JP2002157820A - Recording medium reproducing device and information recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an inexpensive recording medium reproducing device which smoothly reproduces information at a compilation connection point. SOLUTION: The recording medium reproducing device which is encoded in a prescribed encoding unit, connects the first range and the second range of recording information recorded in a recording medium and can reproduce information is provided with a sub-decoder 5 decoding recording information at the trailing end of the first range and a main decoder 13 decoding recording information on the first range and the second range except for the trailing end.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording medium reproducing apparatus capable of reproducing recorded information recorded on a recording medium, and more particularly, to a designated first range of recorded information recorded on a recording medium. The present invention relates to a recording medium reproducing apparatus capable of reproducing data by connecting a second range, and an information recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the development of multimedia technology, optical recording media have attracted attention because digital video information can be recorded in a large amount and random access is easy. As this recording medium, a DVD-R (DVD Reco
rdable), a DVD-RW (DVD Re-recordabl) which is a rewritable optical disk capable of rewriting recorded information.
e), DVD-RAM (DVD Re-writable) and the like have been put to practical use. According to these recording media, the video signal is represented by a moving picture (MPEG) as a typical moving picture compression / decompression method.
re Expert Group) and recorded.

[0003] The MPEG coding technique uses variable length coding of difference information between an image to be coded and a reference image temporally preceding the image, and a motion vector in macroblock units. This is an encoding technique capable of efficiently compressing a large amount of moving image information.

On the other hand, a recording / reproducing apparatus which handles these recording media not only reproduces the already recorded video information, but also performs a first range of video information recorded on the recording medium in accordance with a reproducing procedure (called a playlist). And an edited video playback function for continuously playing back the second range. For example, TV
Then, the editing position is designated so as to skip the unnecessary CM portion by reproducing the video broadcasted on the recording medium. Then, a reproduction procedure for reproducing only the movie main body is recorded on the recording medium, and thereafter, when the reproduction procedure is designated, a movie without a CM portion can be reproduced.

[0005] However, the encoding technique based on the MPEG method is a method combining motion compensation prediction and two-dimensional DCT, and is a GOP which enables bi-directional prediction for improving the prediction efficiency of motion compensation and editing and random access. (Gr
oup of Picture) structure.

In order to perform bidirectional prediction, each frame of video information is composed of an I picture (intra coded image), a P picture (forward predicted coded image), and a B picture (bidirectional predicted image) as shown in FIG. ) Are encoded by three types of frames. An I picture is an intra-frame coded image in which all of the images are coded using only image data in the same frame, and the image can be reconstructed using only its own image data. P picture is motion compensation with an image for an I picture or P picture that is temporally backward (past),
That is, the image to be coded by obtaining the motion vector and the difference. The B picture performs forward motion compensation with an image for a temporally backward I or P picture, and compares the difference obtained by backward motion compensation with an image for a temporally forward (future) P picture. Then, the image having the smaller difference is selected and encoded. A group of one I picture, a plurality of P pictures, and B pictures is a unit of encoding called a GOP.

[0007] The MPEG encoder converts the input video information into the sequence "-1B, 0B, 1I, 2" shown in FIG.
B, 3B, 4P, 5B, 6B, 7P, 8B, 9B, 10
I ", and some frames are rearranged and output for convenience in decoding. That is, 1 shown in FIG.
An I picture is arranged before a -1B picture, and a 4P picture is arranged before a 2B picture and output. With this arrangement, the MPEG decoder can decode 1I pictures and 4P pictures necessary for decoding 2B pictures and 3B pictures first.

[0008] As described above, in the MPEG system, encoding and decoding must be performed in GOP units. Therefore, if editing is performed in the middle of GOP units, there is a problem that video cannot be smoothly and continuously reproduced at each connection point. is there.

