JP2002133837A - Recorded scene retrieving method and recording and reproducing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize the reduction of retrieval time by retrieving a recorded scene easily and surely. SOLUTION: When a characteristic word is detected by speech recognition in a program subjected to videotape recording, the word is automatically recorded as index information for retrieving the recorded scene. When a video- recording signal is compression-recorded by using a compression technique such as an MPEG, a time code recorded simultaneously is stored as index information. The index information is referred to in fast-foward reproduction mode. When a reproduction time code coincides with the stored time code, a reproduction scene is considered as a recorded scene to be paid attention to, and the mode is changed into a normal reproduction mode. When the recorded scene is not a scene the viewing of and listening to which a user expects, the mode is changed again to the fast-foward reproduction mode to perform the same scene retrieval by the user's operation. Since the scene retrieval is automatic, the mode is automatically changed to the normal reproduction mode whenever index information is detected. Thus, the retrieval of a target scene can be accelerated and, moreover, retrieval time can be reduced.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for retrieving a recorded scene and a recording / reproducing apparatus to which the retrieving method is applied. For details, when recording a program, etc., pay attention to the sound specific to the recorded program, and when this specific sound is detected, the index information that can search the recorded scene is recorded as search information. By searching this index information, a notable recorded scene can be searched at high speed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There is a case where a broadcast program or the like is recorded and it is desired to reproduce and view the program later. Some of the recorded programs may not be able to fully understand the contents of a drama such as a chronological sequence unless they are tracked sequentially. Sometimes it can be recognized as.

[0003] In the latter case, if the user selects the fast-forward playback mode and determines that the scene is a scene to be watched or a scene to be watched in, the normal playback mode is selected, and if the scene is surely the scene to be watched. Are you sure? Therefore, when the search scene is not the scene of interest, the mode is returned to the fast-forward playback mode again, and the high-speed search is performed.

[0004]

Therefore, in such a conventional recorded scene search method, since the probability of hitting the target scene is low, it is necessary to repeat the high-speed search for the target scene several times. Even if it is repeated several times, it is not always possible to search for a desired recorded scene. Therefore, it takes time to search for the scene of interest. It can be easily understood that if the search time can be reduced, the usability of the apparatus will be significantly improved.

Accordingly, the present invention has solved such a conventional problem. In particular, attention is paid to audio, and when audio unique to a recorded program is detected, index information for searching for the recorded scene is provided. By using this index information when recording and reproducing, it is possible to quickly search for a target scene.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for retrieving a recorded scene, which comprises the steps of: when recording a program, detecting audio information unique to the recorded program; Index information related to the recording scene is recorded as search information of the recording scene, and when the above-mentioned index information is detected in the fast-forward playback mode, a transition to the normal playback mode is performed to search for the recording scene. Features.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording / reproducing apparatus for recording / reproducing a recording signal.
A recording unit, a voice recognition unit for a voice signal related to the video recording signal, and an index to a video recording scene when recognition information output when the voice recognition unit recognizes voice specific to the recorded program is obtained. A control unit that performs control for recording processing as information, and when the above-mentioned index information is detected during the fast-forward playback mode, a transition to the normal playback mode is performed to search for a recorded scene. I do.

According to the present invention, in the case of a sports program such as baseball, soccer, etc., when an exciting scene comes, for example, in the case of a baseball broadcast, in addition to the crowd noise, the presenter, commentator of the program, etc. Often, special words such as "home run" and "go, go" are often issued.

This is especially true in the case of soccer broadcasting. In particular, when a goal is scored, many exciting words such as "goal, goal" are issued. Of course, even in the battles near the goal, we often see words like cliches jumping into the TV audience.

When such a unique word is detected by speech recognition, the word is automatically recorded as index information for searching the recorded scene. When a recording signal is compressed and recorded using a compression technique such as MPEG, a time code recorded at the same time is used as index information. Alternatively, when user bits can be recorded, a specific code is recorded simultaneously as index information.

