JP2001167565A - Digital recorder-reproducer using random accessible recording medium and recording-reproducing method of digital data - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a digital recorder-reproducer which can detect and display a non-reproduced title among those recorded titles. SOLUTION: A system controller 120 receives the current time from a real time clock module 127 when the image recording of a title is started and records the received time as a title generation time and a final reproduction time respectively. When a reproduction instruction is inputted from a user interface 122, the controller 120 updates the final reproduction time into the current time that is supplied then from the module 127. The title generation time is compared with the final reproduction time for detecting a non-reproduced file.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a digital recording / reproducing apparatus and a digital data recording / reproducing method, and more particularly, to a recording medium capable of recording, reproducing and erasing data and enabling random access. The present invention relates to a digital recording / reproducing device and a digital data recording / reproducing method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Hitherto, as a recording and reproducing apparatus for data such as a television signal, a digital recording and reproducing apparatus using a randomly accessible recording medium such as a magneto-optical recording medium and a hard disk has been proposed. Some of these digital recording / reproducing apparatuses include, for example, one system of recording channels, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-138318.
There has been proposed a device which has a function of reproducing a recorded data while performing a recording operation on a recording medium by providing one system of a reproduction channel.

[0003]

Due to the increase in the capacity of the recording medium and the development of compression techniques for video data and the like, a huge amount of recording media are recorded on a digital recording / reproducing apparatus capable of recording a large number of television programs. It is easy to guess that a number of titles will be generated.

One of the important factors in managing a huge number of titles for a user who records a program is to determine whether or not these titles are viewed titles.

However, in the conventional digital recording / reproducing apparatus, in order to check whether or not the title has been viewed after the title has been recorded, the user relies on his / her own memory to reproduce the beginning of each title. I had to judge by fast-forwarding the entire title.

[0006] Determining whether or not each title is a viewed title in this way involves a problem that, for example, if there are 100 titles, the user takes a considerable amount of time. there were.

In such a case, if it is possible to display to the user whether or not each of the recorded 100 titles has been viewed, the user selects a title which has not been viewed yet. It is possible to confirm the recorded contents. In this way, it is possible to efficiently check titles for which the user has forgotten to check the content after recording. Then, it is possible to efficiently organize titles such that important titles are left and titles that are no longer needed are deleted.

An object of the present invention is to provide a digital recording / reproducing apparatus capable of listing and displaying unplayed titles to a user.

[0009]

According to the present invention, a recording medium capable of writing and reading digital data including a video / audio signal and management information corresponding to the video / audio signal, and enabling random access. A digital recording / reproducing apparatus for recording / reproducing to / from a digital camera comprises: an input unit for externally inputting a command; a writing / reading unit for writing / reading digital data to / from a recording medium; and a video recorded on the recording medium. The display device includes a display unit that displays an image corresponding to the audio signal, and a control unit that controls the writing / reading unit according to an instruction, detects unreproduced digital data, and displays a detection result on the display unit.

Preferably, when the command is a recording command for recording a video / audio signal, the control unit controls the writing / reading unit to record a predetermined initial value as management information on a recording medium. When the playback instruction is to read the audio signal, the management information is rewritten to a value different from the initial value. When the instruction is an unplayed information display instruction to display an unplayed video / audio signal, the management information is set to the initial value. By detecting the difference, the reproduced / unreproduced information indicating whether or not the video / audio signal has been reproduced is displayed on the display means.

[0011] More preferably, the digital recording / reproducing apparatus further comprises a clock means for clocking the current time. The initial value includes a recording start time at which recording is started in response to a recording command, and a reproduction start time at which reproduction is started according to a reproduction command. The control means detects that the video / audio signal has not been reproduced when the recording start time matches the reproduction start time.

More preferably, the recording medium includes a first area in which the video / audio signal is divided into a plurality of basic operation units and recorded discretely, and title file information for linking the plurality of basic operation units for each title. And a second area to be recorded. The title file information includes a bitmap in which a bit is provided for each basic operation unit. The control means secures a basic operation unit according to the recording instruction, initializes a corresponding bit of the bitmap, rewrites a corresponding bit of the bitmap when the basic operation unit is reproduced according to the reproduction instruction, According to the information display instruction, the ratio of the unreproduced basic operation units among the plurality of basic operation units is obtained from the bitmap of each title, and when the ratio is larger than a predetermined threshold value, it is determined that the video / audio signal is not reproduced. I do.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording medium capable of writing and reading digital data including a video / audio signal and management information corresponding to the video / audio signal, and performing random access. A digital data recording / reproducing method for recording / reproducing digital data by externally inputting a command, writing / reading digital data to / from a recording medium, and a video / audio signal recorded on the recording medium And a step of controlling the display device to detect unreproduced digital data and display the detection result on the display device in accordance with the command.

Preferably, the step of controlling includes, when the command is a recording command for recording a video and audio signal, causing a predetermined initial value to be recorded on a recording medium as management information, and the command to read the video and audio signal. When the command is a command, rewrite the management information to a value different from the initial value, and when the command is an unplayed information display command for displaying an unplayed video / audio signal, detecting that the management information is different from the initial value. To display the reproduced / unreproduced information indicating whether or not the video / audio signal has been reproduced on the display device.

[0015] More preferably, the digital data recording / reproducing method further comprises a step of measuring a current time. The initial value includes a recording start time at which recording is started in response to a recording command, and a reproduction start time at which reproduction is started according to a reproduction command. The controlling step detects that the video / audio signal is not reproduced when the recording start time and the reproduction start time match.

More preferably, the recording medium includes a first area in which the video / audio signal is divided into a plurality of basic operation units and discretely recorded, and title file information for linking the plurality of basic operation units for each title. And a second area to be recorded. The title file information includes a bitmap in which a bit is provided for each basic operation unit. The controlling step secures a basic operation unit according to the recording command,
Initialize the corresponding bit of the bitmap, rewrite the corresponding bit of the bitmap when the basic operation unit is reproduced according to the reproduction instruction, and execute multiple basic operations from the bitmap of each title according to the unplayed information display instruction. The ratio of the unreproduced basic operation units among the operation units is obtained, and when the ratio is larger than a predetermined threshold value, it is determined that the video / audio signal is not reproduced.

According to the present invention, unplayed titles can be detected, and clues for determining important titles and titles that can be deleted can be obtained. Then, the user can effectively use the capacity of the recording medium by separating and organizing important titles and unimportant titles based on the list result.

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, the same reference numerals indicate the same or corresponding parts.

[Overall Configuration of Digital Recording / Reproducing Apparatus] FIG.
1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of a digital recording / reproducing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, signal lines indicated by thick lines are signal lines indicating the flow of video and / or audio data, and signal lines indicated by thin lines are signal lines indicating the flow of control signals.

Referring to FIG. 1, a signal wave of a television broadcast, for example, received by antenna 100 is given to tuners 102 and 103 in common.

The tuner 102 selects a signal wave of one channel designated by the user from the signal waves received by the antenna 100, demodulates the signal wave into an analog television signal including a video signal and an audio signal, and selects
04 to one input. The other input of the selector 104 is connected to an external input terminal 101 to which various external television signal sources such as a video tape recorder (VTR) and a camcorder can be connected.

The selector 104 selects either the output from the tuner 102 or the input from the external input terminal 101 and supplies the selected signal to the A / D converter 105 and also to one input of the graphic controller 124.
Generally, the selector 104 selects the input from the external input terminal 101 when some external signal source is connected to the external input terminal 101, and selects the output of the tuner 102 when not connected.

The A / D converter 105 includes a selector 10
The video signal and the audio signal of the analog television signal output from 4 are converted into digital signals, and the digital video signal is supplied to the MPEG2 video encoder 107 and the digital audio signal is supplied to the audio encoder 109.

The MPEG2 video encoder 107 compresses a given digital video signal and converts it into a multiplexer / demultiplexer.
The signal is supplied to the demultiplexer 111, and the audio encoder 109 compresses the supplied digital audio signal and supplies the compressed digital audio signal to the multiplexer / demultiplexer 111. The multiplexer / demultiplexer 111 multiplexes the supplied video signal stream and audio signal stream and converts them into an MPEG2 system stream.

On the other hand, the tuner 103 includes the antenna 100
1 from the signal wave received by
A signal radio wave of one channel is selected, demodulated into an analog television signal composed of a video signal and an audio signal, and A / A
The signal is supplied to the D converter 106 and to another input of the graphic controller 124.