The reason will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 16 shows the video information recorded on the recording medium by a plurality of VOBUs # 1 to # 9. Note that each VOBU includes video information of one GOP.
Hereinafter, as shown in FIG. 3A, the video 1 is reproduced so as to reproduce the video 1 from the start position a of the movie information to the first editing position b, and subsequently reproduce the video 2 from the second editing position c. The following describes an example of the case in which the communication is performed.

As described above, according to the MPEG system, G
Since encoding / decoding is performed in units of OPs, after reproducing the video 1 from the start position (point a) to the first editing position (point b), to reproduce the video 3, VOBU # It is necessary to perform the decoding process from the beginning of the sixth frame. Therefore, the conventional recording / reproducing apparatus starts with the first frame of VOBU # 3 from the first frame of VOBU # 3 as shown in FIG.
After sequentially decoding and outputting up to the frame at the editing position (point b), the decoding process is performed from the first frame of VOBU # 6. However, since the decoding result cannot be output up to the second editing position (point c), During that time, the last frame of VOBU # 3 is output as a still image. When the decoding of the frame at the second editing position (point c) is completed, the output of the still image is released, and the subsequent frames are sequentially decoded and output.

[0011]

As described above, according to the conventional apparatus, when an edited video is reproduced, a still image is output at an edit connection point, and the quality of the edited video is significantly deteriorated. there were. Further, in order to output a still image, a large number of frame buffers are required, and there has been a problem that the cost is increased. The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a low-cost recording medium reproducing apparatus which enables smooth reproduction at an edit connection point.

[0012]

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording medium reproducing apparatus according to the present invention, wherein recording information is encoded in a predetermined encoding unit and recorded on a recording medium. In a recording medium reproducing apparatus capable of reproducing by connecting the first range and the second range, a sub-decoder means for decoding recording information at the rear of the first range, and the first decoder excluding the rear. Main decoder means for decoding the recording information in the range and the recording information in the second range.

A recording medium reproducing apparatus according to a second aspect of the present invention is the recording medium reproducing apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the sub-decoder is configured so that the main decoder has the first range of recording information within the first range. During the decoding process, the standby state is set so that the recording information at the rear of the first range can be immediately decoded, and the main decoder determines that the sub-decoder has the recording information at the rear of the first range. While the decoding process is being performed, a standby state is set so that the recording information in the second range can be immediately decoded.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording medium reproducing apparatus which connects a first range and a second range of recording information encoded in a predetermined encoding unit and recorded on a recording medium. Sub-decoder means for decoding recording information at the front of the second range; and recording information at the second range excluding the front and the recording information in the first range. Main decoder means for decoding the recorded information.

A recording medium reproducing apparatus according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is the recording medium reproducing apparatus according to the third aspect, wherein the sub-decoder is configured such that the main decoder is configured to store the recording information in the first range. During the decoding process, the main decoder is set in a standby state so that the recording information at the front of the second range can be immediately decoded, and the sub-decoder makes a recording at the front of the second range. While the decoding process of the information is being performed, a standby state is set so that the recording information in the second range following the front portion can be decoded immediately.

A recording medium reproducing apparatus according to a fifth aspect of the present invention is the recording medium reproducing apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, wherein the recording information is recorded on the recording medium. Means, wherein the sub-decoder functions as an encoder that decodes the recording information with the predetermined coding unit during recording.

An information recording medium according to the present invention connects a computer to a first range and a second range of recording information encoded in a predetermined encoding unit and recorded on the recording medium. The information recording medium on which the control program characterized by functioning as a recording medium reproducing device capable of reproducing by the computer is recorded so as to be readable by the computer. A control program functioning as a sub-decoder means for performing a decoding process and a main decoder means for performing a decoding process on the recording information in the first range and the recording information in the second range excluding the rear part. The information is recorded so as to be readable by the computer.

An information recording medium according to the present invention connects a computer to a first range and a second range of recording information encoded in a predetermined encoding unit and recorded on the recording medium. A computer readable recording medium for storing a control program, wherein the control program is readable by the computer. And a main decoder for decoding the first range of record information and the second range of record information excluding the front part. A program is recorded so as to be readable by the computer.