In the fast-forward playback mode, the index information is referred to, and the playback scene when the playback time code matches the stored time code or when the index information which is a user bit from the playback signal is detected, Switch to the normal playback mode, considering the recording scene to be noticed.

When the recorded scene is not the scene that the user wants to view, the operation waits for the user's operation,
Switch to the fast-forward playback mode again and perform the same scene search. This scene search is automatic, and the mode is automatically switched to the normal reproduction mode every time the index information is detected. Therefore, the search for the scene of interest can be speeded up, and the search time can be reduced.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, an embodiment of a method for retrieving a recorded scene and a recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The embodiment exemplifies a recording / reproducing apparatus in which a hard disk device HDD is used as a recording medium and video and audio are recorded using a compression technique.

FIG. 1 is a system diagram of a main portion showing an embodiment of a recording / reproducing apparatus 10 according to the present invention, which has a recording / reproducing section 40 and an HDD 18 as recording / reproducing means. The recording / reproducing unit 40 converts an input video signal (including a recording signal and an audio signal) supplied to the terminal 14 into a digital signal by an A / D converter 42 and sends the digitally converted video signal to an encoder 44 for signal compression. The supplied data is subjected to data compression processing. In this embodiment, MPEG2
This is a case where a video signal is compressed according to a method. The compressed video signal is recorded on the HDD 18.

The video signal read from the HDD 18 is supplied to an MPEG decoder 46 to perform data decompression processing. Thereafter, the D / A converter 48 returns the signal to an original analog signal. Output. The reproduced signal is further supplied to the monitor 20, and the reproduced image is reproduced.

In this example, a magnetic disk having a storage capacity of about 100 to 500 gigabytes (GB) can be used as the HDD 18. HDD with such storage capacity
When using 18, maximum 300 hours, maximum 100
Recording of 0 titles is possible. In this case, the recording mode is a long-time (LP) mode of about 200 hours, and about 1 hour.
Three recording modes, a standard (SP) mode of 00 hours and a high quality (HQ) mode of about 50 hours, can be adopted.

The operation mode of the recording / reproducing apparatus 10 (a recording / reproducing mode, a recording scene search processing mode to be described later, etc.) is controlled by a control unit 22 using a CPU. The control unit 22 includes a recording / reproducing unit 40 and an HDD.
18 and the like. For this reason, the control unit 22 has a memory means (ROM) 24 containing a control program for executing various operation modes, and a working memory and a memory means (RAM) 26 for storing index information. Have been.

The input unit 30 can use a keyboard, a remote controller, an operation panel provided on the apparatus main body, or the like. The input unit 30 is provided with an operation key (fast-forward playback mode key FK) 52 for selecting a fast-forward playback mode used for searching for a recorded scene, in addition to the function keys normally provided. The fast-forward playback mode key 52 can also be used as another function key (not shown).

Further, in the recording / reproducing apparatus 10 according to the present invention, an interface section 32 capable of communicating with the outside is provided, and a communication cable (for example, IEEE) is connected to the external connection terminal 34.
E1394 communication cable)
Information from the outside can be taken into the control unit 22 and can be recorded on the HDD 18 in some cases. Therefore, the reverse process is also possible, and the recording target reproduced from the HDD 18 can be transmitted to an external device (recording / reproducing device, large-capacity mobile device, etc.) via the IEEE1394 communication interface unit 32.

In the present invention, a voice recognition means 50 is further provided, and the input voice signal supplied to the terminal 14 is subjected to recognition and detection processing of a specific voice included in the video signal by the voice recognition means 50. Then, index information for searching for a recorded scene when a specific sound is detected is generated.

That is, as described above, in the case of a sports program such as baseball, soccer, or the like, when an exciting scene comes, for example, in the case of baseball broadcasting, in addition to the crowd's noise, the moderator of the program, Commentators often say unique words such as "home run" or "go, go."

This is especially true in a soccer broadcast. In particular, when a goal is scored, many exciting words such as "goal, goal" are issued. Of course, even in the battle near the goal, words like cliches jump into the TV audience.

The speech recognition means 50 recognizes and detects such unique words. Therefore, there is a program that can detect a plurality of unique words as described above used in the sports program. In addition to the above examples, sports include sumo wrestling, tennis, rugby, and American football.

When the speech recognizing means 50 recognizes and detects a word peculiar to the program from the input audio signal and detects it, a detection signal obtained at that time is supplied to the control section 22 to generate the index information of the recorded scene. Is done.

When a recording signal is compressed and recorded using a compression technique such as MPEG, a time code TC simultaneously recorded on the HDD 18 is used as index information. Therefore, the time code TC (hour, minute, second, frame) generated by the MPEG encoder 44
Is also supplied to the control unit 22 as a recording time code TCW. Then, the time code TCW at the time when the voice recognition detection signal is obtained is stored in the memory means 26.

As shown in FIG. 2, a title of a program to be recorded is stored as a file name in the memory means 26, and the time code TCW is stored as index information in this file. When the specific voice is recognized several times, the time code TCWi (i = 1, 2,...) In the scene where the specific voice (word) is recognized is stored in the memory means 26 as the index information each time. Will be saved. The voice to be recognized is not limited to one type. When any of a plurality of frequently used sounds that are considered to be used in the recorded program is detected, the time code TCWi is stored.

At the time of reproduction, particularly in the fast-forward reproduction mode for searching for a scene of interest, the time code TCW stored in the memory means 26 is compared with the time code TC reproduced from the HDD 18. Therefore, the time code TC detected by the MPEG decoder 46 as shown in FIG.
R is supplied to the control unit 22.

Playback time code TCR and memory means 2
When the time code TCW stored in No. 6 matches, the recorded scene is determined to have a high probability of being the target scene, and the recording scene is automatically switched to the normal reproduction mode. Whether or not the scene is desired by the user can be confirmed on the playback screen in the normal playback mode.

If the retrieved recorded scene is not the scene that the user wants to view, the user waits for an operation by the user, switches to the fast-forward playback mode again, and performs the same scene search. Since this scene search is automatic, the mode is automatically switched to the normal reproduction mode every time the index information is detected. By automating the scene to be searched in this way, the search for the noted scene can be speeded up,
Moreover, the search time can be reduced.

Since the fast-forward playback mode described above is a fast-forward playback mode while searching for index information, it is handled separately from the normal fast-forward playback mode. A search processing function can be included.

When user bit information that can be used freely by the user is secured in the header information of a signal to be recorded in the HDD 18, this user bit information can be used as index information.

In this case, the user bit information is inserted into the header information in the scene in which the specific voice has been recognized. As the user bit, a code that is easily recognized as the index information is used.

When the index information is detected from the reproduced information in the fast-forward playback mode for searching for a recorded scene, the mode is automatically switched from the recorded scene to the normal playback mode. When the scene desired by the user is displayed on the reproduction screen in the normal reproduction mode, the normal reproduction mode may be continued.

If the retrieved recorded scene is not the scene that the user wants to view, the fast-forward playback mode key 52 is operated to switch to the fast-forward playback mode again to perform the same scene search. Therefore, even when the user bit is used as the index information, the target scene can be quickly searched.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a recorded scene search method for realizing the above-described high-speed search processing.
However, in this example, the time code is used as the index information. When the specific voice is recognized as described above, the time code TCW related to the recorded scene is sequentially stored in the memory means 26. Treat as something.

When the fast-forward playback mode key 52 for retrieving a recorded scene is operated (step 61), a pre-selected recorded program is read out from the HDD 18 and fast-forward-played, and this is also displayed on the monitor 20. It is. Time code TCR extracted from the reproduced video signal
Is compared with the time code TCW as index information stored in the file of the recorded program (step 62).

The fast-forward playback mode is continued until the playback time code TCR matches the stored time code TCW. When both the time codes TCR and TCW match, the playback mode is switched to the normal playback mode (step 63). .

Since the recorded scene in the normal reproduction mode can be viewed on the monitor 20, it can be easily determined whether or not this recorded scene is a scene of interest to the user. When the searched recording scene corresponds to the user's attention scene, the normal reproduction mode may be continued thereafter. In the normal playback mode, the index information search process is not performed, so that the user can view up to the last recorded scene, and the search process ends at the last recorded scene (steps 64, 65, 63).

However, if the searched recording scene is not the user's attention scene, the fast-forward playback mode key 52
Is operated again (step 65). By this operation, the mode is set to the fast-forward playback mode while retrieving the index information again (step 61).

The search process is performed until the scene of interest of the user is hit. However, since the search for a recorded scene is automatically performed and each time the time code TCR matches the stored time code TCW, the scene of interest is not overlooked, and high-speed search is possible.

[0041]

As described above, the recorded scene search method and the recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention pay particular attention to audio, and when an audio peculiar to a recorded program is detected, an input for searching the recorded scene is performed. Dix information is recorded,
At the time of reproduction, a search for a recorded scene is performed using this index information.

According to this, since the search for a recorded scene is performed by using the index information, it has a feature that a target scene can be quickly searched. In particular, since the search is based on the index information, there is no danger of overlooking the target scene, and there is a benefit that the search for the recorded scene can be performed at high speed and surely.

Therefore, this processing is optimal for recording and searching when a sound (word) unique to the sports program exists, such as a sports program.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system diagram showing an embodiment of a recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of storing index information.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a recording scene search process.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 recording / reproducing device 18 recording / reproducing means (HDD) 20 monitor 22 control unit 24, 26 memory means 30 input unit 32 communication interface unit 40 recording / reproducing unit 44 MPEG encoder 46 MPEG decoder 50 voice recognition unit

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04N 5/781 H04N 5/781 Z 5/91 5/91 Z (72) Inventor Yoji Watanabe Taito-ku, Tokyo F-term (reference) in Ichinohata 1-2-1 Aiwa Co., Ltd.

Claims (8)

[Claims] At the time of recording a program, when audio information specific to the recorded program is detected, index information related to the recorded scene is recorded as search information of the recorded scene, and the index information is detected in a fast-forward playback mode. A recording scene search method wherein a transition is made to a normal playback mode to search for a recorded scene. 2. The recorded scene search method according to claim 1, wherein, when the recorded signal is compressed and recorded, a time code attached to the recorded signal is used as the index information. 3. The recording according to claim 1, wherein when the recording signal is compressed and recorded, user bit information is used as the index information, and the user bit information is recorded together with the recording signal. Scene search method. 4. The recording according to claim 1, wherein, when a specific key is selected during reproduction in a normal reproduction mode, a transition is made to said fast-forward reproduction mode for simultaneously searching said index information. Scene search method. 5. A recording / reproducing processing unit for a recorded signal, a recording unit, a voice recognizing unit for a voice signal related to the recorded signal, and recognition information output when a specific voice is recognized by the voice recognizing unit. And a control unit for performing control for recording processing as the index information for the recorded scene when the index information is obtained. When the above-mentioned index information is detected in the fast-forward playback mode, a transition is made to the normal playback mode to change the recording scene. A recording / reproducing apparatus characterized in that a search is performed. 6. The recording / reproducing processing unit has an encoder and a decoder for compressing / expanding the recording signal, and includes, as the index information to be used when sound specific to the recording program is detected, the recording scene 6. A recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein a time code recorded with the control unit is used, and the time code is stored in a memory means associated with the control unit as information for referring to a search scene. . 7. When a user bit is used instead of the time code, when a voice unique to the recorded program is recognized, the recording signal is recorded with the user bit inserted, and the fast-forward playback mode is set. 6. The recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein a recording scene in which the user bit is detected is set as a search scene. 8. The recording according to claim 5, wherein, during reproduction in the normal reproduction mode, when a specific key is selected, a transition is made to the fast-forward reproduction mode in which the index information is searched simultaneously. Playback device.