JP2001101797A - Digital broadcast recording and reproducing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a digital broadcast recording and reproducing device that can sequentially delete a program not required most for a user. SOLUTION: The digital broadcast recording and reproducing device 1 is provided with a recorded program management means 8 that manages programs recorded in a recording medium 4, a priority update means 9 that updates the priority of programs recorded in the recording medium 4, a compression rate revision means 10 that revises a recording compression rate in response to the priority of the program recorded in the recording medium 4, a program genre acquisition means 11 that recognizes a genre of the program recorded in the recording medium 4 according to the EPG sent from a tuner 3, a view history storage means 12 that records a view history of the program recorded in the recording medium 4, a recording time storage means 13 that stores the time when a program is recorded in the recording medium 4, and a current time acquisition means 14 that recognizes the current time.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for recording / reproducing a digital broadcast using a medium which can be randomly accessed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the spread of digital broadcasting, a recording medium for recording has been shifting from a recording medium such as a tape to a randomly accessible recording medium such as a hard disk. According to such a randomly accessible recording medium, management of recorded contents in the recording medium becomes easy. In addition, such management of recorded contents is performed by VTR (Vide
o Tape Recorder), a VTR already applied and having such a management system is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-9192.
No. 7, for example.

[0003]

Problems to be Solved by the Invention Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-91927
In the VTR disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. H10-209, a tape content storage means corresponding to a recording area is provided, and information on where the tape is stored and erasable / non-erasable information are stored in the tape content storage means. is there. However, in such a method, since the information recorded on the tape is managed only by the erasable / non-erasable information, all the programs designated as erasable are handled in the same line. Therefore, the program most unnecessary for the user is not deleted at the time of the deletion.

[0004] In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a digital broadcast recording / reproducing apparatus capable of erasing programs most unnecessary for a user in order. It is another object of the present invention to provide a digital broadcast recording / reproducing apparatus which increases the compression ratio in order from the program having the lowest priority for the user to reduce the occupancy in the recording medium.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, a digital broadcast recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1 is provided.
A digital broadcast recording / reproducing apparatus having a randomly accessible recording medium and recording and reproducing a program received on the recording medium, wherein priority determining means for giving a priority to a program recorded in the recording medium, The present invention is characterized in that the program has a compression ratio changing unit that records a program with a higher compression ratio as the priority given by the priority determination unit is lower and reduces the occupancy of the recording area.

In such a digital broadcast recording / reproducing apparatus, a received program is recorded as digital data on a recording medium that can be accessed randomly, such as a hard disk, and the compression ratio at the time of recording the digital data is determined by the program. Change according to priority. In this way, more programs can be recorded by effectively using the recording area of the recording medium.

A digital broadcast recording / reproducing apparatus according to a second aspect of the present invention includes a digital broadcast recording / reproducing apparatus that has a randomly accessible recording medium and records and reproduces a program received on the recording medium. Priority determining means for determining the priority given to the program recorded in the medium according to the number of times of viewing of the program, and a program having a lower priority given by the priority determining means is recorded at a higher compression rate and recorded in its recording area. And a compression ratio changing means for reducing the occupation ratio.

According to such a digital broadcast recording / reproducing apparatus, the priority determining means lowers the priority every time the program is viewed, and the compression ratio changing means increases the compression ratio of the program in accordance with the priority. Then, the occupancy of the recording area is reduced. Further, as described in claim 3, when the program recorded in the recording medium has never been viewed, the priority determining means determines the priority given to the program based on the date and time when the program is recorded. It does not matter.

A digital broadcast recording / reproducing apparatus according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is a digital broadcast recording / reproducing apparatus which has a randomly accessible recording medium and records and reproduces a program received on the recording medium. Priority determining means for determining the priority given to the program recorded in the medium according to the date and time when the program was recorded; and a program having a lower priority given by the priority determining means is recorded at a higher compression rate and recorded. Compression ratio changing means for reducing the occupation ratio of the area.

According to such a digital broadcast recording / reproducing apparatus, the priority determining means compares the date and time at which the program was recorded with the current date and time, and the older the recorded date and time, the lower the priority. The compression ratio changing means increases the compression ratio of this program according to the priority, and decreases the occupancy of the recording area. As described in claim 5, when a predetermined number of days has not elapsed since the recording of the program recorded on the recording medium, the priority determining means determines whether or not the program has been viewed. Thus, the priority given to the program may be determined.

