 1) is issued (step S306).

Next, it is assumed that the user reproduces the desired program data by pressing the play button of the remote controller or the like. After that, it is assumed that the user instructs to save the program data in the storage HDD 17b by pressing the save button of the remote controller (step S307).

The detailed operation of the saving itself will be described later, but the CPU 23 associates the “individual button 1” with the program data at the time of saving. That is, the program data and the flag indicating the individual button 1 are associated and stored in the storage HDD 17b (step S308).

As a result, for example, the next day, after the user presses the "individual button 1" (step S309) and the digital recording / playback device 10 displays the menu related to the individual button 1 (step S310). It is assumed that the user has instructed to play the program data stored in the storage HDD 17b (step S311).

In such a case, the CPU 23 specifies the program data to which the flag indicating the individual button 1 is attached to the HDD control unit 18, and outputs the specific result to the CPU 23. The CPU 23 refers to the DB based on the specific result output from the HDD control unit 18, reads out the title data of the corresponding program data, and outputs the title data to the image processing unit. As a result, the title data of the saved program data related to the "individual button 1" is displayed on the TV display (step S312).

In this way, the user presses the "individual button" to avoid the hassle of selecting the title data of the program data for which he / she has instructed to save from the displayed title data of the program data saved by all users. It can be avoided only by itself, and the operability of the digital recording / playback device 10 is improved.

It is also possible to make the "individual button" also have a function of turning on / off the power of the TV. This is realized by transmitting a signal for switching the power ON / OFF to the TV and a signal indicating the individual button to the digital recording / playback device 10 to the individual button. The TV power on / off function uses a preset function that allows TVs of different manufacturers to be operated, and is configured to support a plurality of TV manufacturers.

Further, the CPU 23 aggregates the program data viewed by each user every month or the like, calculates the user's preference by comparing it with the above-mentioned program genre, etc., and records it in association with the user menu. You can also keep it. When the Omakase menu is selected by the user, the CPU 23 extracts unviewed program data that is a program genre according to the user's taste, and instructs the HDD control unit 18 to play the program data. It is also possible.

As a user, the program data that suits the taste can be reproduced and enjoyed without specifying the program to be reproduced. When there are a plurality of program data related to the preference flag, they may be reproduced in a predetermined order or a random order.

This will be described in more detail. The "preference flag" is a function for randomly playing a default program group grouped by a specific genre or the same type. For example, in the mode in which the "children's nailing flag" is specified, only the programs for children are played in a predetermined order or randomly. Further, in the "BGV (background video) mode", only programs that are quiet and have a beautiful image with few conversations are played back in a predetermined order or randomly.

(Top menu screen interface)
On the top menu screen, a time / day determination menu, a program data storage menu, and a recommended menu are displayed. The recommended menu is for transmitting title data and the like from the user 1 to the user 2 described above.

The time and day of the week determination menu includes a time selection menu in which the time from 1:00 to 24:00 can be selected in the pull-down format or scroll format, and a day selection menu in which the day of the week from Sunday to Saturday can be selected in the pull-down format or scroll format. It includes a decision button that is selected when the time and day of the week are determined and has a function as a program data reproduction signal. By operating the remote controller or inputting an instruction from the input unit 28, a predetermined time is selected from the time selection menu, a predetermined day of the week is selected from the day of the week selection menu, and the enter button is selected to receive the time / day of the week selection signal. Means receive the time-day selection signal. Then, the program data corresponding to the time / day of the week selection signal is extracted from the constantly recorded HDD 17a and reproduced. That is, if the time and the day of the week are set in the time and day of the week determination menu displayed on the top menu screen, the target program data can be started and played at high speed.

The program data can be saved by the user operating the remote controller or inputting an instruction from the input unit 28 during playback of the program data desired to be saved or after specifying the program data desired to be saved. When the menu is selected, the program data storage signal receiving means refers to the DB based on the program data, and outputs the position data of the program data to be saved to the HDD control unit 18 from the corresponding position data and time index.

When the HDD control unit 18 inputs the position data from the program data storage signal receiving means, the HDD control unit 18 duplicates the program data recorded in the position data and records it in the storage HDD 17b. That is, from the user's point of view, if the program data to be saved is specified and the program data save menu is selected, the program data can be saved in the storage HDD 17b. The storage area of the storage HDD 17b can be a virtual area as well as a physical HDD. That is, the area may be a part of one HDD, or two HDDs may be treated as one area and may be a part thereof. Further, the program data saving menu may be provided with items for prompting the user to set various settings such as the compression rate so that the program data can be saved at the compression rate or the like selected by the user.

(Next program corner data / previous program corner data)
The digital recording / playback device 10 can switch the program data to be played back. This is a so-called skip function in which the program data recorded before and after the program corner data or the like is reproduced during the reproduction of the program corner data. Prepare buttons such as "next program" and "previous program" on the remote controller.

FIG. 8 shows a processing procedure when the “next program” button is pressed. It is assumed that the user presses the "next program" button or the like on the remote controller while playing back the program corner data.

When the signal receiving unit 25 receives the signal assigned to the "next program" button or the like of the remote controller (step S401) and inputs it to the CPU 23, the CPU 23 is based on the program corner data being played. With reference to the DB, the time index such as the next program corner data is calculated for the program corner data being played, and the position data such as the next program corner data recorded in the constantly recorded HDD 17a is searched. The HDD control unit 18 is instructed to do so (step S402).

As a result, the CPU 23 can determine whether or not the next program corner data or the like exists temporally with respect to the program data being played (step S403). As a result of the determination, if the next program corner data or the like does not exist, the process proceeds to step S406. On the other hand, if the next program corner data or the like exists, the CPU 23 outputs a stop command for the program data being played back to the HDD control unit 18 (step S404), and the HDD control unit 18 receives the next program data. A playback command for program corner data or the like is issued (step S405).

When the HDD control unit 18 inputs the search result output from the CPU 23, the HDD control unit 18 reads out the next program corner data or the like from the constantly recorded HDD 17a according to the search result. The next program corner data or the like read out is decoded by the MPEG decoder 20 via the demultiplexer 19. As a result, the video data or the like output to the TV is switched to the video data or the like such as the next program corner data.

On the other hand, typically, when the program data being played is the program data being broadcast in real time, the result is that the position data corresponding to the next program corner data or the like does not exist. In such a case, the CPU 23 instructs the image processing unit to output an error display, and then the HDD control unit 18 is displayed before the "next program" button is pressed. It is instructed to display the program data (S406).

Further, when the user presses the "next program" button or the like for a long time, the HDD control unit 18 may be controlled to skip in units of program data.

The "next program function" will be further described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 is a conceptual diagram conceptually showing a transition mode of program data when the next program button is pressed. As shown in FIG. 9, an anime program broadcast from 19:00 is currently being watched.

When the user presses the "next program" button on the remote controller, the animation program recorded from 19:00 to 20:00 moves to the drama 1 recorded from 20:00 to 21:00. This movement is performed in units of program data such as animation or drama 1 or in units of corners, and is played back without moving to the menu screen for selecting program data.

Further, since the time index identifier is associated with each program data as described above, the program is played back along the time index identifier. That is, if the "next program" button is pressed twice during the 19:00 anime program, the drama 2 from 21:00 to 22:00 will be played.

In addition, the "previous program" function was recorded at a time before the currently playing program data while the program data was displayed on the TV when the "previous program" button on the remote controller was pressed. The program data is played. As shown in FIG. 10, when the user who was watching the animation program broadcast from 19:00 presses the "previous program" button, the animation program recorded from 19:00 to 20:00 starts at 18:00. It will move to the news recorded at ~ 19:00.

(Program data of other stations that was broadcast at the same time as the program data being played)
In the above example, an example of switching the playback target to the program data that is temporally different from the program data being played has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, since the digital recording / playback device 10 of the present embodiment receives the program data broadcast from each of a plurality of broadcasting stations, the program data being played back from other broadcasting stations simultaneously received. It is also possible to reproduce the program data in place of the program data being reproduced.

When the user presses the "next channel" button of the remote controller during playback of the program data, the CPU 23 tells the HDD control unit 18 that the program data of the next channel is the program data of the next channel with respect to the program data being played. Instruct to play from the same "time data" part as the "time data" of the playback part of the program data being played.

According to this command, the HDD control unit 18 identifies the "time data" related to the program data being played from the constantly recorded HDD 17a, and converts the program data of the next channel into the position data corresponding to the "time data". Based on this, the program data to be played back is output.

By the above operation, for example, when watching a news program broadcast on "10th, 18:00, 4 channels" and playing a part corresponding to "10th, 18:16:03", "next When the "Channel" button is pressed, the playback target is switched to the cooking program broadcast on "10th, 6th channel, 18:16:03".

(Switching the display of program data in the ranking list)
The digital recording / playback device 10 includes means for switching the display of program data in the ranking list. A ranking list is a general term for ranking data and data posted on a predetermined list, such as an audience rating ranking and a popularity list by a specific viewer group. That is, a ranking list DB for storing a ranking list of popular programs or the like received from the time index server 50 or the like and a time index or the like related to program data in the ranking list, and a "next program" of the remote controller. When the reception of the button or the signal corresponding to the "previous program" is detected, the time index of the program data whose ranking is located above or below the program data being played by referring to the ranking list DB is used. A means for switching the display of program data based on the corresponding position data is provided. In this way, it is possible to switch the program data to be displayed in the same manner as when the button such as the above-mentioned "next program" is pressed.

The ranking list is one in which the administrator of the time index server 50 searches for blogs on the Internet, aggregates the search results and reflects them as a program ranking, or the time index server 50 regularly uses the ranking list. Therefore, it is conceivable to calculate the aggregation result of the program data to be introduced to other users described above and create it based on the aggregation result. If you select a program based on these rankings and start watching it, you can press the next program button or the previous program button to return to the ranking screen again, save the trouble of reselecting the program, and select it earlier. Based on the ranking of the same program data, it is possible to start playback of a program whose ranking is next to the program currently being viewed or a program whose ranking is previous.

For example, if you are playing the 5th place of the program data that ranks the high audience rating programs for 8 days, you can press the next program button to play the program ranked 4th without switching screens. Also, if you press the previous program button, you can play the program ranked 6th without switching screens. That is, the program data listed in the ranking list can be viewed one after another without going through the ranking list screen, and the convenience and operability when using the digital storage / playback device 10 are further improved.

