JP2002140885A - Apparatus and method for recording and reproducing information - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a recording and reproducing apparatus using a recordable and reproducible optical disk with which retrieval and editing can easily be performed without requiring the preparation of complicated menu data. SOLUTION: A registration trigger is generated automatically or on the basis of a user's instruction in a microcomputer block 30 to retrieve an image recorded on an optical disk 10. A pointer showing the recording position of a main image acting as an index image is recorded on the prescribed area of the optical disk 10 through a data processor 36 and a disk drive 32. A reduced image data constituting the index image are further generated in an encoder part 50, and are recorded in a user menu file on the optical disk 10 through a formatter 56, the data processor 36, and the disk drive 32 from a reduced image buffer memory 59.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording medium, a reproducing apparatus therefor, and a recording / reproducing apparatus.
And an information recording / reproducing apparatus applicable to a recording / reproducing DVD player which records and reproduces images and sounds using the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A read-only optical disk on which image and audio data are recorded is a music CD, a laser disk, or a video C.
D etc. have already been put to practical use. Also, MPEG2 (Moving Picture Exposure), an international standard for moving picture compression,
erts Group Phase 2) and the DVD standard using the AC3 audio compression system were enacted and put into practical use as DVD video. Initially, the DVD standard assumed a read-only ROM type disc that cannot be recorded by the user, but recently a DVD-RAM standard that allows not only reproduction but also recording by the user has been established.

The DVD-RAM standard has been put to practical use in data recording / reproducing devices for computers at present, but of course, application to DVD recording / reproducing devices for recording and reproducing moving images and sounds is also being studied. . When the application of the DVD-RAM standard to a DVD recording / reproducing apparatus is considered, it is desired that a search can be performed in the same manner as the DVD video and DVD audio standards based on the DVD standard dedicated to reproduction.

In the DVD video standard, a VMG / VTS menu is prepared for a disc title producing company. These menus are created using dedicated authoring equipment. Then, at the time of reproduction, the recorded contents of the disc are displayed in a menu in addition to the normal video data, and the user can select the content by using a button display using a sub-picture or the like, so that a desired portion can be searched.

On the other hand, when a moving image is recorded using a DVD-RAM, a user has to create a title, and VMG / VT in the DVD video standard.
If the S menu data is adopted, these are also created by the user. However, it is very difficult for a general user to create VMG / VTS menu data in consideration of the large amount of data and necessary equipment that must be prepared for menu data creation.
Not realistic. Furthermore, in the case of a recordable / reproducible DVD,
The act of re-recording the main recording data (video / audio data) frequently occurs. However, when the VMG / VTS menu data is used, it is necessary to rewrite these menu data every time the main recording data is rewritten. Therefore, the amount of work for that will be enormous.

[0006]

As described above, the DV
When recording a moving image or audio using a D-RAM, a VMG / VTS menu used in the DVD video standard that does not assume rewriting of main recording data for the purpose of searching and editing. Using data has a problem that the burden on the user is very large and is not practical.

An object of the present invention is to solve such a problem and to provide an information recording / reproducing apparatus which can easily search and edit without having to create complicated menu data.

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a plurality of cells are defined as a management unit for managing main recording data, and a program chain is defined as a unit for managing the reproduction order of the plurality of cells. A trigger for registering a specific image to be registered is provided in a recording / reproducing apparatus for recording / reproducing the main recording data including at least one of image and audio using a recording medium capable of recording / reproducing. Trigger providing means, position information acquiring means for acquiring recording position information on the recording medium on which the specific image is recorded, according to the trigger provided by the trigger providing means, and acquisition by the recording position information acquiring means Position recording means for recording the recorded recording position information on the recording medium, wherein the position information obtaining means sets a reproduction order of the main recording data. Among cell information included in the program chain information, cell information corresponding to the start position of the specific image that is currently being defined, the first holding means for detecting and holding as the recording position information, The position recording means records the cell information held by the first holding means in a specific image position information recording area on the recording medium together with the information of the program chain information.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As a typical embodiment of the recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention, an apparatus for recording / reproducing a moving picture encoded based on MPEG2 at a variable bit rate, for example, D
There is a VD digital video recorder.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating the structure of a recordable optical disk 10 used in the DVD digital video recorder. As shown in FIG. 1, the optical disc 10 has a structure in which a pair of transparent substrates 14 each provided with a recording layer 17 are bonded with an adhesive layer 20. Each substrate 14 can be made of 0.6 mm thick polycarbonate, and the adhesive layer 20 can be made of an extremely thin (for example, 40 μm thick) ultraviolet curable resin. The pair of 0.6 mm substrates 14 are attached to each other such that the recording layer 17 is in contact with the surface of the adhesive layer 20, thereby forming a 1.2 mm substrate.
A thick large-capacity optical disk 10 is obtained.

The optical disk 10 is provided with a center hole 22. Around the center hole 22 on both surfaces of the disk, a clamp area 24 for clamping the optical disk 10 during rotation is provided. The spindle of the disk motor is inserted into the center hole 22 when the optical disk 10 is loaded in a disk drive device (not shown).
The optical disk 10 is clamped in the clamp area 24 by a disk clamper (not shown) while the disk is rotating.

The optical disk 10 has an information area 25 around the clamp area 24 where video data, audio data and other information can be recorded. In the information area 25, the lead-out area 2 is located on the outer peripheral side.
6 is provided, and a lead-in area 27 is provided on the inner peripheral side in contact with the clamp area 24. A data recording area 28 is defined between the lead-out area 26 and the lead-in area 27.

On the recording layer 17 of the information area 25, recording tracks are continuously formed, for example, in a spiral shape. The continuous track is divided into physical sectors,
These sectors are numbered sequentially. Various data are recorded on the optical disk 10 using this sector as a recording unit.

The data recording area 28 is an actual data recording area. As recording / reproducing information, video data (main video data) such as a movie, sub-video data such as subtitles / menus, and speech / sound effects are recorded. Audio data is recorded, for example, as a phase change mark.

The optical disk 10 is a RAM disk for recording / reproducing, and the recording layer 17 is a phase change composed of, for example, _five layers of Ge ₂ Sb ₂ Te by _two layers of a mixture of zinc sulfide and silicon oxide (ZnS.SiO ₂ ). It can be composed of a triple layer sandwiching a recording material layer. The substrate 14 having the recording / reproducing recording layer 17 is provided with a continuous groove, and the groove is provided with a phase change recording layer.
In addition to the grooves, the phase change recording layer on the land portion is usually used for information recording.

A DVD digital video recorder to be described later is configured to be capable of repetitive recording / repetitive reproduction (read / write) on a DVD-RAM disk (or DVD-RW disk) and repetitive reproduction on a DVD-ROM disk.

FIG. 2 shows the optical disk (DVD-RA) shown in FIG.
FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a correspondence relationship between a data recording area 28 of M) 10 and a recording track of data recorded here.
When the disk 10 is a DVD-RAM, the main body of the disk 10 is housed in the cartridge 11 to protect a delicate disk surface. DVD-RAM disk 1
0 is inserted into the disk drive of the DVD video recorder described later together with the cartridge 11, the cartridge 1
The disk 10 is pulled out of the disk 1 and clamped on a turntable of a spindle motor (not shown), and is rotated to face an optical head (not shown).

The recording layer 17 of the information area 25 shown in FIG.
, A data recording track is formed continuously in a spiral shape. The continuous track is divided into a plurality of logical sectors (minimum recording units) having a fixed storage capacity as shown in FIG. 2, and data is recorded based on the logical sectors. The recording capacity of one logical sector is 2048 bytes (or 2 kbytes), which is the same as the one-pack data length described later.
It is decided to.

The data recording area 28 is an actual data recording area in which management data, main video (video) data, sub-video data, and audio (audio) data are similarly recorded.

FIG. 3 shows a hierarchical structure of data recorded on an optical disk 10 as an information storage medium capable of recording and reproducing video information and music information shown in FIGS.
The data recording area 28 formed on the optical disc 10
It has a data hierarchical structure as shown in FIG. The logical format of this structure is defined in accordance with, for example, one of the standards ISO 9660 and Universal Disk Format (UDF) Bridge.

As shown in FIG. 3, a lead-in area 27 is provided on the inner peripheral side of the optical disk 10 and a lead-out area 26 is provided on the outer peripheral side thereof. Is allocated as a volume space 28, which is a space for volume and file structure information (volume / file management area 70) and a space for DVD standard applications (DVD data). Region 71).