The A / D converter 106 is a tuner 10
The video signal and the audio signal of the analog television signal output from 3 are converted into digital signals, and the digital video signal is supplied to the MPEG2 video encoder 108 and the digital audio signal is supplied to the audio encoder 110.

The MPEG2 video encoder 108 compresses a given digital video signal and converts it into a multiplexer / demultiplexer.
The audio signal is supplied to the demultiplexer 111, and the audio encoder 110 compresses the supplied digital audio signal and supplies the compressed digital audio signal to the multiplexer / demultiplexer 111. The multiplexer / demultiplexer 111 multiplexes the supplied video signal stream and audio signal stream and converts them into an MPEG2 system stream.

This digital recording / reproducing apparatus includes a hard disk drive (hereinafter, HDD) 1 having a built-in hard disk as an example of a randomly accessible recording medium.
19 is removably mounted. In the following description, this single HDD 119 itself will be regarded as a writable and readable recording medium for convenience. This HDD 119
Writing data to and reading data from the HDD 119 are executed by the HDD controller module 118 as described later.

Between the multiplexer / demultiplexer 111 and the HDD controller module 118, a first data bus including a buffer memory 116 in the middle and a second data bus including a buffer memory 117 in the middle are provided. Are provided.

Further, digital data from another device externally connected via the digital input 128 can be input to the buffer memory 116, while the digital data in the buffer memory 117 can be input to the digital output 1
29, it is possible to output to another device externally connected.

Therefore, as will be described later, the MPEG2 system stream data is transmitted between the multiplexer / demultiplexer 111, the HDD controller module 118, the digital input 128 and the digital output 129 via the buffer memories 116 and 117. Will be exchanged.

Multiplexer / demultiplexer 111
Is the M received from buffer memories 116 and 117
The PEG2 system stream is demultiplexed into a video signal stream and an audio signal stream, and the former is supplied to an MPEG2 video decoder 112 and the latter to an audio decoder 113.

The MPEG2 video decoder 112 decodes the supplied video signal stream and supplies it to the D / A converter 114. The audio decoder 113 decodes the supplied audio signal stream and supplies it to the D / A converter 114. give. The D / A converter 114 is
The applied signals are converted into analog signals, respectively, and an analog television signal including a video signal and an audio signal is supplied to another input of the graphic controller 124.

The graphic controller 124 includes a selector 104, a tuner 103, and a D / A converter 1
14 and select one of the analog television signals given to the television monitor 126 connected to the outside of the digital recording / reproducing apparatus.

Multiplexer / demultiplexer 111
The operation of the graphic controller 124 is controlled by a control signal provided from the system controller 120.

The digital recording / reproducing apparatus includes a digital input 128 and a digital output 129.
Control signal from the system controller 120 is connected to a system controller (not shown) of another device via the digital input 128 (thin line) when the external device is connected to the system controller (not shown). Is supplied to the system controller 120 of the digital recording / reproducing apparatus via the digital output 129 (thin line).

A user interface 122, a memory 121, and a real-time clock module 127 are connected to the system controller 120.

The basic operation principle of the digital recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention shown in FIG. 1, such as recording, reproducing, erasing, etc., is related to the file format of the recording medium (hard disk in the embodiment) used in the present invention. The characteristic operation of the present invention will be described first with reference to the block diagram of FIG. 1 and the timing diagrams of FIGS.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, the digital recording / reproducing apparatus has at least two MPEG2 encoding circuits (MPEG2 video encoders 107 and 108) and at least one MPEG2 decoding circuit. System (MPEG2 video decoder 11
2) It is possible to simultaneously operate any two of these systems while maintaining real-time properties.

[Normal Recording Function] First, FIG. 2 is a timing chart for explaining the recording operation of one channel of the digital recording / reproducing apparatus shown in FIG.

At the time of normal (timer) recording, for example, the user selects the channel of the television program to be recorded, the recording start time,
The recording end time is set by operating the user interface 122. For example, if channel 1 is set to record from 8:00 pm to 10:00 pm, the system controller 120 designates the tuner 103 as channel 1 at 8:00 pm based on information from the real-time clock module 127, The tuner 103 selects and demodulates the signal radio wave of the channel 1 from the signal radio wave received by the antenna 100.

The demodulated signal is supplied to the A / D converter 106, the MPEG2 video encoder 108,
Audio encoder 110 and multiplexer /
The data is converted into an MPEG2 system stream via the demultiplexer 111.

The system controller 120 selects the first data bus including the buffer memory 116, and the MPEG2 system stream is transmitted to the HDD controller module 11 via the buffer memory 116 in response to the selection.
8 given. HDD controller module 118
Writes data into the HDD 119 using an interface command with the HDD 119.

In FIG. 2, (a) shows a time axis,
(B) shows the processing time of writing from the multiplexer / demultiplexer 111 to the buffer memory 116, and (c) shows the processing time.
Indicates the processing time for writing from the buffer memory 116 to the HDD 119 via the HDD controller module 118.

Multiplexer / Demultiplexer 111
Is continuously sent to the buffer memory 116 provided on the first data bus at the bit rate of the system stream.

The amount of data in the buffer memory 116 is H
When the data amount is monitored by the DD controller module 118 and exceeds a certain threshold value, a process of writing the data amount corresponding to the threshold value to the HDD 119 is performed. Since the writing speed to the HDD 119 is higher than the bit rate of the system stream,
The processing time for writing to the HDD 119 by the controller module 118 is short. That is, the multiplexer / demultiplexer 111 at the time indicated by the thick line in FIG.
The amount of data transferred from the
The amount of data transmitted from the buffer memory 116 to the HDD 119 at the time indicated by the thick line in (c) is the same.

Thus, the recording of channel 1 is performed from 8:00 pm to 10:00 pm, and the recording ends at 10:00 pm.

[Normal Playback Function] FIG. 3 is a timing chart for explaining the playback operation of one channel of the digital recording / playback apparatus shown in FIG.

At the time of normal reproduction, for example, the user operates the user interface 122 to instruct reproduction of a desired title. The system controller 120 responds accordingly to the HDD controller module 118 by setting H
An instruction to read data of a desired title from the DD 119 is issued.

At this time, the system controller 120
Selects the first data bus including the buffer memory 116, and the data read from the HDD 119 in response thereto is transferred to the multiplexer / demultiplexer 111 via the HDD controller module 118 and the buffer memory 116. .

In FIG. 3, (a) shows a time axis,
(B) reads data from the HDD 119 via the HDD controller module 118 and stores the data in the buffer memory 1.
16 shows the processing time for writing to the memory 16, and (c) shows the processing time for writing from the buffer memory 116 to the multiplexer / demultiplexer 111.

When the reproduction start is instructed by the system controller 120, the HDD controller module 1
Reference numeral 18 performs a process of reading data from the HDD 119 and writing the data to the buffer memory 116. At this time, the HDD controller module 118 monitors the amount of data in the buffer memory 116 and, when the amount of data falls below a certain threshold, reads out a certain amount of data from the HDD 119 and writes it in the buffer memory 116.

Writing of data from the buffer memory 116 to the multiplexer / demultiplexer 111 is performed constantly at the bit rate of the system stream. Since the reading speed from the HDD 119 is higher than the bit rate of the MPEG2 system stream,
The processing time for writing into the buffer memory 116 by the D controller module 118 is short.

That is, the amount of data transferred from the HDD 119 to the buffer memory 116 at the time indicated by the bold line in FIG. 3B, and the amount of data transferred from the buffer memory 116 to the multiplexer / demultiplexer 11 at the time indicated by the bold line in FIG.
1 is the same as the amount of data transferred.

Multiplexer / Demultiplexer 111
The video signal and the audio signal demultiplexed in are transmitted to the MPEG2 video decoder 112 and the audio decoder 113, respectively.

As described above, the video signal decoded by the MPEG2 video decoder 112 and the audio signal decoded by the audio decoder 113 are D / A
The signal is converted into an analog television signal by the converter 114 and is reproduced and displayed on an external television monitor 126 via the graphic controller 124.

[Two-Channel Simultaneous Recording Function] FIG.
FIG. 5 is a timing chart for explaining simultaneous recording operation of two channels of the digital recording / reproducing apparatus shown in FIG.

At the time of simultaneous recording of two channels, the user operates the user interface 122 to set the channel of the television program to be recorded, the recording start time, and the recording end time. For example, if channel 1 is set to record from 8:00 pm to 10:00 pm and channel 3 is set to record from 9:00 pm to 11:00 pm, the system controller 120 uses the information from the real-time clock module 127 to record. At 8:00 pm, tuner 10
3 is designated as channel 1, and the tuner 103 selects and demodulates the signal radio wave of channel 1 from the signal radio wave received by the antenna 100.