When a plurality of time indexes are associated with one program data, only the program corner data to be viewed is selected and played back, or a plurality of program corner data is selected and played back continuously. You can also do it. For example, when trying to see the program corner data of the sumo wrestling effort, the user selects, for example, the title data related to the efforts of Yokozuna A, Ozeki B, and Koyui C displayed on the display.

When the CPU 23 acquires the user's selection result, the CPU 23 stores the selection result in a memory or the like. Subsequently, the CPU 23 refers to the DB based on the first title data of the selection result stored in the memory (for example, the title data related to the yokozuna A), reads out the corresponding position data, and outputs the corresponding position data to the HDD control unit 18. To do.

The HDD control unit 18 reads out the program corner data corresponding to the efforts of the yokozuna A based on the position data output from the CPU 23, and outputs the program corner data to the TV. When the reproduction of the program corner data is completed, the HDD control unit 18 notifies the CPU 23 to that effect.

Upon receiving the notification from the HDD control unit 18, the CPU 23 refers to the DB based on the second title data of the selection result stored in the memory (for example, the title data related to Ozeki B) and reads out the corresponding position data. The data is output to the HDD control unit 18. Subsequent operations are the same as in the above case.

For example, if the user presses the "next program" button while the program corner data corresponding to the efforts of Yokotsuna A is being played back and the CPU 23 detects it, the CPU 23 asks for the above notification. Similarly, the HDD control unit 18 reads out the corresponding position data by referring to the DB based on the second title data of the selection result (for example, the title data related to Ozeki B) stored in the memory. Output to. Subsequent operations are the same as in the above case.

(Save function)
The digital recording / playback device 10 has a function of storing program data in addition to recording program data. This is because the program data recorded by the digital recording / playback device 10 is recorded and recorded for 8 days, but is automatically deleted after that. Therefore, the program data to be saved is saved in the storage HDD 17b. The storage area of the storage HDD 17b can be a virtual area as well as a physical HDD. That is, the area may be a part of one HDD, or two HDDs may be treated as one area and may be a part thereof. The program data is saved by the input unit 28 and the "program data save button" of the remote controller. The program data stored in the storage HDD 17b will not be erased unless an erasing command such as a format is given.

Further, by inserting an external storage medium such as DVD-R or Blu-ray into the DVD drive 29 and writing it, it can be viewed by a long-term storage or an external digital playback device or the like.

Further, the storage function can be executed not only by hardware-like processing but also on the TV screen which is an output device. This includes a program data storage menu for storing program data in the top menu displayed on the TV. In this program data storage menu, the signal reception unit 25 of the digital recording / playback device 10 receives the program data storage signal transmitted when the program data storage menu is selected by the remote controller and the input unit 28. Then, the HDD control unit 18 as a control device causes the storage HDD 17b to record the program data corresponding to the received program data storage signal.

(Failure response function)
In the digital recording / playback device 10, the CPU 23 refers to the real-time clock 26b or the like to back up the position data recorded in the constantly recording HDD 17a to the DB, for example, every 10 seconds, and digitally after a power failure or failure. It prevents the recording position data of the program data recorded so far from being lost when the recording / reproducing device 10 performs the restoration process.
Specifically, when a backup DB is created in the constantly recording HDD 17a or the storage HDD 17b and the CPU 23 detects that the backup execution time has arrived while the program data is being recorded in the constantly recording HDD 17a, the HDD control unit A backup instruction is executed for 18.

Upon receiving the command, the HDD control unit 18 duplicates the position data recorded in the constantly recording HDD 17a at that timing and records the position data in the constantly recording HDD 17a or the backup DB prepared in the storage HDD 17.

When the digital recording / playback device 10 is actually restored after a power failure or the like, the recording position data of the program data is read from the backup DB prepared in the constant recording HDD 17a or the storage HDD 17 and from that position. Resume recording of program data.

(Correspondence of rebroadcast program)
The digital recording / playback device 10 has a function of replacing rebroadcast program data. This is realized by a process of searching for old program data before rebroadcasting based on the rebroadcasting information added to the time index and replacing it with the rebroadcasting program data. Therefore, a program rebroadcast within 8 days will be stored for another 8 days since the new broadcast will be the recording date. Therefore, the storage period can be extended.

The video data compression method used by the MPEG encoder 14 and the MPEG decoder 20 may be either MPEG-2 or MPEG-4. It is also possible to use a compression method other than MPEG as the compression method for video data. For example, AVI, DivX, XVD, H. 264, XVi, etc. may be used.

(Viewing management function)
The digital recording / playback device 10 has a viewing management function capable of restricting the reproduction of a program corresponding to the set viewing restriction by the administrator setting a viewing restriction for a specific user.

For convenience of explanation, the administrator will be the parents and the specific user will be the child, but the present invention is not limited to this example.

(Viewable time limit function)
The viewable time limit function sets the "total viewable time" as the viewable time of the program for the child in advance by the parents, and when the "total viewable time" is reached, the program is displayed. This is a function that makes playback impossible. The total viewing time can be set by dividing it into daily, weekly, and monthly units. For example, the total viewing time can be set to 1 day / 2 hours, 1 week / 14 hours, 1 month / 50 hours, and the like. According to the viewable time limit function, parents can give their children a time frame in which they can watch, which contributes to the prevention of excessive viewing of TV. Then, when the "total viewable time" is exceeded, viewing is automatically disabled, so that it is not necessary to check the viewing time of the child even when the parent is out, which improves management.

(Point setting function)
The point setting function is a function for managing a program by points, and requires "viewable points" to watch the program. This "viewable point" is set in advance by the parents for the child. That is, the playable time limit function limits the time, but the point setting function limits the viewing by the points. For example, if a child is set to 20 "viewable points" and the number of points required to watch a program per program is 1 point, the child can watch up to 20 programs, but viewing is restricted beyond that. It becomes impossible to watch the program. It should be noted that the determination of whether or not the program has been viewed is counted when the program is viewed for 1 minute or more, and is counted as no count when the program is viewed for 1 minute or less, or when the viewing time is a certain percentage or more of the total program time. It is possible to do it.

It is also possible to change the points required for viewing according to the program. For example, a program that parents want to show to their children positively may need 1 point, but a program that parents do not want to show too much may need 2 points. In addition to subtracting points, it is also possible to increase the amount. As an example of setting to increase or decrease points, for example, it is possible to set points for each genre, and for program genres such as educational programs, educational programs, documentaries that parents want to actively recommend, 1 point is given for each viewing. It is set to be added to "viewable points", and 2 points of viewable points are required for genres that children want to suppress overlooking, such as animation and variety shows. Of course, it is possible to set an arbitrary increase or decrease in viewable points not only for each genre but also for each individual program. In other words, by restricting viewing by points, more detailed viewing management in addition to the time limit becomes possible. Therefore, more detailed viewing restrictions can be set according to the age of the child and the home environment.

In the point setting function described above, the parents who are the administrators are supposed to set the points, but it is also possible to change the set points on the way. For example, if your child's grades and test scores were good, or if you did your homework as promised, you would increase the "viewable points", while your child's grades and test scores were bad, you forgot your homework, or your friends. If you have a bad attitude, you can reduce the "viewable points". That is, it is possible to manage TV viewing according to the quality of the child's usual behavior.

(Rating data setting restriction function)
The rating data setting restriction function is a function in which rating data indicating the level of the rating is given to the program in advance, and viewing is restricted according to the rating data. For example, suppose that the program is rated into three categories: pine, bamboo, and plum (A, B, C). In this case, 1 point of "viewable points" is required to see "Rating pine (A)", and 2 points of "viewable points" are required to see "Rating bamboo (B)". Therefore, 3 points of "viewable points" are required to see the "rating plum (C)". The "rating plum (C)" corresponds to a so-called vulgar program. That is, parents can limit programs that may have a negative educational impact.

Further, the rating data given to the program may be determined in advance by the program distribution server that manages the rating data. In addition, the program distribution server may receive temporary data of the rating, which is a criterion for judging that it has a positive or negative effect on the child, by the program producer or sponsor, and set the "rating" based on the temporary data. it can. If the rating data is set, the child will not be able to watch only the programs that require high points such as "Rating plum (C)". In addition, since the rating data serves as a criterion for determining whether or not the rating data should be shown to the child, it becomes easy for parents to restrict viewing.

(Quiz function)
The quiz function allows a child, who is a specific user, to answer the quiz given and allow the child to watch the program data only when a predetermined correct answer is obtained. This question quiz is a level problem that can be solved if you do your school homework, and a plurality of educational quizzes and their answers are given according to the child's age (grade) and ability, and the time index server 50. Is created by the administrator of the above and stored in the time index server 50.

When the user (parent) of the digital recording / playback device 10 instructs a download instruction such as an educational quiz and the CPU 23 acquires the instruction, the CPU 23 accesses the network controller 26 to the time index server 50 for education. Instruct to execute the download of the quiz etc. As a result, when the digital recording / playback device 10 acquires an educational quiz or the like, it stores it in the DB. In addition, an image indicating whether or not the program data can be viewed is also downloaded and stored in the image memory.

The user (parent) of the digital recording / playback device 10 presses the "individual button" in which the information of the remote controller is set, and then transmits a display command of the educational quiz. In the digital recording / playback device 10, when the CPU 23 receives the above command, it reads an educational quiz from the DB and outputs it to the TV.

The user (parent) of the digital recording / playback device 10 refers to the educational quiz displayed on the display, appropriately selects the quiz to be asked, and asks how many correct questions the child should answer before viewing the program data. , Set by operating the remote controller. These selection results and setting items are transmitted to the digital recording / playback device 10 and stored in association with the data of the user (child) in the personal information management memory. However, the quiz acquisition method of the digital recording / playback device 10 is not limited to the above example. That is, for example, the digital recording / playback device 10 is provided with a "viewing restriction with quiz" flag that can be switched ON / OFF by the user, and the user (parent) "viewing restriction with quiz" flag is switched to ON. When the CPU 23 detects that the flag is ON, the CPU 23 may read the child's age information and issue a download command to the time index server 50. At this time, if a quiz is prepared for each age in the time index server 50, the time index server 50 gives a quiz to the digital recording / playback device 10 based on the age information transmitted from the digital recording / playback device 10. It becomes possible to send.

In this state, when the user (child) of the digital recording / playback device 10 presses the "individual button" in which the remote controller's own information is set, the CPU 23 causes the personal information related to the user (child) from the personal information management memory. And the quiz to be asked is read, and the user menu display command is given to the image processing unit.

