JP2001197431A - Information processor, information processing method, and program storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform recording, reproducing, edition, and other various processings with an image as objects for operation on the part of users. SOLUTION: Attribute data for processing of images or voices in a prescribed unit is set in a tape setting dialog box 321 which is used to set a picture recording mode, a voice-recording mode, or the like as attribute data. Image and voices are processed based on the set attribute data, and these image and voice after processing and attributed data are recorded in relation to each other.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a program storage medium, for example, an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a program suitable for recording an image on a hard disk or the like. It relates to a storage medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, CPUs (Central Process
ng Unit), which can be purchased by individuals as well, as the capacity of memories, hard disks and other recording media (storage media) increases, and hardware and other hardware prices become lower. Inexpensive and sophisticated computers have been realized.

[0003]

With the widespread use of inexpensive and high-performance computers as described above, a large amount of data, which has been difficult in the past, such as recording, reproduction, editing, and the like for images. There is an increasing demand for users to perform various processes with simple operations.

[0004] The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and it is an object of the present invention to be able to perform various processes in response to a user's request with a simple operation.

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided an information processing apparatus comprising: attribute data setting means for setting attribute data for performing processing on a predetermined unit of information; A processing unit that processes a predetermined unit of information based on the attribute data; and a recording unit that records the information of the predetermined unit processed by the processing unit and the attribute data set by the attribute data setting unit in association with each other. It is characterized by the following.

According to the information processing method of the present invention, an attribute data setting step of setting attribute data for performing a process on a predetermined unit of information is provided, based on the attribute data set in the attribute data setting step. It is characterized by including a processing step of processing a predetermined unit of information, and a recording step of recording the information of the predetermined unit processed in the processing step in association with the attribute data set in the attribute data setting step.

The program stored in the program storage medium according to the present invention includes an attribute data setting step of setting attribute data for performing a process on a predetermined unit of information, and an attribute set in the attribute data setting step. A processing step of processing a predetermined unit of information based on the data; and a recording step of recording the information of the predetermined unit processed in the processing step and the attribute data set in the attribute data setting step in association with each other. It is characterized by.

[0008] In the information processing apparatus, the information processing method, and the program storage medium of the present invention, attribute data for performing the processing is set for information of a predetermined unit, and a predetermined unit is set based on the attribute data. Is processed. Then, the information of the predetermined unit and the attribute data are recorded in association with each other.

[0009]

1 and 2 show a configuration example of a personal computer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

This personal computer has a main body 3
1. It is composed of a keyboard 21 and a mouse 22 operated when inputting a command to the main body 31, and a display 51 for displaying an image.

The main body 31 is of a so-called mini tower type, for example, having a width of 225 mm, a height of 367.9 mm,
Further, the depth is 451.5 mm. Further, between the front surface and the side surface of the main body 31, a surface 3 for connecting the two obliquely.
2 and a surface 33 are formed. A power button 34 operated to turn on or off the power of the main body 31 is disposed above one of the surfaces 32.

In addition, when a peripheral device connected to the main body 31 is mounted on the upper surface of the main body 31, the peripheral device is so arranged that the legs of the peripheral device are stably arranged on the upper surface of the main body 31. A concave portion 35 is formed at a position corresponding to the leg portion.

On the front surface of the main body 31, a lower panel 36 and an upper panel 37 are provided. The lower panel 36 is constantly urged by a spring (not shown) so as to project outward, and the user presses the lower panel 36 against the urging force of the spring, and Body 31
It can be recessed to the side. The upper panel 37 is guided by left and right guides 45 and is movable vertically. The upper panel 37 is connected to the lower panel 36.
When it is in a protruding state, its downward movement is restricted.

When the user uses the main body 31, the user presses the lower panel 36 against the main body 31 against the urging force of the spring to make the lower panel 36 dent. Thereby, the upper panel 3
7, the restriction on the downward movement of the upper panel 37 is released.
Moves downward along the guide 45. as a result,
As shown in FIG. 2, the FDD built in the main body 31
(Floppy disk drive) 41, CD-ROM (Co
mpact Disc-Read Only Memory / CD-R (Recordab
le) Drive (hereinafter referred to as CD drive as appropriate) 4
2, and the AV (Audio Visual) terminal section 43 is exposed.

The main body 31 also includes an extension 44
Are provided so that other predetermined devices can be attached.

When stopping the use, the user puts his / her finger on the concave portion 38 formed on the upper portion of the upper panel 37 and moves the upper panel 37 upward. When the upper panel 37 moves upward to a predetermined position along the guide 45, the lower panel 36 projects outward according to the urging force of the spring, and regulates the downward movement of the upper panel 37.

As described above, the main body 31 has tapered surfaces 32, 33 at the corners on the front and side surfaces to reduce the width.
Is formed. In addition, a slidable panel (upper panel 37) is provided on the front to protect the internal devices, and when not in use, the upper panel 37 is closed so that the internal devices are not exposed,
I try to realize a flat and simple design image.

The upper panel 37 is designed so that it can be changed in a drawer type, a rotary type, and the like in consideration of future development to AV equipment.

The display 51 basically includes a pedestal 52
And a display unit 53 movably connected to the pedestal 52 in the horizontal direction (pan direction) and the vertical direction (tilt direction). A recess 54 is provided on the front of the pedestal 52.

On the front of the display unit 53, for example, a high definition 1
CRT (Cathode Ra) constituting the 7-inch Trinitron monitor
y Tube) 55 is arranged, and the left and right diagonal surfaces 56, 5
7 has two speakers 59, 6 inside thereof.
0 is arranged, so that high-quality images and powerful stereo high-quality sound reproduction can be realized.

In front of the upper surface of the display unit 53, a microphone (microphone) 24 for taking in a voice uttered by the user.
The microphone 24 and the above-mentioned speakers 59 and 60 make it possible to realize, for example, a so-called hands-free phone.

A groove 58 is formed at the center of the upper surface of the display section 53. In addition to accommodating the cord of the microphone 24 in the groove 58, for example, when a video camera for constituting a videophone is mounted on the display 51, the cord can be accommodated. .

FIG. 3 shows a detailed configuration example of the front of the main body 31.

A power lamp 61 is provided above the power button 34. The power lamp 61 is turned on or off when the main body 31 is turned on or off, respectively. A hard disk access lamp 63 is provided below the power button 34. The main body 31 includes a hard disk 2 as described later.
12 (FIG. 5) and a hard disk lamp 6
Reference numeral 3 indicates that the hard disk 212 is being accessed, for example, in orange.

The FDD 41 is, for example, a 3.5-inch F
D (1.44 MB (megabyte) /1.2 MB / 720
For example, a floppy disk drive access lamp 64 and a floppy disk eject button 66 are provided on the front side. The floppy disk drive access lamp 64 lights up when the FD is being accessed, and the floppy disk eject button 66 is pressed when the FD is removed from the FDD 41.

The CD drive 42 reads data from a CD-ROM disc (not shown),
(CD-R FS) Data is read from and written to the disk 211 (FIG. 5). The CD drive 42
Thus, for example, reading is performed at 8 × speed and writing is performed at 2 × speed.

At the front of the CD drive 42, an eject button 68, an eject hole 69, and an access lamp 70 are provided. The eject button 68 is a CD
The eject hole 69 is operated when the tray of the drive 42 is pulled out, and when the tray cannot be pulled out by the eject button 68, the eject hole 69 is operated with a pointed object when manually pulling out the tray. The access lamp 70 lights up when the CD-ROM disk or the CD-R disk 211 is being accessed.

The AV terminal section 43 has an S video input terminal, a video input terminal for composite signals, L (Left) and R
(Right) channel two audio input terminals (pin jacks) are provided. Video cameras and VTRs (Vide
o When editing images and sounds recorded by a tape recorder, etc., input the images and sounds from these terminals.

FIG. 4 shows a detailed configuration example of the back surface of the main body 31.

A power input terminal 71 is provided at the upper right of the rear surface of the main body 31. Power is supplied to the main body 31 by connecting a power cord (not shown) thereto.

A keyboard terminal 7 is provided on the upper left of the back.
2 and a mouse terminal 73 are provided, and the keyboard 21 or the mouse 22 is connected to the keyboard terminal 72 or the mouse terminal 73, respectively. Mouse terminal 73
USB (Universal Serial Bus) terminal 74
Is provided, and a device conforming to the USB standard is connected to the device. Further, a printer terminal 75 and two serial terminals 76 are provided at a lower portion thereof.
The printer terminal 75 is connected to a printer, an image scanner, or the like. The serial terminal 76 is connected to, for example, an infrared communication adapter. That is, in the present embodiment, by connecting an infrared communication adapter which is an interface for infrared communication to the serial terminal 76, infrared communication can be performed between the main body 31 and another device. ing.

A game terminal 77 is provided below the printer terminal 75. The game terminal 77 includes, for example,
Joystick and MIDI (Musical Instrument Dig
talInterface) device is connected.

Below the serial terminal 76, a headphone terminal 78, a line input terminal 79, and a microphone terminal 80 are sequentially provided. For example, an external speaker is connected to the headphone terminal 78 with the line input terminal 7.
9 is connected to an audio device, and the microphone terminal 80 is connected to the microphone 24 (FIGS. 1 and 2).

On the right side of the above terminals, a picture indicating what is connected to each terminal is displayed.

Below the microphone terminal 80, a video output terminal 81 for a composite signal and an S video output terminal 8 are provided.
2, and a monitor terminal 83 are provided. From the video output terminal 81 or the S video output terminal 82, a composite video signal or S video is output. Monitor terminal 8
3 is connected to the display 51.

A video output terminal 81, an S video output terminal 82,
An AV terminal 84 is provided below the monitor terminal 83. The AV terminal unit 84 is provided with an S video input terminal, a video input terminal for composite signals, and audio input terminals of the L and R channels, similarly to the AV terminal unit 43 on the front.

On the right side of the AV terminal section 84, an antenna terminal 85 is provided.
(Very High Frequency) band and UHF (Ultra High Frequency)
Frequency) band television signals can be received.

Further, a line jack 86 and a telephone jack 87 are provided at a lower portion on the rear surface. The line jack 86 is connected to a telephone line, and the telephone jack 87 is connected to, for example, a telephone or a facsimile.

Next, FIG. 5 shows an example of the electrical configuration of the computer shown in FIGS.

In this embodiment, the computer is a TV
(Television) MPEG with built-in tuner 213A
(Moving Picture Experts Group) 1 With the built-in real-time encoder board 213, application programs such as image editing, recording, playback, MP
EG decoding and other image processing are provided as standard equipment, so that images and sounds captured by the video camera 214 can be edited, and the edited images and sounds can be recorded on a video CD. Production and the like can be easily performed. In addition, a television broadcast program received by the TV tuner 213A is recorded,
Further, it is possible to easily reproduce an arbitrary scene of an already recorded video (image) while performing the recording.

That is, the microprocessor 201 controls various applications recorded on the hard disk 212 under the control of an operating system such as Windows 95 (trademark) manufactured by Microsoft Corporation, for example. By executing the program, for example, image recording, reproduction, editing, decoding processing, and other predetermined processing are performed. As the microprocessor 201, for example, a Pentium II processor (266 MHz, built-in secondary cache memory (not shown) 512 KB), which is a Pentium Pro made by adding MMX technology and optimization to 16-bit code to Intel Pentium Pro, is used. This makes it possible to exhibit high performance even when processing a large amount of data such as images and sounds (Pentium, MMX is a trademark).

The main memory 202 stores programs executed by the microprocessor 201 and data necessary for the operation of the microprocessor 201. Here, the main memory 202 has, for example, a standard 32 MB mounted therein, so that processing of an image having a large data amount can be performed at a high speed. The main memory 202 can be expanded up to, for example, 128 MB.

The bus bridge 204 includes an internal bus and, for example, a PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) local bus or an ISA (Industry Standard Architecture).
Controls the exchange of data with an extended bus such as a bus.

The microprocessor 201, the main memory 202, and the bus bridge 204 are mutually
The remaining blocks are connected via an internal bus.
They are interconnected via an expansion bus. The bus bridge 204 is connected to both the internal bus and the expansion bus.

The modem 206 is, for example, 33.6 Kbp
A DSVD / DATA / FAX modem of s (bit per second) controls communication via a telephone line. Modem 2
In 06, for example, an image, a sound, or the like is received from the Internet or the like, and can be subjected to processing such as encoding and editing. Further, the modem 206 can transmit an edited or encoded image or sound to the outside. In addition, the modem 206 transmits the voice input to the microphone 24, receives the transmitted voice, and outputs the received voice from the speakers 59 and 60, thereby realizing a hands-free phone. In addition,
When the modem 206 is used as a fax modem, the transfer rate is, for example, 14.4 Kbps.

An I / O (Input / Output) interface 207 outputs an operation signal corresponding to the operation of the keyboard 21 and the mouse 22, and also functions as an interface for receiving a sound signal as an electric signal output from the microphone 24. I do.

The auxiliary storage interface 210 is a CD
-R (Compact Disc Recodable) disc 211 or C
D-ROM disk (not shown), hard disk (H
D (Hard Disk) 212, FD (not shown) and the like function as an interface for reading and writing data.

On the CD-R disc 211, for example, images and sounds encoded by the encoder board 213 are recorded.
Has been made possible. Note that C
The D drive 42 also supports CD-RFS. Also, here, the CD-R disc 211 has a maximum
For example, about 650 MB (about 520 MB for CD-R FS)
MB) can be written.

The hard disk 212 is, for example, a 4.3 GB (gigabyte) hard disk which supports high-speed bus master IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) transfer.
For example, data compressed and encoded by the encoder board 213 and data necessary for the processing of the microprocessor 201 are recorded. The main body 31 has a SCSI
(Small Computer System Interface) board can be installed.
Hard disks (drives) having a CSI interface can be added.

The hard disk 212 stores an operating system, and further, records, reproduces, edits, decodes, and other processes of an image with the microprocessor 20.
1 stores an application program or the like to be executed.

That is, here, a so-called "Slipclip" (slip clip) is built in as an application program for recording, reproducing, editing, and so-called video production of images.

Here, "Slipclip" is composed of five application programs called "slip recorder", "clip editor", "clip viewer", "video CD creator", and "video CD copy tool". .