[0019]

Next, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described. It should be noted that the embodiments described below are
A recording / reproducing apparatus 50 capable of recording / reproducing video information (including audio information) with respect to a DVD-RW (hereinafter, referred to as an optical disc 1) will be described.

First, the recording format (physical recording format) of the optical disk 1 used in the recording / reproducing apparatus 50 will be described with reference to FIG. The optical disc 1 has a lead-in area LI at its innermost periphery and a lead-out area LO at its outermost periphery. Between them, a plurality of video title sets (VTS # 1 to VTS #) each having video information having an ID (identification) number.
#N) and recorded. Where VTS
Is related to (audio, number of sub-picture streams,
This is a set (unit) in which titles (one work that a creator of a movie or the like intends to provide to a viewer) having the same specification and corresponding attributes such as a supported language are bundled. Specifically, for example, it is possible to record the title for each of the same movie in a plurality of movies in different languages, or to record the movie and the special edition as separate titles even for the same movie. it can.

A video manager (VMG) is provided between the lead-in area LI and the lead-out area LO.
Is recorded. Although the VMG is located before the VTS in FIG.
MG is not always recorded at this position. The information recorded on the VMG includes video information recorded on the optical disc 1 such as a menu indicating the name of each title, information for preventing illegal copying, an access table for accessing each title, and the like. Information relating to the entire audio information is recorded. Further, data of a reproduction procedure described later is recorded in the VMG.

The VTS is divided into a plurality of video objects (VOBs) each having an ID number and recorded with the control data at the head. Here, a portion composed of a plurality of VOBs is called a video object set (VOBS). This VOBS is VT
Control data which is other data constituting S;
The VOBS is defined as the actual part in order to distinguish it from a plurality of VOB parts which are entities of the video information and the audio information. In the control data recorded at the head of the VOB, information such as program chain information (PGCI), which is various information relating to a program chain that is a logical division of a plurality of cells, is recorded. In addition, in each VOB, in addition to the control information, substantial parts of video information and music information (video or audio itself other than the control information) are recorded. In addition, VOBs have I
It is composed of a plurality of cells having D numbers. The VOB is configured to be completed by a plurality of cells.

A cell is composed of a plurality of video object units (VOBU) each having an ID number. Here, the VOBU is video information and sub-video information (refers to sub-video information such as subtitles in a movie).
Is an information unit including each of. One VOB unit includes a video pack (V_PCK) having video information,
An audio pack (A_PCK) having audio information;
Sub-picture pack (SP_PC) having sub-picture information
K). The video data included in the VOBU is composed of one or more GOPs.

Next, the configuration of the recording / reproducing apparatus 50 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. Recording / reproducing device 5
Reference numeral 0 denotes an optical pickup 2 used for recording video information on the optical disc 1, an A / D converter 3 for converting an analog signal into a digital signal, a switch 4, and an MPEG encoder for recording, and an MPEG encoder for reproduction.
An encoder 5 with a decoding function that functions as a sub-decoder means, a switch 6, a recording buffer 7, a recording encoder 8, a recording circuit 9, and an optical pickup 2
A reproduction circuit 10, a reproduction decoder 11, a stream buffer 12, a main decoder 13 functioning as an MPEG main decoder, a switch 14, a D / A
The converter 15, a spindle motor 16 for driving the optical disc 1 to rotate, a servo circuit 17 for controlling the rotation of the optical disc 1 and controlling a tracking error or a focus error of a light beam, an operation unit 18 for giving an operation command, and control of operation And an on-screen data generating circuit 20 for generating an on-screen image for setting an editing point. Further, the controller 19 is provided with a memory 19a for temporarily storing a reproduction procedure and the like. It should be noted that the configuration shown in the broken line in the figure constitutes the information recording unit R, and the configuration shown in the dashed line constitutes the information reproducing unit P.