When the user (child) operates the remote controller to transmit the answer to the quiz to the digital recording / playback device 10, the CPU 23 refers to the DB and determines the correctness of the answer based on the transmitted answer. In addition, the determination result and the setting information for permitting viewing of the program data are collated to determine whether or not the program data can be viewed.

The CPU 23 reads an image from the image memory and outputs it to the TV according to the determination result of whether or not the program data can be viewed. As a result, by studying and doing homework, the child can be given an incentive to watch the program data if he / she answers the quiz correctly, so the parents do not force them to study, but the child's will. You can expect to study naturally.

In addition, a quiz content creator who produces and provides a quiz for questions may systematically distribute each subject as an educational program constructed. In this case, it can be expected to be effective in promoting sales of teaching materials such as distance learning separately provided by the quiz content creator.

(Program data forced viewing function)
The recommended program function is a function that allows children to watch other programs on condition that they watch the "recommended programs" sent by their parents. For example, parents want to show their children a program called "Cosmic Journey." In this case, if "Cosmic travelogue" is recommended to the child and forced viewing is set, the child activates the digital recording / playback device 10 or displays the top menu (screen) by the "individual button". When you make it, a screen prompting you to watch the "Cosmic Journey" is displayed. Then, only when the "Cosmic Journey" is watched, other programs can be selected and watched. In this way, the digital recording / playback device 10 can be used as an educational auxiliary device because the program that the parents want to show to the child can be semi-forcedly shown.

Specifically, the following operations may be performed. That is, it is assumed that the user (parent) of the digital recording / playback device 10 presses the "individual button" in which the information of the remote controller is set, and then reproduces the program data of the "space travelogue".

In such a case, the user (parent) of the digital recording / playback device 10 designates the program data as a compulsory viewing target by operating the remote controller. When the digital recording / playback device 10 receives the designation, the CPU 23 refers to the DB, reads out the time index of the designated program data, and associates it with the data of the user (child) in the personal information management memory. And remember. Alternatively, the forced viewing target may be specified by transmitting the time index of the program data, the broadcasting station name, and the child's terminal ID + user identifier to the time index server 50.

In this state, when the user (child) of the digital recording / playback device 10 presses the "individual button" in which the remote controller's own information is set, the CPU 23 causes the personal information related to the user (child) from the personal information management memory. Is read, a user menu display command is issued, and subsequently, a time index stored in association with the user menu is output to the HDD control unit 18, and a playback command of the program data with the time index is issued. The HDD control unit 18 notifies the CPU 23 when the reproduction of the program data of the "space travelogue" is completed.

When issuing a playback command, the CPU 23 sets that even if it receives a signal from the remote controller, it discards the signal and does not obey the signal until it receives a notification from the HDD control unit 18. .. As a result, the user (child) must forcibly watch the program data of the "space travelogue" in order to reproduce the program data that he / she wants to watch.

In addition, the digital recording / playback device 10 aggregates viewing records such as program names and hours viewed by children as logs that can be output on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis, and links them with the parent user menu. , It is good to be able to see the aggregated result when the parent presses the "individual button" that sets his / her own information.

(server)
The server according to this embodiment has at least the following functions.

To identify program data, a time matching means for periodically transmitting time data to set the clock time of the digital recording / playback device 10, a time index transmitting means for transmitting a time index to the digital recording / playback device 10. The program data transmission means for transmitting the program specific data and the corner specific data for specifying the program corner data to the digital recording / playback device 10, and the time index and viewing information created by the user from the digital recording / playback device 10 are received. A user information receiving means, a processing information generating means that processes the received time index and viewing information to generate processing information, and a time index that distributes the generated processing information and the time index before processing to the digital recording / playback device 10. It is equipped with a delivery means.

Viewing information is specified in the playback channel, playback date and time, playback status (normal playback, fast-view playback, fast-forward, rewind, etc.), playback user identifier, terminal identifier, program status (whether it is My Menu, whether it was saved, or time index). It is information that records the program evaluation data (○ ×), the program data that the user wants to introduce, etc. in seconds.

The program specific data is, for example, data for specifying program data in a broadcast wave composed of digital signals, and includes video data, audio data, and the like. In addition, for example, data relating to the broadcast channel and broadcast start time of the program, or the broadcast start time of the broadcast channel of the program.

The corner specific data is data for specifying the data of each corner unit and CM unit of the program data. In addition, data for identifying a predetermined corner in a program, for example, the broadcast channel and broadcast start time of the program and the time until the corner starts, or the broadcast channel and the corner of the program. It is the data about the broadcast start time of.

The processed information includes viewing information, time index, topicality index of programs and performers generated by statistically processing data such as blogs and bulletin boards on the Internet, evaluation data, viewing quality, and audience rating. It is the number of viewers.

By using the personal identification function and the two-way communication function via the network, the following usage is possible. In other words, if you give a high rating to a given program (using the XX button, etc.), or by pressing the "recommended button", a group associated with you (set your own friends in advance). Alternatively, it can be used as a program that is highly evaluated by people who are closer to the viewing history in the system).

(Example 1)
Hereinafter, in the embodiment of the present invention, a method of reproducing recorded program data (including CM data) in the recording / reproducing device 10 will be described.

In this embodiment, during the reproduction of the program data, information on all proper nouns such as the performer of the program data, the shooting location, and the building that appears is displayed on the lower side of the TV display as a ticker.

It is considered that a plurality of performers, etc. appear in the program data in many cases, but in that case, information on each performer, etc. may be displayed as a ticker. For example, if the program data is the program data of a news program, there may be a sports corner frame, and at that time, a theme that conveys the activities of famous athletes is broadcast, and one scene of the sports corner is in Tokyo. In the case of an interview scene with an athlete conducted at baseball field A in Tokyo, at this time, the date of birth, birthplace, career, etc. of the athlete, and the year of establishment of baseball field A, etc. Information such as the designer can be displayed as a ticker.

In addition, for example, the ticker display area is set to be an area of about 15% or less of the height of the display from the lower end of the display so as not to interfere with the viewing of the video data of the program data, or the video data is displayed on the entire surface. It is also possible to reduce the display instead, and thereby make the area around the reduced display area.

In particular, in the latter case, since the ticker display area can be secured in an L shape around the display area of the video data, the one having a relatively high information value is horizontally arranged along the short side of the video data. It is conceivable that the characters are fixedly displayed in the area adjacent to the side, and the other information is sent one after another to the area adjacent to the lower side along the long side of the video data.

The information to be displayed on the ticker is an online encyclopedia through a network such as the Internet by embedding metadata indicating performers, etc. in the program data, reading the metadata while the program data is being played back by the recording / playback device 10. It can be obtained from the encyclopedia, viewers' impressions, etc., and it is conceivable that the administrator of this system creates text data to be displayed in advance.

Further, the speed at which the characters flow during the ticker display may be constant or variable. Further, especially in the former case, the number of characters to be displayed can be kept within a predetermined threshold value, and in the latter case in particular, the speed may be determined according to the number of characters to be displayed. When the speed at which characters flow when the ticker is displayed is constant, it is preferable to maintain the constant speed even if the user fast-forwards / rewinds or skips the program data, for example.

Furthermore, it is also one method to prepare a plurality of character patterns to be displayed, such as two types, long and short. The recording / playback device 10 also determines the length of the program corner (minutes and seconds) to be displayed on the ticker, the number of performers on that scale, the appearance time of each performer, etc., based on the time stamp or the like. It is also possible to dynamically determine the character to be displayed based on this information.

Further, the speed or the number of characters can be determined according to the genre of the program data and the genre of the program corner, and the characters to be displayed can also be dispensed. For example, although not limited to the following examples, program data tends to be displayed on the display for a relatively long time by one performer, a program corner where a singer is singing in a song program, and a sports broadcast. In the case of a baseball pitcher pitching scene in a program, or even CM data, for example, the speed can be slowed down and the number of characters can be displayed large. Further, in the case of a drama or a movie in which the program data is displayed on the display many times by one performer, the speed is high and the characters can be displayed in a smaller amount.

For example, when the information about a performer is repeatedly displayed as a ticker in the program data, there is an advantage that the viewer can be impressed with the information about the performer, but on the other hand, it has gone too far. The ticker display may have the disadvantage of causing annoyance to the viewer. Therefore, for example, the ticker display count, display interval, display timing, and display content for one performer in one program data may be set to be equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value. This threshold value can also be determined based on, for example, the genre of the program data, the broadcast time of the program data, and the like.

To give another example of displaying information about performers as a ticker, for example, if the program data is a baseball game broadcast, the display interval should be 30 minutes or more, and the display content should be changed each time (for example, the first time). It will be possible to display the results of the past few years, and to display the pitching details of the day for the second time). Also, when a singer is singing in a song program, the song title and singer name are often displayed as telops at the beginning of the song, so immediately after that, the singer's date of birth, birthplace, career, etc. are displayed. However, the download start date, the number of downloads, etc. of the song can be displayed from about 10 seconds before the end of the song.

In the case of variety programs, the regular performers will be displayed as tickers only when they first appear, and the guest performers will be displayed as tickers with an appropriate number of characters in the program corner in charge of the guest performers. And so on.

Further, the ticker display type may be realized by either a push type or a pull type. The explanation so far is mainly for the push type, but for example, if the remote controller 200 is provided with an INFORMATION button and the button is pressed, the performer displayed on the display at that time. It is also possible to display the profile, the program title of the program data appearing in other places, and the like.

Further, it is preferable that the user can select which of the push type only, the pull type only, and both of these modes is used for the ticker display. In this case, for example, it may be possible to set for each genre of program data. For example, in the case of movies and dramas, the user feels that the ticker is always displayed in the push type, but sometimes "I have seen this person in some other movie, but I can not remember. In that case, the pull type is considered to be more suitable. Further, it is preferable to add a flag to the unplayed program data so that the push type and the pull type can be selected only at the first playback, and only the pull type can be selected when there is no flag for the second and subsequent times.

A part of the contents of this embodiment can be summarized as follows. That is, in the recording / playback device of this embodiment, the received program data is recorded on the recording medium, the storage medium in which the metadata indicating the appearance target of the video data of the program data is stored, and the recording medium. Output in such a manner that the reproduction means for reproducing the program data and the information on the appearance target corresponding to the metadata corresponding to the program data are displayed on the television receiver as a ticker when the program data is reproduced by the reproduction means. Means and. For example, the recording medium can be realized by the HDD 17a, the storage medium can be realized by the DB, the reproduction means can be realized by the HDD control unit 18, and the output means can be realized by the CPU 23 and a program that performs a desired operation.