The lead-in area 27 has a read-only emboss zone in which the light reflection surface has an uneven shape, a mirror zone in which the surface is formed by a flat mirror surface, and a rewrite data zone in which information can be rewritten. ing. The lead-out area 26 is composed of a rewrite data zone in which information can be rewritten.

The emboss data of the lead-in area 27
Zones include disk types such as DVD-ROM (read-only DVD disk), DVD-RAM (recording / reproducing DVD disk) and DVD-R (write-once DVD disk), disk size, recording density, and recording start. / Information about the entire information storage medium, such as a physical sector number indicating a recording end position, is recorded. Also, a recording power and a recording pulse width required for recording data on the recording layer 17 and data recorded on the recording layer 17 are erased. In this case, information relating to erasing power required to perform recording, reproducing power required to reproduce data recorded in the recording layer 17, and information on recording / reproducing / erasing characteristics such as a linear velocity at the time of recording / erasing are recorded.
Further, in the emboss data zone of the lead-in area 27, information relating to the manufacture of one information storage medium such as a serial number is recorded in advance. In the rewrite data zone 27 of the lead-in and the rewrite data zone of the lead-out 26, a recording area for recording a unique disc name for each information storage medium, and whether or not recording and erasing are possible by recording / erasing conditions are confirmed. And a management information recording area relating to the presence / absence of a defective area in the data area 72 and the address of the area, and a preliminary process for enabling recording of data in the data area 72 is performed. In the area, and also the subsequent recording of data,
Information necessary for erasure and reproduction is recorded.

The volume space 28 is physically divided into a number of sectors, and these physical sectors are numbered sequentially. The logical address of the data recorded in the volume space (data recording area) 28 is
As defined by ISO9660 and the UDF bridge, it means a logical sector number. The logical sector size here is, like the effective data size of the physical sector,
The logical sector numbers are 2048 bytes (2 kbytes), and serial numbers are added to the logical sector numbers in ascending order of the physical sector numbers.

The volume space 28 has a hierarchical structure, and includes a volume / file management area 70 and a data area 72 composed of one or more video objects. These areas 70 and 72 are partitioned on the boundary between logical sectors. Here, one logical sector is defined as 2048 bytes, and one logical block is also defined as 2048 bytes. Therefore, one logical sector is defined as being equivalent to one logical block.

The volume / file management area 70 is a rewritable data zone that can be recorded and rewritten by the user, and corresponds to a management area defined in ISO9660 and the UDF bridge. Information on the file of the video data or the entire volume is stored in a system memory (not shown) inside the DVD video recorder described later. Usually, this volume / file management area 70 is composed of one file.

As shown in FIG. 3, the data area 72 is defined as an area in which computer data and audio / video can be mixedly recorded. The recording order of computer data and audio / video and the size of each recording information are arbitrary. The areas where computer data is recorded are referred to as computer data areas 74-1 and 74-2. Are recorded as audio and video data areas 76. When only the audio and video data are recorded in the recording area 72, the computer data areas 74-1 and 74-2 do not have to be particularly provided due to their properties.
Similarly, when only the computer data is recorded in the recording area 72, the audio and video data area 76 does not have to be particularly provided due to its nature. Each of the computer data areas 74-1 and 74-2 and the audio and video data area 76 is composed of one or a plurality of files.

Audio and video data area 76
As shown in FIG. 3, control information 78 necessary for performing each processing of recording (recording), reproduction, editing, and retrieval, and a reproduction target, that is, one or a plurality of video objects 82 and 84 as content. , 86 are recorded. video·
The object 80 includes a video object 80 whose content is video data and a content
There are a still image such as a slide or a place to be viewed in video data, a picture object 84 which is picture data such as a thumbnail for searching or editing, and an audio object 86 whose content is audio data. As can be seen, the video object set 80 includes these objects 82, 8
4, at least one of 4,86 is sufficient.
Not all objects 82, 84, 86 need to be provided. Similarly, each of the objects 82, 84, and 86 is composed of one or more files.

One or more objects 82, 84,
Video object set 80 consisting of 86
As shown in FIG. 4, video data (video pack 88 described later) compressed according to the MPEG2 standard, audio data compressed or uncompressed according to a predetermined standard (audio pack 90 described later), and run-length compressed The sub-picture data (sub-picture pack 92 including bitmap data in which one pixel is defined by a plurality of bits, which will be described later) is stored.

When the video object set 80 is composed of video objects 80, it has a data structure as shown in FIG. 4, and when the video object set 80 is composed of picture objects 84. Has a data structure consisting of only video packs 88 and / or sub-picture packs 92 that do not include audio packs 90, and if video object set 80 consists of audio objects 86, The data structure has only the audio pack 90 that does not include the video pack 88 and the sub-picture pack 92.

As shown in FIG. 4, logically, a video object set 80, ie, video, picture and audio objects 82, 84, 86, is composed of a plurality of cells 94, each cell 94 having one or more cells. A video object unit (VOBU) 96 is provided.

In the cell 94, the video object unit (VOBU) 96 is decoded and reproduced in the arrangement order in the cell 94 in principle. Each video object unit 85 is an aggregate (pack sequence) of a video pack (V pack) 88, a sub-picture pack (SP pack) 92, and an audio pack (A pack) 90.
And is defined as data reproduced in a certain period, for example, a period of 0.5 to 1.2 seconds. These packs are the minimum units for performing data transfer processing, and data is processed using logical cells as the minimum units.

This video object unit (VOB)
U) 96 is assigned an identification number (IDN # k; k = 0 to k), and the video object unit 96 can be specified by the identification number. The playback period of the video object unit (VOBU) 96 is usually one of the playback periods included in the video object unit (VOBU) 96.
The above video group (group of pictures; G for short)
OP) corresponding to the playback time of video data. Normally, one GOP is about 0.5 seconds in the MPEG2 standard, and is screen data compressed so as to reproduce about 15 frame images during that time.

The video object unit (VOB)
When the U) 96 includes video data, a video data stream is formed by arranging GOPs (conforming to the MPEG standard) including a video pack 88, a sub-picture pack 90, and an audio pack 91. Further, even in the case of reproduction data of only audio and / or sub-picture data, the reproduction data is configured with the video object unit (VOBU) 96 as one unit. For example, as in the case of a video object VOB of video data,
An audio pack 90 to be reproduced within the reproduction time of the video object unit (VOBU) 85 to which the audio data belongs is stored in the video object unit (VOBU) 96.

The video objects 82, 84, and 86 constituting the video object set 80 are assigned identification numbers (IDN # i; i = 0 to i), and the video objects 82, 84, and 86 are identified by the identification numbers. Can be identified. Each cell 94 has an identification number (C) as in the case of the video objects 82, 84, 86.
_IDN # j).

FIG. 5 shows the general structure of the video pack 88, the sub-picture pack 92 and the audio pack 90. Each of these packs is composed of 2048-byte data, like the logical sector in FIG. Video, audio and sub-picture packs 88, 90, 92
Represents the pack header 98 and the packet 10 as shown in FIG.
0. The packet 100 includes a packet header, in which a decode time stamp (DST) and a presentation time stamp (PTS) are recorded.

The control information 78 shown in FIG. 3 includes reproduction control information 102 indicating control information required at the time of reproduction, and recording control information 10 indicating control information required at the time of recording (video / audio).
4. Edit control information 106 indicating control information necessary for editing
And thumbnail control information 108 indicating management information relating to a thumbnail (reduced scale) for searching or editing a place to be viewed in the video data.

The reproduction control information 102 shown in FIG. 3 has a management information table (PLY_MA) as shown in FIG.
T) 112 and a program chain (PGC) information table (PGCIT) 110Y_IIT) 114. Information as shown in FIG. 7 is described in the management information table (PLY_MAT) 112, and the program chain (PGC) information table 110 has a data structure as shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 8, the program chain (PGC) information table 110 includes index scene information 120, PGC information management information 122, and search pointers # 1 to # n12 for searching each PGC information.
4 and PGC information # 1 to # n126.

The program chain (PGC) information table 110 mainly stores the program chain (PGC).
C) and information on the cell reproduction order are described, and the data of the cell 94 recorded in the video object 82, that is, the movie data as the actual data composed of the video object unit 96, is stored in this program chain ( The playback is performed according to the description in the (PGC) information table 110. As shown in FIG. 8, the program chain (PGC) information table 110 includes index scene information 120, PGC information management information 122,
Search pointers # 1 to # 1 for searching GC information
n124 and PGC information # 1 to # n126. The index scene information 120 describes a cell number of a scene (index scene) used as an index image.