A digital broadcast recording / reproducing apparatus according to a sixth aspect of the present invention is a digital broadcast recording / reproducing apparatus which has a randomly accessible recording medium and records and reproduces a program received on the recording medium. First priority determining means for determining the priority given to the program recorded in the medium based on the number of times of viewing of the program, and second priority determining means for giving the priority given to the program recorded in the recording medium based on the date and time of the recording. Priority determining means, selecting means for selecting the first priority determining means and the second priority determining means, and the first priority determining means or the second priority determining selected by the selecting means And a compression ratio changing unit that records at a higher compression ratio for a program with a lower priority given by the unit and reduces the occupation ratio of the recording area.

In the digital broadcast recording / reproducing apparatus, as described in claim 7, when the program recorded in the recording medium has never been viewed, the first priority determining means sets the program to the first priority. May be determined according to the recorded date and time. Further, as set forth in claim 8, when a predetermined number of days has not elapsed since the recording of the program recorded on the recording medium, the second priority determining means determines whether the program has been viewed. The priority given to the program may be determined depending on whether or not it is determined.

Further, as set forth in claim 9, the selecting means selects the first priority determining means and the second priority determining means according to a genre of a program recorded on the recording medium. For example, a program that is more important as the current information, such as news or weather forecast, is given priority by the second priority determining means, and a drama or variety program is viewed by the first priority determining means. Can give priority.

In the digital broadcast recording / reproducing apparatus according to the first to ninth aspects, as described in the tenth aspect,
Providing a program erasing means for erasing the program with the lowest priority given by the priority determining means, when the program is recorded in the entire recording area of the recording medium,
The program with the lowest priority can be automatically deleted to secure a newly recordable recording area.

According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a digital broadcast recording / reproducing apparatus according to any one of the first to tenth aspects, for erasing a program recorded on the recording medium. An operation member is provided, and the program is erased according to an operation of the operation member.

In such a recording / reproducing apparatus, the program to be erased in accordance with the operation of the operation unit is designated by operating the operation unit. Thus, the information is erased only when the user operates the operation unit, and is not erased until such an operation is performed. Therefore,
The program that the user wants to save can be designated so as not to be automatically deleted.

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the internal structure of the digital broadcast recording / playback apparatus of the present embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a recording medium management operation of the digital broadcast recording / reproducing apparatus of FIG.

Digital broadcast recording / reproducing apparatus 1 shown in FIG.
Is an antenna 2 for receiving a digital broadcast signal, demodulates a broadcast signal transmitted from the antenna 2, and demultiplexes the broadcast signal to transmit a TS (Transport Stream) or an EPG (Electronic Program) of a channel selected by a user.
am Guide), a recording medium 4 such as a hard disk for recording the TS obtained by the tuner 3, a decoding unit 5 for decoding the TS read from the recording medium 4,
A display device 6 for reproducing a video image based on the signal decoded by the decoding means 5.

The digital broadcast recording / reproducing apparatus 1 has
An operation unit 7 operated by a user, a recorded program management unit 8 for managing a program recorded on the recording medium 4, and a recording medium 4
Priority updating means 9 for updating the priority of the program recorded in the program
A compression ratio changing means 10 for changing a compression ratio to be recorded according to the priority of the program recorded on the recording medium 4; and recognizing a program genre of the program recorded on the recording medium 4 from an EPG sent from the tuner 3. Program genre acquisition means 11
A viewing history storage unit 12 for storing the viewing history of the program recorded on the recording medium 4, a recording time storage unit 13 for storing the recording start time of the program recorded on the recording medium 4, and a current time for recognizing the current time. Acquisition means 14.

Although not shown in FIG. 1, when a recording and reproduction operation is performed by the operation means 7, the received program is recorded and reproduced on the recording medium 4 by the central control unit and the like. .