Next, the detailed configuration and operation of the encoder 5 will be described.
This will be described with reference to FIG. Note that the encoder 5 is a DSP
(Digital Signal Processor), which functions as an encoder circuit that encodes video information based on the MPEG system at the time of recording in accordance with a control signal from the controller 19, and combines the encoded video information at the time of reproduction. Function as a sub-decoder circuit. When functioning as a sub-decoder circuit, the encoder 5 has only the minimum functions necessary for the encoding process, such as execution (play), pause (pause), and stop (stop) of the decoding process. Encoding processing of video information during trick play cannot be performed. Therefore, a configuration as an encoder circuit will be described here, and a basic configuration as a decoder circuit is the same as that of a main decoder 13 described later, and a description thereof will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 3, the encoder 5
An adder 5a, a DCT (discrete cosine transform) unit 5b,
A quantization unit 5c, an inverse quantization unit 5d, and a variable-length encoding unit 5
e, an inverse DCT unit 5f, a motion detection unit 5g, a motion compensation prediction unit 5h, and a rate control unit 5j.
The input digital information signal Sd is input to the motion detector 5g and also to the adder 5a. And
In the motion detecting unit 5g, a motion vector described later is calculated for each frame in the digital information signal Sd,
The corresponding vector signal Sv is output to the motion compensation prediction unit 5h. The image information in the digital information signal Sd is composed of a plurality of frame images, and is digitized for each pixel constituting each frame.

Here, the motion vector will be described. The motion vector is used for a motion compensation process executed when a moving image is compressed based on the MPEG system. That is, in the motion compensation processing, first, an image to be coded is divided into macroblocks including a predetermined number of images set in advance, and each pixel in each macroblock is compared with a previous or next pixel on the time axis. An image in which the sum of absolute values obtained by adding the absolute values of the differences from the corresponding pixels in one of the frames for all the pixels in the macroblock is minimum (that is, the image closest to the image in the macroblock,
The spatial position of the image in either the preceding or following frame is determined. Then, the movement relationship between the macroblock and the image closest to the macroblock is set as the motion vector, and the motion vector is encoded as information indicating an image in one of the preceding and following frames. As a result, the amount of information to be actually encoded can be considerably reduced as compared with the case where the image information itself is encoded as it is, and the image information can be encoded.

Next, the digital information signal Sd output to the adder 5a is subtracted from the compensation signal Se from the motion compensation prediction unit 5h in the adder 5a, and is output to the DCT unit 5b as a subtraction signal Sa. The DCT unit 5b subjects the subtracted signal Sa to DCT for compressing the information amount by a known technique, and converts the subtracted signal Sa into a quantized unit 5c as a transformed signal Sdc.
Output to The quantization unit 5c quantizes the converted signal Sdc so as to conform to a bit rate indicated by a rate signal Srr described later, generates a quantized signal Sq, and sends the quantized signal Sq to the variable-length encoding unit 5e and the inverse quantization unit 5d. Output. The inverse quantization unit 5d performs an inverse quantization process on the quantized signal Sq, generates an inverse quantized signal Siq, and outputs it to the inverse DCT unit 5f. Then, the inverse DCT unit 5f outputs the inverse quantized signal Si
q is subjected to inverse DCT (inverse discrete cosine transform) by a known technique, and is output to the motion compensation prediction unit 5h as an inverse transform signal Sid.

Thereafter, the motion compensation prediction unit 5h performs a motion compensation process using so-called inter-frame prediction in the MPEG system based on the motion vector included in the vector signal Sv and the inverse transform signal Sid. The compensation signal Se for compressing the amount is generated and added to the adder 5a.
Output to

On the other hand, the variable-length encoding unit 5e performs variable-length encoding on the quantized signal Sq, and compresses and encodes the original digital information signal Sd according to the MPEG2 method. Spd is output to the recording buffer memory 7 via the switch 6. At this time, the rate control unit 5j, based on the compressed information signal Spd,
The rate signal Srr for optimizing the bit rate at the time of quantization in the quantization unit 5c is generated and output to the quantization unit 5c.