When the PGC number is determined, the reproduction order of the cell for reproducing the PGC corresponding to the PGC number is acquired by referring to the search pointer 124, and the video object 82 is reproduced in accordance with the reproduction order of the cell. , The data of the cell 94 as actual data is obtained, and the video is reproduced. Although the video object 82 has been described here, the picture object 8
4 and the audio object 86 similarly in the program chain (PGC) information table 110.
According to the description, cell data as actual data is taken out and reproduced.

Here, the PGC corresponds to a chapter in a movie story, and indicates a unit for executing a series of reproductions in which a cell reproduction order is specified. In other words, if one PGC is compared to one drama, it can be interpreted that the plurality of cells 94 constituting the PGC correspond to various scenes in the drama. The contents of the PGC (or the contents of the cell) are determined by, for example, a software provider that produces the contents recorded on the disc 10. More specifically, if there is a certain video data stream as shown in FIG. 10A, the inside thereof is divided into video object units 96 that are reproduced within a certain period of time.・ Unit 9
A set of six is defined in the cell 94.

Here, the video object unit 9
6 is, in principle, continuous, the PGC information table 110, more specifically, the cell playback information 130 shown in FIG. And the last video object unit 96 defines a cell 94. That is, in the cell reproduction information 130, as shown in FIG. 9, information of the reproduction section specified by the start address 134 and the end address 136 of the reproduction data constituting the cell is described.

When the cell 94 is thus determined, the PGC is constituted by determining the reproduction order of the cell. For example, as shown in FIG. 10B, cell-A, cell-B,
By arranging three cells 96 in a cell reproduction information table so as to be reproduced in the order of cell-B, PGC #
1 is defined. Similarly, cell-D, cell-E, cell-F
The PGC # 2 is defined by arranging three cells 96 in the cell reproduction information table so that the cells are reproduced in the order of, and furthermore, the cells -Q, cell-R, cell-S, cell-T,
By arranging the five cells 96 in the cell reproduction information table so as to be reproduced in the order of cell-U, the PGC #
3 are defined.

Here, by linking PGCs # 1 and # 2 to each other, a PG corresponding to a certain chapter
PGC # 2 corresponding to the next chapter following C # 1
Is played. In other words, cell-A to cell-F are continuously reproduced. In the PGC, the cells 94 are reproduced in the arrangement order. However, since the method of configuring the PGCs and the reproduction order of the PGCs are arbitrary, for example, a certain PGC can be defined as a cell configuring another PGC. Since the way of linking, that is, the link information can be arbitrarily determined, various stories can be created or edited. For example, PGC # 3 can be linked following PGC # 1, and PGC # 1 can be linked.
And the same cell, for example, cell G, can be added to PGC # 2 to create different chapters. Depending on the user's selection, PGC # 1 or PGC # 2 can be linked to PGC # 3, and an arbitrary story can be created. It can be reproduced.

As shown in FIG. 7, the reproduction management table 112
Describes an identifier ID that is playback control information.
Start address (VOB) of video object set 80
S_SA) and the end address (VOBS_EA) are described, and the end address (CTLI_EA) and the reproduction control information (PLYI) 1 of the control information (CTLI) 102 are described.
02 end address (PLYI_EA) is described. The reproduction management table 122 describes an attribute (CAT) indicating that the management information belongs to the format of the recording / reproduction DVD, and the video of the video in the video object set recorded in the audio / video data area 76 is described. Attributes (for example, attributes such as NTSC format, wide, etc.) are described. Similarly, a table (A) describing the number of audio streams (AST_Ns) in the recorded video object set and its attributes, for example, compression format, etc.
ST_ATR), and a table (SPST_ATR) describing the number of sub-picture streams in the video object set (SPST_Ns) and their attributes and the like. When the user records menu image data, moving image data, or still image data as an independent file in the audio / video data area 76, a flag (01) indicating that there is a user menu and such a menu are provided. If there is no user menu, a flag (00) indicating that there is no user menu is described, and if a reduced image is recorded in the audio / video data area 76, it is representative of the reduced image. The PGC number on which the reduced image is based is described. Further, a flag (0: not reproduced, 1: reproduced) indicating whether or not reproduction by the user of the video object set whose reproduction is controlled by the reservation and control information 78 is described.

The PGC information management information (PGC_
The MAI) 122 includes information indicating the total number of PGCs as shown in FIG.
24 includes information that points to the beginning of each piece of PGC information, as described above, and facilitates PGC search. The PGC information 126 includes PGC general information 128 shown in FIG. 8 and one or more pieces of cell reproduction information 130 shown in FIG.

PGC information management information 122 (PGC_MA
I) includes a PGC information table 110 as shown in FIG.
End address (PGC_TABLE_EA), PGC
End address (PGC_MAI_EA) of the information management information 122 (PGC_MAI), start address (PGC_PGR) of the search pointer (PGC_SRP) 124 of the PGC information
_SRP_SA) and end address (PGC_SRP)
_EA), the start address (PGCI_SA) and the end address (PGCI) of all PGC information (PGCI) 126.
CI_EA) and the number of all PGCs (PGC_Ns)
Is described.

The PGC general information (PGC_GI) 128 includes information indicating the PGC reproduction time and the number of cells, as shown in FIG. That is, the PGC general information (PGC_GI) 128 includes the number of the PGCs, the contents of the PGCs (PGC_CNT) describing the number of cells, the reproduction time (C_SRP_SA) and the end address (PGC_SRP_EA) of the PGCs, and all the PGC information ( P
GCI) 126 start address (PGCI_SA) and end address (PGCI_EA) and all PGCs
(PGC_Ns) is described.

The PGC general information (PGC_GI) 128 includes information indicating the PGC reproduction time and the number of cells as shown in FIG. That is, in the PGC general information (PGC_GI) 128, the PGC content (PGC_CNT) describing the number of the PGCs and the number of cells, the reproduction time of the PGCs (PGC_PB_TM), the PGCs
(PGC_AST_CTL) in which information for controlling the audio stream included in the PG is described.
A table (PGC_SPST_CTL) in which information for controlling the sub-video stream included in C is described.

Further, PGC general information (PGC_GI) 1
28 includes link information related to the PGC to be linked to the PGC, for example, a PGC navigation control (PGC_NV_CTL) in which a previous PGC, a next PGC, or a jump destination (GOup) PGC is described;
Sub-picture palette table (PGC_SP_PLT) in which reproduction information on the colors and the like of the sub-picture palette is described.
And a start address (PG) of a program table (not shown) in which a list of programs constituting the PGC is described.
C_PGMAP_SA). Further, this table (PGC_GI) contains cell reproduction information (CEL).
L_PLY_I) 120 start address (CELL_P)
LY_I_SA), a flag indicating whether there is menu data created by the user for the PGC (01: menu data present, 00: no menu data), reservation, whether or not reproduction of the PGC by the user has ended (0: not reproduced, 1: reproduced) and the corresponding PGC
Flag (AR
CHIVE Flag, that is, a flag indicating whether or not the user wants to permanently save the image (0: free [erasable], 1:
Permanent preservation) is described.

Index scene information 1 shown in FIG.
In 20, a cell number N of a scene registered as an index image in a pointer recording mode described later is described.

The cell reproduction information (CELL_) shown in FIG.
PLY_I) 130 is roughly divided into cell general information 132 and index scene pointer information 134 as shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 13, the cell general information 132 describes a cell category (C_CAT), for example, whether the cell belongs to a block, and if so, whether the block is an angle block. Here, the angle block means a block whose angle can be switched. Angle switching means changing the angle at which the subject image is viewed (camera angle).
Specifically, in the example of a rock concert video, in the same music performance scene (same event), scenes captured by vocalists, scenes captured mainly by guitarists, scenes captured mainly by drummers, etc. from various angles. It means that you can see the scene. Angle switching (or angle changing) is performed when the angle can be selected according to the viewer's preference, or when the same scene is automatically changed in the flow of the story while changing the angle (software). The author / provider has configured such a story; or the DVD video recorder user has made such edits).

As shown in FIG. 13, the cell general information 132 describes the playback time (absolute time) of the cell in the PGC, and a flag indicating whether or not the user has finished playing the cell. (0: not reproduced, 1: reproduced) and a flag (ARCHIVE Flag) as to whether or not the cell is desired to be saved in the future, that is, a flag as to whether or not the cell is to be permanently saved (0: free) [Erasable], 1: permanent storage).

As shown in FIG. 13, the cell general information 132 includes a cell start address (CELL_SA).
And the end address (CELL_EA) is the address of the first and last video object unit (VOBU) in the cell, which is described as a relative address from the beginning of the video object set 80, and furthermore, the cell playback information (CELL)
_PLY_I) 130 end address (CELL_PL)
Y_I_EA) is also described. The cell reproduction information end address (CELL_PLY_I_EA) is provided because the cell general information 132 has a fixed length, but the length of the index scene pointer information 134 is undefined.

On the other hand, index scene pointer information 1
Reference numeral 34 denotes a physical sector number on the optical disc 10 of PGC information including a cell number of an index scene (a scene used as an index image) recorded in the index scene information 120 as shown in FIG. Scene pointer address (INDEX
_PT)). In FIG. 13, there are M index scene pointer addresses, and the number of M is variable.

Therefore, when searching for an image recorded on the optical disk 10, the PGC information table 11 shown in FIG.
0, the cell number of the cell containing the index scene is read from the index scene information 120, and the PGC information 126 containing the cell number is searched for.
By reading the index scene pointer information 134 for the cell reproduction information 130 in the PGC general information 128 of the GC information 126, an index image can be searched.

The procedure for registering the cell number in the index scene information 120 and the procedure for registering the index scene pointer information 134 will be described later in detail.

The recording control information 1 shown in FIGS. 3 and 6
04 includes a record management table 114 shown in FIG.
No. 4 (RECI_EA) and the end address (REC_MAT_EA) of the record management table 114 are described, and a free area (FREE_SPACE) for writing information related to record management is provided. Further, the record management table 114 has a flag (ARCHIVE) indicating whether or not the VOBS is desired to be stored.
Flag), that is, a flag (0: free [erasable], 1: permanent storage) indicating whether or not the user wants to permanently store the data.

The reduced-size control information 108 shown in FIG. 3 includes an anchor pointer 108-A and a picture address table 108-B.
8-B indicates menu index information INFO1, index picture information INFO2, slide & still information INFO3, and information picture information INF.
O4, defective area information INFO5, and wallpaper picture information INFO6.

FIG. 15 shows the disk shown in FIG.
1 illustrates a configuration of a device (DVD video recorder) that records and reproduces digital moving image information at a variable recording rate using information having a structure as described above.

The main body of the DVD video recorder is as follows.
The optical disk 10, which is a DVD-RAM or DVD-R disk, is driven to rotate.
A disk drive unit (including a disk drive 32, a temporary storage unit 34, a data processor 36, a system time counter 38, and the like) that reads and writes information from and to an encoder unit 50 that constitutes a recording side, and a reproduction side that constitutes And a microcomputer block 30 for controlling the operation of the apparatus main body.

The encoder unit 50 has an ADC (analog
A digital converter) 52, a video encoder (V encoder) 53, an audio encoder (A encoder) 54, and a sub-picture encoder (SP encoder) 55
, A formatter 56, a buffer 57, a reduced image generation unit 58 and a reduced image buffer memory 59.

The ADC 52 has an external analog video signal from the AV input section 42 and an external analog audio signal,
Alternatively, an analog TV signal + analog audio signal from the TV tuner 44 is input. The ADC 52 digitizes the input analog video signal at, for example, a sampling frequency of 13.5 MHz and a quantization bit number of 8 bits. That is, each of the luminance component Y, the color difference component Cr (or YR), and the color difference component Cb (or YB) is quantized by 8 bits. The ADC 52 digitizes the input analog audio signal at, for example, a sampling frequency of 48 kHz and a quantization bit number of 16 bits.

When an analog video signal and a digital audio signal are input to the ADC 52,
The DC 52 allows the digital audio signal to pass through. At this time, the process of reducing only the jitter accompanying the digital signal or the process of changing the sampling rate or the number of quantization bits may be performed without changing the content of the digital audio signal. On the other hand, when the digital video signal and the digital audio signal are input to the ADC 52, the ADC 52 makes the digital video signal and the digital audio signal pass through. These digital signals may be subjected to a jitter reduction process, a sampling rate change process, etc. without altering the content.

The digital video signal component from the ADC 52 is sent to a formatter 56 via a video encoder (V encoder) 53. The digital audio signal component from the ADC 52 is sent to a formatter 56 via an audio encoder (A encoder) 54.

The V encoder 53 has a function of converting an input digital video signal into a digital signal compressed at a variable bit rate based on the MPEG2 or MPEG1 standard.

The A encoder 54 converts the input digital audio signal into MPEG audio or AC-3.
It has a function of converting a digital signal (or a linear PCM digital signal) compressed at a fixed bit rate based on a standard.

When a DVD video signal having a data structure as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, for example, a signal from a DVD video player with an independent output terminal for a sub-picture signal is input from the AV input section 42 or such data Configuration DV
When a D video signal is broadcast and received by the TV tuner 44, a sub video signal component (sub video pack) in the DVD video signal is input to a sub video encoder (SP encoder) 55. The sub-picture data input to the SP encoder 55 is arranged in a predetermined signal form,
It is sent to the formatter 56.

The formatter 56 includes a buffer memory 57
Is used as a work area, predetermined signal processing is performed on the input video signal, audio signal, sub-picture signal, and the like, and recording data conforming to the format (file structure) described above is sent to the data processor 36. Output.

Here, the contents of a standard encoding process for creating the recording data will be briefly described. That is, when the encoding process is started in the encoder unit 50 in FIG. 15, parameters necessary for encoding video (main video) data and audio data are set. Next, the main video data is pre-encoded by using the set parameters, and the optimal code amount distribution for the set average transfer rate (recording rate) is calculated. Encoding of the main video is executed based on the code amount distribution obtained in the pre-encoding in this manner. At this time, the encoding of the audio data is also executed at the same time.

As a result of the pre-encoding, if the amount of data compression is insufficient, for example, if the desired video program cannot be accommodated in the DVD-RAM disc or DVD-R disc to be recorded, an opportunity to pre-encode again is provided. If it is possible, that is, if the recording source is a repeatable source such as a video tape or video disc, a partial re-encoding of the main video data is performed, and the main video data of the re-encoded portion is Is replaced with the main video data portion pre-encoded. By such a series of processing, the main video data and the audio data are encoded, and the value of the average bit rate required for recording is greatly reduced. Similarly, parameters necessary for encoding the sub-picture data are set, and the encoded sub-picture data is created.

The main video data, audio data and sub-video data encoded as described above are combined and converted into a video object structure.

That is, main video data (video data)
Is set as the minimum unit, and cell reproduction information (C_PLY_I) as shown in FIG. 13 is created. Next, the configuration of the cells constituting the program chain (PGC), the attributes of the main video, the sub-video, and the audio, etc. are set (part of these attribute information uses information obtained when each data is encoded. 3) and FIG. 6
Control information 1 including various information described with reference to FIG.
02 is created.

The encoded main video data, audio data and sub video data are subdivided into packs of a fixed size (2048 bytes) as shown in FIG. These packs include PTS (presentation time stamp) and DTS (decode time stamp) as appropriate.
Etc. are described. For the PTS of the sub-picture, a time arbitrarily delayed from the PTS of the main picture data or audio data in the same reproduction time zone can be described.

Then, the data is grouped into VOBUs 96 as data to be reproduced within a certain time so that the data can be reproduced in the order of the time code. Each data cell is defined while arranging the VOBUs 96, and is constituted by a plurality of cells. A VOB is configured. V that summarizes one or more VOBs
OBS 80 is formatted into the structure of FIG.

A disk drive unit for reading and writing (recording and / or reproducing) information on the DVD disk 10 includes a disk changer unit 110, a disk drive 32, a temporary storage unit 34, a data processor 3
6 and a system time counter (or system time clock; STC) 38.

The temporary storage unit 34 stores the disk drive 32
A certain amount of data (data output from the encoder unit 50) written to the disk 10 via the disk drive 32 is buffered or data reproduced from the disk 10 via the disk drive 32 (input to the decoder unit 60). Is used to buffer a certain amount of the data.

For example, when the temporary storage unit 34 is composed of a 4 Mbyte semiconductor memory (DRAM), an average of 4 Mbytes is used.
It is possible to buffer recording or reproduction data for about 8 seconds at a recording rate of bps. Further, when the temporary storage unit 34 is constituted by a 16 Mbyte EEPROM (flash memory), it is possible to buffer recording or reproduction data for about 30 seconds at an average recording rate of 4 Mbps. Further, when the temporary storage unit 34 is configured by a 100 Mbyte ultra-small HDD (hard disk), it is possible to buffer recording or reproduction data for 3 minutes or more at an average recording rate of 4 Mbps.

The temporary storage unit 34 stores the disk 1 during recording.
When 0 is used up, it can be used to temporarily store recording information until the disk 10 is replaced with a new disk. The temporary storage unit 34 is a high-speed drive (2 × speed or more) as the disk drive 32.
In the case where is adopted, it can also be used to temporarily store data that is extraly read from a normal drive within a certain time. The read data at the time of reproduction is temporarily stored in the storage unit 3
If the data is buffered at 4, even when an optical pickup (not shown) causes a reading error due to a vibration shock or the like, the reproduced data buffered in the temporary storage unit 34 is switched and used so that the reproduced video is not interrupted. Can be.

The data processor 36 of FIG. 15 transfers the DVD recording data from the encoder 50 to the disk drive 3 under the control of the microcomputer block 30.
2, a DVD reproduction signal reproduced from the disk 10 is taken out from the drive 32,
The management information recorded on the disk 10 is rewritten, and the data (file or VTS) recorded on the disk 10 is deleted.

The microcomputer block 30 includes M
It includes a PU (or CPU), a ROM in which a control program and the like are written, and a RAM that provides a work area necessary for executing the program.

The contents to be notified to the user of the DVD video recorder among the execution results of the MPU 30 are displayed on the display unit 48 of the DVD video recorder or on a monitor display on an on-screen display (OSD).

The timing at which the MPU 30 controls the disk changer unit, the disk drive 32, the data processor 36, the encoder unit 50, and / or the decoder unit 60 can be executed based on time data from the STC 38. The recording / playback operation is normally performed in synchronization with the time clock from the STC 38, but other processing may be performed at a timing independent of the STC 38.

The decoder unit 60 includes a separator 62 for separating and extracting each pack from DVD playback data having a pack structure as shown in FIG. 5, a memory 63 used for performing pack separation and other signal processing, and a separator 62. A video decoder (V decoder) 64 for decoding the separated main video data, a sub video decoder (SP decoder) 65 for decoding the sub video data (contents of the sub video pack 90) separated by the separator 62, and a separator 6
An audio decoder (A decoder) 68 for decoding the audio data (contents of the audio pack 91 in FIG. 9) separated by 2 and the sub-picture data from the SP decoder 65 are appropriately combined with the video data from the V decoder 64, A video processor 66 for superimposing a menu, highlight buttons, subtitles and other sub-pictures on the main picture and outputting the same, and a video / digital / analog converter (V / DAC) for converting a digital video output from the video processor 66 to an analog video signal ) 67 and an audio / digital / analog converter (A) for converting the digital audio output from the A decoder 68 into an analog audio signal.
(DAC) 67 is provided.

An analog video signal from the V / DAC 67 and an analog audio signal from the A / DAC 67 are supplied via an AV output unit 46 to an external component (not shown) (a multi-channel stereo apparatus of 2 to 6 channels + a monitor TV or a projector). ).

Next, a basic data processing operation in the DVD video recorder of the present embodiment, that is, a recording process and a reproducing process will be described.

At the time of data processing at the time of recording, first, when the MPU of the microcomputer block 30 receives a recording instruction by a user inputting a key, necessary management data is read from the DVD disk 10 through the disk drive 32 and an area to be written is determined. I do. Next, the management area is set so that the recording data is written in the determined area, the write start address of the video data is set in the disk drive 32, and the preparation for recording the data is performed.

Here, the management area to be set refers to a file management unit (indicating directory decoding in ISO9660) and control information 78 for managing files, and records necessary parameters in the file management unit.

Next, the microcomputer block 30
Resets the time to the STC unit 38. Where ST
C38 is a system timer that performs recording and playback based on this value. Then, the microcomputer block 30
Performs the setting of other parts.

Here, the flow of the video signal is as follows. That is, first, the AV signal input from the TV tuner unit 44 or the external input is A / D converted by the ADC 52,
A video signal is input to the video encoder 53, an audio signal is input to the audio encoder 54, and a closed caption signal or a text signal such as a text broadcast is input from the TV tuner section 44 to the SP encoder 55.

Each of the encoders 53, 54, and 55 compresses each input signal into packets (however, each packet is divided into 2048 bytes per pack when packed, and packetized). The data is input to the formatter unit 56. Here, each encoder 53,
54 and 55 indicate the P of each packet according to the value of the STC 38.
TS and DTS are determined and recorded as needed.

The formatter 56 includes a buffer memory 57
The packet data is temporarily stored, and thereafter, each input packet data is packed, mixed for each GOP, and input to the data processor 36.

The data processor 36 attaches ECCs to the disk drive 32 as an ECC group for every 16 packs. However, the disk drive 32
Is not ready for recording on disc 10,
The data is transferred to the temporary storage unit 34, and waits until the data is ready to be recorded. When the data is ready, the recording is started. Here, the temporary storage unit 34 is assumed to be a large-capacity memory in order to hold recording data for several minutes or more by high-speed access.

At the end of recording, the reproduction control information 102 of the control information 78 and the volume & file management area 70
After that, necessary information is recorded and the recording operation ends.
However, the microcomputer block 30 can read and write the data processor 36 through the microcomputer bus in order to read and write the file volume & file management area 70 and the like.

In the data processing at the time of reproduction, first, the microcomputer block 30 receives a reproduction command by a key input by the user, and
2, the volume & file management area 70 is read through the data processor 36 and the address to be reproduced is determined. Here, the volume & file management area 70 refers to a volume descriptor and a file management unit,
It is determined from the volume descriptor whether the optical disk 10 is a DVD disk, the control information 78 is extracted from the information of the file management unit, and the video objects 82, 84, 86 corresponding to the title to be reproduced from the control information 78.
Is determined, and an address at which reproduction is started is determined.

The microcomputer block 30 then sends the address of the data to be reproduced and the read command to the disk drive 32. The disk drive 32 reads the sector data from the disk 10 in accordance with the sent command, corrects the error by the data processor 36, and outputs the data to the decoder unit 60 in the form of pack data.

Inside the decoder section 60, the read pack data is received by the separator 62 and packetized, and the video packet data (M
PEG video data) is transferred to the video decoder 64,
The audio packet data 68 is stored in the audio decoder 6.
8 and the sub-picture packet data is transferred to the SP decoder 65.
Transfer to At the start of transfer, the transmitted packet data loads the PTS into the STC 38, that is, the microcomputer block 30 stores the PTS in the pack in the STC3.
8 or the video decoder 64 automatically sets the PTS of the video data in the STC section. Thereafter, each of the decoders 64, 65, and 68 performs a reproduction process (while comparing the values of the PTS and the STC) in synchronization with the value of the PTS (presentation time stamp) in the packet data, and the TV has audio subtitles. Videos can be played. Next, the optical disk 10 which is a feature of the present invention is described.
The procedure for registering an index scene into the index scene will be described using an example in which an image most frequently used as an index scene is used. The index image is an image for searching and editing the recorded contents of the optical disc 10. In the index image registration method in the present embodiment, position information (recording position) indicating the recording position of the index image in the main recording data (video data) is used. (A pointer recording mode) on the optical disk 10 and a method for recording the reduced image data generated by the reduced image generating unit 58 from the input video data as index image data on the optical disk 10 (reduction). Image recording mode)
There is.

According to the pointer recording mode, there is no special index image data such as a reduced image.
The index image can be displayed with only the pointer to the main image. The index image is displayed while being created on the decoder side, and disc search is frequently performed when the menu is displayed. Although it takes a little time, there is an advantage that the amount of disk space to be used can be reduced because there is no actual reduced image.

For registration of an index image, the above-described two modes may be selectively used by a user's designation, or both modes may be used in combination. In the present embodiment, a case where both modes are used together will be described.

The registration of the index image can also be performed automatically, and the apparatus automatically detects the start / end of the recording,
For example, as shown in FIG. 16, for example, registration can be performed for images 1 and 2 of cell-1 at the start of recording of cell-1, or registration can be performed for image 5 of the last frame of cell-3 at the end of recording. . It is also possible for the user to manually perform key input or the like while monitoring the image being recorded on the display screen. In this case, as shown in images 3 and 4 in FIG. It is possible to register an arbitrary plurality of images in the cell-2.

First, the index image registration procedure in the former pointer recording mode will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. When the user gives an instruction to register an index image through the key input unit 49, the MPU in the microcomputer block 30 generates a registration trigger for the encoder unit 50 and executes step S10.
1 determines that there is a registration trigger, and the video encoder 5
3, a GOP creation start signal is obtained for each cell, and the start of I-picture generation is detected (step S102). As will be described later, this I picture is a registration point of the index image.

The registration trigger from the MPU may be generated, for example, once each time a user inputs a registration command, or when the MPU starts / ends recording on the optical disk 10, and furthermore, when a video or audio is recorded. It may be performed automatically at the time of a scene change. It is desirable that these selections can be specified by the user via the key input unit 49.

Next, the microcomputer block 30
The MPU inside detects the physical sector number M currently being recorded on the optical disk 10 via the disk drive 32 and the data processor 36, and stores it in the RAM (Step S).
103), and I am currently trying to define
The cell number N of the cell in which the picture is to be registered as an index image is detected and stored in the RAM similarly (step S104).

Next, the microcomputer block 30
The MPU in the CPU determines whether or not the recording has ended via the disk drive 32 and the data processor 36 or according to a command from the key input unit 49 (step S10).
5) If the recording is completed, the cell number N held in step S104 is registered in the index scene information 120 of the PGC information table 110 shown in FIG. 8 on the optical disk 10 (step S106).

Subsequently, the MPU in the microcomputer block 30 receives the cell number described in the index scene information 120 from the PGC information table 110 shown in FIG. 8 on the optical disk 10 via the disk drive 32 and the data processor 36. PG containing N
The C information is searched (step S107).

Here, the microcomputer block 3
The MPU in 0 is the PPU searched in step S107.
If the GC information is # 1, the PGC information is #
1, specifically, the index scene cell information 1 in the cell reproduction information 130.
In step 34, the physical sector number M stored in the RAM in step S103 is recorded (step S108).

Next, an index image registration procedure in the reduced image recording mode will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. Basically, the video being recorded on the optical disk 10 is continuous on the time axis unless the recording is stopped, and the continuous portion has the property of being grouped into the same type in terms of the content. This grouping is performed in units of cells described above. Considering the actual recording operation, one cell is generated in the operation of recording start and recording end. Therefore, as described above, the physical sector number M corresponding to an arbitrary cell may be registered as the position information of the index image.

In the DVD standard, MPEG2 is employed for video encoding as described above. MPEG2
In this case (as is the case with MPEG1), encoding is performed at a period called a GOP as shown in FIG.
In a GOP, there are an intra-coded screen (I picture) and an inter-coded screen (P picture, B picture). The former is a screen that performs coding only within its own screen, whereas the latter is a screen that performs coding only within its own screen. Is a screen for performing prediction using another screen as a reference screen, and cannot be used as an index image. Therefore, in the index image registration procedure in the reduced image recording mode in FIG. 17, the I picture is used as the registration point of the position information of the index image as shown in FIG.

As in the case of the pointer recording mode, when the user first gives an index image registration command through the key input unit 49, the microcomputer block 30
The MPU generates a registration trigger for the encoder unit 50 and determines that there is a registration trigger in step S201. The generation of the registration trigger from the MPU may be performed, for example, once each time the user inputs a registration command, or when the MPU starts / ends recording on the optical disc 10;
Further, it may be performed automatically at the time of a scene change of video or audio. It is desirable that these selections can be specified by the user via the key input unit 49.

Next, the microcomputer block 30
If the MPU determines that there is a registration trigger in step S201, the MPU detects the physical sector number M currently being recorded on the optical disk 10 via the disk drive 32 and the data processor 36, and stores it in the RAM (step S20).
2) Further, the reduced image generation unit 58 is activated to generate reduced image data to be registered as an index image (step S203). Then, the generated reduced image data is stored in the reduced image buffer memory 59 together with the current PGN number.
And record it in a packet.

Next, the microcomputer block 30
The MPU inside determines whether recording has been completed via the disk drive 32 and the data processor 36 or in accordance with a command from the key input unit 49 (step S20).
5) If the recording is completed, the volume and file management area 70 on the optical disk 10 previously captured via the disk drive 32 and the data processor 36 is used as shown in FIG.
The logical address of the reduced image management area shown in the figure is acquired (step S206). Then, the contents of the reduced image management area, specifically, the PGN number N, the sector address in the reduced image management area of the actually recorded reduced image, the sector address of the original main image, and the like are updated (step SS20).
7).

Next, the microcomputer block 30
In step S203, the MPU in the
The reduced image data generated and stored in the reduced image buffer memory 59 is read out and packed, and the data processor 36 and the data processor 36 are stored in the area on the optical disk 10 defined by the contents of the reduced image management area in steps S206 to S207. Recording is performed via the disk drive 32 (step S208).

Then, it is determined whether or not all of the reduced image data stored in the reduced image buffer memory 59 has been read (step S209).
, The process of steps S207 to S208 is repeated, and when all the reduced image data is read, the reproduction control information 102 and the volume & file management area 70 shown in FIG. 3 are sequentially updated (steps S211 to S21).
2), end the process.

Next, the format of the user menu file on the optical disk 10 relating to the index image (reduced image) will be described. The format of the user menu file can be conceptually configured as shown in FIG. 20, and more specifically, can be configured as shown in FIGS.

First, as shown from top to bottom in FIG. 20, the data contained in the user menu file includes a first anchor point, a reduced image management area, a backup of the reduced image management area (not shown), The reduced image data group and the second anchor point are described in this order.

The first entry in the user menu file is the first anchor point (a, a in FIG. 20).
The start address (a) and end address (p) of the reduced image management area, and the start address (b) and end address (q) of the backup data of the reduced image management area, respectively, are pointer addresses called p, b, and q). ) Is described.

After the first anchor point, a reduced image management area is set.
Are recorded in the picture address table 108B shown in FIG. The data of the reduced image management area is described in “32
“k-byte aligned” processing. The reduced image entire information at the beginning of the reduced image management area is recorded in the menu index information INFO1 in the picture address table 108B shown in FIG. The entire reduced image information includes the number of AV reduced images, the number of only pointers, the number of defective areas, and the number of registered background images. Of these, the “number of only pointers” is the pointer recording mode described above. Only the number of registered index pixels is shown.

The association table between the PGC and the reduced image recording position next to the reduced image entire information in the reduced image management area is actual data on each reduced image constituting the user menu, and includes a PGC number (PGCN), Time code (can be used for time search, etc.), head address of reduced image, number of sectors used (= data length), size of reduced image, address (pointer) to original file (AV data) of reduced image, search and title , The start address and data length of the defective area when there is a defective area in the file, the registration number and the start address of the background image data of the user menu, etc. are recorded.

In this relation table, the PGC number, the time code, the head address of the reduced image, the number of sectors used,
The size of the reduced image, the address (pointer) to the original file of the reduced image, and the search text data used for search and title are stored in the picture address table 1 shown in FIG.
08B is recorded in the index menu information INFO2, the start address and data length of the defective area are recorded in the defective area information INFO5 in the picture address table 108B shown in FIG. 3, and the registration number and the start address of the background image data of the user menu Is the wallpaper picture information IN in the picture address table 108B shown in FIG.
Recorded in FO6.

Further, a backup of a reduced image management area (not shown) is recorded after the related table. This backup is recorded for insurance against damage to the reduced image management area.

After the reduced image management area, the actual reduced image data group generated by the reduced image data generator 58 in FIG. 15 is recorded. These reduced image data are packed, and the picture object 84 shown in FIG.
It is recorded in. However, these data are aligned by 32 kbytes for each reduced image. After that, the second anchor point (a, p, b, same as the first anchor point at the head of the user menu file)
q) is described. This is done in consideration of the fact that the file is usually damaged from the top management area that is frequently accessed. Anchor points are also placed at the end of the file to increase security.

The reason why the 32 kbytes are aligned at each break of the file is to allow access to each ECC group in units of 32 kbytes when changing, adding or deleting data. As a result, higher-speed access becomes possible, and the operation of the data processor 36 shown in FIG. 15 is reduced.

The address information in the user menu file is all represented by a relative address from the head of the file.

The user menu file shown in FIG. 20 has the following features. (A) One or more index image data (that is, reduced image data) for menu selection representing at least a part of a still image of video data are recorded in the same user menu file. (B) The optical disk 10 (DV) having a reduced image management area
Management (designation of a storage location and a video signal corresponding to a storage location) of all reduced image data recorded on a D-RAM disk, a DVD-RW disk, or a DVD-R disk is collectively performed.

The contents as exemplified in FIGS. 21 to 22 are written in the user menu file of FIG. That is, as shown in FIGS. 21 and 22,
As the first anchor pointer for the picture address table, the start position of the picture address table, the end position of the picture address table, the start position of the spare picture address table, and the end position of the spare picture address table are described. Menu index information (INFO1) and index picture information (I
NFO2), defective area information (INFO5), wallpaper picture information (INFO6), and padding data are described. As a second anchor pointer for the picture address table, the start position of the picture address table, the end position of the picture address table, the spare picture The start position of the address table and the end position of the spare picture address table are described.

In the picture address tables of FIGS. 21 and 22, the information picture information INFO4 of FIG. 3 is also described appropriately.

The menu index information in FIG. 21 includes the number of index pictures, the number of information pictures, the number of defective areas, and the number of wallpaper pictures.

The index picture information shown in FIG. 21 includes the content characteristics, the ID of the index picture program chain, the time code of the index picture, the start position of the index picture, the number of sectors used for index picture recording, the picture size, and the original audio / video data. Includes data address and search text data.

In the content characteristic included in the index picture information, if a still image used for the user menu has been recorded, “1” is described, and only the recording position (address) of this still image is recorded. If it is, "0" is described.

The index picture information when the user menu image is designated only by the address includes the content characteristic in which “0” is described as shown in FIG. 22, the ID of the program chain PGC for the slide & still picture, and
The address of the original audio / video data,
Includes slide & still picture timecode.

The wallpaper picture information shown in FIG. 22 includes the number of wallpaper pictures that can be used as a background image in the user menu (the number of the registered background image), the starting position of the wallpaper picture, and the area where the wallpaper picture is recorded. The number of used sectors is included, and the padding data in FIG. 22 includes the contents of index pictures, the contents of defective areas, the contents of wallpaper pictures, and the like.

Next, the above-mentioned "32 Kbyte alignment"
Will be described. The user menu file shown in FIGS. 20 to 22 is divided every 32 kbytes, which is the unit of error correction code (ECC group), regardless of whether the area is a recorded area or an unrecorded area. The position of a certain “ECC boundary” has been determined in advance.

When recording a backup of each reduced image data, anchor point, reduced image management area and reduced image management area, the recording start position and the recording end position of all data coincide with the above-mentioned "ECC boundary" position. Is recorded.

If each data amount is slightly smaller than the integer value of 32 kbytes, the "dummy area" is used as shown in FIG.
To make the recording end position coincide with the “ECC boundary” position. This “dummy area” means the “padding” area in FIG.

At the time of recording / erasing reduced image data, information is recorded / erased for each of the aforementioned “ECC boundaries”. In this case, since there is no need to change some information in the ECC group, the reduced data can be directly overwritten according to the ECC boundary during recording.

By performing the above “32 Kbyte alignment”, reduced image data is recorded and recorded in ECC group units.
Since it is not necessary to correct the added error correction information for erasing, the speed of the recording / erasing process in ECC group units can be increased.

The user menu file shown in FIG. 20 takes into account portability to another recording medium using a personal computer or the like. For this reason, the saving addresses of the reduced image, the background image, and the reduced image management area for the user menu are all expressed by a difference address (relative address) from the top position of the user menu file.

In the relation table between the PGC and the reduced image recording position in the reduced image management area in FIG. 20, two rows from the PGC number to the text data size for search represent a set of correspondence tables. In this case, the relationship between the reduced image data recorded and the video signal can be determined by the correspondence between the time code of the video signal and the start address. Also,
By searching the entire related table, an unrecorded area in the user menu file or an erased position of the reduced image data after erasure can be known, and new reduced image data can be recorded in this area.

In the user menu file shown in FIG. 20, a defective area is managed in a relation table between a position on the AV file including audio / video data and a reduced image recording position.

Here, a description will be given of a specific processing method in the case where the reduced image management area is damaged by dust or scratches attached to the surface of the disk (recording medium) 10.

First, damage to the reduced image management area due to dust or scratches on the surface of the disk (recording medium) is detected. (It can be determined whether or not the ECC group has failed in error correction.) When the damage is detected, the information of the anchor point is read, the backup data address in the reduced image management area is checked, and the reduced image is checked. Read the backup data of the management area.

Next, an unrecorded area in the user menu file is searched from the relation table between the reduced image recording positions in FIG. Then, the reduced image management data is recorded in the unrecorded area in the user menu file, and the address information of the anchor point is updated.

Next, the location where the reduced image management area is damaged by dust or scratches on the surface of the disk (recording medium) is shown in FIG.
Is registered as a defective area in the relation table between the reduced image recording positions.

When the user menu file format shown in FIGS. 20 to 22 is adopted, the following effects can be expected. (A) Addition / retrieval of reduced image data and speed-up of access can be achieved by the "32 Kbyte alignment". (B) When displaying a plurality of reduced images at once on the display unit of a monitor display (not shown), It is necessary to access the corresponding reduced image data position on the recording medium for each screen. When the reduced image data is scattered (scattered) on the recording medium, it takes a long time to access the data, and the time required for displaying a plurality of reduced images is disadvantageously increased. However, as shown in FIG. 20, if a plurality of reduced image data are collectively arranged in the same user menu file, a plurality of reduced images can be displayed at high speed simply by reproducing the user menu file. it can.

(C) The collective management of all reduced image data in the reduced image management area facilitates the management of deletion and addition processing of reduced image data. That is, it is easy to search for an unrecorded area (or a reduced image data deletion area) in the user menu file, and it is possible to register new reduced image data at high speed.

(D) In the DVD video recorder shown in FIG. 15, 16 packs (= 32 k
The error correction information is added together as an ECC group for each byte, and optical discs (DVD-RAM, DVD-R
W or DVD-R) 10. Therefore, if some information in the ECC group is changed,
It is necessary to correct the added error correction information, so that the processing becomes complicated and the information change processing takes a long time. However, the "32-kbyte alignment"
Is performed, it is not necessary to correct error correction information added when recording / erasing reduced image data in ECC group units, and recording and erasing of user menu data can be processed at high speed.

(E) By the following method, high reliability of the anchor point, the reduced image management area, and the backup data of the reduced image management area can be ensured. * Ensuring reliability of the reduced image management area: A backup area of the reduced image management area is provided to prepare for a possible reduction of the reduced image management area and to enable the recording location to be moved when a defect occurs. * Ensuring the reliability of anchor point information indicating the recording location of the reduced image management area: ECC blocks are independently configured, the number of data changes is reduced, and recording is performed at two locations (first and second anchor points in FIG. 20). . * Defect management processing: If the reproduction of information from the reduced image management area or the anchor point becomes impossible due to dust or scratches on the surface of the optical disk (recording medium), the data can be read again from the above-mentioned backup unit and re-recorded at another position. To do. Thereby, it is possible to prevent a defective area from being registered and the defective location being used again by mistake.

In some cases, the reduced image data used for the user menu has a closed caption or multiple characters superimposed on the original image. In such a case, a reduced image may be formed after multiplexing characters. Also,
It is also conceivable that a reduced image is constituted only by the character data.

FIG. 23 shows a specific display example of a menu screen obtained by using the index images registered on the optical disc 10 in the present embodiment. In this example, a map of the entire Africa is displayed as image 1, and images of maps for each country are displayed as images 2, 3,. This menu screen is displayed when the user presses the menu key of the key input unit 49. By selecting an image of a desired number from this screen, the user can search or edit the position on the optical disk 10 where this image is recorded. Also, as shown in the figure, the time code from the beginning is also displayed on each of the images 1, 2,..., So that it is possible to understand how much time has elapsed since the start of reproduction from the recorded image. it can.

In the above embodiment, the registration of the index image has been described. However, the present invention can be similarly applied to the registration of specific audio data.

Further, the present invention can be configured not only as a recording / reproducing apparatus but also as a reproducing apparatus, that is, a reproduction-only apparatus having no recording function.

[0155]

As described above, according to the present invention, the position information (pointer) indicating the recording position of the specific information in the main recording data is recorded on the recording medium or the specific information in the main recording data is recorded. By recording compressed information, for example, reduced image data, which is obtained by compressing the above information, the user can use the image or audio information recorded at the recording position indicated by the position information or the compressed information as a menu at the time of reproduction. The information recorded on the recording medium can be intuitively grasped. Therefore, the user can quickly search for a desired location from this menu, and it is also possible to efficiently perform editing work such as erasing or replacing information in an arbitrary area on the recording medium. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a recordable / reproducible optical disk (DV) according to the present invention.
Perspective view for explaining the structure of a D-RAM or DVD-RW disc)

FIG. 2 is a view for explaining a correspondence relationship between a data recording area of the optical disk (DVD-RAM) of FIG. 1 and a recording track of data recorded thereon.

FIG. 3 is a view for explaining a directory structure of information recorded on the optical disc of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a data structure of a video object set shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a view showing the structure of the data pack shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a data structure of control information shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a view showing contents of a reproduction management table shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a view showing a data structure of a PGC information table shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a schematic content of the cell reproduction information shown in FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a view for explaining the concept of the PGC shown in FIG. 8;

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing contents of PGC information management information shown in FIG. 8;

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing contents of PGC general information shown in FIG. 8;

FIG. 13 is a view showing the contents of cell reproduction information shown in FIG. 8;

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing contents of PGC information management information shown in FIG. 8;

FIG. 15 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a DVD video recorder as a recording / reproducing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of index image registration timing;

FIG. 17 is an exemplary flowchart showing an index image registration procedure in the pointer recording mode in the embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a view for explaining registration points at the time of index image registration in the pointer recording mode.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing an index image registration procedure in a reduced image recording mode in the embodiment.

FIG. 20 is a diagram conceptually showing a user menu file format in the embodiment.

FIG. 21 shows the user menu file format of FIG. 20 in more detail.

FIG. 22 shows the user menu file format of FIG. 20 in more detail.

FIG. 23 is an exemplary view showing a display example of a menu screen in the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

10: recordable / reproducible optical disk (DVD-RAM or DVD-R), 11: cartridge (DVD-RAM)
, 14 ... Transparent substrate (polycarbonate), 16 ... Light reflecting layer, 17 ... Recording layer, 19 ... Reading surface, 20 ... Adhesive layer, 22 ... Center hole, 24 ... Clamping area, 25 ...
Information area 26 lead-out area 27 lead-in area 28 data recording area 30 microcomputer block (MPU / ROM / RAM), 3
2 disk drive, 34 temporary storage unit, 36 data processor, 38 system time counter, 42
AV input unit, 44 TV tuner (terrestrial / satellite broadcast tuner), 46 AV output unit, 48 DVD video recorder display unit (liquid crystal or fluorescent display panel), 50 encoder unit, 52 ADC, 53 video Encoder,
54: audio encoder, 55: sub-picture encoder, 56: formatter, 57: buffer memory, 58
... reduced image generation unit, 59 ... reduced image buffer memory, 6
0: decoder unit, 62: separator, 63: memory, 6
4 video decoder, 65 sub-picture decoder, 66 video processor, 67 video DAC, 68 audio decoder, 69 audio DAC.

Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat II (reference) H04N 5/85 H04N 5/91 L 5/91 G11B 27/02 K (72) Inventor Yuji Ito Sachi-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa 70 Yanagimachi Inside Toshiba Yanagimachi Plant Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Shinichi Kikuchi 3-3-9 Shimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo Inside Toshiba Abu E Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Kazuhiko Hirara 3 Shimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo No. 3-9 Toshiba Abu E Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Hideo Ando 70 Yanagimachi, Saiwai-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa F-term in Toshiba Yanagimachi Plant (reference) 5C052 AA02 AB03 AB04 CC06 CC11 DD04 5C053 FA14 FA25 GB05 GB38 HA29 KA24 5D044 AB05 AB07 BC06 CC04 DE17 DE38 DE53 EF05 FG19 HL14 5D077 AA30 BA15 CA02 DC01 DC21 EA33 5D110 AA17 AA19 AA27 AA29 CA16 CA43 CC02 CD05 DA03 DA11 DA15 DA20 DB03 DC15 DE01

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A recording / reproducing recording medium which defines a plurality of cells as a management unit for managing main recording data and defines a program chain as a unit for managing a reproduction order of the plurality of cells, In a recording / reproducing apparatus for recording / reproducing the main recording data including at least one of image and audio information, a trigger providing means for providing a trigger for registering a specific image to be registered; Depending on the trigger
Position information acquiring means for acquiring recording position information on the recording medium on which the specific image is recorded; and position recording means for recording the recording position information acquired by the recording position information acquiring means on the recording medium. The position information obtaining means, from among the cell information included in the program chain information indicating the reproduction order of the main recording data, the cell information corresponding to the start position of the specific image that is currently being defined, A first holding unit for detecting and holding as recording position information, wherein the position recording unit specifies the cell information held by the first holding unit together with the information of the program chain information on the recording medium. An information recording / reproducing apparatus for recording in an image position information recording area. 2. A recording / reproducing recording medium which defines a plurality of cells as a management unit for managing main recording data and defines a program chain as a unit for managing a reproduction order of the plurality of cells, In a recording / reproducing apparatus for recording / reproducing the main recording data including at least one of image and audio information, a trigger providing means for providing a trigger for registering an index image; and a trigger provided by the trigger providing means. Depending on,
Position information acquisition means for acquiring recording position information of the image currently being recorded on the recording medium, a first holding means for detecting and holding a sector number currently being recorded on the recording medium, No. that detects and holds the cell number
A position recording unit for recording the recording position information acquired by the position information acquiring unit on the recording medium when the image recording is completed, the position recording unit being held by the first and second holding units. An information recording / reproducing apparatus comprising: means for recording the sector number and cell information in an index information recording area on the recording medium. 3. A recording / reproducing recording medium which defines a plurality of cells as a management unit for managing main recording data and defines a program chain as a unit for managing a reproduction order of the plurality of cells, In a recording / reproducing method for recording / reproducing the main recording data including at least one of an image and an audio, a trigger for registering a specific image to be registered is provided, and in response to the provided trigger, the main From the cell information included in the program chain information indicating the reproduction order of the recording data, the cell information corresponding to the start position of the specific image to be currently defined is detected and held as the recording position information, and the held The cell information is recorded in a specific image position information recording area on the recording medium together with the information of the program chain information. Information recording and playback method. 4. A recording / reproducing recording medium which defines a plurality of cells as a management unit for managing main recording data and defines a program chain as a unit for managing a reproduction order of the plurality of cells, In a recording / reproducing method for recording / reproducing the main recording data including at least one of image and audio information, a trigger for registering an index image is provided, and in response to a trigger provided by the trigger providing unit,
Recording position information on the recording medium of the image currently being recorded,
The sector number currently being recorded on the recording medium and the cell information to be currently defined are detected and held. When the image recording is completed, the held sector number and cell information are indexed on the recording medium. An information recording / reproducing method characterized by recording in a recording area. 5. A recording / reproducing recording medium which defines a plurality of cells as a management unit for managing main recording data and defines a program chain as a unit for managing a reproduction order of the plurality of cells, In a recording / reproducing apparatus for recording / reproducing the main recording data including at least one of image and audio information, a trigger providing means for providing a trigger for registering a specific image to be registered; Depending on the trigger
Position information acquiring means for acquiring recording position information on the recording medium on which the specific image is recorded; and position recording means for recording the recording position information acquired by the recording position information acquiring means on the recording medium. The position information obtaining means includes a cell number corresponding to the specific image to be defined at present and a cell number corresponding to the specific image from among cell information included in the program chain information indicating a reproduction order of the main recording data. Pointer information to be detected and stored as the recording position information, and the position recording means stores the cell number and the pointer information held by the first holding means in the program chain information. An information recording / reproducing apparatus characterized in that information is recorded in a management information recording area on the recording medium together with the information of (1). 6. A recording / reproducing recording medium which defines a plurality of cells as a management unit for managing main recording data and defines a program chain as a unit for managing a reproduction order of the plurality of cells, In the recording / reproducing method for recording / reproducing the main recording data including at least one of image and audio information, a trigger for registering a specific image to be registered is provided, and a trigger provided by the trigger providing unit is provided. hand,
When acquiring the recording position information on the recording medium on which the specific image is recorded, and recording the acquired recording position information on the recording medium, the recording position information is included in the program chain information indicating the reproduction order of the main recording data. From the cell information, a cell number corresponding to the specific image to be defined and pointer information corresponding to the specific image are detected and stored as the recording position information, and the stored cell number and pointer information are stored. And recording the information together with the information of the program chain information in a management information recording area on the recording medium.