<Recording operation of digital broadcast recording / reproducing apparatus>
The recording operation of the digital broadcast recording / reproducing apparatus 1 having such a configuration will be described below. First, when an operation is performed by the operation unit 7 to record, the digital broadcast recording / reproducing apparatus 1 is controlled so as to record the program of the channel selected by the tuner 3. At this time, the TS obtained by the tuner 3 is written in the recordable area of the recording medium 4. Then, the newly recorded program is recognized by the recorded program management means 8, and the newly recorded program is numbered and stored in the recorded program management means 8. Further, at this time, the priority of the newly recorded program is set to the highest, and the priority is also stored in the recorded program management means 8.

The program genre acquiring means 11 stores the periodically transmitted EPG acquired by the tuner 3. The EPG stored in the program genre acquisition means 11
Is updated each time it is sent. Then, when a new program is recorded on the recording medium 4 as described above, the data provided in the TS of the program is provided from the tuner 3 to the program genre acquisition means 11, and based on the data provided in this TS. The program genre of the program is recognized by the program genre acquisition means 11 from the stored EPG. The program genre recognized in this way is sent to the recorded program management means 8, and the program genre is stored in the recorded program management means 8 together with the numbered program.

Further, at this time, the current time acquisition means 14 stores the date and recording start time of the day in the recording time storage means 13.
Is recognized, and the date and the recording start time are stored. still,
In this embodiment, the recording start time is set to the current time acquisition unit 14.
However, the broadcast time may be recognized from the data provided in the TS provided by the tuner 3, and the date and the recording start time of the day may be determined from the broadcast time.

As described above, when newly recording a program,
The recorded program management means 8 assigns a number to the program, sets the priority to the highest priority, and stores the priority and the program genre obtained by the program genre acquisition means 11 in the recorded program management means 8. . At the same time, the recording start time is recognized by the recording time storage unit 13 and the recording start time is stored in the recording time storage unit 13. When operating the operating means 7 to perform the recording operation in this way, if the priority of the program is not automatically updated, the user operates the operating means 7 in advance and designates the program.

<Management Operation of Recorded Program> Next, the management operation of the recorded program of the digital broadcast recording and reproducing apparatus 1 will be described.
This will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, at the time of updating the priority, each program recorded on the recording medium 4 is
It is determined whether or not it is specified that the priority is not automatically updated (STEP 1). At this time, when it is designated (Yes), the process proceeds to STEP18, and when it is not designated (No), the process proceeds to STEP2.

In step 2, first, the program genre of the program is given to the priority updating means 9 together with the program genre of the program by the recorded program management means 8 together with the priority of the program. The program genre is recognized. Then, it is determined whether or not the recognized program genre is a serial drama or a variety program (STEP 3). At this time, when the program genre of this program is a serial drama or a variety program (Ye
s) The process proceeds to STEP4, and if it is not a serial drama or a variety program (No), the process proceeds to STEP9.

Next, when the process proceeds to STEP 4, the priority updating means 9 detects whether or not the program has been viewed from the viewing history stored in the viewing history storing means 12, and when the program has been viewed (Yes). , To STEP5, and when the content has never been viewed (No), the process proceeds to STEP7. It should be noted that the viewing history stored in the viewing history storage unit 12 includes a state in which the user has never viewed (first state),
Each state is stored for each program in three states: a state watched after the previous priority update (second state) and a state not viewed after the last priority update (third state). Therefore, STEP4
In the first state, the process proceeds to STEP7, and in the remaining second and third states, the process proceeds to STEP5.

When shifting from STEP 4 to STEP 5,
Whether or not the program has been viewed since the priority was last updated in the priority updating means 9 is determined by the viewing history storing means 1.
If it is detected from the viewing history stored in No. 2 and it is in the second state in which it has been viewed (Yes), the process proceeds to STEP6, and if it is in the third state in which it is not viewed (No), it proceeds to STEP18. Then, at this time, when the processing shifts to STEP 6, the priority given to the priority updating means 9 is lowered, and in STEP 18
Move to

Also, in STEP 4, when the priority update means 9 detects that the viewing history stored in the viewing history storage means 12 is in the first state, whether a predetermined number of days have elapsed since the program was recorded. Whether or not the priority update means 9
(STEP 7). At this time, it is determined by comparing the date and recording start time of the recording date stored in the recording time storage unit 13 with the current date and current time provided by the current time acquisition unit 6 by the priority updating unit 9. You. When it is determined that the predetermined number of days has elapsed (Yes), the processing shifts to STEP 8 and the priority of the program is lowered by the priority update means 9, and then the processing shifts to STEP 18, where the predetermined number of days has elapsed. If it is determined that there is no data (No), the process proceeds to STEP18.