The demodulated signal is supplied to the A / D converter 106, MPEG2 video encoder 108,
Audio encoder 110 and multiplexer /
The data is converted into an MPEG2 system stream via the demultiplexer 111.

At this point, since the first data bus including the buffer memory 116 and the second data bus including the buffer memory 117 are not used, the system controller 120 transmits the first data bus including the buffer memory 116 to the first data bus including the buffer memory 116. The bus is selected, and the MPEG2 system stream is transferred from the multiplexer / demultiplexer 111 to the HDD controller module 118 via the buffer memory 116 in response to the selection of the bus. The HDD controller module 118 writes data to the HDD 119 using an interface command with the HDD 119.

The system controller 120, based on information from the real-time clock module 127,
At 9:00 pm, the tuner 102 is designated as the channel 3, and the tuner 102 selects and demodulates the signal radio wave of the channel 3 from the signal radio wave received by the antenna 100.

As described above, the demodulated signal is supplied to the M / D converter via the selector 104, the A / D converter 105, the MPEG2 video encoder 107, the audio encoder 109, and the multiplexer / demultiplexer 111.
It is converted to a PEG2 system stream.

Multiplexer / Demultiplexer 111
Since the first data bus including the buffer memory 116 is already used for recording channel 1 from 8:00 pm, the system controller 120
A second data bus including the buffer memory 117 is selected, and accordingly, the MPEG2 system stream is
HDD controller module 1 from multiplexer / demultiplexer 111 via buffer memory 117
18 given. HDD controller module 11
8 writes data into the HDD 119 using an interface command with the HDD 119.

At this time, the HDD controller module 118 converts the two MPEG2 system streams into two streams.
The data is alternately written to the HDD 119 in units of a fixed length. That is, the system stream data of channel 1 is read from the buffer memory 116 and the HDD 119
During the period in which the system stream data of channel 3 is accumulated in the buffer memory 117, while the system stream data of channel 3 is read from the buffer memory 117 and written in the HDD 119,
Channel 1 system stream data is stored in the buffer memory 116. As described above, from 9:00 pm to 10:00 pm, a state in which two channels of channel 1 and channel 3 are simultaneously recorded continues.

In FIG. 4, (a) shows a time axis,
(B) shows the write processing time from the multiplexer / demultiplexer 111 to the buffer memory 116,
(C) shows the write processing time from the multiplexer / demultiplexer 111 to the buffer memory 117,
(D) shows the processing time for writing from the buffer memory 116 to the HDD 119 via the HDD controller module 118, and (e) shows the processing time from the buffer memory 117 to H
HDD1 via the DD controller module 118
19 shows the processing time for writing.

Referring to FIG. 4, when the start of the first recording for channel 1 is instructed, the recording processing described with reference to FIG. 2 is performed. Thereafter, when the start of the second recording for channel 3 is instructed, both the writing process from buffer memory 116 and the writing process from buffer memory 117 are performed on HDD 119. Arbitration of these two writing processes is performed by the HDD controller module 118.

As specifically shown in FIG. 4, when the amount of data in the buffer memory 117 exceeds a certain threshold after the start of the second recording, the HDD 119 is in a usable state. Data write processing is performed. While this process is being performed, the data amount in the buffer memory 116 exceeds the threshold value, and writing to the HDD 119 is requested. However, since the HDD 119 is in use, H
The process waits until the writing process of the DD 119 is completed. When the writing from the buffer memory 117 to the HDD 119 is completed, the writing process from the buffer memory 116 is started.

Conversely, after the start of the second recording, when the amount of data in the buffer memory 117 exceeds the threshold, the HDD 1
If 19 is in use, the process of writing from buffer memory 117 to HDD 119 is performed after waiting until it becomes available. After the simultaneous recording of the two channels as described above, the recording of channel 1 ends at 10:00 pm
At 11:00 pm, recording on channel 3 ends.

As described below, data transfer is performed at a high speed between the HDD controller module 118 and the HDD 119, so that the two buffer memories 116 and 11
7, real-time recording of two streams of MPEG2 system stream data can be realized.

The capacity of each buffer memory is determined by the unit block length of write / read, HDD controller module 118
Data transfer rate between HDD and HDD 119, MPEG2
, And the worst value of the seek time of the HDD 119. This calculation will be described later in detail.

The memory 121 stores a file system for managing a free area of the HDD 119 and managing files. Therefore, the logical address to which the system stream is to be written / read next is determined by the file system
It is specified to the controller module 118. As a result,
Even when recording two channels simultaneously, the file system manages the logical address to be recorded next.
The DD controller module 118 may write / read data to / from the logical address specified by the system controller 120. The management by the file system will be described later in detail.

In the above-described example, simultaneous recording of two channels of television broadcasting is described.
When a VTR, camcorder, or the like is connected to the system, the system controller 120 instructs the selector 104 to select external input. As a result, the television broadcast HDD
It is also possible to simultaneously perform dubbing from the external television signal source to the HDD 119 via the external input terminal 101 while recording to the HDD 119 via the tuner 103.

[Chase Playback Function] FIG. 5 is a timing chart for explaining the so-called chase playback function of the digital recording / playback apparatus shown in FIG.

The so-called "chasing playback" refers to a function of simultaneously playing back a recorded program while recording a television broadcast.

For example, the user sets channel 1 to 8 pm
If you set to record from 10:00 to 10:00 pm,
At 8:00 pm, the system controller 120 designates the tuner 103 as channel 1 based on the information from the real-time clock module 127, and
03 selects and demodulates the signal radio wave of channel 1 from the signal radio wave received by the antenna 100.

As described above, the demodulated signal is A / D
Converter 106, MPEG2 video encoder 10
8, the audio stream is converted into an MPEG2 system stream via the audio encoder 110 and the multiplexer / demultiplexer 111.

At this point, since both data buses are not used, the system controller 120
Selects the first data bus including the buffer memory 116, and accordingly, the MPEG2 system stream is transferred from the multiplexer / demultiplexer 111 to the HDD controller module 118 via the buffer memory 116. The HDD controller module 118 writes data to the HDD 119 using an interface command with the HDD 119.

When the user returns home at 9 pm and wants to view the title of channel 1 being recorded from the beginning, the user operates the user interface 122 to instruct reproduction of the title being recorded. In response, the system controller 120
Corresponds to the HDD controller module 118.
Instruct the reading of the title being recorded from D119.

At this time, since the first data bus via the buffer memory 116 is already used between the multiplexer / demultiplexer 111 and the HDD controller module 118, the second data bus via the buffer memory 117 is used. The instruction to use is given by the system controller 120.

The data read from HDD 119 is H
DD controller module 118, buffer memory 1
17 through the multiplexer / demultiplexer 11
Transferred to 1.

Multiplexer / Demultiplexer 111
Demultiplexes the MPEG2 system stream received from the buffer memory 117 into a video signal stream and an audio signal stream, and
2 to the video decoder 112 and the latter to the audio decoder 113.

The MPEG2 video decoder 112 decodes the supplied video signal stream and supplies it to the D / A converter 114, and the audio decoder 113 decodes the supplied audio signal stream and supplies it to the D / A converter 114. give. The D / A converter 114 is
The supplied signals are converted into analog signals, respectively, and an analog television signal including a video signal and an audio signal is supplied to one input of the graphic controller 124.

The graphic controller 124 supplies the supplied analog television signal to a television monitor 126 connected to the outside of the digital recording / reproducing apparatus, and reproduces and displays the television signal.

By operating the user interface 122, either the television signal output to the external television monitor 126 is converted to the television signal from the tuner 103, or the tuner 102 and the external input terminal 101 are switched by the selector 104. It is also possible to switch to the selected television signal for output display. Furthermore, from these three television signals, optionally, 2
By selecting one or three signals and performing clipping processing by the graphic controller 124, it is also possible to display them at once.

In the case of this chasing reproduction, the HDD controller module 118 alternately transmits the two MPEG2 system streams to the HDD 1 in units of a fixed length.
19 will be written / read. That is,
While the system stream data of channel 1 is read from the HDD 119 and written to the buffer memory 117, the system stream of channel 1 generated by the multiplexer / demultiplexer 111 is accumulated in the buffer memory 116.