The metadata includes a period data indicating an appearance period of the appearance target in the program data, and the output means is described when the video data of the appearance target is displayed on the television receiver based on the period data. Information about the appearance target can be output.

Further, it is also possible to provide a setting means for setting a display position of the information regarding the appearance target when the output means outputs the information regarding the appearance target. In this case, the display position may be a peripheral portion including the lower part of the television receiver, or may be a portion generated by reducing the display of the program data without displaying the entire surface. The setting means can be realized by, for example, the image processing unit 27.

Further, the information regarding the appearance target may include a control means for controlling the speed or the number of characters to be displayed on the ticker according to the genre of the program data and the genre of the program corner constituting the program data. The control means can be realized by, for example, the image processing unit 27.

The control means can also determine the display type of the ticker display, the number of times of display, the display interval, the display timing, and the display content based on the genre of the program data, the broadcast time of the program data, and the like.

Further, the system includes the recording / playback device and a remote controller for remotely controlling the operation of the recording / playback device, and the remote controller may be provided with a button for instructing the start of the ticker display. ..

(Example 2)
First, the outline of Example 2 of the present invention will be described. The recording / playback device of the present embodiment typically, when playing back the program data having the program corner data and the CM data, and when no operation is performed on the menu screen, between the CM data. It realizes an operation of interrupting another CM data or replacing a specific CM data with another CM data. In this embodiment, the latter content will be mainly described.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of information stored in the DB existing in the HDD 17 shown in FIG. 1, and corresponds to the diagram of the “CM information table” of FIG. 3B.

In FIG. 13, in addition to the information shown in FIG. 3B, in addition to the ID information assigned to the CM data and the information such as the broadcast date of the CM data, the user intentionally reproduces the CM data for each CM data. Information indicating the reproduction frequency based on the number of times of the advertisement, information indicating a flag indicating whether or not the CM data is the target of the explicit advertisement request from the advertiser, and the like are shown.

Specifically, here, information such as "0" / "1" is shown as a "flag". As an example, CM data having a flag of "1" is always targeted for reproduction, and CM data having a flag of "0" is determined to be reproduced based on "reproduction frequency". It is conceivable to make an arrangement such as. The "flag" can be transmitted from the program distribution server to the recording / playback device 10 via the Internet. Therefore, for example, a CM requester, an advertising agency, or the like can arbitrarily increase the number of playbacks of a specific CM.

Further, as the "reproduction frequency", information ranked in three ranks of A, B, and C is shown. As an example, it is agreed that A-rank CM data is always a playback target, B-rank CM data is not always a playback target, and C-rank CM data is, for example, a playback target with a 50% probability. Is possible.

The number of times the CM data is reproduced can be increased or decreased in the order of A rank, C rank, and B rank. When the number of playbacks is increased in the order of A rank, C rank, and B rank, there is an advantage that the chance of contacting the skipped CM data with the user is increased. When the number of playbacks is reduced in the order of A rank, C rank, and B rank, there is an advantage that the user's satisfaction with using the recording / playback device 10 can be enhanced by playing back a large amount of CM data according to the user's preference. is there.

Summarizing the above, CM data with a flag of "1" is unconditionally targeted for reproduction. For example, CM data with a flag of "0" and a reproduction frequency of "C rank" is 2. One of the times is reproduced, and the remaining one is replaced with other CM data whose flag is "1", for example. The replacement of CM data data based on the probability may be performed based on, for example, a random number table.

It should be noted that the number of times the CM data is reproduced by the user is not essential as a deciding factor as to whether or not to replace the CM data, and the deciding factor is not limited to this. Whether or not to replace the CM data may be set as a condition, for example, by the consideration from the advertiser. In this case, the flag of the CM data to be arbitrarily reproduced from the program distribution server may be set to "1".

Further, the information stored in the database can be determined based on the attributes of the CM data, the attributes of the user, and the attributes of the other contents. The term "CM data attribute" as used herein means, for example, that the CM data announces the special sale information of the handled product, whether the handled product is in a specific genre such as an automobile, or the product of a specific advertiser. Or is a specific performer appointed? Therefore, for example, it is possible to intensively reproduce only the CM data related to the special sale information, or to intensively reproduce only the CM data of the automobile manufacturer.

Further, the "user attribute" is a specific layer that can be grasped from the user information such as the gender, age, and address of the user of the recording / playback device 10 in advance, or the viewing history of the user's program data. It means something like whether it matches. Therefore, for example, only the CM data of the automobile manufacturer, which targets women in their twenties living in the Kanto region, can be reproduced intensively, or only the CM data that announces the special sale information of the products handled according to the user's taste. It is also possible to regenerate intensively.

Further, the "attribute of other contents" means such as playing a predetermined number of times or a predetermined period of time. Therefore, for example, in the case of CM data that announces the special sale period of the products handled, it is prevented from being played after that period, or CM data in which a specific actress appears is intensively played only on a specific day. It is also possible to let them do it.

FIG. 14 is a conceptual diagram of the reproduction target CM data switching process based on the information shown in FIG. FIG. 14 shows program data A to C. The program data A includes a plurality of program corner data A-1 and the like and CM data A-1 and the like, respectively. The CM data A-1 relates to the information to which "A-1" is assigned as the "ID" in FIG. Similarly, the program data B and C include a plurality of program corner data B-1, C-1, and the like, and CM data B-1, C-1, and the like.

Here, looking at FIG. 13, in the CM data A-1 with “ID = A-1”, the “flag” is “0” and the “reproduction frequency” is “B”. Therefore, the CM data A-1 is not always a reproduction target according to the above agreement. In the example shown in FIG. 14, the CM data A-1 is replaced with the CM data C-1 in the program data C whose “flag” is “1”.

Similarly, in the CM data A-2 to which "ID = A-2" is assigned, the "flag" is "0" and the "reproduction frequency" is "C". Therefore, according to the above agreement, CM data A-2 is also not targeted for reproduction with a probability of, for example, 50%. In the example shown in FIG. 14, the CM data B-4 in the program data B is replaced with the CM data A-2 to be reproduced.

On the other hand, in the CM data A-3 of "ID = A-3", the "flag" is "1". Therefore, according to the above agreement, the CM data A-3 is always a reproduction target. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 14, the CM data A-3 is not replaced with other CM data.

Further, in the CM data A-4 of "ID = A-4", the "flag" is "0" and the "reproduction frequency" is "B". Therefore, the CM data A-4 is not always a reproduction target according to the above agreement. In the example shown in FIG. 14, the CM data C-6 in the program data C is replaced with the CM data A-4 to be reproduced.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing a procedure executed by the CPU to execute the CM data switching process shown in FIG.

The CPU 23 determines whether or not a playback instruction from the user has been received through the remote controller of the recording / playback device 10 (step S41).

As a result of the determination, if the reproduction instruction from the user is not received, step S41 is repeatedly executed.

On the other hand, when a playback instruction from the user is received, the CPU 23 specifies the program data to be played back from the playback instruction (here, this program data is referred to as "program data A"), and the program data. Based on the above, the DB in the HDD 17 is referred to through the HDD control unit 18 (step S42).

As shown in FIG. 4, since the recording position information of the program data to be reproduced on the HDD 17 is stored in the DB, the CPU 23 can specify the recording position of the program data to be reproduced on the HDD 17. ..

Next, when the CPU 23 specifies the recording position of the program data to be reproduced on the HDD 17, the CPU 23 instructs the HDD control unit 18 to start the reading process of the program data A from the recording position (step S43). ).

As a result, the HDD control unit 18 reads the program data A from the HDD 17 and outputs it to the demultiplexer 19. However, the CPU 23 may request the HDD control unit 18 to output the program data A read from the HDD 17 to the CPU 23, and the CPU 23 may output the program data A to the demultiplexer 19. In any case, when the program data A is processed by the demultiplexer 19, the video data and the audio data are output to the TV and the speaker, respectively.

Further, the CPU 23 calls the subroutine by starting the above-mentioned read process, and executes the following process. This point is important, so I will outline the operation once again.

First, the CPU 23 refers to the DB in the HDD 17 through the HDD control unit 18, and is included in all the recorded images in addition to the recording position where the program corner data A-1 starts or ends in the program data A. The recording position of the CM data to be recorded can be specified. Further, the CPU 23 can also acquire each information of "flag" and "reproduction frequency" for each CM data in the program data A by referring to the DB shown in FIG.

Therefore, in the CPU 23, the HDD control unit 18 reads the program data A from the HDD 17 and reproduces the program data A based on the information in the DB, and the CM data A-1 is the reproduction target prior to the reproduction of the CM data A-1. Determine if it exists. Specifically, for example, at the timing when the program corner data A-1 ends, it is determined whether or not the data of the CM data A-1 is the reproduction target. Here, since the CM data A-1 is not a reproduction target, the CM data A-1 is not read, but is replaced with the read, and the "flag" is "1" in the DB from the recording position of the CM data C-1. , The CM data C-1 will be instructed to be read.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 15, the CPU 23 first determines whether or not it is the reproduction end timing of the reproduction target such as the program corner data or the CM data in the program data, that is, here, the program being reproduced. It is determined whether or not it is the timing when the read position by the HDD control unit 18 reaches the recording position where the corner data A-1 ends. (Step S51).

As a result of the determination, here, if it is not the reproduction end timing of the program corner data A-1, step S51 is repeatedly executed.

After that, when the reproduction end timing of the program corner data A-1 is reached, the CPU 23 determines whether or not the next reproduction target schedule is CM data (step S52).

Here, since the reproduction target schedule following the program corner data A-1 being reproduced is CM data A-1, the process proceeds to step S53. Note that the process of step S51 is not essential, and therefore, the process of step S42 may be executed even if it is not the reproduction end timing of the program corner data A-1 being reproduced. In step S51, even if the process of step S42 is executed at an excessively early timing, the CM data A-1 following the program corner data A-1 being played and the CM data A-2 after that are not played. In addition, it is conceivable that the reproduction of the program data is stopped or switched to the reproduction of other program data, and this is to prevent the processing from being wasted.

Next, the CPU 23 refers to the "flag" of the CM data A-1 scheduled to be reproduced next following the program corner data A-1 being reproduced, and determines whether or not it is "1". (Step S53).