When the process proceeds from STEP 3 to STEP 9, it is determined in STEP 9 whether the program genre recognized in STEP 2 is a sports program, news, or weather forecast. At this time, if the program genre of this program is a sports program or news or weather forecast (Yes), the process proceeds to STEP10, and if it is not a sports program or news or weather forecast (No), ST
The process proceeds to EP14.

When the process proceeds to STEP 10, the priority update unit 9 sets the date and the recording start time of the recording date stored in the recording time storage unit 13 and the current time acquisition unit 6.
Is compared with the current date and current time given by
It is determined whether or not a predetermined number of days have elapsed since the program was recorded. At this time, if a predetermined number of days have elapsed since the program was recorded (Yes), STEP 11
When the predetermined number of days has not elapsed since the program was recorded (No), the process proceeds to STEP12.

As described above, it is determined in STEP 10 that S
When the process proceeds to STEP 11, the priority given to the priority updating means 9 is lowered, and the process proceeds to STEP 18. Also, conversely,
In step 12, the priority update unit 9 determines whether or not the program has been viewed from the viewing history stored in the viewing history storage unit 12 depending on whether the program is in the first state. At this time, if you have already watched (Yes),
The process proceeds to STEP 13, where the priority of the program is lowered by the priority updating means 9, and then proceeds to STEP 18. If the program has not been viewed yet (No), the process proceeds to STEP 18.

When the operation proceeds from STEP 9 to STEP 14, it is judged from the information stored in the recorded program management means 8 by the priority update means 9 whether or not an instruction has been given to delete the program by the operation means 7. You. If an instruction is given to delete the program, the recorded program management means 8 stores the instruction together with the program number and designates that the priority is not automatically updated. The designation of the program is canceled so that the priority is automatically updated.

In STEP 14, when the priority updating means 9 confirms that there is an instruction to delete the data (Y
es) The process proceeds to STEP 15 to set the priority to the lowest value, and then proceeds to STEP 18. If there is no instruction to delete the program (No), the process proceeds to STEP 16 and the program is recorded. It is determined whether a predetermined number of days has elapsed. If it is determined in STEP 16 that the predetermined number of days has elapsed (Yes), the process proceeds to STEP 17 and the priority of the program is lowered by the priority updating means 9 and then ST
The process proceeds to EP18, and when it is determined that the predetermined number of days has not elapsed (No), the process proceeds to STEP18.

In step 18, it is determined whether or not the updated priority of the program has the lowest value. If the updated priority has the lowest value (Ye
s) Then, the process proceeds to STEP 19, and the program is erased from the recording medium 4, and the program number, program genre and priority stored in the recorded program management means 8 are erased. If the updated priority is not the lowest value, ST
The process proceeds to EP20, where the priority is stored by the recorded program management means 8, and the compression rate of the program to be recorded is changed by the compression rate changing means 10 according to the priority. Then, at this time, the processed program is stored in the recording medium 4 in accordance with the changed compression ratio. At this time, the lower the priority, the higher the compression ratio.

As described above, when the priority of one program is updated and the compression ratio at the time of recording on the recording medium 4 is updated, another program is again updated in STEP.
1 to STEP 20 are performed. Then, for all programs recorded on the recording medium 4, STEP 1 to STEP
When the processing in step 20 is performed, the processing operation described above is ended (STEP 21). That is, STEP19 or STEP2
When the processing of 0 is completed, the process proceeds to STEP 21, and when the above-described processing is performed on all the programs in STEP 21 (Yes), the management operation is completed (END), and no processing is performed. If there is a program (N
o) returns to STEP 1 and the processing is performed again.

The operation when the above-described flowchart of FIG. 2 is implemented will be summarized below, divided into cases.

(A) When the priority can be updated (1) When the program genre is a drama or variety program (1-a) When the program has never been viewed (first state) A predetermined time after the program is recorded When the number of days has passed,
The priority is reduced and updated, and the compression ratio at which the program is recorded is increased. If the predetermined number of days has not elapsed since the recording, the priority is not updated, and the compression ratio at which the program is recorded is not changed.