Next, a main decoder 13 functioning as a main decoder circuit for decoding the encoded video information.
Will be described with reference to FIG. Note that, unlike the sub-decoder circuit by the encoder 5 described above, the main decoder 13 has a function of encoding video information in all modes, such as video information in trick play.

The main decoder 13 includes a variable length decoding unit 1
3a, an inverse quantization unit 13b, an inverse DCT unit 13c, an adder 13d, and a motion compensation prediction unit 13e. The input stream signal Sdd is subjected to a variable length decoding process in a variable length decoding unit 13a based on the motion vector included in the vector signal Sv from the motion compensation prediction 13e, and the quantized signal Sq
Is output to the inverse quantization unit 13b. Then, similarly to the above-described inverse quantization unit 5d, the inverse quantization unit 13b performs an inverse quantization process on the quantized signal Sq and outputs the converted signal Sd
c is generated and output to the inverse DCT unit 13c.

The inverse DCT unit 13c, like the inverse DCT unit 5f, applies an inverse DCT to the converted signal Sdc by a known technique.
T is output to the adder 13d as the subtraction signal Sa. Then, the compensation signal Se from the motion compensation prediction unit 13e is added in the subtractor 13d, and is output to the D / A converter 15 via the switch 14 as the expansion signal So. At this time, the motion compensation prediction unit 13e
A motion compensation process is performed on the expanded signal So to detect the motion vector and output it as a vector signal Sv to the variable length decoding unit 13a, and generate the compensation signal Se and output it to the adder 13d.

Next, the operation of the recording / reproducing apparatus 50 of the present embodiment will be described. As described above, the recording / reproducing device 50
A recording / reproducing function of video information on the optical disc 1, an editing / recording function of editing a playlist while viewing the reproduced video information, and recording the playlist on the optical disc 1, and an editing video of reproducing an edited video according to the playlist. Since it has a reproduction function, it is necessary to individually explain these operations. Therefore, first, after describing the recording / reproducing operation, the editing / recording operation of the playlist will be described,
After that, the playback operation of the edited video will be described.

First, in the recording operation of the recording / reproducing device 50, when an information signal Sin (analog signal) corresponding to video information to be recorded is input from outside, the A / D
The converter 3 digitizes the information signal Sin and converts the digital information signal Sd through the switch 4 to the encoder 5.
Output to The encoder 5 converts the input digital information signal Sd into GO based on the control signal C1 output from the controller 19 in accordance with the above-described MPEG method.
The compressed information signal Spd is compressed and encoded in P units, and the compressed information signal Spd is output to the recording buffer memory 7 via the switch 6. At the time of recording, the switches 4 and 6 are connected to the controller 19.
Is set to the terminal R side by the switching signal C7 from the terminal.

The recording buffer memory 7 temporarily stores the input compressed information signal Spd, and always outputs a data amount signal Smr indicating the data amount of the stored compressed information signal Spd to the controller 19. Recording encoder 8
Reads the compressed information signal Spd temporarily recorded in the recording buffer 7 based on the control signal C2 output from the controller 19, and performs predetermined signal processing (DV
D format conversion, error correction, interleaving, scramble processing, etc.) and output the encoded signal Sed to the recording circuit 9. The recording circuit 9 includes a controller 19
Converts the encode signal Sed into the recording signal Sr based on the control signal C3 output from the optical pickup 2
Output to

The optical pickup 2 irradiates the information recording surface of the optical disk 1 based on the recording signal Sr output from the recording circuit 9, and forms phase change pits corresponding to the recording signal Sr on the optical disk 1. At this time, the optical disc 1 is rotationally driven by the spindle motor 16 at a predetermined linear velocity.