On the other hand, the system stream data of channel 1 is read out from buffer
While the data is being written to the MPEG-2 video decoder 112 and the audio decoder 113, the channel 1 system stream data stored in the buffer memory 117 is supplied via the multiplexer / demultiplexer 111.

With reference to the timing chart of FIG. 5, the chase reproduction operation using these two channels will be described in more detail. In FIG. 5, (a) shows a time axis,
(B) shows the write processing time from the multiplexer / demultiplexer 111 to the buffer memory 116,
(C) shows a processing time for writing data from the buffer memory 116 to the HDD 119 via the HDD controller module 118, and (d) shows a processing for reading data from the HDD 119 via the HDD controller module 118 and writing the data to the buffer memory 117. Indicates time, and (e) indicates
The write processing time from the buffer memory 117 to the multiplexer / demultiplexer 111 is shown.

When recording start is instructed, the recording process described with reference to FIG. 2 is performed. Thereafter, when a reproduction start is instructed, the reproduction processing described with reference to FIG. 3 is performed. At this time, both the writing process from the buffer memory 116 and the reading process for transferring the data to the buffer memory 117 are performed on the HDD 119. Arbitration of these two processes is performed by the HDD controller module 118.

Specifically, in FIG. 5, when the reproduction is started, the HDD 1
Since 19 is in a usable state, a process of reading data from the HDD 119 and writing it to the buffer memory 117 is performed. While this processing is being performed, the amount of data in the buffer memory 116 exceeds the threshold, and the HDD 119
May be required. However, in this case, since the HDD 119 is in use, writing is waited until the processing is completed.

When the reading of data from HDD 119 is completed, the writing process from buffer memory 116 is started. Conversely, if the HDD 119 is in use at the start of the reproduction, the data is read from the HDD 119 and written to the buffer memory 117 after waiting until the HDD 119 becomes usable.

As described above, from 9:00 pm to 10:00 pm, recording of channel 1 and reproduction of the title of channel 1 being recorded are simultaneously performed. At 10:00 pm, recording of channel 1 ends, and playback of the title recorded at 11:00 pm ends.

In this chasing reproduction, data transfer is performed at a high speed between the HDD controller module 118 and the HDD 119.
Only by providing 16 and 117, real-time recording / reproduction of two MPEG2 system streams can be realized. The capacity of each buffer memory and the unit block length of writing / reading necessary for each buffer memory not to be empty during reproduction are determined by the HDD controller module 118.
Data transfer rate between the HDD and the HDD 119, and the HD
D119 and the worst value of the seek time.

[Other Recording / Reproducing Functions] In the above example,
I explained the chase playback of the title being recorded,
While a certain title is being recorded, another previously recorded title may be reproduced, or while a certain title is being reproduced, timer recording of a certain channel may be started.

Since the buffer memory 117 is also connected to the digital output 129, the HDD 11
9 can be output to the digital output 129 via the buffer memory 117 via the MPEG2 system stream read via the HDD controller module 118. Alternatively, a television signal obtained by selecting either an input television signal from the tuner 103 or an output of the tuner 102 and an input through the external input terminal 101 by the selector 104 is digitally compressed, and then subjected to multiplexer / demultiplexing. MPEG formed by multiplexing by the multiplexer 111
2 can also be output to the digital output 129 via the buffer memory 117.

Similarly, the buffer memory 116 is also connected to the digital input 128, so that the system stream inputted from the digital input 128 can be recorded on the HDD 119 via the buffer memory 116 and further via the HDD controller module 118. On the other hand, the data is demultiplexed by the multiplexer / demultiplexer 111 via the buffer memory 116, and the video signal and the audio signal streams are decoded by the MPEG2 video decoder 112 and the audio decoder 113, respectively. It can be reproduced and displayed on the monitor 126. The two input / output buses passing through the buffer memories 116 and 117 can be arbitrarily designated through the user interface 122.

[System Configuration with Multiple Players] FIG.
Two players configured as the digital recording / reproducing apparatus shown in the block diagram of FIG. 1 are arranged, and the digital output 129 of one player is connected to the digital input 128 of the other player. And 1
Two system streams are simultaneously read from the HDDs 119 of one player, and one system stream is read from the buffer memory 116.
Is transferred to the multiplexer / demultiplexer 111 via the buffer memory 117, and the other system is output to the digital output 129 via the buffer memory 117.

Multiplexer / Demultiplexer 111
Are demultiplexed into a video signal stream and an audio signal stream, transferred to the MPEG2 video decoder 112 and the audio decoder 113, respectively, decoded, and output to the external television monitor 126. Playback is displayed.

On the other hand, the MPEG2 system stream output from the digital output 129 reaches the digital input 128 of another player by cable or wirelessly. The MPEG2 system stream input to the other player from here can be recorded on the HDD 119 via the buffer memory 116, further via the HDD controller module 118, or via the buffer memory 116. Then, the streams of the video signal and the audio signal are demultiplexed by the multiplexer / demultiplexer 111 and decoded by the MPEG2 video decoder 112 and the audio decoder 113, respectively, and the television connected externally to the other player Monitor 1
It is also possible to reproduce and display it on.

When data is recorded in the HDD 119 of another player, the HDD 11 of another player
9 means that the data has been copied to the HDD 119 of another player. Also, the reproduced data is
When the data is decoded by one player and reproduced and displayed on the external television monitor, the HDD 1 of one player
19 data has been reproduced by another player, and 1
This means that the data in the HDD 119 of one player can be shared by a plurality of players.

In the embodiment shown in FIG.
Two data buses are running between the demultiplexer 111 and the HDD controller module 118. (System stream rate)
× N (N is an integer) is the HDD controller module 1
If the transfer rate of the data between the HDD 18 and the HDD 119 does not exceed, if the parameters such as the unit block length for writing / reading and the capacity of the buffer memory are tuned up, N streams can run simultaneously in real time. is there.

However, it is necessary to consider the worst value of the seek time of the HDD 119 between the transfer of the unit blocks. This will be described later in detail.

When N = 3, the multiplexer / demultiplexer 11 in the configuration of the digital recording / reproducing apparatus shown in FIG.
Another buffer memory is inserted between the HDD controller module 118 and the HDD controller module 118 so that a total of three data buses run. In this case, in addition to the two-channel simultaneous recording described above, the reproduction of an arbitrary title being recorded or recorded in the HDD 119 can be simultaneously performed.

When a player is connected to one player, when each connected player has a bus of n streams, M = an streams are provided for all a players. I will run. The number N of buses of one player to which a player is connected is N = M. When N = M, the buffer memory is M between the multiplexer / demultiplexer 111 and the HDD controller module 118 in the configuration of FIG.
The configuration is such that M buses each run.

Considering a configuration in which one player has (M-1) digital outputs, by connecting this player to another (M-1) player, the HDD 119 of this player is connected. Can be shared with other (M-1) players.

[Overall Configuration of Simple Player] FIG.
HDD 1 of digital recording / reproducing apparatus (player) shown in FIG.
It is a block diagram of a client type simple player when 19 is a server.

Referring to FIG. 6, a signal wave of a television broadcast, for example, received by antenna 200 is provided to tuner 202. Tuner 202 converts the signal wave of one channel designated by the user from the received signal wave. The radio wave is selected, demodulated into an analog television signal including a video signal and an audio signal, and applied to one input of the selector 204. The other input of the selector 204 has an external input terminal 2 to which various external television signal sources can be connected.
01 is connected.

The selector 204 selects either the output from the tuner 202 or the input from the external input terminal 201 and gives it to one input of the graphic controller 224.

On the other hand, an MPEG2 system stream input from another externally connected player (FIG. 1) via the digital input 228 is transferred to the multiplexer / demultiplexer 211, and the multiplexer / demultiplexer 211 receives the stream. The MPEG2 system stream is demultiplexed into a video signal stream and an audio signal stream.
The latter is given to an audio decoder 213, and the latter to a video decoder 212.

The MPEG2 video decoder 212 decodes the supplied video signal stream and supplies it to the D / A converter 214. The audio decoder 213 decodes the supplied audio signal stream and supplies it to the D / A converter 214. give. The D / A converter 214
The supplied signals are converted into analog signals, respectively, and an analog television signal including a video signal and an audio signal is supplied to another input of the graphic controller 224.

The graphic controller 224 responds to an operation of the user interface 222 by the user.
As an output television signal to the television monitor 226, a television signal from the D / A converter 214 or an output of the tuner 202 and the external input terminal 201
Can be switched to one of the television signals selected by the selector 204 and displayed, and can be displayed at once by clipping both signals. It is.

Commands for search, selection, deletion, timer reservation, reproduction start, pause, fast forward, rewind, stop, etc. of a title to be reproduced from the server-side HDD 119 (FIG. 1) are transmitted to the system controller 220. Are transmitted as commands to the server-side player via the digital input 228, and are received by the server-side digital output 129 (FIG. 1). The command is transferred to the server-side system controller 120 (FIG. 1), where the command is executed.

As described above, the digital input 128 and the digital output 129 of the player shown in FIG.
Regarding the digital input 228 of the simple player of
“Input” and “output” mean the direction of input and output of MPEG2 system stream data (thick line), respectively. Actually, in addition to these data, control commands such as start and stop of reproduction are also included. The transfer direction of these control commands (thin lines) is opposite to the transfer direction of stream data.

[Capacity of Buffer Memory] Next, as described above, the capacity C of the buffer memory, the unit block length L for writing / reading, and the HDD controller required for simultaneously handling a plurality of stream data in real time. The relationship between the worst case data transfer rate Bhdd between the module 118 and the HDD 119, the rate Bsys of the MPEG2 system stream, and the worst value Tw of the seek time of the HDD 119 will be described in detail.

However, the worst value Tw of the seek time is
It is not only the time required only for head seek, but also the error correction such as seek time, rotation waiting time, head switching time, ECC / EDC, etc., which is required from the start of seek to the start of actual data writing / reading. This is a time that takes into account all the worst values of the group delay such as the time required.

Assuming that the number of streams to be processed simultaneously is N, the following equation must be satisfied in order to maintain the real-time properties of all the streams.

Bhdd × Ts> N × (Tw + Ts) × Bsys (1) where Ts is a time required for writing / reading the unit block length L of writing / reading to / from the HDD 119, and Ts = L / Bhdd.

The above equation (1) is used to read (reproduce) data.
In the case of (1), the amount of data read in a unit block in a certain stream is within the sum of N seek times and N data write / read times required to process N streams. It means that it must be designed so that it is not consumed.

Furthermore, in the case of writing (recording) data,
In the worst case, the amount of data stored in the buffer memory during the time required to process N streams is N ×
(Tw + Ts) × Bsys.

Therefore, the capacity C of the buffer memory is
The following equation must be satisfied. C> N × (Tw + Ts) × Bsys (2) By performing a design that satisfies the above equations (1) and (2), it becomes possible to simultaneously process N streams in real time. However, Bhdd> N ×
N must be set within a range that satisfies Bsys.

[OPF] Next, the file format of the recording medium (the HDD 119 in the embodiment) used in the present invention will be described.

The file format described below is
For convenience, it is called Objective Pool Format (hereinafter, OPF). FIG. 7 is a diagram for schematically explaining the structure of the OPF file.

As shown in FIG. 7, the file format of the OPF is a real-time extent 301, a container information file 302, a title set file 3
03 and a title file 304. The role of each of the above files will be described below with reference to FIG.

(1) Container A container is a basic unit of data operation in OPF. In the system of the present invention, each container is an MP
The data structure of the EG is closed, and data reproduction by the container alone is guaranteed. The sizes of the containers in the system of the invention are as follows:
(Sector size of HDD 119) * 5376 = 512 bytes * 5376 = 2752512 bytes In a container having this capacity, video data and audio data for a certain period of time are stored. In the system of the present invention, video data (Group of Pictures: GOP) encoded by MPEG2 and audio data corresponding thereto are multiplexed by a multiplexer / demultiplexer 111 to form a system stream.

Since the number of pictures in one GOP is set to 15, the reproduction time of one container is as follows.

5 * (15/30) = 2.5 seconds Here, it is verified whether or not reproduction of these parameters is guaranteed in container units.

In the above definition, assuming that the unit block (container) length of writing / reading is L = 27552512 bytes, the rate Bsys of the MPEG2 system stream
Is Bsys = L / 2.5 = 1110004 bytes / sec.

In the system of the present invention, the number of streams is N = 2, and the worst value of the seek time is T
Assuming that w = 50 ms and the worst case data transfer rate between the HDD controller module 118 and the HDD 119 is Bhdd = 5 MB / sec, Ts = L / Bhdd = 550 ms holds. Therefore, Bhdd * Ts = 5 × 10 ＾ 6 * 550 = 2.7 × 10
＾ 6 N * (Tw + Ts) * Bsys = 2 * (50 + 550)
* 1101004 = 1.32 × 10 ＾ 6 holds, which satisfies the above expression (1). Therefore, the reproduction of data in container units is guaranteed with these defined parameters.

(2) Real-time extent The real-time extent 301 is
MPEG2 created by demultiplexer 111
Is an area of the HDD 119 in which the above-described system stream is stored as the above-described container-based data. Therefore, the total capacity of the real-time extent 301 is
It is always an integral multiple of the capacity of a single container. Further, even in the HDD 119 that performs recording in sector units, the start address of the real-time extent 301 must be from an address corresponding to a container delimiter. This is because the disk space is regarded as an address space in units of containers in the container information file 302 described later.

(3) Container Information File The container information file 302 considers the real-time extent 301 of the recording area of the HDD 119 as an address space in units of containers, and stores the container numbers (R0, R1, R
2,...) Are defined in order to manage the recording information of each container. When the number of references (link count) for each container is 0, it indicates that MPEG2 data is not recorded in the container from the beginning or that the user has performed a data erasing operation. Indicates that new data recording is possible. In the example of FIG. 7, containers R8 and R15 correspond to recordable containers. If the number of references (link count) is 1, it indicates that the container is referenced by at least one of the title files (MPEG2 data is stored) and that the container is not recordable. .

(4) Title File In the title file 304, link information on the title is recorded. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 7, header information and address information of the start position of the container to be referenced in the real-time extent 301 are sequentially recorded in each title file. In FIG. 7, the title file (title 0) 304-1 stores the start addresses of the real-time extents R0 to R3 and R6, and the title file (title 1) 304-2 stores the real-time extent R
4, R5, R7, and R9 to R12 are stored in the title file (title 2).
04-3 are real-time extents R13, R14,
The start address of each of R16 is stored.

(5) Title set file The title set file 303 is the title file 3
04 is a file for managing the file. The configuration includes header information and a start address of each title file in the HDD 119. In FIG. 7, the title 0 descriptor is a title file (title 0) 304-
1 is stored, and the title 1 descriptor is a title file (title 1) 304-2.
The title 2 descriptor stores the start address of the title file (title 2) 304-3.

[Recording / Reproducing Operation Using OPF]
The basic operation of the digital recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention using the above-described OPF file format will be described in detail.

The above OPF files are all H
Although recorded on the DD 19, when the digital recording / playback apparatus is started, the container information file 302 and the title set file 303 of the OPF are read out to the memory 121 and used for address control by the system controller 120. The updated contents of the file in the memory 121 are written into the file in the HDD 119 at an appropriate timing, and the OPF is updated.

(1) Recording Operation First, the operation for recording MPEG2 system stream data in the HDD 119 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, the user operates the user interface 1
When the system controller 120 instructs recording by operating (Step S1), the system controller 120 refers to the container information file 302 read from the HDD 119 to secure a writable area (container) in the real-time extent 301 (Step S1). S2). That is, the container information file 302 is searched for a container whose reference number (link count) is 0. Then, in the case of the two-channel simultaneous recording described above, one is added to the number of the corresponding container for which the reference number of the container information file 302 was 0 so as not to be used by another recording procedure (step S3). Then, data for one container is written to the real-time extent 301 of the HDD 119 corresponding to the searched container number (step S).
4).

When a termination instruction is received from the user via the user interface 122 (step S5), the title file 304 is generated, the title set file 303 is updated, and the recording process is terminated (step S5).
6).

If there is no termination instruction, step S2
Steps S5 to S5 are repeated. Note that the recording stop request from the user is instructed at an arbitrary timing after the start of recording, but this instruction request is temporarily stored in the memory 121 and is processed in step S5.

In the state shown in FIG. 7, when a recording instruction is received in step S1, the area (container) initially secured in step S2 is R8 having a reference number of 0. Then, in step S3, 1 is set in the R8 area of the container information file 302. Step S4
HDD1 at the start address of container R8
Multiplexer / demultiplexer 111 in area 19
Of the MPEG2 system stream data for one container. Then, in step S2, a region R15 next to the reference number 0 is secured, and the recording operation is repeated in the same manner. When an instruction to end recording is received in step S5, step S5 is performed.
In step 6, a title file (title 3) is generated.
Stores link information consisting of discretely recorded container numbers. Then, the title set file is updated, and the recording ends.

(2) Reproduction Operation Next, the operation for reproducing the MPEG2 system stream data recorded on the HDD 119 will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

When the user operates the user interface 122 to designate a title to be reproduced (step S1).
1), the system controller 120 initializes a container pointer for reproduction (step S12). The container pointer is a pointer indicating which container is currently pointed in the corresponding title file.

Then, the corresponding title file 304 is selected from the title set file 303, the link information to the container referred to therein is scanned by the value of the container pointer, and the container to be reproduced is searched (step S13). . H corresponding to the searched container number
The data for one container is read from the real-time extent 301 in the disk area of the DD 119 and reproduced (step S14).

Here, when an end instruction is received from the user via the user interface 122 (step S1).
5) The end processing is performed, and the reproduction operation ends (step S18). The reproduction stop request from the user is instructed at an arbitrary timing after the reproduction is started, but the instruction request is temporarily stored in the memory 121 and is processed in step S15. If there is no end instruction, one is added to the container pointer to refer to the container to be reproduced next (step S16). Here, it is checked whether or not the container pointer has reached the end of the corresponding title file 304 (step S17). When the end of the title file has been reached, the process proceeds to the end process (step S18), and the process ends. When the container pointer has not reached the end of the title file 304, steps S13 to S17 are repeated.

A specific example will be described with reference to FIG. When an instruction to reproduce the title number 1 is received in step S11, the start address of the title file (title 1) is searched in step S13, and the container number R4 to be referred to is obtained. In step S14, H
1 from the address corresponding to the container number R4 of DD119
The data for the container is transferred to the multiplexer / demultiplexer 111, and the data is reproduced. Step S
If no reproduction stop command is received in step 15, one is added to the container pointer in step S16.

Returning to step S13, the container number R5 indicated by the container pointer is obtained. Reproduction is performed by repeating the same procedure. Reproduction proceeds and container number R1
When 2 has been reproduced, when 1 is added to the container pointer in step S16, it is determined that the end of the title file has been reached in step S17, so the end processing of step S18 is performed, and the reproduction operation ends.

(3) Erasing Operation Next, the operation for erasing the MPEG2 system stream data recorded in the HDD 119 in units of title files 304 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

When the user operates the user interface 122 to specify a title file to be deleted (step S21), the system controller 120 sets the HDD 1
The title file 304 to be deleted is searched from the title set file 303 stored in the file No. 19, and the link count of the container information file 302 corresponding to the container number indicated by the title file 304 is decremented by 1 (step S22). As a result, the container having the link count of 0 becomes a free area because it is not referenced in any title file. Next, the designated title file is deleted (step S23), and the title set file is updated (step S24).

For example, assume that an instruction to delete the title file (title 0) has been received from the state of FIG. 7 (step S21). Accordingly, in step S22, R0 to R3, R6 in the container information file 302 are set.
The link count of the portion is reduced by 1 to 0. Then, in steps S23 and S24, the title file (title 0) is deleted, and the title 0 descriptor is deleted from the title set file. Thus, the erasing operation ends.

[Embodiment 1] Hereinafter, video signals, audio signals, and signals including video and audio are collectively referred to as video / audio signals. This video / audio signal is recorded on the HDD 119 as a title.

FIG. 11 shows an example in which an OPF
FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of management information added as a title file conforming to (Objective Pool Format).

Referring to FIG. 11, the title file is
A header area 801 in which header information is recorded, and a pointer area 80 in which address information of a start position of a container referring to the real-time extent 301 is sequentially recorded.
2 is included. The title file is created, for example, for each television program, and the pointer area 802 stores a pointer of a real-time extent storing MPEG data corresponding to a video / audio signal.

The header area 801 has a title ID 80
3, title detailed information 804 and title attached information 80
5 are included.

The title ID 803 is information necessary for the system to identify the title, and is information that cannot be manually rewritten by the user.

It is assumed that title ID 803 is uniquely determined for all title files.

The title detailed information 804 is rewritable information by a user, and is used for displaying a title list and the like.

The pointer area 802 includes pointers 806, 807,...
including. When there is data including a video / audio signal of a program, that is, containers 808 to 811 in which containers are recorded, the pointer 806 points to an area where the actual video / audio signal to be reproduced first is written. A pointer 807 is a container 810 which is an area where a video / audio signal to be reproduced second is written.
Is a pointer to.

The title attached information 805 includes information such as a title generation time 812 and a last reproduction time 813. Information included in the title attached information 805 includes:
Manual rewriting by the user is not possible.

In the first embodiment, the title attached information 80
5, the recording start time is recorded as the title generation time 812. As for the final reproduction time 813, the recording start time is similarly recorded in the initial state. However,
The last playback time 813 is updated to the time at which the playback was started each time the title is played.

[0158] Access to the recorded title may be not only a reproduction command but also, for example, an access when the user gives an instruction to change the title name. However, an instruction other than these reproduction commands is issued. In this case, the recorded last reproduction time 813 is not updated.

As described above, the last reproduction time 813 is managed, and the last reproduction time 813 and the title generation time 812 are managed.
By comparing the title with the title, it is possible to determine whether or not the content has been reproduced by the user after the title has been generated, that is, recorded.

In the first embodiment, the method of comparing the times is employed as described above. However, a flag for managing the reproduction of the title is provided, and it is determined whether the title has been reproduced by checking the flag. May be.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of the operation of recording the title file 304 during title recording.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 12, first, step S
At 71, a recording start command is input from the user interface 122. The system controller 120 receives this recording start command.

Next, in step S72, the system controller 120 reads the current date / time information from the real-time clock module 127, and causes the memory 121 to store the current date / time information.

In step S73, the time information stored on the memory 121 is stored on the memory 121 as the title generation time 812 and the last reproduction time 813.

In steps S74 and S75, a recording process is performed according to steps S2 to S4 in FIG. Then, in step S75, the user interface 12
It is detected whether or not a recording end command has been input from step 2, and if a recording end command has been input, the process proceeds to step S76. On the other hand, if the recording end command has not been input, the process returns to step S74, and the recording process is continuously performed.

In step S76, information of the title file 304 in the memory 121 is recorded on the HDD 119 via the HDD controller module 118.

When performing the title recording by reservation, the recording start time input from the user interface 122 is used instead of the acquisition of the current time in step S72, and the steps S74 and S75 are performed.
Instead of performing the actual recording process, only the process of securing an area for recording is performed, and the title file is recorded in the HDD 119.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of a process of updating the last reproduction time 813. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 13, in step S81, system controller 120
Detects that the user interface 122 has issued an instruction to access the title of the user,
9, the title file 304 is read from the memory 121
Remember on top.

The access to the title includes reproduction, recording,
This includes access to change the title name.

In step S82, the system controller 120 determines whether or not the access detected in step S81 is a reproduction start command. If this access is by a playback command,
Proceed to step S83, if the access is other than that,
Proceed to step S88.

In step S83, the system controller 120 reads the current time information from the real-time clock module 127 and stores the current time information in the memory 121.

In step S84, the time information stored in the memory 121 in step S83 is stored in the memory 121 as the last reproduction time 813 included in the title file 304.

In the following step S85, a reproducing process is performed. In step S86, the system controller 1
20 detects whether or not the user has given a title reproduction end command via the user interface 122. If the reproduction end command has been given, step S87
Proceed to. If the reproduction end command has not been given, the process returns to step S85 and the reproduction process is continuously performed.

In step S87, information on the title file 304 in the memory 121 is recorded on the HDD 119 via the HDD controller module 118.

In step S88, processing is performed for a command other than the reproduction, for example, a command such as a recording command or a title name change command.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart for displaying a list of unplayed titles. 1 and 14, in step S91, a command to display a list of unplayed titles is input from the user interface 122.

At step S92, the title set file 303 is read from the HDD 119, and the title set file 303 is stored in the memory 121.

Next, in step S93, the title set file 3 read by the system controller 120 is read.
03 is analyzed to verify whether or not the title recorded on the HDD 119 exists. If a title exists, the process proceeds to step S94; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S100.

In the step S94, the title set file 303 shown in FIG.
The title file 304 is read from the HDD 119 in accordance with the address indicated by the title descriptor included in the title descriptor and stored in the memory 121.