(1-b) Viewing after the last update of priority (second state) The priority is lowered and the compression ratio at which the program is recorded increases. Also, when compared with the case of (1-a), it is considered that the importance of recording is low because the program has already been viewed, so the priority to be lowered when a predetermined number of days has elapsed in (1-a) By increasing the rate of decrease, it is possible to give a difference in priority between a program that has never been viewed.

(1-c) When the user has not been watched since the last update of the priority (third state) The priority is not updated, and the compression ratio at which the program is recorded is not changed.

(2) When the program genre is a sports program or news or weather forecast At this time, the importance becomes lower as the number of days elapses compared to the program genre in the case of (1). , (1-a), it is possible to make a difference in the priority between the programs of the program genre in the case of (1).

(2-a) When a predetermined number of days has not elapsed since the program was recorded When the program has been viewed, the priority is lowered and the compression ratio at which the program is recorded increases. When the user has never viewed the program, the priority is not updated, and the compression ratio at which the program is recorded is not changed.

(2-b) When a predetermined number of days has elapsed since the program was recorded The priority is lowered and the compression ratio at which the program is recorded increases. Since the importance of the program of such a program genre becomes lower as the number of days has elapsed since the program was recorded, the rate of lowering the priority is made larger than the priority which is lowered when viewed once in (2-a). In this way, it is possible to make a difference in priority between a case where the predetermined number of days has not passed.

(3) For other program genres (3-a) When there is an instruction to delete a program The priority is set to the lowest value. For example, priority is 0-1
When represented by a numerical value of 0, the priority is set to 0. And
In this manner, the priority is set to the lowest value, the program recorded on the recording medium 4 is deleted, and the recorded program management means 8 is deleted.
Then, various information of the program stored in the viewing history storage means 12 and the recording time storage means 13 is deleted.

(3-b) When there is no instruction to delete the program When a predetermined number of days have elapsed since the program was recorded,
The priority is reduced and updated, and the compression ratio at which the program is recorded is increased. At this time, the number of days to be the reference is (1-
In addition to making the number of days longer than the reference number in a), (1-
In (a), the rate of lowering the priority after the predetermined number of days has elapsed is made greater than the priority of lowering the priority, and in (1-a), a difference in the priority from the program in which the predetermined number of days has elapsed can be provided. . In this case, the priority can be set higher than a program genre that is broadcast regularly, such as a serial drama or a variety program. If the predetermined number of days has not elapsed since the recording, the priority is not updated, and the compression ratio at which the program is recorded is not changed.

(B) When the priority cannot be updated The priority is not updated, and the compression ratio at which the program is recorded is not changed.

Note that, in the flowchart of FIG.
In EP16, whether to lower the priority may be determined depending on whether or not the program has been viewed.
That is, when the user has already viewed the content, the process proceeds to STEP 17 to lower the priority.
Move to 18. Further, in the digital broadcast recording / playback apparatus of the present invention, the operation of managing the recorded program is an example of the operation according to the flowchart of FIG. 2 and is not limited to the operation according to this flowchart.

The management operation as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 2 may be performed automatically at regular intervals, such as every day, or may be performed according to a command from the user. Further, when the ratio of the recordable area of the recording medium becomes smaller than a predetermined value, the management operation as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 2 may be automatically performed.

[0049]

According to the present invention, the compression ratio can be changed according to the priority given to the program recorded on the recording medium, and the program can be recorded. For example, the storage area of the recording medium can be efficiently used by increasing the compression ratio of the recording medium. In addition, since the priority of a program can be determined based on the number of times the program has been viewed, the compression rate of a program that is unlikely to be viewed again, such as a program viewed multiple times, can be increased.
In addition, since the priority of a program can be determined based on the date and time when the program was recorded, the compression ratio of a program that is unlikely to be viewed again, such as a program that has elapsed a long time after recording, is increased. be able to.

Also, according to the genre of the program, it is possible to select whether the criterion for determining the priority is the number of times the program has been viewed or the date and time when the program was recorded. Therefore, the importance of recording the program changes depending on whether or not it has been viewed once, such as a drama or variety program, and its importance decreases as time elapses from the date of broadcast, such as news or weather forecast. For a particular program, the criteria for determining the priority can be changed.