In this example, since the "flag" of the CM data A-1 is "0", the CPU 23 refers to the "reproduction frequency" and determines whether or not the CM data is a reproduction target. Here, the CM data A-1 is determined not to be a reproduction target because its "reproduction frequency" is not "A" but "B" and should always be replaced (step S54).

In this case, the CM data A-1 is replaced, but after the replaced CM data is played back, the playback restart position of the program data A so that the program data A can be played back from the playback compatible part again. That is, in this case, in this example, the recording position of the start of the CM data A-2 following the CM data A-1 is stored (step 55).

Then, the CPU 23 instructs to reproduce the CM data with "flag = 1" (here, for example, CM data C-1), and proceeds to step S51 (step S56).

If the "reproduction frequency" of the CM data to be determined is "A" in step S54, the CM data is to be reproduced. Therefore, after instructing the reproduction of the CM data, the process proceeds to step S51. The transition will be made (step S58).

On the other hand, as will be described later, when the step S53 is executed at the timing when the reproduction of the program corner data A-2 ends, the CM data A-3 scheduled to be reproduced next is "flag". Is "1", so that it is determined that the data is to be reproduced, the reproduction instruction is given, and then the process proceeds to step S51 (step S57).

Further, as a result of the determination in step S52, if the next reproduction target schedule is not CM data, the CPU 23 reproduces the program corner data because the next reproduction target is the program corner data, and proceeds to step S51 (step S59). ).

In the case of shifting to step S59, in the example shown in FIG. 14, steps S51 and S52 were executed at the timing when the reproduction of the CM data B-4 to be replaced with the CM data A-2 was completed. That is the case. By the way, when the CM data is located immediately before the program corner data to be reproduced in step S59 and the CM data has been replaced, the reproduction of the program corner data performed in step S59 is performed in step S59. It will be done based on the position information stored in S55.

The above operation will be outlined in chronological order. First, in this embodiment, when the subroutine of the program data A read processing (step S43) is called, the program corner data A-1 is reproduced, so that step S51 is repeatedly executed several times. .. After that, when it is time to end the program corner data A-1, the process proceeds to step S52.

Then, in this embodiment, since the CM data A-1 follows the program corner data A-1, the process proceeds to step S53, and as described above, steps S54 to S56 are followed to step S51. It will be migrated.

Next, step S51 is similarly repeatedly executed until the reproduction end timing of the CM data C-1 replaced with the CM data A-1. After that, when the reproduction end timing of the CM data C-1 comes, the process proceeds to step S52. In this embodiment, the CM data A-1 before the replacement is followed by the CM data A-2, so the process proceeds to step S53. become.

Similar to CM data A-1, CM data A-2 also has "flag = 0", and here "reproduction frequency = C". Therefore, for example, CM data A-2 is replaced with a probability of 50%. Whether or not it is determined based on a random number table or the like. In the example shown in FIG. 14, the CM data A-2 is replaced. Therefore, here, it is determined that the CM data A-2 is not a reproduction target, and the process proceeds to step S51 through steps S54 to S56. become.

Next, step S51 is similarly repeatedly executed until the reproduction end timing of the CM data B-4 replaced with the CM data A-2. After that, when the reproduction end timing of the CM data B-4 comes, the process proceeds to step S52. Here, since the program corner data A-2 follows the CM data A-2 before the replacement, the process proceeds to step S59, and the program corner data A-2 is reproduced.

In this embodiment, in step S52 shown in FIG. 15, it is determined whether or not the data to be reproduced is CM data based on the position information stored in the DB, but the CPU 23 is in the program data. Since the CM data and the program corner data can be identified based on the audio data of the above, it may be determined whether or not the data to be reproduced is the CM data based on the identification result.

That is, like the boundary between the program corner data and the CM data, there is a silent region in the audio data before and after the CM data, and the CM data usually has a fixed length such as a 30-second version or a 60-second version. If a silent area is detected during playback of program data, it is determined whether or not the audio data at the position corresponding to 30 seconds later is silent, and if it is silent, that is the case. The section can be regarded as CM data. On the other hand, when the audio data at the position corresponding to 30 seconds later is not silent, it means that the section is the program corner data because it is a silent area that also exists in the program corner data. ..

By executing such a determination, it is possible to specify whether the silent area is the position of the start position of the CM data or the position of the mere silent area in the program corner data, so that the start of the CM data can be specified. If it is determined that the position is located, the process of step S53 may be executed.

By the way, it has been explained that CM data usually has a fixed length such as a 30-second version and a 60-second version, but according to the method shown in FIG. 15, by executing the process of step S55, 30 seconds. It is permissible to replace the CM data of the version with the CM data of the 60-second version, or conversely, replace the CM data of the 60-second version with the CM data of the 30-second version. In other words, if the process of step S55 is not executed, even if the 30-second version of the CM data is replaced with the 60-second version of the CM data, the first 30 seconds of the subsequent program corner data will be eroded by the replaced CM data. Therefore, in order to prevent this, the CM data to be replaced is restricted.

In addition, the fact that the CM data can be replaced even if the lengths are different means that the CM data can be replaced with contents other than the CM data, and in particular, contents having no fixed length can be replaced. is there. That is, the CM data can be replaced not only with the content related to the CM data but also with the program corner data. To supplement the content related to the CM data, if the CM data is CM data about a car, replace it with the content that the purchaser of this car tweeted on the network and describes the ride comfort of this car. You can also.

Further, it can be replaced with moving image, still image, voice or character information captured from the outside of the recording / reproducing device itself. Specifically, the recording / playback device 10 can be connected to a network such as the Internet and replaced with CM data, moving images, still images, audio or text information downloaded into the recording / playback device 10 via the Internet or the like, or digitally. It is also possible to obtain a moving image or a still image captured in the recording / playback device 10 from the camera itself or a memory card attached thereto through a connection medium such as a USB cable. The CM data downloaded in the recording / playback device 10 may be temporarily stored in the HDD 17 or replaced in real time without being stored.

Further, the fact that the CM data can be replaced even if the lengths are different means that the desired content can be inserted between the CM data and played back, for example, instead of replacing the CM data. That is, for example, it is possible to reproduce the moving image captured from the digital camera during the reproduction of the CM data A-1 and the CM data A-2.

Further, the CM data recorded on the DVD or Blu-ray by the DVD drive 29, the CM data recorded on the HDD 17a, and the CM data recorded on the HDD 17b may be interchanged with each other. That is, the CM data recorded in the HDD 17b may be reproduced instead of the CM data in the program data read from the HDD 17a.

Further, in the "reproduction frequency", for example, "reproduction frequency = D" is provided for the CM data for which the user skips reproduction, and it is determined whether or not "reproduction frequency = D" is set as an option in step S54. By doing so, it may be possible to reach the CM skipped by the user. This has the advantage that the advertising costs of the advertiser are not wasted.

Furthermore, considering the convenience of the advertiser, since there are multiple versions of CM, version information (for example, CM airing date information) is added to the CM data in the DB to make it the latest version. It is also possible to replace it.

For example, commercials for so-called eco-car tax reduction measures were broadcast by car dealers, but these include information that "the eco-car tax reduction will not be applied in ○ days" every CM broadcast date. Was there. Therefore, when replaying program data that was broadcast a few days ago, instead of replaying this type of CM data contained in the program data, the latest version of CM data that was broadcast on that playback day is used. It is meaningful to regenerate.

Therefore, if the version information is added to the CM data in the DB as described above, the latest CM can be provided to the user by confirming the version information by the CPU 23. Specifically, prior to step S57 in FIG. 15, the version information confirmation step is executed, and if the version information is the latest, the process proceeds to step S57. If not, the latest version of CM data is replaced with step S57. You just have to give the playback instruction.

In this embodiment, the procedure for recording the program data in the recording / playback device and playing back the program data replaced with the CM data recorded in the recording / playback device as appropriate has been described. When the device is connected to the Internet, for example, the program data played back by a distant resident including an overseas resident operating the recording / playback device via the Internet with respect to the recording / playback device can be transferred to the Internet. It can also be received and viewed via. To give a specific example, it is assumed that the recording / playback device is installed in the parents' house in a rural area and one of the family members living alone lives in a distant place.

In such a case, if the CM data included in the program data to be played is, for example, a CM of a product that can be purchased only in the region where the parents' home is located and is broadcast only to the local broadcasting station, that is the case. Even if the CM data is reproduced and viewed by a distant resident, the CM effect is limited.

Therefore, by embedding tag information indicating the broadcasting area in each CM data, for example, the IP address of a distant resident should be acquired, and the access source area should be specified based on the IP address. For example, the CM data can be replaced. It is not essential to use the IP address to specify the access source area. For example, at the time of initial setting of the recording / playback device of this embodiment, the access source area is registered by registering the user's residence area. The area may be specified.

In addition, the example of overseas residents is typical, but for example, in the case of CM data for products of companies that are expanding worldwide, the above-mentioned "Eco-car tax reduction can be applied in ○ days". It doesn't make much sense to let people watch commercial data for Japanese residents, such as "It will disappear." Therefore, it is also one method to replace the CM data with the CM data of the country of residence of the overseas resident for the product of the CM sponsor.

(Example 3)
First, the outline of Example 3 of the present invention will be described. The recording / playback device of the present embodiment typically, when playing back the program data having the program corner data and the CM data, and when no operation is performed on the menu screen, between the CM data. It realizes an operation of interrupting another CM data or replacing a specific CM data with another CM data. In this embodiment, the contents of the former will be mainly described.

FIG. 16 is a schematic view of an example display screen realized by the typical operation of this embodiment. When the user instructs the recording / reproducing device 10 to play back through the remote controller 200 or the like, the recording / reproducing device 10 outputs the program data to the television 100, and the video signal is displayed on the display of the television 100 (FIG. 16A). ..

After that, it is assumed that the user presses the pause button of the remote controller 200 for some reason. When the recording / reproducing device 10 receives the signal transmitted from the remote controller 200, the recording / reproducing device 10 determines the content of the signal. Here, since the signal transmitted from the remote controller 200 is "pause", when this is detected, the recording / playback device 10 suspends the output of the program data to the television 100, as is known. (Fig. 16B).

Here, normally, the display of the television 100 stops the reproduction of the program data as if a still image is displayed. On the other hand, in this embodiment, a new display area 110 is secured in a part or all of the display (here, the upper left of the display), and the video data of the CM data is output there. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the recording / playback device 10 reads the CM data to be displayed in the display area 110 for the television 100 from the HDD 17, and outputs the video data to the television 100. Is a very unique point (Fig. 16C).

The display area 110 is treated in the same way as when the "playback screen" is changed to the "content display screen" and when the "menu screen" is changed to the "content display screen", which will be described later, and the display is uniformly displayed. It may be treated as a part or all of the inside, or may be treated as a part of the display in the former case and the whole in the display in the latter case.

As a modification of this, typically, when a pause instruction is given and the transition to the "content display screen" is made, or when the transition is made from the "menu screen" to the "content display screen", the display area 110 is relative to each other. When the screen is changed to the "content display screen" due to a fast-forward instruction, a skip instruction, or the like, the display area 110 can be made relatively small.

If the CM data viewed through the small display area 110 is of concern, the user psychology may want to reproduce the CM data in full screen according to this modification. In order to realize this, the remote controller 200 may be provided with a "SELECT button" as a trigger thereof.

Here, the reproduction target may be at least video data or at least audio data among the CM data.

In the former case, for example, in a situation where the user selects to pause, when a call is made to the user, if the voice data of the CM data is output, it may interfere with the call. .. However, even if the audio data is output, the user can set the situation in which the audio data of the CM data is not output only by instructing the mute after instructing the pause. Not only data but also audio data may be output.

On the other hand, in the latter case, for example, in a situation where the user selects to pause, the cooking timer sounds by the housewife who is the user, and when the fire of the boiled food is stopped, the CM data is separated from the front of the TV. Since there are cases where the audio data can be heard without seeing the video data of the CM data, it is also useful to reproduce only the audio data of the CM data. As a reminder, the CM data played here is a typical example of content, so it should be noted that it also includes the ability to output video content and / or audio content on networks such as the Internet. I want to be.

After that, it is assumed that the user presses the play button of the remote controller 200. When the recording / reproducing device 10 receives the signal transmitted from the remote controller 200, the recording / reproducing device 10 determines the content of the signal. Here, since the signal transmitted from the remote controller 200 is "playback", when this is detected, the recording / playback device 10 restarts the output of the program data to the television 100, as is known. .. In addition to this, in the present embodiment, the recording / playback device 10 ends the display of the display area 110 and also ends the output of CM data or the like to the television 100 (FIG. 16D).

As a result, the program data is continuously output to the television 100, so that the video of the program data is displayed on the display of the television 100 (FIG. 16E).

Here, the trigger for displaying the CM data in the display area 110 has been described by taking as an example the case where the instruction of "pause" is given, but in addition to this, the power of the television 100 made through the recording / playback device 10 is turned on. Instructions to stop the program data or CM data are given, such as instructions to fast forward the program data or CM data, instructions to rewind the program data or CM data, and instructions to skip the program data or CM data for a predetermined period. Except for the case, even if an instruction is given from anything, it can be included in the trigger for displaying the CM data in the display area 110.

That is, when the user presses the fast-forward button of the remote controller 200, for example, as is known, the program data is played back while being fast-forwarded at double speed or the like, but in addition to this, as described above, It is also possible to secure a display area 110 and display CM data there.

As described above, if the "SELECT button" is provided for the remote control 200, the "SELECT button" should be effectively utilized. For example, the user gives instructions such as pause, fast forward, and skip. When playing back CM data by doing, one of the three patterns of (1) playing back only the video data, (2) playing back only the audio data, and (3) playing back both the video data and the voice data. For example, when the "play / enter button" is pressed, it is played back with "video data only", and when it is pressed and held, it is played back with "audio data only", and "SELECT" is selected. When the "button" is pressed, it is useful to let the user choose to play back with "video data + audio data".

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of information stored in a DB for selecting CM data to be displayed in the display area 110 of FIG. 16C. FIG. 17 corresponds to the figure of the “CM information table” of FIG. 4B. This DB may be stored in the HDD 17 shown in FIG. 1, for example. Alternatively, the DB may be stored in a server on a network such as the Internet so that the DB can be accessed from the recording / playback device 10.

In FIG. 17, in addition to the information shown in FIG. 4B, information indicating the reproduction frequency based on the number of times the CM is intentionally reproduced by the user for each CM and the CM to be explicitly requested by the advertiser are shown. It shows information indicating a flag indicating whether or not there is a flag.

Specifically, here, the information ranked in three ranks of A, B, and C is shown as the "reproduction frequency". As an example, it is conceivable to make an arrangement that A-ranked CMs are to be reproduced and B-ranked and C-ranked CMs are not to be reproduced.

Further, as the "flag", for example, information such as "0" / "1" is shown. As an example, it is conceivable to make an arrangement that a CM having a flag of "1" is a reproduction target and a CM having a flag of "0" is not a reproduction target. As an example of determining the flag "0/1", if the CM is the target of an explicit advertisement request from the advertiser, set it to "1", and if the CM playback count is set in advance, set it to that number. It can be set to "1" until it reaches, and it can be set to "1" only on that day when it is played only on a specific day.

Therefore, in this embodiment, typically, CM data with "reproduction frequency = A" and "flag = 1" are sequentially targeted for reproduction. However, the CM data related to "reproduction frequency = B" may also be the reproduction target, and the CM data with "reproduction frequency = A" or "flag = 1" may be the reproduction target. Further, in the "reproduction frequency", for example, "reproduction frequency = D" may be provided for the CM data for which the user skipped reproduction, and the CM data for which "reproduction frequency = D" may be the reproduction target. In this way, some users skip the commercials during program playback, but the CMs skipped by the users can also be reached, so that the advertiser has the advantage that the advertising costs are not wasted.

Summarizing the above, in short, the reproduction target can be determined based on the reproduction history of the CM data, and the reproduction target can be determined based on the request of the advertiser. Regarding the former, when playing back CM data with a high playback frequency, there is a high possibility that it is the user's favorite CM data, which is advantageous for the user, and when playing back CM data with a low playback frequency, there is a merit. There is a merit for advertisers that the advertising costs they bear are not wasted. Regarding the latter, there is a merit for the advertiser that it is possible to realize concentrated exposure of CM data of products and the like that the advertiser wants to focus on.

Further, the display target of the display area 110 is not limited to the CM data stored in the HDD 17. Hereinafter, CM data will be mainly described as an example. For example, the video, still image, or audio data downloaded to the recording / playback device 10 through the Internet or the like by connecting the recording / playback device 10 to a network such as the Internet is once transferred. After storing it in the HDD 17, or without storing it, it may be output as content in real time.

Alternatively, the recording / playback device is connected to a digital camera or a memory card attached to the digital camera through a connection medium such as a USB cable, thereby capturing moving images, still images, audio data, etc. taken by the digital camera or the like to provide content. It may be output as. Then, when this kind of content is once stored in the HDD 17, it may be stored in the DB with a "flag" attached to the output target so that the output target can be selected.

FIG. 18 is a state transition diagram according to a display screen example described with reference to FIG. First, the recording / playback device 10 indicates that the user has instructed to turn on the power of the television 100 through the recording / playback device 10, that is, the remote controller 200 has received a signal to turn on the power button of the television 100. When the detection is made in, the television 100 transitions to the "menu screen" display state in order to display a predetermined menu screen including the user to select the program data to be reproduced. Alternatively, it transitions to the "content display screen" display state described later. However, only when there is an instruction to turn on the power of the TV 100, the time until the timeout is set to 0 seconds or the like as the dive process (otherwise, it is set to 1 to 3 minutes), and the "menu screen" is displayed. You may transition to the "content display screen" display state via the system.

Although not directly related to the operation of the remote controller 200 of this embodiment, the recording / playback device 10 turns on the television 100 when instructed to turn on the television 100 through the remote controller 200. After giving an instruction, an instruction for transitioning to the "menu screen" display state or the "content display screen" display state is given.

In the case of transitioning to the "menu screen" display state, it is usually possible to select the program data to be played back through the "menu screen" in the "menu screen" display state, but the user does not necessarily have to immediately. This is not always the case. Therefore, if the instruction through the remote controller 200 cannot be received between the time when the "menu screen" is output to the television 100 and the time when the predetermined time is measured by a timer (not shown), a timeout occurs (S11) and the display is performed. It transitions to the "content display screen" display state such that the area 110 is secured and CM data is output to the area 110.

Therefore, it is possible to effectively display the CM data or the like during the time from when the power of the television 100 itself is turned on until the program data can be actually displayed on the display.

After that, when an arbitrary button including the menu selection button of the remote controller 200 is pressed by the user and the television 100 receives the instruction (S12), the display state of the "menu screen" is displayed again.

When the program data to be reproduced is selected through the "menu screen", specifically, when an instruction for selecting the program data is transmitted from the remote controller 200 to the recording / reproducing device 10 (S13), the recording is performed. The reproduction device 10 transitions to the "reproduction screen" display state.

Here, first, the CPU 23 refers to the DB in the HDD 17 through the HDD control unit 18, identifies the recording position information on the HDD 17 of the program data to be reproduced stored therein, and the program data is recorded from the recording position. An instruction is given to the HDD control unit 18 to start the read process.

As a result, the HDD control unit 18 reads the program data from the HDD 17 and outputs it to the demultiplexer 19. However, the CPU 23 may request the HDD control unit 18 to output the program data read from the HDD 17 to the CPU 23, and then output the program data A to the demultiplexer 19. In any case, when the program data is processed by the demultiplexer 19, the video data and the audio data are output to the television 100 and the speaker, respectively.

When a stop instruction is transmitted from the remote controller 200 to the recording / playback device 10 (S17) during playback of the program data, the recording / playback device 10 transitions to the “menu screen” display state.

On the other hand, during playback of program data, when a user typically sends a pause instruction from the remote controller 200 to the recording / playback device 10 (S14), the recording / playback device 10 displays a “content display screen”. Transition to the state.

Here, first, the CPU 23 refers to the DB stored in the HDD 17 or the like in order to select the content to be displayed in the display area 110. In addition to the recording position information of the CM data on the HDD 17, the CM data to be reproduced is stored in the DB in a flagged state, so that the CPU 23 identifies the CM data to be reproduced and the CM data to be reproduced. , The recording position of the CM data on the HDD 17 can be specified.

Next, when the CPU 23 specifies the recording position of the CM data to be reproduced on the HDD 17, the CPU 23 instructs the HDD control unit 18 to start the reading process of the CM data from the recording position. As a result, the HDD control unit 18 reads the CM data with the flag or the like from the HDD 17 and outputs the CM data to the demultiplexer 19.

Further, the CPU 23 instructs the demultiplexer 19 to synthesize the output CM data with the video data such as during pause. The method of video composition processing itself is not particularly limited, and known processing may be used.

After that, the CPU 23 grasps the time (for example, 15 seconds) corresponding to the end time from the start time of the CM data from the time stamp of the CM data, and when the reproduction of the CM data is completed, the display area 110 is displayed. In order to select the next content to be displayed, the DB stored in the HDD 17 or the like is referred to, and the above series of operations are repeated thereafter.

Therefore, typically, when the reproduction of the first CM data is started, the reproduction of the second CM data is started when the reproduction of the CM data is completed, and the reproduction of the remote controller 200 is similarly performed. The CM data will be played back in sequence until the button is pressed.

The CM data has several times from the start time to the end time, such as 15 seconds, 30 seconds, and 60 seconds. According to this method, a plurality of CM data to be reproduced have different CM times. Alternatively, the CM time may be changed and reproduced, for example, the CM data of 60 seconds may be compressed and flowed in 30 seconds.

On the other hand, when the playback button of the remote controller 200 is pressed by the user during playback of the CM data and a playback instruction is given (S16), the screen transitions to the "playback screen" display state again and the "content display screen" display state is displayed. The playback of the program data displayed before the transition to is resumed.

Further, when the user selects the displayed CM data in the "content display screen" display state, specifically, for example, when the "SELECT button" of the remote controller 200 is pressed (S15), that It transitions to the "playback screen" display state such as displaying the CM data in full screen.

The CM data display area may not be a static one fixed in the display of the television 100, but may be a dynamic one moving in the display of the television 100. Further, even if it is a static object fixed in the display of the TV 100, the fixed position may be set to the upper right, the lower right, or the center of the screen in the display of the TV 100, and may be fixed. The display position may be changed randomly, or it may be displayed on the full screen.

Further, while the program data is being reproduced in the "reproduction screen" display state, the CM data broadcast between the program data may be reproduced. For the convenience of the user, the known remote control skips the CM data being played (30 seconds after the button is pressed, or up to the next CM data following the CM data, or up to the program corner data immediately after the CM data. Some are provided with a skip button for (operation of shifting the playback position). The remote controller 200 of this embodiment can also be provided with this type of button.

Then, when the user presses the button, the same processing as when the skip button of the known remote controller is pressed may be performed, but instead, the CM data being played is skipped. Instead of playing the next CM data
-The remaining part of the CM data can be mechanically played back in about 3 seconds, for example.
-Compress the CM data so that it can be played back in about 3 seconds, for example.
・ For example, you can view the CM data while fast-forwarding in about 3 seconds.
・ The CM data is fast-forwarded in about 3 seconds, for example, but the speed can be changed to make the message and logo easier to see.
-The administrator of this system creates a digest version of each CM data in about 3 seconds, for example, or obtains audio data such as "Now, 298 yen!" From the advertiser side as a digest version. Then, these are linked to the corresponding CM data, and when the button is pressed, the digest version corresponding to the CM data being played is played.
-For example, the compression rate required to reproduce the unreproduced part of the CM data in 3 seconds is calculated, and the unreproduced part of the CM data is fast-forwarded so that it can be reproduced in 3 seconds.
It is conceivable to do.

The digest version does not necessarily have to be composed of the video data and the audio data of the CM data, and may be only the audio data of the points to be advertised in the CM data, or only the video data. You can also. Further, when the CM data is fast-forwarded or the compressed digest version is being played back, the company name and the performer name of the CM data can be displayed on the screen to call the user's attention.

Further, when a known skip button is pressed, for example, a 30-second skip is mechanically performed. However, in the recording / reproducing device 10 of the present embodiment, a time stamp is used as described in the embodiment. When this type of button is pressed, the next CM data can be cueed even if the CM data is fast-forwarded and reproduced.

In addition to the description using the state transition diagram shown in FIG. 18, the recording / reproducing device 10 can also perform the following operations. That is, in FIG. 18, an operation example in which the state transitions between the "menu screen", the "content display screen", and the "playback screen" has been described, but the program data to be played back is displayed on the "menu screen". In addition to the screen to be selected, when the power of the television receiver (display medium) is on (in other words, the recording / playback device 10 has a means for detecting the on / off state of this power), as described above. Includes a screen that displays recommended menus such as the top menu screen. Therefore, it is possible to display the content even in the "menu screen" display state.

Then, after all, the recording / reproducing device 10 can be roughly divided into a state of displaying the "reproduction screen" and a state of displaying other than that. Therefore, there is also a mode in which the program data is reproduced in the "reproduction screen" display state and the content is displayed in other states.

Hereinafter, in the embodiment of the present invention, a method of excluding program data (including CM data) that has been once recorded and recorded in the recording / playback device 10 but may not need to continue recording / recording will be described.

(Example 4)
FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram of a program data storage area in the HDD 17 according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. The left side of FIG. 19 shows an outline of the storage area of the HDD 17. As shown in FIG. 19, the HDD 17 is roughly divided into an area 17-1 serving as a boot sector and an area 17-2 in which program data is stored.

The right side of FIG. 19 is an enlarged view of a storage area for program data in a specific channel in areas 17-2. In FIG. 19, the program data A and the program data B broadcast thereafter have already been recorded, and the program data C currently being broadcast is being recorded, and a part of the unrecorded area is shown. It shows that there is.

Specifically, the matrix of □ shown on the right side of FIG. 19 schematically shows each block file, and the block file marked with a solid line × means that it has been recorded. However, the block file marked with a broken line x means that it is being recorded, and the block file without a cross mark means that it is not recorded. That is, in this embodiment, unlike the case of the above-described embodiment, the program data is recorded in the HDD 17 in a file format. That is, by blocking one long endless file into small files and shredding them into small files, a plurality of files virtually constitute one long endless file.

Here, it is assumed that the program data B has never been viewed by the user, and there is not much reaction to the viewing even on a network such as the Internet. In this case, it is not a good idea to continue recording the program data B in the DBB 17 in consideration of the finite recording capacity of the DBB 17, so that the recording / playback device 10 of the present embodiment is used in such a situation. , Program data B is excluded.

However, the parameters for specifying the program data to be excluded include not only the behavior such as whether or not the user can watch the program, the viewer's evaluation of the program data acquired via the network, but also the viewing rate of the program data. Alternatively, the type and broadcast time of the program data, the elapsed time since the program data was broadcast, and any combination thereof can be considered.

Further, as a method of eliminating the program data B, in the present embodiment, the block file related to the program data B is eliminated by overwriting and recording the newly received program data D.

In order to realize this, in this embodiment, when it is determined that the program data B is the target for restricting its reproduction, a flag is given to the block file in which the program data B has already been recorded. ing. In this case, the newly received program data D may be stored in the flagged block file.

After all, it is possible to change the HDD 17 to one having a relatively small capacity, and it is also possible to reduce the cost of the recording / playback device 10.

Further, when the program data determined to be the target for restricting the reproduction does not exist, it means that the file to which the above flag is added does not exist. In this case, the embodiment has been described. As described above, the above flag may be added to the block file in which the oldest program data is stored, and the program data D may be stored.

It should be noted that the description given with reference to FIG. 19 does not prevent each program data transmitted from a plurality of television program broadcasting stations from being stored in a plurality of different block files at the same time.

The user can also specify program data that is not targeted for flagging. As a result, it is possible to prevent the user from being overwritten in a short period of time by the television program broadcasted thereafter by flagging the favorite program data. When compared with other program data, the designated program data is macroscopically recorded in the constant recording HDD 17a for a relatively long period of time.

Summarizing the above, the recording / playback device of the present embodiment includes a recording medium in which received program data is recorded in a file format, a reproduction means for reproducing the program data recorded in the recording medium, and program data by the reproduction means. It includes an giving means for giving a flag to a file whose reproduction is restricted, and a storage means for storing newly received program data for the file to which the flag is given by the giving means. For example, the recording medium can be realized by the HDD 17a, the reproduction means and the storage means can be realized by the HDD control unit 18, and the imparting means can be realized by the CPU 23 and a desired program.

Further, the storage means can store the newly received program data for the file in which the oldest program data is stored when the file to which the flag is added does not exist, and a plurality of televisions can be stored. Each program data transmitted from the program broadcasting station can be stored in a plurality of different files at the same time.

Further, a specific means for specifying a file to be flagged by the granting means is provided, and the user's behavior with respect to the recording system main body and the viewer's evaluation of the program data acquired via the network are evaluated by the specific means. The audience rating of the program data, the type and broadcast time of the program data,
It can also be specified based on either the elapsed time since the program data was broadcast. Further, it is also possible to provide a designation means for designating program data that is not the target to which the flag is given.

Furthermore, in recent years, there have been increasing opportunities to use mobile terminals such as smartphones, tablets, PDAs (hereinafter, simply referred to as "smartphones") and application programs installed therein, so that the display of smartphones can be changed to the display of televisions. It is also one way to use it instead of or in combination with it.

For example, in the first embodiment, an example of the ticker display has been described, but the ticker display may be performed on the display of the smartphone instead of or together with the display of the television. In the second embodiment, an example of replacing the CM data has been described. For example, the CM data A of the TV display is replaced with the CM data B, and the CM data B is also displayed on the smartphone display, or another CM. The data C may be displayed, or the CM data A that will be replaced may be displayed.

In order to achieve this, it is possible to connect to wireless communication means such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) and ZigBee (registered trademark) that support wireless standards used in wireless communication means installed in smartphones and to communication networks such as the Internet. Means and means are provided in the recording / playback device. Then, whether or not the user carrying the smartphone is near the television is determined by using wireless communication means, and whether or not the recorded program data is being played back is determined by the CPU 23 of the recording / playback device or the like. To determine using.

Then, when the user carrying the smartphone is near the TV and the determination result is that the program data is being played back by the recording / playback device, the recording is performed using the wireless communication means or the connection means. Video data to be displayed on the display of the smartphone from the playback device, and audio data to be output from the speaker of the smartphone are transmitted through the wireless line, received by the smartphone, and known processing for video playback, etc. Can be executed on a smartphone. In addition, when the wireless communication means is used, the video data is transmitted and received using the wireless line related to Bluetooth or ZigBee. On the other hand, when the connection means is used, video data is transmitted and received using a mobile communication system such as 4G / 5G and a wireless line related to Wifi.