In step S95, the system controller 120 compares the file creation time 812 and the last reproduction time 813 in the title attached information 805 shown in FIG. 11 included in the title file 304 obtained in step S94. . If the file creation time 812 and the last playback time 813 indicate the same value, the title file 304 is recognized as an unplayed title, and the flow advances to step S96. If the file creation time 812 is different from the last reproduction time 813, the title file 304 is recognized as a reproduced title, and the process proceeds to step S97.

In step S96, the detected unplayed title is added to the list of unplayed titles, and
1, the unplayed title list is updated. The format of the unplayed title list can be the same as the format of the title set file 303, but may be a format different from that of the title set file 303.

The list of unplayed titles is stored in the HDD 11 after the process of displaying the list of unplayed titles ends.
9 and a method that does not. In the case of storing, the list of unplayed titles is updated each time a new title file 304 is generated due to a new recording or a title recorded on the HDD 119 is played. If a list of unplayed titles is not recorded in the HDD 119, a list of unplayed titles is created each time a list display command is issued.

In step S97, it is determined whether the search has been completed for all the title files 304 existing in the title set file 303. If the search has been completed, the process proceeds to step S98. If the search has not been completed, the process proceeds to step S100.

In step S99, based on the unplayed title list generated in step S98, the system controller 120 instructs the graphic controller 124 to draw a list such as title names. The list of unplayed titles is displayed on the television monitor 126.
Will be displayed.

On the other hand, in step S100, the system controller 120 instructs the graphic controller 124 to draw that there is no unplayed title, and a character string or a graphic notifying that there is no unplayed title exists. It will be displayed on the television monitor 126.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example in which a list of unplayed titles is displayed on the television monitor 126.

Referring to FIG. 15, step S9 in FIG.
9, a list of unplayed titles is displayed, for example, the fact that the number of unplayed titles is 4 is displayed on the screen, and the character strings indicating the contents of the four titles are displayed in that order in order. Is displayed.

As described above, in the first embodiment, unplayed files can be detected by adding information called title attached information 805 to the title file 304 compliant with OPF. By referring to the title generation time 812 and the last reproduction time 813 in the title attached information 805 and comparing them, it can be determined whether or not the title has been viewed by the user at least once.

By displaying the search results in a list in this manner, the user can list and see the titles that have been left after recording, and obtain clues for determining important files and files that can be deleted. Can be. Then, the user can effectively use the capacity of the recording medium by separating important titles and non-important titles based on the list result and deleting titles that can be deleted.

[Second Embodiment] With respect to recorded titles, it is possible to detect a title that has not been viewed at all by the method described in the first embodiment. However, in order to determine whether the title has already been viewed or not based on the information on the degree of viewing of the viewed title, consideration is given to the preference of each individual viewing method, skipping of a commercial (CM), and the like. And become complicated.

In the second embodiment, the proportion of reproduced containers among all containers belonging to one title is obtained. Then, a certain threshold value is set for the ratio, and when the ratio of the reproduced containers exceeds this threshold value, it is determined that the title has been viewed.

Since this ratio is a parameter that can be displayed, it can be displayed on the television monitor 126 in FIG. 1 to allow the user to determine whether or not viewing has been completed. Also,
In the OPF, since it is possible to specify the position in the title where the reproduction has been completed, this position may be used instead of the ratio of the reproduced containers, and the user may determine whether or not the content has been viewed. Conceivable.

As a case of judging whether or not a title has already been viewed based on the rate at which the container has been reproduced, for example, consider a case in which the title has been viewed just for one hour for about 20 minutes and the reproduction has been completed.

However, it is assumed that the value of 20 minutes does not include a time skipped by special playback such as fast-forwarding or rewinding, or an overlapping time generated by repeatedly playing back the same portion.

If the threshold is set to 15 minutes, this 2
A file reproduced for 0 minutes is recognized as a reproduced title. On the other hand, if the threshold is 45 minutes, 20
A file that has been played back is recognized as an unplayed file.

Regarding the setting of the threshold value, there are a case where the user can determine the threshold value independently and a case where a certain value is adopted as the system.

The threshold for determining the reproduced title may be an absolute reproduction time or a ratio of the reproduction time to the title length.

FIG. 16 is a configuration diagram of information necessary for confirming the area of the reproduced container.

Referring to FIG. 16, title file 30
4 includes a header area 901 and a pointer area 902. The header area 901 includes a title ID 903,
Title detail information 904 and title attached information 905 are included. The pointer area 902 includes pointers 906 and 90
7 ...

[0200] The title ID 903 is information necessary for the system to identify a title. The title detailed information 904 is information that can be manually rewritten by the user, and is information used for displaying a file list or the like.

The title attached information 905 contains 9 pointers.
12, information such as a reproduced pointer bitmap 913 and the like. The information included in the title attached information 905 is set so that the user cannot manually rewrite the information.

[0202] The pointers 906 and 907 are pointers pointing to areas where information corresponding to actual video / audio signals is written.

[0203] The number of pointers 912 is the total number of pointers corresponding to all containers included in the title.

[0204] The reproduced pointer bitmap 913 is information composed of the number of bits that satisfies the number of pointers 912, and is a bitmap that can set a flag for a bit corresponding to a container generated when reproducing a title. It is. This reproduced pointer bitmap 913 is
Immediately after the recording of the title, all bits are initialized and have a value indicating a non-reproduced state.

Now, consider a title that has been reproduced at least once in the past. FIG. 17 shows the case where the number of pointers is 9
FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of a reproduced pointer bitmap 913 when the number of 12 is 100.

Referring to FIGS. 16 and 17, the number of pointers is 9
Since 12 is 100, an area capable of storing 100-bit information is secured as the reproduced pointer bitmap 913.

Here, the bit position corresponding to the temporarily reproduced container is set to 1 as shown by the flag 1001 in FIG.
Is written, and 0 is written in a bit position corresponding to a container that has not been reproduced, as in the flag 1002. Assume that the number of containers actually generated is fifteen, while the number of containers reproduced by fast-forwarding or the like is eighty-five. In this case, it can be understood that 15% of all the containers included in the title are actually reproduced, that is, viewed.

Here, assuming that the reproduction time of the video / audio signal included in one container is 2 seconds, the time required to reproduce all the corresponding titles is 200 seconds. The total time of only the containers actually created is 30
Seconds. If the threshold value for determining whether or not the title has not been played back is set to 80%, this title is recognized as a title that has not been played back.

FIG. 18 shows a first example in which the viewing state of the title is displayed on the television monitor 126.

FIG. 19 shows a second example in which the television monitor 126 displays the viewing state of the title.

Referring to FIGS. 18 and 19, the user can display the reproduced pointer portion in a bar graph or a pie chart corresponding to the state of the reproduced pointer bitmap shown in FIG. The television monitor 1 of FIG.
At 26, the viewing state can be confirmed. At this time, it is conceivable to calculate the actual playback ratio and display it on the monitor such as “15% played”.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart for writing the reproduced pointer bitmap 913 during title reproduction.

Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 20, step S11
In step 1, a command to start reproducing a title is input from the user interface 122.

At step S112, the title file 304 corresponding to the title designated by the user is stored in the HDD
The data is read from the memory 119 and stored in the memory 121.

In step S113, step S112
The pointer number 912 shown in FIG. 16 in the file attachment information 905 included in the title file 304 read in step
And the reproduced pointer bitmap 913 are extracted.

In step S114, in the container included in the title, the position information of the next container to be reproduced and the corresponding reproduced pointer bitmap 9
Correspondence with 13 bit positions is taken.

In the following step S115, a reproduction process is actually performed on the corresponding container.

In step S116, step S114
It is determined whether a reproduced flag is set at the bit position associated with.

That is, according to the example of FIG. 17, it is determined whether or not 1 has been written in the corresponding bit position. If 1 which is the reproduced flag has been written, the flow advances to step S118. If the reproduction completed flag has not been written and is 0, the flow advances to step S117.

At step S117, step S115
In step (1), the reproduction completion flag 1 is written in the bit position corresponding to the container whose reproduction has been completed.

In step S118, it is determined whether the end of the title has been reached. If the end of the title has been reached, the flow advances to step S119. If the end of the title has not been reached yet, the process proceeds to step S122.

In step S 119, the title file 304 in the memory 121 is written to the HDD 119 via the HDD controller module 118.

In step S122, it is determined whether or not a reproduction end command has been issued from user interface 122. If the reproduction end command is input, step S1
Proceed to 19. On the other hand, if the reproduction end command has not been input, the process proceeds to step S120.

In step S120, it is determined whether or not a special reproduction command such as fast forward or rewind has been issued for the title currently being reproduced. If a trick play command has been issued, step S1
Proceed to 21. If the trick play command has not been issued, the process proceeds to step S114.

In step S121, the skip processing of the container accompanying the special reproduction processing is performed by the system controller 12
Performed by 0.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart for determining an unplayed title. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 21, first, in step S131, a threshold value used for the determination is set.

This setting is set by a value unique to the system or by a user input from the user interface 122.

At step S 132, the title file 304 to be determined is read from the HDD 119 and stored in the memory 121.

At step S133, step S132
The number of pointers 912 and the reproduced pointer bitmap 913 shown in FIG. 16 in the title attached information 905 of the title file 304 read by
21.

In step S134, the total number of reproduced flags in the reproduced pointer bitmap 913 is obtained.

At step S135, step S134
The proportion of the reproduced containers is calculated from the sum of the number of reproduced flags obtained in step (1) and the number of pointers 912 indicating the number of containers included in the title obtained from the title attached information 905. Then, step S13
A determination is made as to whether this ratio exceeds the threshold value set at 1. If the ratio exceeds the threshold, the process proceeds to step S136. On the other hand, when the ratio of the reproduced containers does not exceed the set threshold value, the process proceeds to step S137.

At step S136, the corresponding title is recognized as a reproduced title.

In step S137, the corresponding title is recognized as an unplayed title.

As described above, the information recognized in steps S136 and S137 is used when displaying a list of unplayed titles. It is conceivable that information indicating whether the corresponding title is a reproduced title or an unreproduced title is stored in a new area in the title attached information 905 shown in FIG.

As described above, in the second embodiment,
The ratio of the reproduced containers is obtained, and a certain threshold value is set for the ratio to determine whether or not the reproduction has been completed. , It is possible to suitably detect unplayed titles.

The embodiments disclosed this time are to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, rather than the description above, and is intended to include any modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the terms of the claims.

[0237]

According to the digital recording / reproducing apparatus and the recording / reproducing method of the present invention, the user can list and see the titles left unrecorded after recording, and can judge important files and files that can be deleted. Can be obtained. Then, the user can effectively use the capacity of the recording medium by separating and organizing important titles and unimportant titles based on the list result.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of a digital recording / reproducing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a timing chart for explaining a one-channel recording operation of the digital recording / reproducing apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a timing chart for explaining a one-channel reproducing operation of the digital recording / reproducing apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a timing chart for explaining a two-channel simultaneous recording operation of the digital recording / reproducing apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a timing chart illustrating a chasing playback operation of the digital recording / playback apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of a simplified player according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of a file format used in the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a normal recording operation according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a normal reproduction operation according to the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an erase operation according to the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a configuration diagram of management information added as a title file conforming to OPF when a title is generated.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of an operation of recording a title file 304 during title recording.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of a process of updating a last reproduction time 813.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart of a list display of unplayed titles.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example in which a list of unplayed titles is displayed on a television monitor 126.

FIG. 16 is a configuration diagram of information necessary for confirming an area of a reproduced container.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of a reproduced pointer bitmap 913 when the number of pointers 912 is 100.

FIG. 18 is a first example of displaying the viewing state of the title on a television monitor.

FIG. 19 is a second example in which the viewing state of the title is displayed on a television monitor.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart of writing a reproduced pointer bitmap 913 during title reproduction.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart of unplayed title determination.

[Explanation of symbols]

100, 200 antenna, 101, 201 external input terminal, 102, 103, 202 tuner, 104, 2
04 selector, 105,106 A / D converter,
107, 108 MPEG2 video encoder, 10
9,110 audio encoder, 111 multiplexer / demultiplexer, 112,212 MPEG
2 video decoder, 113, 213 audio decoder, 114, 214 D / A converter, 116, 11
7 buffer memory, 118 HDD controller module, 119 HDD, 120, 220 system controller, 121, 221 memory, 122, 222
User interface, 124, 224 graphic controller, 126, 226 television monitor, 127 real-time clock module, 12
8,228 digital inputs, 129 digital outputs, 211 demultiplexers.

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Satoshi Kanai 2-5-5 Keihanhondori, Moriguchi-shi, Osaka F-term in Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. 5B075 ND12 PQ02 PQ46 UU35 5D044 AB07 BC01 CC04 DE24 DE49 DE53 DE57 FG18 GK12 HL04 HL11 5D077 AA22 BA18 EA34 EA35 HC06 HC17 HC26 5D110 AA13 AA29 DA01 DA05 DA17 DC05 DE04 DE06 FA05 FA08

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A digital recording / reproducing apparatus which is capable of writing and reading digital data including a video / audio signal and management information corresponding to the video / audio signal and which is capable of random access to a recording medium. A recording / reproducing apparatus, comprising: input means for externally inputting a command; writing / reading means for writing and reading the digital data to and from the recording medium; and the video / audio signal recorded on the recording medium Display means for displaying an image corresponding to the command, and control means for controlling the write / read means in response to the command, detecting the unreproduced digital data, and displaying a detection result on the display means, Digital recording and playback device. 2. The control means controls the writing and reading means to record a predetermined initial value as the management information on the recording medium when the instruction is a recording instruction for recording the video / audio signal. When the command is a playback command for reading the video / audio signal, the management information is rewritten to a value different from the initial value, and the command is an unplayed information display command for displaying the unplayed video / audio signal. 2. The display unit according to claim 1, wherein when the management information is different from the initial value, the display means displays already-reproduced / unreproduced information indicating whether or not the video / audio signal has been reproduced. Digital recording and playback device. 3. A timer for clocking a current time, wherein the initial value is a recording start time at which recording is started in response to the recording instruction, and a reproduction start time at which reproduction is started according to the reproduction instruction. The digital recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the control unit detects that the video / audio signal has not been reproduced when the recording start time matches the reproduction start time. 4. A recording medium comprising: a first area in which the video / audio signal is divided into a plurality of basic operation units and recorded discretely; and title file information for linking the plurality of basic operation units for each title. The title file information includes a bitmap in which a bit is provided for each basic operation unit, and the control unit secures the basic operation unit according to the recording instruction. Initializing the corresponding bit of the bitmap, rewriting the corresponding bit of the bitmap when the basic operation unit is reproduced according to the reproduction command, and rewriting the corresponding bit of each title according to the unreproduced information display command. A ratio of unreproduced basic operation units among the plurality of basic operation units is obtained from the bitmap. It determines that the non-reproducing an audio signal,
The digital recording / reproducing device according to claim 1. 5. A digital recording / reproducing apparatus which is capable of writing and reading digital data including a video / audio signal and management information corresponding to the video / audio signal, and which performs recording / reproduction on a recording medium which can be randomly accessed. A data recording / reproducing method, comprising: inputting a command from outside; writing and reading the digital data to and from the recording medium; and responding to the video / audio signal recorded on the recording medium. Digital data recording / reproducing method, comprising the steps of: displaying the reproduced video on a display device; and performing a control of detecting the unreproduced digital data and displaying a detection result on the display device in accordance with the command. . 6. The step of controlling, when the command is a recording command for recording the video / audio signal, causing a predetermined initial value to be recorded on the recording medium as the management information; When the command is a playback command for reading an audio signal, the management information is rewritten to a value different from the initial value. When the command is an unplayed information display command for displaying the unplayed video / audio signal, the management 6. The digital data recording / reproducing method according to claim 5, further comprising displaying, on the display device, reproduced / unreproduced information indicating whether or not the video / audio signal has been reproduced by detecting that the information is different from the initial value. . 7. The method further comprises the step of measuring a current time, wherein the initial value is a recording start time at which recording is started in response to the recording instruction, a reproduction start time at which reproduction is started according to the reproduction instruction. The digital data recording / reproduction according to claim 6, wherein the step of controlling detects that the video / audio signal has not been reproduced when the recording start time matches the reproduction start time. Method. 8. A recording medium comprising: a first area in which the video / audio signal is divided into a plurality of basic operation units and recorded discretely; and title file information for linking the plurality of basic operation units for each title. The title file information includes a bitmap in which a bit is provided for each of the basic operation units, and the step of controlling includes the step of controlling the basic operation unit according to the recording instruction. Securing, initializing the corresponding bits of the bitmap, rewriting the corresponding bits of the bitmap when the basic operation unit is reproduced according to the reproduction command, and responding to the unreproduced information display instruction. A ratio of unreproduced basic operation units among the plurality of basic operation units is obtained from the bitmap of the title. The video unplayed and determines audio signals, recording and reproducing method of digital data according to claim 5 in.