Further, since the program having the lowest priority can be deleted, a program which is very unlikely to be viewed again or a program which is unlikely to be viewed is deleted from the recording medium to expand the recordable area. Thus, the storage area of the recording medium can be effectively used.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the internal structure of a digital broadcast recording / playback apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a management operation of a recorded program of the digital pavement recording and reproducing apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Digital broadcast recording / reproducing apparatus 2 Antenna 3 Tuner 4 Recording medium 5 Decoding means 6 Display device 7 Operating means 8 Recorded program management means 9 Priority updating means 10 Compression rate changing means 11 Program genre acquisition means 12 Viewing history storage means 13 Recording Time storage means 14 Current time acquisition means

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A digital broadcast recording / reproducing apparatus having a recording medium which can be randomly accessed and recording and reproducing a program received on the recording medium, wherein priority is given to a program recorded in the recording medium. Means for determining the degree of compression of the program having a lower priority given by the means for determining priority, and changing the compression ratio to reduce the occupancy of the recording area. Broadcast recording and playback device. 2. A digital broadcast recording / reproducing apparatus having a recording medium which can be randomly accessed and recording and reproducing a program received on the recording medium, wherein a priority given to the program recorded in the recording medium is set to Priority determining means that is determined by the number of times of viewing, and compression rate changing means for recording a program with a lower compression rate given by the priority determining means with a higher compression rate and reducing the occupancy of the recording area. A digital broadcast recording / playback apparatus characterized by having: 3. The program according to claim 1, wherein said priority determining means determines the priority given to said program according to the date and time when said program is not viewed at least once in said recording medium. Item 3. A digital broadcast recording / reproducing device according to item 2. 4. A digital broadcast recording / reproducing apparatus having a recording medium which can be randomly accessed and recording and reproducing a program received on the recording medium, wherein a priority given to a program recorded in the recording medium is recorded. Priority determining means determined by the given date and time, compression rate changing means for recording a program with a lower priority given by the priority determining means at a high compression rate and reducing the occupancy of the recording area, A digital broadcast recording / playback apparatus comprising: 5. When a predetermined number of days has not elapsed since the recording of the program recorded on the recording medium, the priority determining means gives the program to the program depending on whether the program has been viewed or not. The digital broadcast recording / playback apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the priority is determined. 6. A digital broadcast recording / reproducing apparatus having a recording medium that can be accessed randomly and recording and reproducing a program received on the recording medium, wherein the priority given to the program recorded in the recording medium is set to First priority determining means that is determined by the number of times of viewing, second priority determining means that determines the priority given to the program recorded in the recording medium according to the date and time of recording, and the first priority determining means Selecting means for selecting the first priority determining means and the second priority determining means; and a program having a lower priority given by the first priority determining means or the second priority determining means selected by the selecting means has a higher priority. A digital broadcast recording / reproducing apparatus, comprising: compression rate changing means for recording at a compression rate to reduce the occupancy of the recording area. 7. The method according to claim 1, wherein when the program recorded in the recording medium has never been viewed, the first priority determining means determines the priority given to the program based on the date and time when the program is recorded. The digital broadcast recording / playback apparatus according to claim 6. 8. When a predetermined number of days have not elapsed since the recording of the program recorded on the recording medium, the second priority determining means determines whether or not the program has been viewed. 8. The digital broadcast recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein a priority given to the digital broadcast is determined. 9. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said selecting means selects said first priority determining means and said second priority determining means according to a genre of a program recorded on said recording medium. Item 9. A digital broadcast recording / reproducing apparatus according to any one of Items 8. 10. The digital broadcast recording / reproduction according to claim 1, further comprising program erasing means for erasing a program having the lowest priority given by said priority determining means. apparatus. 11. An operation member for erasing a program recorded on the recording medium, wherein the program is erased in accordance with an operation of the operation member. A digital broadcast recording / reproducing apparatus according to any one of claims 10 to 13. 12. When the operation unit is operated, a program to be deleted according to the operation of the operation unit is designated, and the specified program is not automatically deleted until the operation unit is operated. The digital broadcast recording / playback apparatus according to claim 11, wherein: