JP2002112157A - Program signal recording and reproducing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem of a conventional PVR(personal video recorder) with the recorder unable to record all the programs, when video recording reserved program. SOLUTION: When reservation of video recording is set via a key entry section 12, a recording reservation manager 11 stores video recording reservation information, a system controller 9 executes subtraction processing, that subtracts the recording capacity required for recording of a reserved program from an idle recording area of a recording medium 4 and sets the capacity after the subtraction to a recording limit capacity. Since a recording controller 2 and a media manager 3 are controlled, so as to record programs within a range of the recording limit capacity, the reserved programs can be recorded surely.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a program signal recording / reproducing apparatus for recording a received program signal on a recording medium such as a hard disk and reproducing the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There is known an apparatus for recording and reproducing program signals using a hard disk as a recording medium. Such a device is called a PVR (Personal Video Recorder), and can simultaneously execute recording and reproduction of a program signal (actually, the recording operation and the reproduction operation are quickly switched and time-division processing is performed).

[0003] Therefore, when this PVR is used, simultaneous recording / reproduction for reproducing another program on the hard disk while recording a certain program, or recording a program while recording a certain program. It is also possible to perform time-shift reproduction in which reproduction is performed from a head portion or a recorded desired portion. A function similar to the time shift reproduction is cache reproduction.

[0004] In this cache reproduction, a hard disk is used as a cache disk, and programs being broadcast are always recorded on the hard disk. Then, when it is desired to perform the reproduction again from a slightly earlier scene, the reproduction is performed from the favorite scene by going back within the range stored as the cache.

[0005] In addition, this PVR is provided with a program recording reservation function, like a video tape recorder, to record a program when the user is absent, and to display a program behind the program that the user is watching. Or can be recorded. However, since the PVR may operate in a state other than recording and reproducing a program, such as during cache reproduction, the PVR may operate.
There is no timer mode to prohibit key acceptance after recording reservation.

[0006]

Therefore, at the time when a recording reservation is set, it is not known whether or not there is enough free space to record all of the program at the time of recording execution. In the worst case, the entire program can be recorded. Or it may delete some of the other programs recorded on the hard disk.

[0007] In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a program signal recording / reproducing apparatus capable of reliably recording a program reserved for recording.

[0008]

In order to solve the above problems, a program signal recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention records a program signal on a recording medium having a predetermined amount of recording capacity, and records the program signal on the recording medium. A program signal recording / reproducing apparatus for reproducing a program signal recorded on a recording medium, a recording means for recording an incoming program signal on the recording medium, and a reproducing means for reproducing a program signal recorded on the recording medium. A vacant recording capacity detecting means for detecting a vacant recording capacity on the recording medium, and an input means for inputting recording reservation information of a program signal, wherein a program recording reservation is set via the input means. In this case, a capacity obtained by subtracting a recording capacity necessary for recording a program reserved for recording from a free recording capacity of the recording medium detected by the free recording capacity detecting means is set as a recording limit capacity,
The recording of the program signal exceeding the recording limit capacity by the recording means is prohibited until immediately before the recording of the program reserved for recording is performed.

[0009] When a recording reservation of a program is set via the input means, a recording capacity required for recording the program reserved for recording is subtracted immediately before the recording of the program reserved for recording is executed. The processing is canceled to record the program reserved for recording.

[0010] A recording reservation mode for periodically recording a program broadcast at the same time on the same day of the week is provided. If no program broadcast at the same time on the same day is present on the recording medium, the recording is performed. The capacity obtained by subtracting the recording capacity required for recording the program reserved for recording from the free recording capacity of the recording medium detected by the capacity detecting means is set as the recording limit capacity, and until the recording execution of the program reserved for recording, The recording means is prohibited from recording a program signal exceeding the recording limit capacity, and immediately before executing the recording of the program reserved for recording, the subtraction processing for subtracting the recording capacity required for recording the program to be recorded is canceled to cancel the subtraction processing. If a program broadcasted at the same time on the same day of the week is recorded on the recording medium while the recording of the program reserved for recording is performed, the program exists on the recording medium immediately before the recording of the program is performed. The recording area of the program is opened to make a part of the free recording capacity, and then the recording of the program reserved for recording is executed.

[0011]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a configuration of a program signal recording / reproducing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a program signal to be recorded coming in the form of a video signal and an audio signal.
The recording signal processing unit 2 that performs compression processing such as ng Picture Experts Group) or the like and outputs the compressed program signal output by the recording signal processing unit 1 after adding additional information to be described later. The recording controller 3, which stores the program signal in the buffer and outputs the signal at a predetermined timing, converts the program signal output from the recording controller 2 into a signal form suitable for recording on a recording medium and outputs the signal, or reproduces the program signal from the recording medium. This is a media manager that converts a program signal into an original signal form and outputs the converted signal.

Reference numeral 4 denotes a hard disk or a semiconductor memory or the like, and a recording medium on which program signals from the media manager 3 are recorded / reproduced. 5 stores a program signal from the media manager 3 in a buffer (not shown). A playback controller that outputs this at the timing of, and further extracts additional information added to the program signal,
Reference numeral 6 denotes a reproduction signal processing unit that performs a decompression process such as the MPEG method on the program signal from the reproduction controller 5, outputs the program signal in the form of a video signal and an audio signal, and outputs a synchronization signal of the video signal.

Reference numeral 7 denotes an OSD for appropriately adding on-screen information to a program signal output from the reproduction signal processing unit 6 and outputting the program signal.
(On Screen Display) processing unit 8 is a reproduction signal processing unit 6
Is a display controller that receives the synchronization signal output by the controller and controls the OSD processing unit 7 based on the timing of the synchronization signal.

Reference numeral 9 denotes a recording controller 2, a media manager 3, a reproduction controller 5, and a display controller 8.
, A system clock for supplying date information and current time information to the system controller 9, a program reservation information 11 for accumulating program reservation information, and a system A recording reservation manager 12 for exchanging information with the controller 9 is a key input unit for transmitting a user's instruction to the system controller 9. The key input unit 12 may be a button provided on the main body of the recording / reproducing apparatus, a remote control transmitter provided outside the apparatus, or an external device connected via an interface such as IEEE1394.

Hereinafter, the operation of the program signal recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention will be described. First, an operation for recording a program signal on the recording medium 4 will be described. The user sets a recording mode before recording a program.

Although the present program signal recording / reproducing apparatus has several recording modes, the bit rate of the program signal compressed by the recording signal processing unit 1 differs depending on each recording mode. The higher the bit rate, the higher the recording quality, but the shorter the recording time of the program that can be recorded on the recording medium 4, while the lower the bit rate, the lower the recording quality of the program, but the lower the recording quality. Recording time becomes longer. Then, in the recording mode set as described above, the program signal is subjected to compression processing and output to the recording controller 2.

On the other hand, date information and current time information are supplied from the system clock 10 to the system controller 9, and the system controller 9 outputs these information to the recording controller 2. And the recording controller 2
Adds the date information and the current time information from the system controller 9 and the internally generated frame information to the program signal output from the recording signal processing unit 1 as additional information, and adds the additional information to the program signal. Are sequentially accumulated in its internal buffer.

Thereafter, under the control of the system controller 9, the program signal is read from the internal buffer, and converted into a signal form suitable for recording on the recording medium 4 by the media manager 3. Here, assuming that a hard disk is used as the recording medium 4, the media manager 3 converts the program signal into data in a file format suitable for recording on the hard disk, and this data is stored in the recording medium 4 (hard disk). Recorded above.

At this time, not only the program signal but also the additional information added by the recording controller 2 is recorded on the recording medium 4, and the recording address of the program signal and the recorded additional information are recorded on the recording medium 4. Program-related information to be associated with the information is recorded. Here, the description will be made assuming that the additional information and the program-related information are recorded on the same recording medium as the recording medium for recording the program signal. However, the additional information and the program-related information are recorded on a recording medium different from the recording medium for recording the program signal. Needless to say, it can be recorded.

The system controller 9 constantly monitors the free space of the recording medium 4 via the media manager 3, and can continue to record the program until the free space is exhausted. Normally, this free space is the recording limit capacity of the recording medium 4, so that recording can be performed as long as there is this free space. However, when a program recording reservation is made as described later, the recording limit is reached. In some cases, the capacity is set to a capacity smaller than the free capacity, and in this case, recording beyond the recording limit capacity cannot be performed. Therefore, it is not possible to record a program exceeding the recording limit capacity, both when used for normal recording and when storing a program as a cache.

On the other hand, when a program signal recorded on the recording medium 4 is reproduced, the system controller 9 controls the media manager 3 so that the program-related information is read from the recording medium 4 and the program-related information is read out. , The reading of the program signal from a predetermined address of the recording medium 4 is started.

Then, the read program signal is converted into the original signal form via the media manager 3 and output to the reproduction controller 5. The reproduction controller 5 temporarily stores the program signal in its internal buffer, reads it out, and then extracts additional information added to the program signal.

Here, the reproduction controller 5 outputs the program signal to the reproduction signal processing unit 6, while outputting the extracted additional information to the system controller 9, and the reproduction signal processing unit 6
A program signal obtained by subjecting the compressed program signal to an MPEG expansion process is output to the OSD processing unit 7,
The synchronization signal is output to the display controller 8.

Then, the system controller 9 outputs the additional information from the reproduction controller 5 to the display controller 8, and the display controller 8 outputs the additional information based on the synchronization signal from the reproduction signal processing unit 6 and the additional information from the system controller 9. The OSD processing unit 7 is controlled so that on-screen display is performed as shown in FIG.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the on-screen information displayed on the screen when the normal reproduction is performed as described above. The time of the entire program is displayed as a bar as shown in FIG. A playback position mark (b) is displayed at a position corresponding to the elapsed playback time. In the upper left part of the screen, the playback elapsed time from the beginning of the program is displayed numerically as shown in (c), and in the upper right part of the screen, the date when the program was recorded is displayed as shown in (d). Then, the program signal to which the above-described on-screen information is added is output from the OSD processing unit 7.

Next, the operation when recording a program signal by recording reservation will be described. When a program to be recorded is specified via the key input unit 12, this information is output from the system controller 9 to the recording reservation manager 11, and stored in the recording reservation manager 11. The recording reservation information includes a broadcast date, a start / end time, a broadcast channel,
In addition to the information on the recording mode, a recording reservation number assigned to this reservation is included.

At the same time, the system controller 9 subtracts from the free space of the recording medium 4 monitored via the media manager 3 a recording capacity enough to record a program for which recording reservation has been made. In other words, when a recording reservation for a program is made, the remaining capacity obtained by subtracting the recording capacity necessary for recording the reserved program from the actual free space on the recording medium 4 is regarded as the recording limit capacity of the recording medium 4, and The status is maintained until immediately before the execution of recording of the reserved program.

Since the subtraction process is canceled immediately before the recording of the program is executed, it is possible to prevent a situation in which a recording capacity for recording the program cannot be secured at the time of executing the recording of the reserved program. The program can be reliably recorded.

The same applies to the case where a recording reservation for two programs is made. The remaining capacity obtained by subtracting the recording capacity necessary for recording the two reserved programs from the actual free space on the recording medium 4 is equal to the remaining capacity. The recording capacity of the recording medium 4 is regarded as the recording limit capacity, and the subtraction processing of the recording capacity necessary for recording the first program immediately before the recording of the first program is canceled, and the recording of the second program is executed. Since the subtraction processing of the recording capacity necessary for recording the second program immediately before is canceled, the reserved programs can be reliably recorded.

On the other hand, if a weekly reservation mode or a daily reservation mode is designated when a program recording reservation is made, the operation is performed as described later. Here, the weekly reservation mode is a recording reservation mode for recording a program periodically broadcast from the same broadcasting station in the same time zone on the same day of the week each time, and includes a recording start end time and a broadcast channel of the program. Further, a reservation is made by selecting a weekly recording mode after selecting any day from Monday to Sunday.

[0031] The daily reservation mode is a recording reservation mode for recording a program periodically broadcast from the same broadcasting station in the same time zone on a plurality of days of the week each time. End time and broadcast channel of the program, and
By selecting a plurality of days of the week, a daily recording mode is designated.

[0032] That is, the weekly reservation mode is a recording reservation mode for periodically recording a program broadcast once a week, and the daily reservation mode is a program for recording a program broadcast several times a week. This is a recording reservation mode for temporarily recording.

Here, when the weekly reservation mode or the daily reservation mode is designated via the key input unit 12, the recording reservation information is stored in the recording reservation manager 11, and the recording reservation information is necessary for recording the reserved program. The recording capacity is secured on a weekly basis. At this time, a recording reservation number is given to the recording reservation, and the recording reservation number is stored inside the recording reservation manager 11 as a part of the recording reservation information.

[0034] For example, when a recording reservation of a program broadcast only once a week is made in the weekly reservation mode, one time (one week) of the reserved program is calculated from the actual free space on the recording medium 4. The remaining capacity obtained by subtracting the recording capacity required for recording is regarded as the recording limit capacity of the recording medium 4, and this subtraction processing is canceled immediately before the recording of the program is executed. Therefore, the first broadcast of the program reserved for recording is reliably recorded.

When the next program is recorded based on the recording reservation, the system controller 9 reads the recording reservation number stored as recording reservation information inside the recording reservation manager 11, and It is confirmed via the media manager 3 whether or not the program recorded in the above exists on the recording medium 4.

If there is a program recorded with the same recording reservation number, the recording area of the program recorded with this recording reservation number is opened immediately before recording the next program. That is, if there is a program with the same recording reservation number recorded on the same day of the week one week ago, the recording area of this program is released, and the released area is treated as a part of the free area. As described above, in the second and subsequent recordings, since the recording is executed after increasing the free space of the recording medium 4, it is possible to reliably record the program reserved for recording in the weekly reservation mode. .

That is, if there is no program recorded with the same recording reservation number on the recording medium 4, the recording of one time (one week) of the reserved program is performed from the actual free space on the recording medium 4. The recording limit capacity obtained by subtracting the necessary recording capacity is set, and the program is recorded by canceling the subtraction process immediately before the execution of the recording. On the other hand, if there is a program recorded with the same recording reservation number on the recording medium 4, the recording area of the program recorded with the same recording reservation number is opened immediately before the execution of recording without performing such a subtraction process. To record the program.

[0038] When a recording reservation is made for a program that is broadcast every day from Monday to Wednesday in the daily reservation mode, this recording reservation information is stored in the recording reservation manager 11. Different recording reservation numbers are assigned to broadcasts on Wednesday. In other words, when a program is reserved in the reservation mode every day, a different recording reservation number is assigned to each reserved day for each reserved program.

Then, the system controller 9 subtracts the recording capacity necessary for recording three times (one week) of the reserved program from the actual free space on the recording medium 4 to obtain the remaining capacity of the recording medium 4. Immediately before the recording of the broadcast for Monday, the subtraction processing of the recording capacity for one program is canceled, and the recording for the broadcast on Monday is executed.

[0040] Immediately before the recording for the broadcast on Tuesday,
The recording reservation number for this program on Tuesday broadcast is confirmed on the recording medium 4, but since there is no program with the same recording reservation number, the recording capacity for one program is subtracted again immediately before execution of recording for Tuesday broadcast. After the processing is canceled, recording for the broadcast on Tuesday is executed.

Similarly, immediately before the recording for the broadcast on Wednesday, the recording reservation number for the broadcast on the Wednesday of this program is stored in the recording medium 4.
As described above, since there is no program with the same recording reservation number, the process of subtracting the recording capacity for one program is canceled again immediately before the recording of the broadcast for Wednesday, and then the recording for the broadcast for Wednesday Is executed.

On the other hand, when recording for the next Monday broadcast is performed based on this recording reservation, since a program with the same recording reservation number exists on the recording medium 4, this recording reservation number is used immediately before recording is performed. The recording area of the recorded program is opened, and the recording for the next Monday broadcast is executed.

Similarly, when recording for the next Tuesday and Wednesday broadcasts, since there is a program with the same recording reservation number on the recording medium 4, recording is performed with these recording reservation numbers immediately before recording execution. The recording area of the broadcasted program is released, and the broadcast for the next Tuesday and Wednesday is recorded. Therefore,
The program reserved for recording in the reservation mode every day can be reliably recorded every time.

As described above, in the program signal recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention, when the weekly reservation mode or the daily reservation mode is designated, the recording capacity necessary for recording the reserved program for one week is secured. When recording next week, the recording area for programs recorded on the same day is opened based on the assigned recording reservation number, so that programs reserved for recording in these recording reservation modes can be reliably recorded each time. Becomes

Further, according to the program signal recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention, the recording capacity required for recording the reserved program is secured for only one week, and the recording area of the already recorded program is opened after the next week. Therefore, even if a program broadcast every day from Monday to Saturday is recorded in the reservation mode every day, the program recordable area on the recording medium 4 is wastefully consumed. In other words, it is possible to prevent the recording medium 4 from being full of program signals of programs recorded in the reservation mode every day.

In addition, since the program recorded in the weekly reservation mode or the daily reservation mode is held on the recording medium 4 for one week, the recorded program cannot be viewed for a few days after the recording. Even so, these programs can be viewed within one week.

[0047] Further, by performing the reproduction operation as described above, the program can be dubbed to, for example, an external video tape recorder or the like. Therefore, when it is desired to save the program recorded in the weekly reservation mode or the daily reservation mode, or There is no particular problem even if the user cannot view the program within one week but wants to view the program thereafter.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, an example has been shown in which, when recording of a program is reserved in the weekly reservation mode or the daily reservation mode, the recording capacity necessary for recording the reserved program is reserved for only one week. However, for example, when the recording capacity of the recording medium 4 is large to some extent, for example, a recording capacity for recording for one month is secured, and after one month, the recording area of the program recorded on the same date to be recorded is changed. By releasing the program, a new program may be recorded.

[0049]

According to the present invention, a capacity obtained by subtracting a recording capacity required for recording a program reserved for recording from a free capacity on a recording medium is set as a recording limit recording capacity, and recording is performed until a program is recorded. Since recording of a program signal exceeding the recording limit capacity by means is prohibited, it is possible to prevent a situation where a recording area for recording this program cannot be secured when recording a program reserved for recording, Since the subtraction processing is canceled, an effect is provided that the program reserved for recording can be reliably recorded.

In the recording reservation mode in which a program broadcast at the same time on the same day every week is periodically recorded, if there is no program broadcast at the same time on the same day, the program is recorded by the subtraction processing as described above. On the other hand, if there is a program that is broadcast at the same time on the same day of the week while securing the area, the recording area of this program is released immediately before recording is performed and the program is recorded. It has the effect of not consuming.

[0051]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a configuration of a program signal recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a screen display during normal reproduction.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Recording signal processing part 2 ... Recording controller 3 ... Media manager 4 ... Recording medium 5 ... Reproduction controller 6 ... Reproduction signal processing part 7 ... OSD processing part 8 ... Display controller 9 ... System controller 10 ... System clock 11 ... Recording reservation manager 12 ... Key input section

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04N 5/91 H04N 5/91 Z 5/92 5/92 HF Term (Reference) 5C052 AA01 AB04 CC11 DD04 5C053 FA23 FA30 GB37 JA16 JA30 LA04 LA06 LA07 5D044 AB05 AB07 BC01 CC04 DE42 GK12 5D102 GA02 GA08 GA76 GA91 HB37

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A program signal recording / reproducing apparatus which records a program signal on a recording medium having a predetermined recording capacity and reproduces the program signal recorded on the recording medium. Recording means for recording on a recording medium; reproducing means for reproducing a program signal recorded on the recording medium; vacant recording capacity detecting means for detecting a vacant recording capacity on the recording medium; Input means for inputting information, and when recording reservation of a program is set via the input means, recording reservation is performed from the free recording capacity of the recording medium detected by the free recording capacity detecting means. The capacity obtained by subtracting the recording capacity necessary for recording the program is set as the recording limit capacity, and the recording of the program signal exceeding the recording limit capacity by the recording means until immediately before the execution of the recording of the program reserved for recording. Program signal recording and reproducing apparatus is characterized in that is prohibited. 2. When a recording reservation of a program is set via the input means, immediately before executing recording of the program reserved for recording, a subtraction for subtracting a recording capacity required for recording the program reserved for recording is performed. 2. The program signal recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording of the program reserved for recording is canceled by canceling the processing. 3. A recording reservation mode for periodically recording a program broadcast at the same time on the same day of the week, and when a program broadcast at the same time on the same day does not exist on the recording medium, The capacity obtained by subtracting the recording capacity required for recording the program reserved for recording from the free recording capacity of the recording medium detected by the recording capacity detecting means is set as a recording limit capacity, and until immediately before recording of the program reserved for recording is performed. The recording means for prohibiting recording of the program signal exceeding the recording limit capacity by the recording means and canceling the subtraction processing for subtracting the recording capacity required for recording the program to be recorded immediately before the recording of the program reserved for recording is canceled. If the program broadcasted at the same time on the same day of the week is recorded on the recording medium while the recording of the program reserved for recording is performed, Opens the recording area of the program to be resident on that part of the free storage capacity, the recording to perform recording of the program, characterized in claim 1 program signal recording and reproducing apparatus according.