Therefore, the application program installed on the smartphone is, for example,
A step to store pairing information executed for wireless communication with a recording / playback device, and
A step of reading pairing information and making a wireless connection with the recording / playback device when performing wireless communication with the recording / playback device.
A step of receiving video data, etc. transmitted from the recording / playback device via a wireless line while wirelessly connected to the recording / playback device, and
Steps to perform data processing such as decoding on received video data, etc.
Steps to output the decoded video data, etc.
Is to be executed by the processing means provided in the smartphone. In other words, the smartphone can realize the means for performing the operation corresponding to each step by installing the program for executing each of these steps.

On the other hand, the recording / playback device is, for example,
A means of storing pairing information executed to perform wireless communication with a smartphone,
A means of reading pairing information and making a wireless connection with a smartphone when performing wireless communication with the smartphone,
Means for processing video data to be played on smartphones, such as encoding,
A means of transmitting encoded video data, etc. to a smartphone via a wireless line,
Should be provided. A program that causes the processing means of the recording / reproducing device to execute the operations by these means may be used. Further, the transmission / reception of video data or the like between the smartphone and the recording / playback device may be performed by a so-called pull type or a push type.

In addition, in order to display the ticker on the smartphone display as in the first embodiment, the program data itself being played on the TV display may also be displayed on the smartphone display, or the program data itself may be displayed. It is possible to display only the ticker without displaying.

Further, in order to display the CM data on the smartphone as in the second embodiment, it is possible to realize a natural feeling by synchronizing with the program data being played on the TV display, but the program data can be realized while operating the smartphone. It is not always necessary to synchronize in the situation of playing. If synchronization is to be performed, the CM data to be displayed on the smartphone should be received by the smartphone within a few seconds before the CM data replaced on the TV display is displayed in consideration of the communication status. .. In addition, the CM playback time information on the television by the real-time clock should be added to the CM data displayed on the smartphone. Then, the smartphone may reproduce the received CM data according to this time information.

The present invention can be used in industries such as manufacturing of digital recording / playback equipment, sales of digital recording / playback equipment, data service industry related to digital recording / playback equipment, program data providing service industry, and data processing industry related to program data. There is.

It is a block diagram which showed the hardware structure of a digital recording / playback apparatus. It is the schematic which explained the identifier of the time index. It is the schematic which explained the time index which concerns on a program corner data. It is the schematic which explained the time index which concerns on CM information. It is a conceptual diagram which showed the data transmission / reception between a digital recording / playback apparatus and a time index server. It is a flowchart which showed the processing procedure of a bit rate conversion function. It is a flowchart which showed the processing procedure of the bit rate conversion function (compression rate change). It is a flowchart which showed the processing procedure of a personal identification function. It is a flowchart which showed the processing procedure of the next program function. It is a conceptual diagram which conceptually showed the transition form of the recorded program data when the next program button is pressed. It is a conceptual diagram conceptually showing the transition form of the recorded program data when the previous program button is pressed. It is a figure which shows the operation of the digital recording / reproduction system shown in FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the operation of the image processing after the display instruction of a title data. It is a schematic diagram of the display screen example realized by the typical operation of Example 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the information stored in the DB for selecting the CM data to be displayed in the display area 110 of FIG. 13C. It is a flowchart which concerns on the display screen example explained with reference to FIG. It is a schematic diagram of the display screen example in which the video signal being reproduced is displayed on the display of the television 100 of the second embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic diagram of the display screen example when the pause button of the remote controller is pressed in the state of FIG. 16A. It is a schematic diagram of the display screen example in which CM data is displayed in the state of FIG. 16B. It is a schematic diagram of the display screen example when the play button of the remote controller is pressed in the state of FIG. 16C. It is a schematic diagram of the display screen example which returned from the state of FIG. 16D to the state where the video signal being reproduced is displayed on the display of the television 100. It is a figure which shows the example of the information stored in the DB for selecting the CM data to be displayed in the display area 110 of FIG. 16C. It is a state transition diagram which concerns on the display screen example explained with reference to FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the storage area of the program data in HDD 17 which concerns on Example 4 of this invention.

10 Digital recording / playback device 11 Antenna 12 Tuner 14 Converter 17 HDD (hard disk)
17a Constant recording HDD
17b HDD for storage
18 Hard disk control unit (HDD control unit)
19 Demultiplexer 20 MPEG Decoder 21 Audio Decoder 22a Second Converter 22b Third Converter 23 CPU
24 Memory 25 Signal receiver 26 Network controller 26b Real-time clock 27 Image processing unit 28 Input unit 29 DVD drive 50 Time index server

Claims (30)

A recording means for recording program data on a recording medium,
A reproduction means for reproducing the program data recorded on the recording medium, and
A detection means for detecting the on / off state of the power of the display medium of the video data of the program data reproduced by the reproduction means, and
A content output means that outputs content to be notified to the user when the detection means detects that the power of the display medium is on and the program data is not reproduced by the playback means.
A recording / playback device. The recording / playback apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for displaying a menu screen for allowing the user to select program data to be reproduced by the reproduction means. A means for displaying a menu screen for allowing the user to select program data to be played by the playback means is provided.
The information recording device according to claim 1, wherein the content output means outputs the content when there is no instruction from the user for a predetermined time from the start of displaying the menu screen. The information recording device according to claim 1, wherein the content output means outputs content when an arbitrary instruction other than an instruction to stop playback of the program data is given while the program data is displayed by the playback means. The information recording device according to claim 3, wherein the display state of the menu screen is restored when an arbitrary instruction is given by the user while the content is displayed by the content output means. The optional instructions include an instruction to pause playback of the program data, an instruction to turn on the power of the display medium, an instruction to fast forward the program data, an instruction to rewind the program data, and an instruction to skip the program data. The storage / playback device according to claim 5, which is any of the above. The recording / playback device according to claim 1, which outputs at least one of video data and audio data of CM data as the content. The recording / playback device according to claim 1, which outputs at least one of video data and audio data of CM data to be explicitly requested by an advertiser as the content. The recording / playback device according to claim 1, which outputs at least one of video data and audio data of CM data determined based on the playback history as the content. The first aspect of claim 1, further comprising a ticker output means that outputs information about the appearance target corresponding to the metadata corresponding to the program data to a television receiver in a ticker display manner when the program data is reproduced by the reproduction means. Recording / playback device. The metadata includes period data indicating the appearance period of the appearance target in the program data.
The recording / playback device according to claim 10, wherein the ticker output means outputs information about the appearance target when the video data of the appearance target is displayed on the television receiver based on the period data. The recording / playback device according to claim 10, further comprising a setting means for setting a display position of the information regarding the appearance target when the ticker output means outputs the information regarding the appearance target. When the ticker output means outputs information about the appearance target, the display position of the information about the appearance target may be a peripheral portion including the lower part of the television receiver, or the program data may not be displayed on the entire surface. The recording / reproducing device according to claim 10, wherein the portion is generated by reducing the display. A claim comprising a control means for controlling the speed at which information about the appearance target is displayed in a ticker or the number of characters according to the genre of the program data, the genre of the program corner constituting the program data, and the reproduction speed of the program data. 10. The recording / playback device according to 10. A control means for controlling the ticker display speed or the number of characters of the information regarding the appearance target according to the genre of the program data, the genre of the program corner constituting the program data, and the playback speed of the program data is provided.
The recording / playback device according to claim 10, wherein the control means determines the display type of the ticker display, the number of times of display, the display interval, the display timing, and the display content based on the genre of the program data, the broadcast time of the program data, and the like. .. The recording / playback device according to claim 10,
A remote controller for remotely controlling the operation of the recording / playback device is provided.
The remote controller is a recording / playback system provided with a button instructing the start of the ticker display. A database in which information indicating contents that can be interrupted to the program data when the program data is being reproduced by the reproduction means is stored, and
The recording / playback device according to claim 1, further comprising an interrupt control means for interrupting the program data being played when it is determined that the content exists by referring to the database. Information indicating whether or not the CM data included in the program data recorded on the recording medium is to be reproduced is stored in the database.
By referring to the database prior to reproducing the CM data recorded on the recording medium, it is determined whether or not the CM data is a reproduction target.
The recording / reproducing device according to claim 17, wherein when it is determined that the CM data is not a reproduction target, the CM data is not reproduced but is replaced with the content and reproduced. The recording / reproduction according to claim 17, further comprising a storage means for storing position data indicating a recording destination of program data to be reproduced when the content is reproduced by the reproduction means and there is no interruption of the content. apparatus. The recording / playback device according to claim 17, wherein the content is moving image, still image, sound, or character information captured from the outside of the recording / playback device itself. The recording / playback device according to claim 17, wherein the information stored in the database is determined based on the attributes of CM data, the attributes of the user, and the attributes of the content. A server that is connected to the recording / playback device according to claim 17 via a network and includes setting means for setting information stored in the database. A recording / playback system including the recording / playback device according to claim 17 and the server according to claim 22. The recording means records the program data in a file format and
A granting means for adding a flag to a file that is a target for restricting the playback of program data by the playback means, and
A storage means for storing newly received program data for a file flagged by the granting means, and a storage means.
The recording / reproducing device according to claim 1. The recording / playback device according to claim 24, wherein the storage means stores newly received program data for a file in which the oldest program data is stored when the file to which the flag is added does not exist. .. The recording / playback device according to claim 24, wherein the storage means stores each program data transmitted from a plurality of television program broadcasting stations in a plurality of different files at the same time. Further, a specific means for identifying a file to be flagged by the granting means is provided.
The specific means is
The user's behavior with respect to the recording system itself,
Viewers' evaluation of the program data acquired via the network,
The audience rating of the program data and
The type and broadcast time of the program data,
The elapsed time since the program data was broadcast and
24. The recording / reproducing device according to claim 24, which is specified based on any of the above. The recording / playback apparatus according to claim 24, further comprising a designation means for designating program data that is not subject to the flag. A means for receiving at least a part of program data transmitted from the recording / reproducing device according to claim 1 via a wireless line, and
A means for outputting at least a part of the program data and
A mobile terminal equipped with. The mobile terminal according to claim 29 and
A recording / playback system including the recording / playback device including means for transmitting at least a part of program data played on the mobile terminal to the mobile terminal via a wireless line.

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