The "slip recorder" is used when recording images and sounds and when reproducing the recorded images and sounds. The “clip editor” is used when editing a recorded image (and accompanying sound). The “clip viewer” is used when managing recorded images and sounds. The “Video CD Creator” is used to transfer edited images and the like to a CD-R disc 2
11 and used when producing a video CD. The "video CD copy tool" is used when producing a copy of the same video CD as a previously produced video CD.

In the present embodiment, the video CD
In order to prevent the production of a so-called pirate board, the production and copying of a video CD can be performed only on images that have been edited in the main body 31.

Here, in the following, among the “slip recorder”, “clip editor”, “clip viewer”, “video CD creator”, and “video CD copy tool”, particularly for recording, reproducing and editing images, The related “slip recorder”, “clip editor”, and “clip viewer” will be described.

The hard disk 212 further stores, as an application program for causing the microprocessor 201 to execute the decoding of the data encoded by the encoder board 213, for example, MPEG1.
That perform decoding in conformity with the standard. That is, here, the encoding of the image is realized by hardware, and the decoding is realized by software. It should be noted that the encoding of the image can be realized by software, and the decoding can be realized by hardware.

An encoder board (MPEG1 real-time encoder board) 213 encodes images and sounds in real time, for example, in accordance with the MPEG1 standard. For example, it encodes at a high bit rate for high-quality recording. In addition, encoding can be performed in four types of recording modes, such as encoding at a low bit rate for transmission. Here, the four types of recording modes include “High”, “Normal”, “Long”,
There is something called "Network". The recording mode “Normal” complies with the video CD standard, and when encoding is performed in this mode, recording can be performed for about 100 minutes per GB.

The encoder board 213 is, as described above, a TV tuner 21 for receiving a television broadcast program.
The TV tuner 213A encodes a program received by the TV tuner 213A. In addition, the encoder board 213 stores data supplied via the extension bus, data supplied via the AV processing circuit 215 (for example, an image reproduced by the VTR 216), and
An external device, for example, data supplied from a video camera 214 can also be encoded.

Note that the TV tuner 213A is, for example,
62 channels from 1 to 62 can be set, and audio can be received, for example, in stereo and bilingual.

The video camera 214 captures an image, for example, and supplies it to the encoder board 213. Note that the encoder board 213 is a video camera 2
14 and has an interface with
Images and sounds taken by the video camera 214 can be input to the encoder board 213.

The AV processing circuit 215 is, for example, a VGA
(Video Graphics Array), a three-dimensional accelerator (both not shown), and the like, and perform processing necessary for displaying graphics and other information on the display 51. Further, the AV processing circuit 215
Processing necessary for outputting sound to the speakers 59 and 60 is also performed. Also, the AV processing circuit 215
SC encoder 215A is built in, for example, VT
When outputting an image to R216, the NTSC encoder 215A converts the image to an image conforming to the NTSC system and then outputs the image.

Further, the AV processing circuit 215 is connected to the encoder board 213 via, for example, an AMC bus. The encoder board 213 stores an image to be MPEG-encoded in a frame memory 110 described later.
(FIG. 6).
When it is instructed to monitor the image to be encoded, the image stored in the frame memory 110 is
From the encoder board 213, the A
The image is supplied to the V processing circuit 215 so that the image is displayed on the display 51.

The AV processing circuit 215 is a VRAM
(Video RAM (Random Access Memory)) 203 is drawn, and the drawn content is output to the display 51 to display an image.

The VTR 216 records the images and sounds output by the AV processing circuit 215 as necessary.

Next, FIG. 6 shows the encoder board 2 of FIG.
13 shows a configuration example. In FIG. 6, M
Only blocks related to PEG encoding are shown, and other blocks, for example, TV tuner 2
The illustration of the blocks and the like constituting 13 is omitted. Further, FIG. 6 shows only blocks related to MPEG encoding of an image, and illustration of blocks related to MPEG encoding of audio is omitted.

The input terminal 101 receives one frame of digital image data composed of a predetermined number of pixels, for example,
It is supplied at a rate of about 30 frames per second.

The image data supplied to the input terminal 101 is a plurality of (eg, 27 frames) for temporarily storing the image data and replacing the image data in a predetermined order.
Via a frame memory 110 capable of storing images of
The data is transferred to the block divider 111 and the motion detector 120. The block divider 111 includes a frame memory 110
The frame of the image data supplied from
The image is divided into blocks of 8 pixel luminance components and chroma components Cb and Cr. Here, a macroblock (MB) is composed of a total of six blocks including four luminance component blocks and one corresponding chroma component Cb, Cr block.

Image data is supplied from the block divider 111 to the differentiator 112 in macroblock units. A differentiator 112 calculates a difference between the image data from the block divider 111 and an inter-frame prediction image data described later, and uses the difference value as data of a frame on which an inter-frame prediction encoding described later is performed. 11
3 to the switched terminal b. Also, the changeover switch 11
Image data output from the block divider 111 is supplied to the switched terminal a of No. 3 as data of a frame on which intra-frame encoding described below is performed.

The changeover switch 113 selects either the terminal a or the terminal b, and the image data supplied to the selected terminal is converted into a DCT signal in block units.
(Discrete cosine transform) circuit 14. The DCT circuit 114 performs DCT processing on the image data input thereto, and outputs the resulting DCT coefficients to the quantizer 115. The quantizer 115 receives the signal from the DCT circuit 114
The CT coefficients are quantized in a predetermined quantization step, and the resulting quantized coefficients are output to the zigzag scan circuit 116.

The zigzag scan circuit 116 performs, for example, a zigzag scan on the quantized coefficients in block units, and outputs them to the VLC (variable length coding) circuit 117 in that order. The VLC circuit 117 includes a zigzag scan circuit 116.
The VLC processing is performed on the quantized coefficients from the data, and the resulting variable-length encoded data is supplied to the output buffer 118. The output buffer 118 has a storage capacity of, for example, 160 KB, and temporarily stores the variable-length encoded data from the VLC circuit 117, smoothes the output data amount, and outputs the data from the output terminal 102. . The data output from the output terminal 102 is, for example, a hard disk 212
And recorded.

The output buffer 118 outputs the data storage amount to the quantization step controller 119. The quantization step controller 119 sets a quantization step based on the data accumulation amount from the output buffer 118 so that the output buffer 118 does not overflow or underflow, and outputs the result to the quantizer 115. In the quantizer 115 described above, quantization is performed according to the quantization step supplied from the quantization step controller 119 in this way.

On the other hand, the quantized coefficients output from the quantizer 115 are supplied not only to the zigzag scan circuit 116 but also to the inverse quantizer 126. The inverse quantizer 126 inversely quantizes the quantization coefficient from the quantizer 115, thereby
The T coefficient is output to the inverse DCT circuit 125. Inverse DCT
The circuit 125 performs an inverse DCT process on the DCT coefficient, and supplies the resulting data to the adder 124. Further, the adder 124 is also supplied with inter-frame prediction image data output from the motion compensator 121 via a changeover switch 123 which is turned on when processing a frame of inter-frame prediction encoding. . The adder 124 adds these data and supplies the data to the frame memory 122 for storage.

The motion compensator 121 motion-compensates the data stored in the frame memory 122 in accordance with the motion vector supplied from the motion detector 120, and converts the resulting inter-frame predicted image data into a differentiator. 1
12 and the changeover switch 123.

Here, the frames constituting the image (moving image) to be encoded are arranged in the display order, and I
0, B1, B2, P3, B4, B5, P6, B7, B
8, I9, B10, B11, B12,... The above I, P and B indicate that the frame is an I picture,
P picture and B picture.
The numbers following P and B indicate the display order.

In MPEG, first, an image I0 is encoded. Next, although the image P3 is encoded, the difference between the image P3 and I0 is encoded instead of encoding the image P3 itself. Further, next, the image B1 is encoded. However, the image B1 itself is not encoded, but the image B1 and the average value of one or both of the images I0 and P3 or both are obtained. The difference is encoded. In this case, of the average values of the images I0, P3, or both, the one that minimizes the so-called prediction residual (the one that minimizes the amount of data obtained by encoding)
Is selected, and the image B1 and the difference are encoded.

After the image B1 is coded, the image B2 is coded. However, the image B2 itself is not coded, and the image B2 and one of the images I0 and P3, or The difference between the two averages is encoded. Also in this case, the one that minimizes the prediction residual among the average values of the images I0 and P3 or both is selected, and the difference between the prediction residual and the image B2 is encoded.

Thereafter, the image P6 is encoded. However, the image P6 itself is not encoded, but the images P6 and P6 are encoded.
3 is coded. Hereinafter, encoding is performed in a similar procedure.

Here, the correspondence between the image to be encoded and the image to be taken as a difference at that time is represented in the order of encoding in the order of encoding.
It is shown below. Encoding order Image to be encoded Image to be taken as the difference partner (1) I0-(2) P3 I0 or P3 (3) B1 I0 or P3 (4) B2 I0 or P3 (5) P6 P3 (6) B4 P3 or P6 (7) B5 P3 or P6 (8) P9 P6 (9) B7 P6 or P9 (10) B8 P6 or P9 (11) I9-(12) P12 I9 (13) B10 I9 or P12 (14) B11 I9 or P12

As described above, the encoding order is I0, P
3, B1, B2, P6, B4, B5, P9, B7, B
8, I9, P12, B10, B11,..., Which is different from the display order. The encoded data is output in such an order.

As described above, the difference between a P-picture and a B-picture is usually encoded as a difference from another image. However, when the image itself is encoded,
If the data amount is smaller than encoding the difference, the image itself is encoded.

In the encoder board 213 shown in FIG. 6, encoding is performed as described above.

Therefore, when encoding the first image I0, the image data is read from the frame memory 110 and supplied to the block divider 111 to be divided into blocks. By the block division by the block divider 111, the image data is divided into the four luminance blocks described above and C
b and Cr blocks are output sequentially. At the time of encoding an I picture, the changeover switch 113 selects the switched terminal a, and accordingly, the block divider 1
The image data output by 11 is supplied to the DCT circuit 114 via the changeover switch 113. DCT circuit 11
In 4, the block-wise image data supplied thereto is subjected to two-dimensional vertical and horizontal DCT processing, whereby the image data on the time axis is converted into DCT coefficients as data on the frequency axis. .

The DCT coefficient is supplied to a quantizer 115, where it is quantized in accordance with a quantization step from a quantization step controller 119 to be a quantized coefficient. The quantized coefficients are zigzag scanned by the zigzag scan circuit 116 and output in that order.

The quantized coefficients output from the zigzag scan circuit 116 are supplied to a VLC circuit 117, where they are subjected to variable-length coding such as Huffman coding. The variable-length coded data obtained as a result is temporarily stored in the output buffer 118 and then output at a constant bit rate. Therefore, the output buffer 118
Plays a role as a memory for buffering so that irregularly generated data can be output at a constant bit rate.

As described above, the I picture (Intra Pictur
The image I0 which is e) is encoded by itself, but such encoding is performed within a frame (Intra).
Called encoding. The decoding of the intra-frame coded image is performed in the reverse procedure.

Next, encoding of the second image P3 will be described. Although the second and subsequent images can be encoded as I-pictures, the compression ratio is reduced. Therefore, the second and subsequent images are encoded as follows by utilizing the fact that continuous images have a correlation.

That is, the motion detector 120 outputs the first image I to each macroblock constituting the second image P3.
From 0, a part very similar to a macroblock is detected,
A vector representing a shift in the relative positional relationship between the portion and the corresponding macroblock is detected as a motion vector. Here, a method of detecting a motion vector is described in, for example, ISO / ISC 11172-2 annex.
D. 6.2, etc., and the description is omitted here.

For the second image P3, the block is not supplied to the DCT circuit 114 as it is, but the motion compensation is performed in accordance with the motion vector for each block, thereby starting from the first image I0. The difference from the obtained block is calculated by the difference unit 112,
It is supplied to the T circuit 114.

Here, if the correlation between the block obtained by motion-compensating the first image I0 according to the motion vector and the block of the second image P3 is high, the difference between them becomes small. The amount of data obtained as a result of encoding is smaller when the difference is encoded than when the block of the second image P3 is intra-coded.

The method of encoding the difference in this way is called inter-frame (Inter) encoding.

It is to be noted that encoding the difference does not always reduce the amount of data. Depending on the complexity of the image to be encoded and the degree of correlation with the preceding and succeeding frames, an inter-code encoding the difference may be used. The compression rate may be higher when intra coding is performed than when coding is performed. In such a case, intra coding is performed. Whether to perform intra coding or inter coding can be set for each macroblock.

In order to perform inter-coding, it is necessary to obtain a decoded image obtained by decoding previously encoded data.

Therefore, the encoder board 213 is provided with a so-called local decoder. That is, the motion compensator 121, the frame memory 122, the changeover switch 1
23, an adder 124, an inverse DCT circuit 125, and an inverse quantizer 126 constitute a local decoder. The image data stored in the frame memory 122 is
Local Decoded Pictur
e) or Local Decoded data
Data). On the other hand, the image data before being encoded is an original picture (Original Pictur).
e) or Original Data.

At the time of encoding the first image I0,
The output of the quantizer 115 is the inverse quantizer 126 and the inverse D
Local decoding is performed via the CT circuit 125 (in this case, the changeover switch 123 is turned off, and as a result, the adder 124 does not substantially perform processing) and is stored in the frame memory 122.

The image stored in the frame memory 122 is not the original picture, but the same picture as the picture obtained by encoding the picture and locally decoding it, which is obtained on the decoder side. Therefore, the frame memory 1
The image 22 has a slightly lower image quality than the original picture due to the encoding and decoding processes.

In the state where the locally decoded version of the first image I0 is stored in the frame memory 122, the difference between the second image P3 and the block image from the frame memory 110 via the block divider 111 is obtained in units of blocks. Is supplied to the vessel 112. Note that, by this time, the motion detector 120 must have finished detecting the motion vector of the image P3.

On the other hand, the motion detector 120 supplies the motion vector detected for the second image P3 in units of macroblocks to the motion compensator 121. Motion compensator 12
1 is already locally decoded according to the motion vector from the motion detector 120 and is stored in the frame memory 122.
The motion compensation (MC (MotionCo
mpensation)), and the resulting motion compensation data (MC data) (one macroblock) is supplied to the differentiator 112 as inter-frame prediction image data.

In the differentiator 112, the block divider 111
The difference between the corresponding pixels between the original data of the image P3 supplied via the P and the inter-frame prediction image data supplied from the motion compensator 121 is calculated. Then, the difference value obtained as a result is supplied to the DCT circuit 114 via the changeover switch 113, and is thereafter encoded in the same manner as in the case of the I picture. Therefore, in this case, the changeover switch 113 selects the switched terminal b.

As described above, the P picture (Predicted Pi
For the image P3 that is the current image, the difference between the predicted image obtained by motion-compensating the reference image and the I or P picture coded immediately before the reference image is basically coded. You.

That is, with respect to a P-picture, for a macroblock (inter-macroblock) whose data amount becomes smaller when inter-coded, the switch-over terminal b is selected by the changeover switch 113, and inter-coding is performed. For a macroblock (intra-macroblock) whose data amount is smaller by intra-coding, the switch-over terminal a is selected by the changeover switch 113 and intra-coding is performed.

The intra-coded macroblocks of the P picture are locally decoded in the same manner as the I picture, and are stored in the frame memory 122. In addition, the inter-coded data is obtained through an inverse quantizer 126 and an inverse DCT circuit 125,
The adder 124 adds the inter-frame prediction image data supplied via the changeover switch 123 that has been turned on, and the result is locally decoded and stored in the frame memory 122.

Next, the encoding of the third image B1 will be described.

At the time of encoding the picture B1 which is a B picture, the motion detector 120 determines whether the I picture or P picture displayed immediately before the picture B1 and the I picture or P picture displayed immediately after the picture B1. Are detected. Therefore, here
A motion vector of the image B1 with respect to each of the images I0 and P3 is detected. Here, a motion vector for an image I0, which is an I picture displayed immediately before the image B1, is a forward vector, and a motion vector for an image P3, which is a P picture displayed immediately after that, is a backward vector. Bector).

As for the image B1, (1) the difference between the locally decoded image I0 and the inter-frame predicted image data obtained by motion compensation according to the forward vector, and (2) the locally decoded image P3 is (3) difference from the inter-frame predicted image data obtained by motion compensation according to the word vector, (3) difference from the average value of the two inter-frame predicted image data obtained in (1) and (2), (4) ) Image B1 itself,
Of the four, the one with the smallest data amount is selected and encoded.

When any of the data (1) to (3) is encoded (when inter encoding is performed), the necessary motion vector is transmitted from the motion detector 120 to the motion compensator 121. The data supplied and obtained by performing motion compensation according to the motion vector is supplied to the differentiator 112. Then, in the differentiator 112, the original data of the image B1 and the motion compensator 121
, And the difference from the data is obtained and supplied to the DCT circuit 114 via the changeover switch 113. Therefore, in this case, the changeover switch 113 selects the switched terminal b. On the other hand, when the data of (4) is encoded (intra-encoding is performed), the data, that is, the original data of the image B1 is
3 is supplied to the DCT circuit 114. Therefore, in this case, the changeover switch 113 selects the switched terminal a.

As for the picture B1 which is a B picture, since the pictures I0 and P3 which have already been coded and locally decoded are stored in the frame memory at the time of coding, the above-described coding becomes possible. .

For the fourth image B2, the same processing as described above for encoding the image B1 except that B1 is replaced with B2 is performed.

As for the fifth image P6, in the description of encoding the image P3, P3 is replaced by P6,
A process is performed in which 0 is replaced with P3.

Since the above-mentioned image is repeated for the sixth and subsequent images, the description is omitted.

By the way, on the encoder board 213, the picture of each screen is converted into any picture type (Picture Picture) of I picture, P picture or B picture.
Type) and what type of macro block type (Macro Block Type) to encode the macroblock of each picture is selected based on the amount of data generated as a result of the encoding, as described above. However, the amount of data depends on the image to be encoded.
The exact value is not known.

However, the bit rate of the bit stream obtained by performing the MPEG encoding needs to be basically constant. As a method for this, for example, a quantization step (quantization scale) in the quantizer 115 is used. ) There is a way to control. That is, if the quantization step is increased, coarse quantization is performed, and the data amount (the generated code amount) can be reduced. Further, if the quantization step is reduced, fine quantization is performed, and the amount of generated codes can be increased.

The control of the quantization step is specifically performed, for example, as follows.

That is, in the encoder board 213, an output buffer 118 is provided at the output stage, and the encoded data is temporarily stored in the output buffer 118 so that
It is possible to absorb a certain amount of change in the generated code amount and make the bit rate of the output bit stream constant.

However, if encoded data (variable length encoded data) continues to be generated at a rate exceeding a predetermined bit rate, the amount of data stored in the output buffer 118 will increase and overflow. Conversely, if the generation of encoded data continues at a rate below the predetermined bit rate, the amount of data stored in the output buffer 118 will decrease, resulting in underflow.

Therefore, as described above, the output buffer 1
18 is fed back to the quantization step controller 119, and the quantization step controller 1
At 19, the quantization step is controlled so that neither overflow nor underflow occurs in the output buffer 118 based on the data accumulation amount.

That is, the quantization step controller 119 increases the quantization step when the amount of data stored in the output buffer 118 is close to its capacity and is likely to overflow, thereby reducing the amount of generated code. Also,
When the amount of data stored in the output buffer 118 is close to 0 and is likely to underflow, the quantization step controller 119 decreases the quantization step, thereby increasing the amount of generated code.

The amount of generated code changes depending on whether the image is coded in a frame or between frames.

In general, when performing intra-frame encoding, a large amount of generated code is generated.
When the data storage amount of No. 8 is large, it is necessary to set a considerably large quantization step. However, in this case, even when the maximum quantization step is set, the output buffer 118 may overflow. When quantization is performed in a large quantization step, basically, the image quality of a decoded image deteriorates, and therefore, the image quality of an image encoded / decoded using the decoded image as a reference image also deteriorates. Will be. Therefore, when performing intra-frame encoding, it is necessary to secure a sufficient free space in the output buffer 118 in order to prevent the overflow of the output buffer 118 and prevent the deterioration of the image quality of the decoded image. There is.

Therefore, the quantization step controller 119
Based on the signal from the compression method selection circuit 132, the order in which intra-frame encoding and inter-frame encoding are performed is recognized in advance, and when intra-frame encoding is performed,
The quantization step is also controlled so that a sufficient free area is secured in the output buffer 118.

Incidentally, from the viewpoint of the image quality of the decoded image,
For complex images, quantization must be performed in small quantization steps, and for flat images, quantization must be performed in large quantization steps. , Such a thing is not taken into account. If the quantization step is not an appropriate value in terms of image complexity,
An unduly large bit amount or a small bit amount is assigned to the image to be encoded. If such an improper bit allocation is performed for a certain image, it also affects the bit allocation amount for another image, which is not preferable.

Therefore, in the quantization step controller 119, the quantization step is set in accordance with not only the feedback of the data storage amount from the buffer 118 (buffer feedback) but also the complexity of the image to be encoded. It has been made to be.

That is, in the encoder board 213, the picture evaluation circuit 130 reads out the picture to be encoded stored in the frame memory 110, calculates an evaluation value indicating its complexity, and calculates the scene change detection circuit 131. , A compression method selection circuit 132 and a quantization step controller 119.

The quantization step controller 119 includes a quantization step actually used for encoding an image, a data amount (generated code amount) obtained by performing quantization in the quantization step, and an image evaluation circuit. Supplied from 130,
The relationship between the evaluation values corresponding to the complexity of the image is learned, and based on the learning result, a basic quantization step that is the basis for setting the next quantization step is obtained.

That is, it corresponds to the quantization step actually used for encoding an image, the data amount (generated code amount) obtained by performing quantization in the quantization step, and the complexity of the image. Learning is performed by performing a regression analysis using the evaluation value and graphing the result of the regression analysis. Then, from the graph, an optimal basic quantization step to be used for encoding the image is predicted using the evaluation value regarding the complexity of the image to be encoded next as an argument.

Then, the quantization step controller 119
This basic quantization step is changed according to the buffer feedback, and the value is set as the quantization step.

The basic quantization step can be accurately predicted by learning, and its value takes into account the complexity of the image. By obtaining from the step, the image quality of the decoded image can be improved as compared with the case where the quantization step is controlled based only on the buffer feedback.

The scene change detection circuit 131 detects whether a scene change has occurred based on the evaluation value from the image evaluation circuit 130, and supplies the detection result to the compression method selection circuit 132. The compression method selection circuit 132 selects an image compression method using the evaluation value from the image evaluation circuit 130 and, if necessary, the output of the scene change detection circuit 131. In other words, the compression method selection circuit 132 determines, for example, which picture type of an I picture, a P picture, or a B picture is to be coded, the number of pictures forming a GOP, and the macroblock A compression method is selected for a macroblock type or the like regarding whether to perform coding or inter-frame coding.

Upon selecting the compression method, the compression method selection circuit 132 controls the changeover switches 113 and 123 based on whether the macroblock is to be intra-frame encoded or inter-frame encoded. That is, as described above, when performing intra-frame encoding, the changeover switch 113 is switched to the switched terminal a, and the changeover switch 123 is turned off. When performing inter-frame encoding, the changeover switch 1
13 is switched to the switched terminal b, and the changeover switch 123 is turned on.

Further, the compression method selection circuit 132 notifies the quantization step controller 119 whether to perform intra-frame encoding or inter-frame encoding. Based on this notification, the quantization step controller 119 recognizes the order in which the intra-frame coding and the inter-frame coding are performed, as described above.

Here, when the compression method selection circuit 132 selects encoding a picture as a P picture or a B picture continuously for a long time, the P picture and the B picture are basically Since the image is encoded between frames, when an image having low correlation between frames occurs due to a scene change or the like, the generated code amount increases,
The image quality of the decoded image deteriorates.

Therefore, as described above, the scene change detection circuit 131 supplies the compression method selection circuit 132 with the detection result of the scene change, and the compression method selection circuit 132 detects the scene change. Upon receipt of the notification, the picture after the scene change is forcibly selected as an I picture.

As described above, a method of obtaining a basic quantization step by learning and setting the quantization step from the basic quantization step is described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 8-102951 filed by the present applicant. No.
The details are disclosed.

Next, the image evaluation circuit 130 calculates the following two parameters representing the complexity of the image by referring to the frame memory 110 as evaluation values for evaluating the image to be encoded. It has been made to be.

That is, as the first parameter, it is possible to predict (estimate) the generated code amount when the image is coded in the frame (the generated code amount when the image is coded as an I picture). An evaluation value representing the information amount of the image itself is calculated. Specifically, as the first parameter, for example, a sum total of DCT coefficients obtained by performing DCT processing on an image for each block and other statistics can be used. In addition, for example, for each block, the absolute value sum of values obtained by subtracting the average value of the pixel values from each pixel value (hereinafter, referred to as the block value)
It is also possible to determine the sum of the average absolute value sums of the respective blocks and obtain the first parameter as the first parameter. Note that obtaining the sum of absolute values in this way can reduce the circuit scale and load of the image evaluation circuit 130 relatively, compared to obtaining the sum of DCT coefficients.

Here, the image evaluation circuit 130 obtains, for example, the sum of the average absolute value sums as the first parameter as follows.

That is, for example, for a certain block S, which constitutes an image to be encoded, the pixel value of the pixel located at the i-th position to the right and the j-th position to the right from the top left of the block _Is expressed as S _{i, j} , the mean absolute value sum MAD (Mean Absolute Differenc) for each block.
e) is obtained according to the following equation (here, for example, it is obtained for all of the luminance block and the chrominance block. However, for example, it is also possible to obtain only the luminance block).

[0137]

(Equation 1) (1) In the expression (1), S _AVE represents an average value of the pixel values of the block S.

Then, according to the following equation, the total sum SMAD of the average absolute value sums is obtained as the first parameter.

SMAD = ΣMAD (2) In Expression (2), Σ represents summation for all blocks constituting the image.

In the image evaluation circuit 130, the expression (1)
The total sum of the average absolute value sums MAD expressed by the following formulas is also obtained for each macroblock. For example, whether each macro block is subjected to intra-frame coding or inter-frame coding (forward prediction coding, backward prediction coding, or bidirectional prediction coding) performed in the compression method selection circuit 132 It is used to determine

The second parameter is information on the difference between the image and a reference image used for inter-frame encoding, which can predict the amount of generated code when the image is inter-frame encoded. An evaluation value representing the quantity is calculated. Specifically, as the second parameter, for example,
The sum of absolute values of the differences between the image and its predicted image (obtained by motion-compensating the reference image) (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as the sum of absolute differences) is obtained in block units, and the sum of Can be used.

Here, the sum of absolute differences is calculated by the motion detector 12
It is obtained when a motion vector is detected at 0.
Thus, the image evaluation circuit 130 obtains, for example, the sum of the sum of absolute differences as a second parameter using the result of motion detection by the motion detector 120.

That is, for example, for the reference image,
Consider a block composed of 8 × 8 pixels in the horizontal and vertical directions, and the pixel value of the pixel at the i-th position to the right and the j-th position to the right from the upper left of the block is denoted by R _{i, j} . Further, regarding the image to be encoded, the x-axis or the y-axis is considered from the upper left to the right or downward, respectively, and the point (x,
From the upper left corner of a block where y) is the upper left pixel,
The pixel value of the pixel located at the i-th position in the right direction and the j-th position in the downward direction is represented as S _{x + i, y + j} .

In this case, the motion detector 120 obtains d (x, y) represented by the following equation by changing x and y by one.

[0145]

(Equation 2) ... (3)

Then, in the motion detector 120, equation (3)
(X, y) that minimizes d (x, y) is detected as a motion vector, and the minimum d (x, y) is calculated as the sum of absolute differences AD.

The image evaluation circuit 130 uses the block-wise difference absolute value sum AD obtained by the motion detector 120 as described above, and calculates the total sum SAD of the difference absolute value sums according to the following equation using the second parameter Is required.

SAD = ΣAD (4) In equation (4), Σ represents the summation of all the blocks constituting the image.

In the image evaluation circuit 130, the expression (3)
The sum of the difference absolute value sum AD expressed by the following expression is also obtained in units of macroblocks. For example, whether each macro block is subjected to intra-frame coding or inter-frame coding (forward prediction coding, backward prediction coding, or bidirectional prediction coding) performed in the compression method selection circuit 132 It is used to determine

The first parameter SMAD and the second parameter SAD obtained by the image evaluation circuit 130
Are supplied to the scene change detection circuit 131, the compression method selection circuit 132, and the quantization step controller 119.

As described above, the scene change detection circuit 131 detects whether or not a scene change has occurred based on the output of the image evaluation circuit 130, and the compression method selection circuit 132 evaluates the evaluation value from the image evaluation circuit 130 And, if necessary, a scene change detection circuit 1
Using the output of 31, an image compression method is selected. Further, the quantization step controller 119 sets the quantization step as described above.

In the scene change detection circuit 131, for example, the ratio between the second parameters SAD for continuous images is obtained.
It is detected whether a scene change has occurred.

Further, the scene change detection circuit 131
Is also configured to generate index data to be described later. The index data is supplied to the microprocessor 201 and used to generate an index file described later.

In the compression method selection circuit 132, for example, for P pictures and B pictures, the average absolute value sum MAD and difference absolute value sum AD supplied from the image evaluation circuit 130 are obtained in macroblock units. The sums are compared to determine, based on their magnitude relationship, whether the macroblock is to be intra-coded or inter-coded. That is, for a macroblock, if the sum of the average absolute value sums MAD is smaller than the sum of the differential absolute value sums AD, and therefore, it is expected that the amount of generated code will be smaller when intra-frame encoding is performed. It is selected to perform inner coding. Also, the average absolute value sum MA
The sum of D is larger than the sum of absolute difference sum AD,
Therefore, if it is expected that the generated code amount will be smaller when the inter-frame coding is performed, it is selected to perform the inter-frame coding.

Note that in FIG.
Monitors the data amount of the data stored in the output buffer 118, and controls the encoding process in the encoder board 213 in accordance with the data amount. This will be described later.

Next, “Slipclip” recorded on the hard disk 212 as an application program for video production will be described.

When the power is turned on by operating the power button 34 of the main body 31, the operating system recorded on the hard disk 212, that is, Windows 95 is started as described above. Windows
After the start of ws95, when the user clicks the [Start] button on the task bar, the [Start] menu is displayed.

In the present embodiment, for example, [VAIO] is one of the items of the [Start] menu, and a predetermined application including “Slipclip” is registered therein.

As described above, “Slipclip” includes “slip recorder”, “clip editor”, “clip viewer”, “video CD creator”, and “video CD copy tool”.
In [Slipclip] of [VAIO], 5
One application program is registered. Therefore, the item [Slipclip] is changed to, for example, mouse 2
Click and operate [Slip Recorder], [Clip Editor], [Clip Viewer], [Video CD Creator], and [Video C].
D Copy Tool] are displayed.

Then, the user can select
Clicking on one of the items activates the application program corresponding to that item.

[0161] For example, in the same manner as when a material used for producing a video CD is shot by the video camera 214 and taken in (recorded), or when a television broadcast program is recorded by the VTR 216 or the like, it is simply recorded. In such a case, the “slip recorder” is started. In this case, for example, a slip recorder main window 301 as shown in FIG. 7 is displayed.

[0162] Slip recorder main window 301
Consists of various displays and buttons.

That is, the recording status is displayed on the recording indicator 302. Specifically, in a state where a recording reservation is made and the start of recording is awaited, the display of the recording indicator 302 is, for example, “TIMER”. In addition, in the state where the scheduled recording is being performed, the display of the recording indicator 302 is, for example, “TEMER R”.
EC ". Further, when the recording is started by operating the recording button 309, the display of the recording indicator 302 is, for example, “REC”. Also,
When the pause button 310 or the stop button 308 is operated and the recording is temporarily stopped or stopped, the display of the recording indicator 302 is, for example, “PAU”, respectively.
SE ”or“ STOP ”.

The scene change indicator 303 has the shape of a flag, and is displayed only when a scene change of an image being recorded is detected. That is, the scene change indicator 303 is not normally displayed,
When a scene change is detected, it is displayed for a certain time,
Thereby, the user is notified of the scene change.

On the current time display 304, the current time is displayed in a so-called 24-hour system. Here, for example, W
The time managed by [Date and Time] in the control panel of Windows 95 is displayed as it is.

The recording time display 305 displays the elapsed time from the start of recording or the remaining time until the end of recording (or the remaining time until the end of the tape described later). Which time is displayed can be switched by operating a recording time display change button (TIME button) 311. When recording is not performed, the recording time display 305 indicates, for example, “0”.
0: 00: 00: 00 ".

[0167] The timer standby indicator 306 displays the state of the timer recording. That is, in a state where a recording reservation is made and the start of the reservation recording is waiting, the fact that the reservation recording is waiting and the start time of the reservation recording are displayed. Specifically, for example, at time 14: 5
In the case of waiting for the scheduled recording from 5, as shown in FIG. 7, “ON” indicating that the scheduled recording is waiting and the start time “14:55” are displayed. If the scheduled recording is being performed, the fact and the end time are displayed. Specifically, for example, in the case where the scheduled recording that ends at time 21:43 is performed, “OFF” to that effect is set.
The end time “21:43” is displayed.

[0168] Recordings other than the scheduled recording (hereinafter referred to as appropriate)
In the case where the normal recording is performed, the same display as when the reserved recording is performed is performed even when the end time is set.

During the normal recording in which the end time is not set, the display of the timer standby indicator 306 is, for example, “−−−−−”.

Further, in cases other than those described above, nothing is displayed on the timer standby indicator 306.

On the endless recording display 307A, a display corresponding to the type of tape described later is made. That is, when the type of the tape is “endless”, the endless recording display 307A becomes “E” as shown in FIG. When the type of tape is "normal", nothing is displayed on the endless recording display 307A.

The input source display 307B displays the input selected as a recording target. That is, the main body 3
1 or input from the front AV terminal 84
When the input from the terminal unit 43 is selected, the input source display 307B becomes “Video 1” or “Video 2”, respectively. In addition, TV tuner 213
When the output of A is selected, the input source display 307 is displayed.
B is “TV- ○”. In addition, T
The channel selected by the V tuner 213A is displayed. In FIG. 7, the input source display 307B is
"TV-1", and therefore, a program broadcast on one channel is selected as a recording target.

The stop button 308, the recording button 309, and the pause button 310 are operated when stopping recording, starting recording, or temporarily stopping recording, respectively. When the pause button 310 is operated (clicked) to temporarily stop the recording, the pause button 310 can be operated again to resume the recording.

As described above, the recording time display change button 311 is operated when the recording time display 305 is changed. Each time the recording time display change button 311 is operated, the elapsed time and the remaining time are alternately displayed on the recording time display 305.

Input switch button (INPUT button) 31
2 is operated when switching the input as a recording target. That is, when the input switch button 312 is operated, the input from the AV terminal 84 on the back of the main body 31, the input from the AV terminal 43 on the front, and the output from the TV tuner 213A are cyclically performed for each operation. Is selected. According to the operation of the input switching button 312, the input source display 307B is also changed.

When the output of the TV tuner 213A is selected as an input, the up / down button 313 changes the channel from the currently selected channel to the next channel displayed on the channel button 314 or the previous channel. Operated when changing to a channel. The channel button 314 is used when the output of the TV tuner 213A is selected as an input.
Operated when selecting that channel. In addition, the display of the number (channel) of the channel button 314 is as follows.
In the item [channel setting] in the [option] menu of the slip recorder main window 301, an arbitrary channel in the range of 1 to 62 can be set.

In the state where the slip recorder main window 301 configured as described above is displayed, for example, the input switch button 312 is operated (and
By operating the up / down button 312 or the channel button 314 if necessary), selecting an input, and operating the recording button 309, the recording of the image (and the accompanying sound) as the selected input can be performed. The recording is started, but when performing recording by the “slip recorder”, it is necessary to set a tape to be used for the recording.

That is, by operating the recording button 309 or the like,
When the recording is instructed, the image to be recorded is encoded by the encoder board 213, is converted into encoded data, and is recorded on the hard disk 212. The encoded data is simply recorded on the hard disk 212. In such a case, recording may not be performed because the free space of the hard disk 212 is insufficient.

By the way, for example, when recording on a video tape by a VTR or the like, the recording can be freely performed from the beginning to the end of the video tape. This can be considered that the recording capacity for the video tape is secured in advance.

[0180] Therefore, even with "Slipclip", the recording capacity (hard disk 21
2, a recording area (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as a necessary area) which is equal to or more than a necessary minimum recording capacity (hereinafter, referred to as a necessary capacity) for preventing recording from being terminated halfway. The hard disk 212 is secured, and coded data and the like are recorded in the necessary area.

That is, in the present embodiment, when recording an image, a file having a size necessary to record an MPEG system stream obtained as a result of MPEG encoding by the encoder board 213 (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as an MPEG file) is used. A file having a size necessary to record an index or the like described below (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as an index file) is generated, and is recorded on the hard disk 212. As a result, the encoded data ( An area necessary for recording, such as an MPEG system stream, is secured in the hard disk 212 in advance.

That is, an MPE having a size larger than the required capacity
The G file and the index file are written to a free area of the hard disk 212.

Here, the contents of the MPEG file and the index file immediately after being written to the hard disk 212 have no particular meaning. Therefore, when recording on a VTR, it is equivalent to preparing a new video tape. Therefore, in the "slip recorder", it is called a tape.

This tape setting can be performed, for example, in a tape setting dialog box 321 as shown in FIG.

That is, as one of the items in the [Edit] menu displayed at the top of the slip recorder main window 301 (FIG. 7), there is [Standard Tape Setting]. A dialog box 321 is displayed.

In the tape setting dialog box 321, a name to be given to the tape is entered in a name column 322. In the embodiment of FIG. 8, "Tape" is input. Here, the name entered in the name column 322 is used as the file name of the MPEG file and the index file constituting the tape. Note that, for example, MPG or SCX is used as the extension of the MPEG file or the index file. Therefore, for example, “Tape” is input as the name of the tape in the name column 322. In this case, the file name of the MPEG file or index file that composes the tape is basically Tape.MPG
Or it becomes Tape.SCX.

[0187] The write prohibition check box 323 is
Checked to prohibit writing to tape.
In the type column 324, the type of the tape is set.

In the "slip recorder", two types of tape, "normal" (normal tape) and "endless" (endless tape), are prepared.

When a normal tape is selected, an MPEG file and an index file are created as the minimum necessary tapes for recording for the recording time set in the recording time column 325 described later. That is, when, for example, one hour is set as the recording time in the recording time column 325, a tape capable of recording for one hour is created as shown in FIG. 9A.

On the other hand, when the endless tape is selected, a fixed recording time, for example, a tape capable of recording for 15 minutes (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as a fixed tape) is determined as the total recording time. Is created as long as the recording time set in the column 325 is equal to or longer than the recording time. That is, in this case, the tape capable of recording for 15 minutes is recorded in the recording time column 32.
The recording time set to 5 (in the present embodiment, for example, set in units of 15 minutes as described later) is created by adding 1 to the quotient obtained by dividing by 15 minutes. Specifically, in the recording time column 325, as the recording time, for example,
When one hour is set, as shown in FIG. 9B, five fixed tapes are created (thus, a tape capable of recording for one hour and fifteen minutes is created).

Here, the normal tape is one M
The endless tape may be composed of a plurality of MPEG files and index files, as described above. For this reason, the MPEG file and index file that constitute the endless tape include:
A file name in which a symbol # and a serial number are added to the tape name is added.

That is, in the case shown in FIG. 9B, five MPEG files and five index files are created, and the file names are
From the first tape, Tape # 1.MPG and Tape # 1.SCX, Tape
# 2.MPG and Tape # 2.SCX, Tape # 3.MPG and Tape # 3.SCX, Tape #
4. MPG and Tape # 4.SCX, Tape # 5.MPG and Tape # 5.SCX.

The recording on the normal tape starts from the beginning and ends when the end is reached. If the stop of the recording is instructed before reaching the end, the recording is terminated at that point. In this case, the part where the MPEG file and the index file are not recorded is discarded (released as a free area).

On the other hand, recording on an endless tape
It starts from the beginning of the first fixed tape of the plurality of fixed tapes. Then, when the end of the first fixed tape is reached, the recording on the first fixed tape is terminated and 2
Recording on the third fixed tape is started. Thereafter, recording on the third fixed tape is sequentially performed in the same manner, and when the end of the last fixed tape is reached, recording on the first fixed tape is performed again (overwriting). Is performed.

That is, in the case shown in FIG. 9B, when the recording on all the first to fifth fixed tapes is completed, the recording on the first fixed tape is started again, and the end of the recording is instructed. Until the stop button 308 is operated (eg, until the stop button 308 is operated), such a circular recording is continued in an endless manner.

Then, when the end of the recording is instructed, the recording is ended at that time. In this case, "Slipcl
"ip", the recording time column 3
A range that is traced back by the recording time set to 25 is a reproducible range.

That is, for example, in FIG. 9B, if the end of the recording is instructed at the time when the recording is performed for 10 minutes on the fifth fixed tape, the hatched line in FIG. As shown, one hour from the 10-minute position of the first (first) fixed tape to the 10-minute position of the fifth fixed tape is the reproducible range.

In this case, the range from the beginning to the tenth minute of the first fixed tape and the range from the tenth to the end of the fifth fixed tape are not reproducible ranges. Therefore, from the viewpoint of efficient use of the hard disk 212, all of them should be discarded.
Here, only the range from the tenth position to the end of the fifth fixed tape is discarded, and the range from the beginning to the tenth position of the first fixed tape is not discarded. This is for the following reasons.

That is, since a system header and other information necessary for decoding MPEG-encoded data are arranged at the beginning of the MPEG file forming the fixed tape, such a leading part is discarded. This makes decoding difficult.

[0200] Therefore, 1 from the beginning of the first fixed tape.
In the range up to the 0 minute position, the MPEG file constituting the fixed tape can be reproduced by directly accessing the MPEG file.

Note that the endless tape is not composed of a plurality of fixed tapes as described above, but is composed of one tape in the same manner as a normal tape. A method is conceivable in which recording is started from the beginning of the record, and after reaching the end, recording (overwriting) from the start is repeated again.
However, as described above, since the system header and the like are written at the beginning of the MPEG file,
Overwriting there makes decoding difficult. Therefore, it is desirable that the endless tape be composed of a plurality of fixed tapes.

Returning to FIG. 8, a recording time (recording time) for performing recording is input in a recording time column 325. Here, for example, it is possible to set a maximum of 12 hours in units of 15 minutes. Note that the recording time is input separately for hours and minutes.

Automatic index check box 326
Is checked at the time of recording, when an index as a mark indicating the position of a scene change of an image is automatically added. When the automatic index check box 326 is not checked, a scene change pointer, a scene change parameter, and the like described later are not recorded in the index file.

The recording mode (bit rate information) is set in the recording mode column 327. Here, "High", "Normal", "Long",
Four recording modes of “Network” are prepared.

Here, FIG. 10 shows the frame size (the number of horizontal pixels × the number of vertical pixels) and MP for each recording mode.
System stream bit rate (system bit rate) obtained as a result of EG encoding, MPEG of image
It shows the bit rate (video rate) of the encoding result, the frame rate, the bit rate (audio bit rate) of the MPEG encoding result of the audio, the settable recording mode, and the time available for recording on a 1 GB tape.

In the recording mode "High", the recording time for a tape having the same recording capacity is the shortest, but a high-quality decoded image can be obtained. In the recording mode “Normal”, as described above, a system stream compliant with the video CD (VCD) standard can be obtained. The recording mode “Long” does not require a high-quality decoded image, but is suitable for recording for a relatively long time. In the recording mode “Network”, the bit rate is, for example, ISDN (Integrated Services Digt).
al Network), which is a value that can be transmitted in real time, and is suitable for such transmission.

In the recording mode “Long”, the number of pixels constituting one frame is about １ ／ as compared with the recording modes “High” and “Normal”. In the recording mode “Network”, It is even less. In the recording modes "High", "Normal", and "Long",
The number of frames per second (frame rate) is 30 frames.
10 frames.

Returning again to FIG. 8, a recording mode column 328 is shown.
Is set to a recording mode. Here, two channels (dual), stereo (stereo), and monaural (si)
ngle) three recording modes are available.

As shown in FIG. 10, here,
When “High” or “Long” is set as the recording mode, the recording mode can be selected from either two channels or stereo. Also,
When "Normal" is set as the recording mode,
The recording mode is fixed to two channels. Furthermore, when “Network” is set as the recording mode,
The recording mode is fixed to monaural.

[0210] The automatic check box 329 of the clip creation folder is checked when the folder in which the clip is to be created is set in advance. Here, a clip is composed of a set of MPEG files and an index file. That is, a set of an MPEG file and an index file is called a tape in a “slip recorder”, and is called a “clip editor”.
In "Clip Viewer", it is called a clip. When the tape is a normal tape, the clip and the tape are synonymous, but when the tape is an endless tape,
A tape may correspond to multiple clips (multiple sets of MPEG files and index files).

Browse button 330 for clip creation folder
Is operated to specify a folder for creating a clip.

[0212] The information column 331 includes the recording mode column 32.
The size, frame rate, video bit rate, audio bit rate, and the like of the decoded image when encoding is performed in the recording mode set to 7 are displayed. That is, the size and the like shown in FIG. 10 are displayed according to the recording mode.

[0213] Further, in the information column 331, encoding is performed in the recording mode set in the recording mode column 327, and the resulting MPEG system stream is recorded for the recording time set in the recording time column 325. In this case, the size (recording capacity) (disk area) of the tape secured on the hard disk 212 is also displayed.

Here, the calculation of the size of the tape is performed, for example, as follows.

That is, the system bit rate of the recording mode set in the recording mode column 327 corresponds to the recording time column 3
25 is multiplied by the recording time, so that M
The size of the PEG file is required. In addition, MPE
For example, 0.1% of the size of the G file is set as the size of the index file. And the MPEG
The sum of the file size and the index file size is taken as the tape size.

The system bit rate in each recording mode basically uses the value shown in FIG. 10. For the recording mode “Normal”, the system bit rate (1,411, FIG. 10) shown in FIG. A value smaller than 200 bps) is used. That is, the system bit rate of the recording mode “Normal” in FIG. 10 represents a value when an MPEG system stream is recorded on a video CD. The bit rate of the bit stream to which the specified sink and header are added (the bit rate specified in the video CD standard). When the MPEG system stream is recorded on the hard disk 212, such a sink and a header are not required.
Here, from the viewpoint of effective use of No. 2, such unnecessary data is not recorded on the hard disk 21 here.

Therefore, in the recording mode "Normal", the size of the tape is calculated using the bit rate of 1,394,400 bps of the MPEG system stream composed of only the pack.

Specifically, for example, in the embodiment of FIG. 8, "Normal" is set as the recording mode, and "1 hour" is set as the recording time. Here, if the tape type is “normal”, the bit rate is 1,39.
The value obtained by multiplying 4,400 bps by the recording time of one hour is 0.1% larger than the tape size.
However, in FIG. 8, "endless" is set as the tape type. As described above, the recording time of the endless tape is 15 minutes longer than the recording time set in the recording time column 325. For this reason,
A value obtained by multiplying the bit rate of 1,394,400 bps by the recording time of 1 hour and 15 minutes is 0.1.
% Increase, ie 748.76 MB, is the size of the tape. In FIG. 8, this value is displayed in an information column 331.

[0219] An OK button 332 is used to fix the setting items in the tape setting dialog box 321 to the newly input ones, and the tape setting dialog box 321 is set.
Operated when closing. Cancel button 333
Is operated when the settings in the tape setting dialog box 321 are maintained in the previously determined state and the tape setting dialog box 321 is closed. The help button 334 is displayed in the tape setting dialog box 32.
This is operated to display the explanation (help) for 1.

[0220] Next, the recording process by the "slip recorder" will be described with reference to the flowcharts of Figs.

When recording, first, as described above, the user opens the tape setting dialog box 321 (FIG. 8) and sets the tape.

For example, when recording a television broadcast program, the input switch button 312 of the slip recorder main window 301 (FIG. 7) is operated, and the output of the TV tuner 213A (FIG. 5) is selected as an input. I do. Further, the user operates the up / down button 313 or the channel button 314 to select the channel of the program to be recorded.

For recording (dubbing) an image (and accompanying sound) recorded by the video camera 214, the video output terminal and the audio output terminal (not shown) of the video camera 214 are connected to the main body. 31 is connected to the AV terminal 84 on the back or the AV terminal 43 on the front. Then, the user operates the input switching button 312 to select an input from the AV terminal unit 84 or 43 as an input.

After the above operation, when the user operates the recording button 309 of the slip recorder main window 301, the microprocessor 1
The recording process is performed according to the flowchart of FIG.

That is, when a normal tape is set as a tape used for recording, first, as shown in the flowchart of FIG.
In, it is determined whether a tape can be created.

Here, the tape setting dialog box 3
The tape, that is, the recording area necessary for recording is not secured on the hard disk 212 simply by setting the tape in 21. That is, the securing of the tape is performed after the recording button 309 is operated and the start of recording is instructed. This is because securing a tape before recording is started is not preferable from the viewpoint of efficient use of the hard disk 212.

The determination processing in step S1 is as follows.
The size of the tape is calculated as described above, and is performed by confirming whether a recording area of the size can be secured on the hard disk 212.

If it is determined in step S1 that tape creation is not possible, that is, if there is not enough free space on the hard disk 212 to secure the set tape, for example, a message to that effect is displayed and the recording process is started. finish. Therefore, in this case, recording is not performed.

If it is determined in step S1 that the tape can be created, that is, if the MPEG file and the index file constituting the set tape can be written to the hard disk 212, the process proceeds to step S2. Then, the MPEG file and the index file are written to the hard disk 212. As described above, the MPEG file and the index file at this point include:
No particularly meaningful information is written.

Thereafter, the flow advances to step S3 to open an MPEG file as a tape, and the flow advances to step S4. In step S4, the encoder board 213 is controlled so as to encode the input selected by operating the input switching button 312.
In the encoder board 213, the MPEG to be recorded is
Encoding is performed.

Then, the flow advances to step S5, where the MPEG system stream obtained as a result of the MPEG encoding is transferred to the hard disk 212 and written in the MPEG file secured in step S2. afterwards,
Proceeding to step S6, the MPEG system stream is
It is determined whether the end of the recording has been instructed by writing to the end of the MPEG file or by operating the stop button 308. Step S6
When it is determined that the MPEG system stream has not been written to the end of the MPEG file and that the stop button 308 has not been operated, the process returns to step S4 to continue the encoding and recording of the recording target. You.

In step S6, it is determined that the MPEG system stream has been written to the end of the MPEG file, or the stop button 308
Is operated, it is determined that the end of recording has been instructed, the process proceeds to step S7, the MPEG file is closed, and the recording process ends.

Next, when the tape used for recording is an endless tape, recording processing is performed according to the flowchart of FIG.

That is, in step S11 or S12,
The same processing as in step S1 or S2 in FIG. 11 is performed. In step S12, as described above, an endless tape including a plurality of fixed tapes (FIG. 9B) is created.

After the processing in step S12, step S1
The process proceeds to step S3, where the MPEG file on the first fixed tape (first fixed tape) constituting the endless tape is opened, and the process proceeds to step S14. Step S14
Then, the encoder board 213 is controlled so as to encode the input selected by operating the input switching button 312.
At 13, MPEG encoding of the recording target is performed.

Then, the flow advances to step S15 to check for MPEG.
The MPEG system stream obtained as a result of the encoding is transferred to the hard disk 212 and written into an MPEG file. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S16, and it is determined whether or not the end of the recording is instructed by operating the stop button 308, for example. Step S
If it is determined in step 16 that the end of the recording has not been instructed, the process proceeds to step S17, and it is determined whether the MPEG system stream has been written up to the end of the MPEG file constituting the fixed tape. If it is determined in step S17 that the MPEG system has not written until the end of the MPEG file constituting the fixed tape, the process returns to step S14, and encoding and recording of the recording target are continued.

Also, in step S17, the MPEG
MPEG that system stream constitutes fixed tape
If it is determined that the file has been written to the end of the file,
The process proceeds to step S18, the MPEG file is closed, and the process proceeds to step S19. In step S19,
The MPEG file constituting the next fixed tape is opened, and the process proceeds to step S14. Therefore, after this, for the MPEG file constituting the next fixed tape,
An MPEG system stream is written.

If the MPEG system stream has been written up to the end of the MPEG file constituting the last fixed tape, in step S19, again,
The MPEG file constituting the first fixed tape is opened, and the MPEG system stream is overwritten there. Therefore, the MPEG system stream is written endlessly until it is determined in step S16 that the end of the recording is instructed.

[0239] Then, for example, when the stop button 308 is operated, it is determined in step S16 that the end of the recording has been instructed. In this case, the process proceeds to step S20, the opened MPEG file is closed, and the recording process ends.

Next, at the time of recording, the MPEG system stream is recorded in the MPEG file constituting the tape as described above. At this time, at the same time, predetermined data is also recorded in the index file constituting the tape. Be recorded.

The flowchart of FIG. 13 shows an index recording process for recording data in an index file.

When the recording is started, first, in step S30, the index file is opened, and the time at which the recording was started (the current time when the recording was started) (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as the start time), The header in which the recording mode (set in the tape setting dialog box 321 (FIG. 8)) and the like are arranged is recorded, and the process proceeds to step S31. In step S31, the microprocessor 201 determines whether or not index data has been transmitted from the scene change detection circuit 131 (FIG. 6) of the encoder board 213, and if it is determined that index data has not been transmitted, steps S32 to S3.
Skip to step S39 and proceed to step S39.

If it is determined in step S31 that index data has been transmitted from the scene change detection circuit 131 (FIG. 6), the microprocessor 201 receives the index data and proceeds to step S32.

FIG. 14 shows an example of the format of index data output by the scene change detection circuit 131.

As shown in the figure, the index data includes a 4-bit area in which various flags are arranged, and a 28-bit area in which the second parameter SAD described in equation (4) is arranged. It consists of a total of 32 bits arranged. As the flag, for example, a flag indicating a picture type of a frame for which the second parameter SAD is calculated (hereinafter, referred to as a picture type flag as appropriate), and a flag indicating whether a scene change is detected by the scene change detection circuit 131. Things (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as scene change flags) and the like are arranged.

Returning to FIG. 13, in step S32, the microprocessor 201 determines whether or not the index data received from the scene change detection circuit 131 is for an I picture or a P picture. This determination is made, for example, with reference to a picture type flag arranged in the index data.

In step S32, when it is determined that the index data is neither for the I picture nor for the P picture,
If it is for a B picture, step S33
The processing skips steps S38 to S39 and proceeds to step S39. In step S32, the index data is
If it is determined that the change is for an I picture or a P picture, the process proceeds to step S33, and the microprocessor 201 determines whether a scene change has been detected in the I or P picture. . This determination is made, for example, with reference to a scene change flag arranged in the index data.

If it is determined in step S33 that a scene change has not been detected, the process proceeds to step S34.
The process skips steps S37 to S37 and proceeds to step S38. If it is determined in step S33 that a scene change has been detected, the process proceeds to step S34, where the microprocessor 201 calculates a scene change parameter. That is, the microprocessor 201 divides the SAD arranged in the index data received this time by the previous SAD stored in step S38 described later, and uses the result of the division as a scene change parameter.

Here, the scene change parameter indicates the degree of the scene change (the degree to which the screen is switched), and the greater the degree, the larger the value. It should be noted that the scene change parameter is not limited to the one described above, and it is also possible to adopt another physical quantity indicating the degree of the scene change.

After calculating the scene change parameter, the process proceeds to step S35, where the microprocessor 201 sets the scene change parameter to a predetermined threshold ε.
It is determined whether it is greater than (eg, 3).
If it is determined in step S35 that the scene change parameter is not larger than the predetermined threshold ε, steps S36 and S37 are skipped and step S36 is performed.
Proceed to 38.

If it is determined in step S35 that the scene change parameter is larger than the predetermined threshold value ε, the process proceeds to step S36, in which the encoded data of the frame in which the scene change parameter indicates the degree of scene change is MPEG. A scene change pointer is obtained as position information regarding the position written in the file, and is associated with a scene change parameter.
Further, identification flags to be described later are added to these, and they are written in the index file.

[0252] As the scene change pointer,
For example, it is possible to adopt a byte position indicating the number of bytes from the head of the MPEG file in which the encoded data is written.

Hereafter, a value obtained by adding an identification flag to a scene change parameter and a scene change pointer as appropriate will be referred to as an index. The index is
It plays a role as a mark indicating the position of a scene change in an image.

As described above, the index added (written in the index file) by the microprocessor 201 at the time of recording is called an automatic index. The index can also be assigned by a user performing a predetermined operation, and the index assigned by the user is called a manual index. The above-described identification flag is, for example, a 1-bit flag indicating whether the index is an automatic index or a manual index.

After step S36, the process proceeds to step S3.
7 and the slip recorder main window 301
The scene change indicator 303 shown in FIG. 7 is displayed for a predetermined time, thereby notifying the user that a scene change has been detected. Then, the process proceeds to step S38, in which the SAD arranged in the index data received this time is stored in the main memory 202 instead of the previously stored SAD, and the process proceeds to step S39. In step S39, it is determined whether the recording of the MPEG system stream in the MPEG file has been completed. If it is determined that the recording has not been completed, the process proceeds to step S3.
1 and the same process is repeated thereafter.

Also, in step S39, the MPEG
If it is determined that the recording of the MPEG system stream to the file has been completed, the index file is closed, and the index recording process ends.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 13, when the scene change flag indicates that a scene change has been detected by the scene change detection circuit 131, and the scene change parameter is larger than a predetermined threshold value ε. Only the index is recorded, but it is also possible to record the index regardless of the size of the scene change parameter. However,
In this case, an index is added to a frame that has not changed so much, and as a result, the number of indexes increases.

Next, images (and accompanying sounds)
It is convenient if it is possible to reproduce an arbitrary scene of an already-recorded image during the recording. That is,
For example, it is convenient to be able to go back to a certain scene when playing back while recording and if a certain scene is missed.

Therefore, in the “slip recorder”, as described above, while recording an image (and accompanying sound), that is, without interrupting the recording, reproduction of an arbitrary scene of an already recorded image is performed. It has also been made able to do so. Here, such reproduction is hereinafter referred to as slip reproduction as appropriate.

In the case of performing the slip reproduction, the user is required to execute FIG.
The item [Slip] is selected from the [Playback] menu at the top of the slip recorder main window 301. In this case, for example, a reproduction window 341 as shown in FIG. 15 is displayed.

[0261] In the reproduction window 341, the reproduced image is displayed in the image display column 342. The playback indicator 343 displays the current playback state. That is, for example, “PLAY” during playback, “PAUSE” during pause, “STOP” during stop, “SLOW” during slow playback, and “F.SK” during forward skip.
“IP” and “R.SKIP” are displayed on the playback indicator 343 during the backward skip.

As shown in FIG. 16, the playback time display 344 shows the progress from the time when the recording was started (start time) to the position of the slip playback target (hereinafter referred to as a playback point as appropriate). Remaining time from the time and playback point to the position to be recorded (hereinafter referred to as recording point as appropriate) (However, on a recorded tape,
Either time information of the time until the end of the tape) or the time when the image (encoded data) at the playback point is recorded (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as recording time) is displayed. Which time information is to be displayed can be selected by operating the reproduction time display change button 353.

Here, in the case where the slip reproduction is performed, the relative position relationship between the reproduction point and the recording point (the reproduction point and the recording point cannot be changed) unless the reproduction point is moved by operating the slider 354 described later. Does not change. Therefore, when the remaining time is selected as the time information in the reproduction time display 344 during the slip reproduction, the display of the remaining time is constant (substantially constant).
(Time corresponding to the distance between the playback point and the recording point).

The playback window 341 is displayed not only when the slip playback is instructed, but also when the input selection button 312 of the slip recorder main window 301 is operated to monitor the selected input. It is also opened when it is instructed to play back the tape on which recording has been completed. When the playback window 341 is opened for monitoring, the playback time display 344 becomes “−−−−−−−−”. When the remaining time is selected as the time information to be displayed on the playback time display 344 when the playback window 341 is opened for playback of the tape on which recording has been completed, the time from the playback point to the end of the tape is selected. Time is displayed.

[0265] The audio mode display 345 displays the current audio mode. There are three types of audio modes, for example, stereo audio output, output from both left and right speakers of L channel only, and output from both left and right speakers of R channel only. By operating the audio switch button 357, You have been able to choose. In addition, output of stereo sound, output of only L channel, R
When the output of only the channel is selected, as the audio mode display 345, for example,
"O", "L ONLY", and "R ONLY" are displayed.

[0266] The stop button 346, the play button 347, or the pause button 348 is used to stop playback, start playback, or pause playback.
Each is operated. Skip button 349 or 35
0 is operated when performing a backward skip or a forward skip, respectively. The index button 351 or 352 is operated when skipping from the playback point to the closest one in the backward or forward direction from the indexed frames.

The playback time display change button 353 is operated when selecting time information to be displayed on the playback time display 344. Each time the playback time display change button 353 is operated, the display of the playback time display 344 is, for example,
The elapsed time → the remaining time → the recording time → the elapsed time →...

The slider 354 is operated when changing the reproduction point. That is, the slider 354 can be moved by, for example, dragging with the mouse 22, and the playback point is changed corresponding to the position of the slider 354. The slider 354 can be moved between the left end and the right end of the slider groove 354. Also,
The left end of the slider groove 354 is located at the position (M
And the right end thereof corresponds to a recording point. Therefore, the user can select the slider 3
By operating the button 54, it is possible to reproduce an arbitrary screen from the start of recording to immediately before the screen on which recording is currently being performed.

However, in the encoder board 213, the image before encoding is temporarily stored in the frame memory 110 and the encoding result is temporarily stored in the output buffer 118, as described above. In addition, MPEG
For encoding and writing the encoding result,
It takes some time. Therefore, in practice, the target of the slip reproduction is a screen that has been traced back by about 10 to 15 seconds from the screen to be currently recorded.

[0270] The slider 354 moves by being operated by the user, and also moves in response to a reproduction point that sequentially changes as the reproduction is performed. Further, the slider 354 is used for skip buttons 349 and 3.
The playback point is moved even when the playback point is changed by operating 50, index buttons 351 and 352, and the like.

When the slider 354 is moved and the playback point is changed, the time information on the playback time display 344 is changed in accordance with the change.

[0272] The frame advance button 355 is used for frame advance (when the next frame is displayed in the image display field 342) when playback is paused by operating the pause button 348. ) Is operated. The slow playback button 356 is operated when performing slow playback. The audio switching button 357 is operated when switching the audio mode. Note that the audio switching button 3
Each time the button 57 is operated, the audio mode changes, for example, as follows: output of stereo sound → output of L channel only → output of R channel only → output of stereo sound →.

Next, the slip reproduction process by the “slip recorder” will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

When the slip playback is instructed (commanded) and the playback window 341 is opened, in step S40, the microprocessor 201 reads the MPEG system stream from the head of the MPEG file constituting the currently written tape. . Then, the process proceeds to step S41, where the microprocessor 201 executes the MPEG decoding application program (MPE described later) recorded on the hard disk 212.
By executing the G1 software decoder 201A (FIG. 18), the MPEG system stream read in step S40 is decoded. This decoding result is output in step S42. That is, step S4
In 2, the image of the decoding result is displayed in the image display field 342 of the reproduction window 341, and the audio of the decoding result is output from the speakers 59 and 60.

Then, the flow advances to step S43 to display a reproduction time display 344 of the reproduction window 341 at step S40.
Displays the time information corresponding to the position of the MPEG system stream read out in step (1). Here, as the time information, of the three types described above, the reproduction time display change button 35
By operating 3, the selected one is displayed. The time information is obtained in the microprocessor 201 as follows.

That is, as described above, since the MPEG system stream has a fixed rate, the elapsed time corresponding to the position of the MPEG system stream read in step S40 is the recording position of the MPEG system stream (the MPEG file stream). What byte is recorded from the beginning). The remaining time is calculated from the position of the MPEG system stream read in step S40, and
It can be obtained by the number of bytes up to the position of the EG system stream. Furthermore, as described above, since the recording start time is recorded at the head of the index file constituting the tape as described above, the recording time can be obtained by adding the elapsed time to the start time.

The MP recorded in the MPEG file
The time information at each position of the EG system stream is:
In addition to the above-described calculation, for example, the recording time at each position may be recorded, and the recording time may be calculated from the recording time.

After step S43, the process proceeds to step S4
The microprocessor 201 determines whether the playback point has been changed, for example, by moving the slider 354 or operating the skip buttons 349 and 350 and the index buttons 351 and 352, for example. You. In step S44,
If it is determined that the playback point has not been changed, the process returns to step S40, the continuation of the previously read MPEG system stream is read from the MPEG file, and the same processing is repeated thereafter.

If it is determined in step S44 that the playback point has been changed, the flow advances to step S45 to change the position at which the MPEG system stream is read from the MPEG file in response to the change in the playback point. Return to In this case, in step S40, the MPEG system stream is read from the changed position, and the same processing is repeated thereafter.

[0280] In the slip reproduction process, for example, the reproduction window 341 is closed or the stop button 34
The operation is terminated when 6 is operated.

As described above, when recording,
While the recording is continued, the image (and the accompanying sound) already recorded on the hard disk 212 can be reproduced from an arbitrary position, so that the user can view a desired scene at any time without interrupting the recording. You can see.

Further, since the time information is displayed on the reproduction time display 344 of the reproduction window 341, it is possible to relatively quickly find a desired scene by looking at the time information.

When performing the slip reproduction, the hard disk 212 writes and reads data.
This is done in a time-sharing manner. The scheduling for writing and reading the data is performed, for example, by using an OS (Operating System)
This is performed under the control of ows95, and the application program “Slipclip” is not particularly involved. However, this scheduling can be performed in the application program “Slipclip”.

That is, the data read / write time on the hard disk currently put into practical use is sufficiently fast, and the I / O
Slip playback can be basically performed without interrupting recording simply by reading / writing data from / to the hard disk under / O (Input / Output) control.

The image reproduced by the slip reproduction can be displayed not only in the image display field 342 in the reproduction window 341 but also in a so-called full-screen display as shown in FIG. That is, the image display field 342
Can be enlarged and displayed on the entire screen of the display 51.

Next, the processing of the "slip recorder" will be further described with reference to FIG.

[0287] In the recording processing by the "slip recorder", an MPEG system stream obtained by MPEG-encoding an image (and accompanying audio) on the encoder board 213 constitutes a tape previously created on the hard disk 212. Recorded in an MPEG file. Further, a scene change parameter is calculated from the index data output from the encoder board 213, and the scene change parameter is calculated together with the scene change pointer and the identification flag.
Is recorded in an index file constituting a tape created in advance.

[0288] Here, as shown in Fig. 18, at the beginning of the index file, a start time which is the time at which recording was started, and a header (H) in which a recording mode and the like are arranged are recorded.

As described above, the identification flag, the scene change pointer, and the scene change parameter indicate that the scene change flag included in the index data indicates that a scene change has been detected.
In addition, as shown in FIG. 19, it is recorded when the scene change parameter is larger than a predetermined threshold ε. As shown in FIG. 18, the scene change pointer recorded in the index file indicates the position where the encoded data of the frame having the scene change is recorded.

On the other hand, in the slip reproduction processing by the “slip recorder”, the microprocessor 201
In the MPEG1 software decoder 201A realized by executing the application program for performing the EG decoding, the MPEG1
Data is read from an arbitrary position in the range where the EG system stream is recorded (the shaded portion in FIG. 18) and decoded.

Here, at the time of recording, the MPEG file is opened in a so-called shared state, which permits access from a plurality of application programs. Can write both the MPEG system stream output from the decoder 201A and the reading of the MPEG system stream to the decoder 201A.

When the tape is an endless tape,
As described above, since the endless tape is composed of a plurality of fixed tapes, the MPE for which the slip reproduction has been instructed.
The G system stream may be recorded on a fixed tape different from a fixed tape (MPEG file) on which the MPEG system stream output from the encoder board 213 is written. In this case, the MPEG file in which the MPEG system stream for which the slip reproduction is instructed is recorded is the MP file in which the MPEG system stream output from the encoder board 213 is written.
The file is opened and read separately from the EG file (closed after reading is completed).

As described above, in the present embodiment, the MPE
The G system stream is separately recorded in an MPEG file, and the index (identification flag, scene change pointer, and scene change parameter) is separately recorded in an index file.
The contents of the file conform to the MPEG standard and can therefore be used by other applications.

Note that the MPEG system stream and the index can be recorded in one file. However, in this case, it is difficult to use the file in another application.

If the automatic index check box 326 is not checked in the tape setting dialog box 321 shown in FIG. 8, the index is not recorded in the index file as described above. That is, in this case, the index file is composed of only the header.

Here, the fact that the above-described recording and reproduction of an image can be performed in parallel will be described. Here, it is assumed that “Normal” is set as the recording mode, and for simplicity of description, the calculation of the data amount is performed not on the MPEG system stream but on the video elementary stream. Shall be.

In the recording mode “Normal”, one frame image is composed of 352 × 240 pixels as shown in FIG. Now, each pixel is, for example, an 8-bit luminance signal Y and a 2-bit color difference signal C in terms of one pixel.
a total of 12 bits of b and Cr,
Assuming that one GOP is composed of, for example, 15 frames, the data amount of one GOP (the data amount before encoding)
Is 1856 KB from the following equation.

352 pixels × 240 pixels × 12 bits × 1
5 frames / 8 bits = 1856 KB

When the recording mode is “Normal”, as shown in FIG. 10, the bit rate (video rate) of the video elementary stream in the encoder board 213 is 1,151,929 bps. Since the rate is 30 frames / sec,
Image data of one GOP (here, 15 frames as described above) is compressed to a data amount represented by the following equation.

1,151,929 / 30 frames × 15
Frame / 8 bits = 70.3 KB

Therefore, in this case, the image data is １ ／
It will be compressed to 6.4 (= 70.3 KB / 1856 KB).

By the way, when the present inventor measured the transfer speed of a certain HDD, it was about 4 MB / sec. In this case, the compressed data of 1 GOP of 70.3 KB described above is
It will be written in about 17.2 ms (= 70.3 / (4 × 1024)).

Therefore, even if the head seek time of the HDD is considerably slow, for example, 20 ms, writing of 1 GOP of compressed data takes about 37.2 m.
s (= 17.2 ms + 20 ms).

On the other hand, the transfer speed when reading data from the HDD is generally faster than when writing data, but here, the transfer speed is the same as when writing, and the head seek time is the same as in the above case. Assuming 20 ms, the reading of 1 GOP of compressed data from the HDD is:
Again, this can be done in about 37.2 ms.

Here, one GOP is composed of 15 frames, and thus corresponds to about 0.5 seconds. And 1GO
Writing and reading of P compressed data is about 74.4.
ms (= 37.2 ms + 37.2 ms), image recording and reproduction can be performed in parallel during one GOP period (about 0.5 seconds).

When the recording mode is “Long”, 1G
The data amount of the OP (before compression) is 394 KB, and becomes 22.9 KB by encoding. That is, it is compressed to about 1 / 17.2. In this case, assuming that the specifications of the HDD are the same as those described above, the time required for writing and reading 22.9 KB of compressed data is about 25.6 ms, which is also one GOP period (about 0.5 (Second), image recording and reproduction can be performed in parallel.

By the way, since Windows 95 is an OS having a multitasking function, there is a case where another process is performed while waiting for the writing of the MPEG system stream to the hard disk 212. Therefore, if the user performs an operation requesting another process during the slip reproduction, the requested process may be performed even if the writing to the hard disk 212 is set to the highest priority. For this reason, it is preferable that the user does not perform an operation for performing such other processing during the slip reproduction, but it is difficult to ensure that all the users perform such an operation.

On the other hand, if the writing of the MPEG system stream to the hard disk 212 is awaited and the writing cannot be completed in time, the MPEG system stream breaks down. In this case, the decoding becomes difficult,
Failure of the MPEG system stream must be avoided.

[0309] Therefore, in a case where the writing of the MPEG system stream to the hard disk 212 is not in time, the encoder board 213
In, the encoding is interrupted, and this control is performed by the controller 133 (FIG. 6).

That is, as described above, the controller 133 monitors the amount of data in the output buffer 118.
As shown in the flowchart of FIG. 20, first, in step S51, the data amount is, for example, 100 KB.
Determine if it is greater than. When it is determined in step S51 that the data amount of the output buffer 118 is not larger than 100 KB, the process proceeds to step S52, and the controller 133 performs the MPEG encoding on each block constituting the encoder board 213 as usual. It controls and returns to step S51. That is, the storage capacity of the output buffer 118 is 160 KB as described above, and if there is a margin (free space) of 60 KB or more, encoding is continued.

If it is determined in step S51 that the amount of data in the output buffer 118 is larger than 100 KB, the flow advances to step S53, where the controller 133
Interrupts (stops) the encoding process. That is, for example, the controller 133 prevents the image from being stored in the frame memory 110 and prevents the image from being read therefrom. Therefore, the writing of the MPEG system stream to the hard disk 212 is waited (the device driver for the hard disk 212 does not request the MPEG system stream), so that the data amount of the output buffer 118 exceeds 100 KB and the margin is 60 KB. If less, the encoding is interrupted.

Then, the process proceeds to step S54, where the controller 133 determines whether or not the data amount of the output buffer 118 has become, for example, less than 50 KB. In step S54, the data amount of the output buffer 118 is 5
If it is determined that it is not less than 0 KB, the process returns to step S54. If it is determined in step S54 that the data amount of the output buffer 118 has become less than 50 KB, that is, if the hard disk 21
If the data amount of the output buffer 118 becomes less than 50 KB, the process proceeds to step S55, the controller 133 restarts the encoding process, and returns to step S51. That is, for example, the controller 133 starts reading an image from the frame memory 110 and also starts storing an image therein.

As described above, in a case where the writing of the MPEG system stream to the hard disk 212 is not in time, the encoding is interrupted, so that the breakdown of the MPEG system stream can be avoided.

Since the image input to the encoder board 213 during the interruption of the encoding is not stored in the frame memory 110 as described above, the image not stored is not recorded. The number is not expected to be very large, and therefore M
This is not a big problem compared to the breakdown of the PEG system stream.

In the above case, the encoding is interrupted when the margin of the output buffer 118 becomes less than 60 KB, for the following reason. That is, the MPEG encoding can be interrupted only on a frame basis. Therefore, even if an attempt is made to interrupt the encoding after the encoding of a certain frame is started, the encoding cannot be interrupted until the encoding of the frame is completed. On the other hand, in the MPEG encoding, the largest amount of data occurs when intra-coding is performed. In general, the amount of data generated by intra-coding is expected to be about 40 KB.

As described above, about 40 KB of data may be input to the output buffer 118 even if encoding is to be interrupted.
It is necessary to secure at least a free space capable of storing the data.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, the 40 KB
When the margin of the output buffer 118 becomes less than 60 KB with a margin of 20 KB, the encoding is interrupted.

Next, when editing an image recorded by the “slip recorder”, the “clip editor” is started. In this case, for example, as shown in FIG.
1 is displayed.

Clip Editor Main After the main window 361 is displayed, a clip to be edited is specified.

Here, as described above, the clip and the tape are basically synonymous, and the clip is used in the “clip editor”. Therefore, a clip is composed of an MPEG file and an index file.

When a clip is specified, the source window 36 is displayed in the clip editor main window 361.
2 is displayed, and an index screen of the specified clip is displayed.

That is, the microprocessor 201 determines the code of the frame recorded at the position indicated by the scene change pointer recorded in the index file also constituting the designated clip in the MPEG file constituting the designated clip. The encoded data is decoded by the MPEG1 software decoder 201A (FIG. 18). Then, the microprocessor 201 displays the decoded frame (a reduced screen thereof) in the source window 362 as an index screen.

[0323] Here, the index screen is
At the top, a name for identifying the index screen is displayed. In the embodiment of FIG. 21, for example, Auto0, Index1, and Auto
2, Auto3, etc. are given as the names of the index screens.

Here, the index screen corresponding to the automatic index has an “Auto” character with a number attached thereto, and the index screen corresponding to the manual index has an “Index” character with a number attached thereto. Are given as default names.

[0325] As described above, the automatic index is added at the time of recording, but the manual index can be set, for example, by operating the index addition button 366A on the toolbar of the clip editor main window 362 to select an arbitrary index on the source window 362. (However, limited to the beginning of the GOP here).

[0326] In the [Index] menu of the clip editor main window 361, there is an item "Change to manual index", and by clicking on it, the automatic index can be changed to the manual index. (In this case, the name of the index screen is, for example, left as is (“Au
The character "to" is not regarded as "Index")). This change is performed by changing an identification flag constituting the index.

[0327] In the clip editor main window 361, the index screen corresponding to the automatic index and the index screen corresponding to the manual index are displayed in different colors in the display portions of the names. Thus, the two can be easily distinguished from each other.

Further, both the automatic index and the manual index are used in the clip editor main window 36.
By operating a delete button 366B on the first toolbar, deletion is possible.

At the bottom of the source window 362, a time line 363 is displayed as a time axis. The index screen has, for example, a timeline 363 at the left end.
It is displayed so as to match the position of the corresponding time above (the recording time of the index screen with reference to the time when the recording was started).

The index screen is basically the first frame at which a scene is switched. Therefore, from one index screen to immediately before the next index screen,
Basically, it is one scene. Therefore, the user can easily find a desired scene.

After the index screen is displayed, if the user wants to check the image, he or she drags the timeline 363 with the mouse 22 within the range to be checked. In this case, the dragged range is indicated by R in FIG. Then, for example, when the reproduction button 367 on the toolbar of the clip editor main window 361 is clicked, the reproduction range R is reproduced.

That is, in this case, for example, the reproduction window 341 shown in FIG. 15 is opened. And MP
The MPEG system stream corresponding to the reproduction range R is decoded by the EG1 software decoder 201A, and is displayed in the image display column 342.

Therefore, the user can easily confirm the scene.

The user looks at the index screen or further confirms the scene to determine a scene to be used for editing, and selects the clip editor main window 361.
Click the edit point file creation button 368 on the tool bar of FIG. In this case, as shown in FIG. 21, an output window 369 is displayed below the source window 362 in the clip editor main window 361.

After the output window 369 is displayed, the user drags a range in the source window 362 to be copied as a new clip scene. In this case, the range from the index screen immediately before the dragged range in the source window 362 to the frame immediately before the index screen immediately after the range is set as a copy target range to be copied to a new clip. Then, on the time line 363 of the source window 362, a start point mark 364L and an end point mark 364R are displayed at positions corresponding to the start point and the end point of the copy target range, respectively. Further, the background portion of the source window 362 and the timeline 363 corresponding to the copy target range are changed to other colors.

When the cursor (not shown) of the mouse 22 is moved into the range to be copied, and the mouse 22 is dragged at that position, the cursor changes from, for example, an arrow shape to an arrow shape.
It is changed to a shape that symbolizes the index screen.
Then, in that state, the cursor is moved to the output window 36.
9 and release the drag, the copy target range is copied to the output window 369. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 21, one scene having an index screen named “Auto0” as a top frame and “Auto”
One scene with the index screen named “o2” as the top frame is copied to the output window 369.

When the copy target range is copied to the output window 369, the output window 369
All automatic indexes within the copy target range are deleted. When an automatic index is added to the first frame of the copy target range, the automatic index is changed to a manual index.

Here, the automatic index within the copy target range copied to the output window 369 is deleted for the following reason. That is, "Slipcl
According to the “video CD creator”, which is one of the application programs included in “ip”, a video CD recording the scene copied to the output window 369 can be produced. And "Video C
In the "D Creator", when producing a video CD, an index in the video CD standard is set at the position of the scene change pointer recorded in the index file.

On the other hand, the automatic index is for making it easy for the user to find a desired scene, and basically, a considerable number is recorded. Therefore, if the automatic index is not deleted, such a large number of indexes are set on the video CD.

The reason why the automatic index of the first frame of the copy target range is changed to the manual index is as follows. That is, the first frame of the copy target range corresponds to a so-called edit point, and it is preferable to set an index at the edit point even in a video CD. However, since the automatic index is deleted, the automatic index is changed to the manual index so as not to be deleted.

Therefore, in the output window 369, only the index screen corresponding to the manual index is displayed. Therefore, if it is desired to keep the index at the position of the automatic index, it is necessary to change the automatic index to the manual index as described above before copying to the output window 369. .

It should be noted that even if the copy target range is copied to the output window 369, it is possible not to delete the automatic index. Further, it is possible to prevent the automatic index of the first frame in the copy target range from being changed to the manual index.

The user copies a desired scene to the output window 369 as described above. For the scene copied to the output window 369,
It can be moved, deleted, rearranged, etc.
Perform such work as necessary.

Then, after arranging desired scenes in the output window 369 in a desired order, when it is desired to newly create a clip composed of such scenes, for example, the clip editor main menu is used. Window 3
A build start button 370 on the toolbar 61 is operated.

In this case, in the microprocessor 201, the encoded data corresponding to each scene arranged in the output window 369 is read from the MPEG file with reference to the index file. Then, using the elementary data (elementary stream) of the read coded data as it is, necessary processing is performed at a connection point (edit point), and then only system encoding is performed again. This encoding result is recorded on the hard disk 212 as a new MPEG file.

At this time, an index file corresponding to the index screen displayed in the output window 369 (this index file is composed of a manual index and does not include an automatic index, as described above) is newly added. The created and the newly created MPEG file are recorded on the hard disk 212 as a new clip.

[0347] Next, as described above, an index screen corresponding to the automatic index recorded in the index file is displayed in the source window 362. If it is displayed, it hinders the user from searching for the scene.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, certain conditions are set for the display of the index screen corresponding to the automatic index recorded in the index file, and the index screen that satisfies the conditions (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as display conditions) is set. It has only been made possible to display.

FIG. 22 shows an index display level setting dialog box 38 for setting display conditions.
1 is shown.

[0350] For example, in the [Display] menu of the clip editor main window 361 shown in FIG.
There is [Index display level setting] as an item, and clicking it displays an index display level setting dialog box 381.

The display all column 382 is selected (clicked) when setting display conditions for displaying the index screens corresponding to all the automatic indexes recorded in the index file. The level column 383 is
This is selected when a display condition for displaying an index screen corresponding to an automatic index having a scene change parameter equal to or greater than a certain threshold value is set. The threshold value is set to the value input in the threshold value input field 383A.

The number display field 384 is selected when setting display conditions for displaying an index screen corresponding to a predetermined number of automatic indexes in descending order of scene change parameters. The predetermined number is set to the value input in the number input field 385.

The maximum level display field 386 is selected when setting a display condition for displaying an index screen corresponding to an automatic index having the largest scene change parameter within a certain time interval. The time interval is set to the value input in the time input field 387.

When any one of the above display conditions is selected, the total number of automatic indexes recorded in the index file and the total number of indexes are displayed in a column 388 of the number of displayed indexes / total number of indexes. The number of items that match the selected display condition is displayed.

Note that the OK button 389 is operated when the setting items in the index display level setting dialog box 381 are determined to be newly input and the index display level setting dialog box 381 is closed. The cancel button 390 is operated when the settings in the index display level setting dialog box 381 are held in the previously determined state and the index display level setting dialog box 381 is closed. The help button 391 is operated to display help for the index display level setting dialog box 381.

The display of the index screen in the source window 362 shown in FIG. 21 is performed according to the display conditions set as described above.

That is, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 23, first, in step S61, it is determined whether or not the display column 382 is all selected. If it is determined that the display column 382 is selected, the process proceeds to step S62. Proceed,
Index screens corresponding to all of the automatic indexes recorded in the index file are displayed in the source window 362, and the process ends.

If it is determined in step S61 that the display column 382 is not selected, the flow advances to step S63 to determine whether the level column 383 is selected. If it is determined in step S63 that the level column 383 has been selected, the process proceeds to step S64, in which the scene change parameters of the automatic index recorded in the index file that are equal to or greater than the value input to the threshold value input column 383A. Then, the process proceeds to step S68. In step S68, an index screen corresponding to the searched automatic index is displayed in the source window 362, and the process ends.

If it is determined in step S63 that the level column 383 has not been selected, the flow advances to step S65 to determine whether the number display column 384 has been selected. If it is determined in step S65 that the number display field 384 has been selected, the process proceeds to step S66, and the corresponding automatic index is searched. That is, assuming that the value input to the number input field 385 is n, in step S66, the top n with the largest scene change parameter is searched from the automatic index recorded in the index file, and the process proceeds to step S68. In step S68, an index screen corresponding to the searched n automatic indexes is displayed in the source window 362, and the process ends.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S65 that the number display field 384 has not been selected,
If none of the display column 382, the level column 383, and the number display column 384 have been selected, and therefore the maximum level display column 386 has been selected, the process proceeds to step S67 and the time input column 387. For each time interval set in, within each time period, the automatic index having the largest scene change parameter is searched from the index file. Then, in step S68, the index screen corresponding to the automatic index searched within each time is displayed in the source window 36.
2 and the process ends.

As described above, the number of index screens to be displayed can be limited in accordance with the size of the scene change parameter and the like, so that the user can easily search for a desired scene. .

In this embodiment, the level column 3
When 83 is selected, the value input to the threshold value input field 383A (the threshold value of the scene change parameter) is displayed on the toolbar of the clip editor main window 361 in FIG. 21 without opening the index display level dialog box 381. It can be changed by operating a certain down button 365A or up button 365B. That is, the lower button 3
Each time the button 65A is operated, the threshold value of the scene change parameter is decremented by one, and in this case, the number of index screens displayed increases. Also, raise button 36
When 5B is operated, the threshold value of the scene change parameter is incremented by one. Accordingly, in this case, the number of displayed index screens decreases.

Here, the index screen whose display is restricted by the above display conditions is limited to the automatic index, but the display of the index screen corresponding to the manual index is similarly restricted. It is possible.

Next, a clip (tape) is created in the “slip recorder”, and a new clip is created by editing the clip in the “clip editor”. When the number of clips increases, for example, Judging what is recorded in which clip is difficult only by looking at the file name. Therefore, in “Slipclip”, a “clip viewer” is prepared as an application program for managing clips.

When the “clip viewer” is activated, a clip viewer main window 401 as shown in FIG. 24 is displayed.

[0366] The clip list 402 displays a representative screen of the clips registered in the clip collection.

Here, the clip collection is a folder for grouping clips, and the representative screen is a certain screen constituting a clip. The representative screen is set, for example, by default to the first screen of the clip, but can be changed.

[0368] The tab 402A displays the name given to the clip collection. Therefore, in the embodiment of FIG.
There are folders as a collection of three clips, “Summer Trip”, “Ski Tournament”, and “Christmas”. In addition,
The clip collection can be selected by clicking the tab 402A, and the clip list 402 displays a representative screen of the clips registered in the selected clip collection. In the embodiment of FIG. 24, the clip collection “Summer Trip” is selected, and a representative screen of three clips registered therein is displayed in the clip list 402.

In the index list 403, when a representative screen displayed in the clip list 402 is clicked and a clip is selected, an index screen of the selected clip is displayed.

[0370] In the image display column 404, the clip list 40 is displayed.
The reproduced image of the clip selected in 2 is displayed. The title column 405 displays the title of the clip selected in the clip list 402. That is, in the “clip viewer”, a title can be assigned to a clip, and the title is displayed in the title column 4
05 is displayed.

A stop button 406, a play button 407, a pause button 408, skip buttons 409 and 410,
Index buttons 411, 412, slider 414,
The frame advance button 415 and the slow playback button 416 are the stop button 34 in the playback window 341 of FIG.
6, Play button 347, Pause button 348, Skip buttons 349, 350, Index button 351,
352, a slider 354, a frame advance button 355, and a slow playback button 356, respectively.

[0372] The full screen button 413 is used in the image display field 404.
Is operated when a full screen is displayed. Description column 417
Displays the description of the clip selected in the clip list 402. That is, in the “clip viewer”, a description can be added to the clip, and the description is displayed in the description column 413.

In the present embodiment, an image is encoded (compressed) and recorded, but the present invention is also applicable to a case where an image is recorded without encoding it. However, whether or not slip reproduction can be performed depends on the transfer speed and head seek time of the hard disk 212 and the data amount (data rate) of image data to be recorded.

That is, for example, the hard disk 21
As in the above case, 4 Mbps or 20 ms is considered as the transfer speed or head seek time of 2 respectively.

The data amount of one frame is the same as that of the image in the recording mode “Normal”, that is, 15 frames.
Assuming that the data amount of the frame is to be recorded and reproduced with respect to the above-mentioned 1856 KB image, writing 1856 KB data to the hard disk 212 and
For reading, about 453 ms (= 1856
[KB] / 4 × 1024 [KB / s]). Considering the head seek time of 20 ms, it takes about 473 m for writing or reading.
It takes s time. Therefore, in this case, in order to read and write the image data of 15 frames in parallel, it takes about 946 ms.
It takes a time of (= 473 ms + 473 ms) and cannot be performed for a time corresponding to 15 frames, that is, for about 0.5 seconds.

On the other hand, suppose that recording and reproduction are performed on the same image as that in the recording mode “Long”, that is, on the above-mentioned 394 KB image having the data amount of 15 frames. Writing and reading of 394 KB data to and from the hard disk 212 takes about 96.2 ms (= 394 [KB] /
It takes 4 × 1024 [KB / s]). Considering the head seek time of 20 ms, it takes about 116.2 ms for writing or reading. Therefore, in this case, reading and writing of image data of 15 frames takes about 232.4 ms (= 116.2 ms).
(+116.2 ms), the reading and writing can be performed in parallel during a time corresponding to 15 frames, that is, about 0.5 seconds.

Also, in the present embodiment, an image is encoded in conformity with the MPEG1 standard, which is one of the encoding methods at a fixed rate. However, the image encoding method conforms to the MPEG1 standard. It is not limited to conforming, and the image can also be encoded at a variable rate. However, when encoding an image at a variable rate, for example, when performing slip reproduction,
It is difficult to detect the position where the encoded data is recorded from the number of bytes from the recording start position.

Also, in the present embodiment, the slip reproduction is performed on the image (and the sound accompanying it), but the slip reproduction can be performed on other data. Similarly, securing the tape,
It can be performed on data other than images and sounds.

[0379]

According to the information processing apparatus, the information processing method, and the program storage medium of the present invention, attribute data for performing the processing is set for a predetermined unit of information, and based on the attribute data, , A predetermined unit of information is processed. Then, the information of the predetermined unit and the attribute data are recorded in association with each other. Therefore, for example, the user can perform various processes such as recording, reproduction, editing, and the like on an image by a simple operation.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of an external configuration of a personal computer to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an example of an external configuration of a personal computer to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the main body 31.

FIG. 4 is a rear view of the main body 31.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an example of an electrical configuration of the personal computer shown in FIG. 1 (FIG. 2).

FIG. 6: MPEG1 real-time encoder board 21
3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a slip recorder main window 301.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a tape setting dialog box 321.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining a normal tape and an endless tape.

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining specifications of each recording mode.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a recording process for a normal tape.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a recording process for an endless tape.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating an index recording process.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a format of index data.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a playback window 341.

FIG. 16 is a diagram for explaining elapsed time, remaining time, and recording time.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating a slip regeneration process.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram for explaining processing of an application program “slip recorder”.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a time change of a scene change parameter.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart illustrating a process performed by a controller.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a clip editor main window 361.

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing an index display level setting dialog box 381.

FIG. 23 is a flowchart illustrating an index screen display process for displaying an index screen in a source window 362.

24 is a diagram showing a clip viewer main window 401. FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 keyboard, 22 mice, 24 microphones,
31 body, 32, 33 planes, 34 power button,
35 recess, 36 lower panel, 37 upper panel,
41 FDD, 42 CD drive, 43 AV
Terminal portion, 44 extension portion, 45 guide, 51 display, 52 pedestal, 53 display portion, 54 concave portion, 55 CRT, 56, 57 surface, 58 groove,
59, 60 speaker, 61 power lamp, 63
Hard disk access lamp, 64 floppy disk drive access lamp, 66 floppy disk eject button, 68 eject button,
69 Eject hole, 70 Access lamp, 71
Power input terminal, 72 keyboard terminal, 73 mouse terminal, 74 USB terminal, 75 printer terminal,
76 serial terminal, 77 game terminal, 78
Headphone terminal, 79 line input terminal, 80
Microphone terminal, 81 Video output terminal, 82
S video output terminal, 83 monitor terminal, 84 AV terminal, 85 antenna terminal, 86 line jack,
87 telephone jack, 101 input terminal, 1
02 output terminal, 110 frame memory, 111
Block divider, 112 differentiator, 113 changeover switch, 114 DCT circuit, 115 quantizer,
116 zigzag scan circuit, 117 VLC circuit, 118 output buffer, 119 quantization step controller, 120 motion detector, 121 motion compensator,
122 frame memory, 123 changeover switch,
124 adder, 125 inverse DCT circuit, 126
Inverse quantizer, 130 image evaluation circuit, 131 scene change detection circuit, 132 compression method selection circuit, 1
33 controllers, 201 microprocessors,
202 main memory, 203 VRAM, 20
4 bus bridge, 206 modem, 207 I / O
Interface, 210 auxiliary storage interface, 211 CD-R disk, 212 hard disk, 213 MPEG1 real-time encoder board, 213A TV tuner, 214 video camera, 215 AV processing circuit, 215A NTSC
Encoder, 216 VTR, 301 slip recorder main window, 302 recording indicator,
303 scene change indicator, 304 current time display, 305 recording time display, 306 timer standby indicator, 307A endless recording display, 307B input source display, 308 stop button, 309 recording button, 310 pause button, 311 recording time display change button, 312 Input change button, 313 up / down button, 31
4 channel button, 321 tape setting dialog box, 322 name field, 323 write protection check box, 324 type field, 325 recording time field, 326 automatic index check box, 327 recording mode field, 328 recording mode field, 329 automatic check box, 330
Reference button, 331 information column, 332 OK button, 333 cancel button, 334 help button, 341 playback window, 342 image display column, 343 playback indicator, 344 playback time display, 345 audio mode display, 346 stop button, 347 playback button , 348 Pause button, 349, 350 Skip button, 351, 3
52 index button, 353 playback time display change button, 354 slider, 354A slider groove, 355 frame forward button, 356 slow playback button, 357 audio switching button, 361 clip editor main main window, 362 source window, 363 timeline, 364L start point Mark, 364R end mark, 365A down button, 365B up button, 366A add index button, 366B delete button, 36
7 Play button, 368 Edit point file creation button, 369 output window, 370 Build start button, 381 Index display level setting dialog box, 382 All display column, 383
Level column, 383A Threshold value input column 383A, 38
4 Number display field, 385 Number input field, 386 Maximum level display field, 387 Time input field, 388 Number of displayed indexes / Total number of indexes field, 3
89 OK button, 390 Cancel button, 39
1 help button, 401 clip viewer main main window, 402 clip list, 402A
Tab, 403 index list, 404 image display field, 405 title field, 406 stop button,
407 play button, 408 pause button,
409, 410 skip button, 411, 412
Index button, 413 Full screen button, 41
4 slider, 415 frame forward button, 416
Slow playback button, 417 Description column

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04N 5/92

Claims (12)

[Claims] An attribute data setting unit configured to set attribute data for performing a process on the information of the predetermined unit; and information of the predetermined unit based on the attribute data set by the attribute data setting unit. An information processing apparatus comprising: a processing unit that processes the information; and a recording unit that records the information of the predetermined unit processed by the processing unit and the attribute data set by the attribute data setting unit in association with each other. . 2. The information according to claim 1, further comprising a reproducing unit that reproduces information of a predetermined unit recorded by the recording unit in accordance with the attribute data recorded in association with the information. Processing equipment. 3. The information of the predetermined unit is image information, the attribute data includes a recording mode for recording the image information, and the processing unit includes the recording mode set as the attribute data. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image information is processed based on the information. 4. The attribute data includes an encoding parameter for controlling encoding of the image information, and the processing unit determines an image of the predetermined unit based on the encoding parameter set as the attribute data. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the information is encoded. 5. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a reproducing unit configured to decode and reproduce the image information of a predetermined unit recorded by the recording unit in accordance with an encoding parameter recorded in association with the image information. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein: 6. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the attribute data includes an image size of the image information, and the processing unit processes the predetermined unit of image information based on the image size set as the attribute data. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein: 7. The information of the predetermined unit is audio information, the attribute data includes a recording mode when recording the audio information, and the processing unit includes the recording mode set as the attribute data. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined unit of audio information is processed based on the information. 8. The information of the predetermined unit is image information and audio information; the attribute data includes a recording mode when recording the image information and audio information; 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined unit of image and audio information is processed based on the set recording mode. 9. An attribute data setting step of setting attribute data for performing a process on information of a predetermined unit; and information of the predetermined unit based on the attribute data set in the attribute data setting step. And a recording step of recording the information of the predetermined unit processed in the processing step and the attribute data set in the attribute data setting step in association with each other. . 10. The information according to claim 9, further comprising a reproducing step of reproducing information of a predetermined unit recorded in the recording step in accordance with attribute data recorded in association with the information. Processing method. 11. An attribute data setting step of setting attribute data for performing a process on information of a predetermined unit; and information of the predetermined unit based on the attribute data set in the attribute data setting step. And a recording step of recording the information of the predetermined unit processed in the processing step and the attribute data set in the attribute data setting step in association with each other. Program storage medium. 12. The program according to claim 11, further comprising a reproduction step of reproducing the information of the predetermined unit recorded in the recording step in accordance with the attribute data recorded in association with the information. A program storage medium according to claim 1.