Next, the reproducing operation by the recording / reproducing apparatus 50 will be described. The optical pickup 2 irradiates a constant amount of light beam onto the optical disc 1 and, based on the reflected light, an R beam corresponding to a phase change pit formed on the optical disc 1.
The F signal Sp is output to the reproducing circuit 10. Reproduction circuit 10
Amplifies the RF signal Sp and shapes its waveform based on the control signal C4 output from the controller 19, and outputs the reproduction signal Spp to the reproduction decoder 11. The reproduction decoder 11 performs signal processing on the reproduction signal Spp based on the control signal C5 output from the controller 19,
The stream signal Sdd is output to the stream buffer 12.

The stream buffer 12 serves as a buffer for temporarily storing the stream signal Sdd,
Further, the controller 19 always outputs a data amount signal Smp indicating the data accumulation amount of the stream signal Sdd to the controller 19. The main decoder 13 sequentially reads out the stream signal Sdd from the stream buffer 12 based on the control signal C6 output from the controller 19, performs expansion / decoding processing based on the MPEG system, and switches the expansion signal So to the switch 1
4 to the D / A converter 15. And
The D / A converter 15 converts the expanded signal So into an analog signal and outputs an output signal Sout to a TV monitor (not shown) outside the device. The switch 14 is set to the terminal P1 by a switching signal C7 from the controller 19 during reproduction.

Next, the operation of recording a play list by the recording / reproducing apparatus 50 will be described. The recording / reproducing device 50 according to the present embodiment has an individual editing function in which the user individually edits a video, and the operation unit 18 includes, for example, a “title name change button” for changing the title of video information, , An "AB erasing button" for erasing from the video of A to the video of B, and a "decision button" for deciding the editing result.

FIG. 5 shows the relationship between the video information recorded on the optical disc 1 and the VOBU. When a movie broadcasted on a TV is recorded on the optical disc 1 and reproduced, the video 1 (first range) is displayed. An example is shown in which unnecessary CMs between the video and the video 2 (the second range) are deleted and the video is edited so as to be continuously reproduced.

To delete (skip) a CM between the video 1 and the video 2, the operator operates the “edit button” of the operation unit 18 to display the edit screen of the playlist displayed on the display unit. Select "AB delete button" from among them. Then, display data is generated by the on-screen data generation unit 20 to set the start and end of the range to be erased, and is displayed on-screen on a TV monitor outside the device. Therefore, the operator sets the first editing position (point b) and the second editing position (point c) while viewing this display screen. When these settings are completed, the controller 19 outputs a playlist including the editing position information to the recording encoder 8, and records the playlist in a predetermined area of the disc 1.

Next, the operation of reproducing the edited video by the recording / reproducing apparatus 50 will be described. FIG. 5 is a timing chart showing the playback operation of the edited video, and FIG. 6 is a sub-operation flow mainly controlling the operation of an encoder 5 with a sub-decoding function (hereinafter, referred to as a sub-decoder 5 for decoding). FIG. 7 and FIG. 7 are main operation flowcharts mainly for controlling the operation of the main decoder 13. These FIGS. 6 and 7
The operation flow shown in (1) shows an operation program recorded in a ROM (not shown) in advance. When the operation unit 18 is operated to reproduce an edited video, each operation control is performed based on these operation flows. FIG. 8 shows a change in the VOBU stored in the stream buffer 12, and FIG. 9 shows a switching state of each switch at the start of the operation. In this embodiment, each VOBU includes one GOP.

First, the controller 19 determines in step S1 shown in FIG. 7 that the V corresponding to the head of the cell ID # 1.
The reproduction of OBU # -n (FIG. 5) is started, and the obtained stream signal Sdd is written into the stream buffer 12.
Therefore, hereinafter, in the stream buffer 12, FIG.
Each VOBU is stored in the image shown in FIG.

Next, the controller 19 proceeds to step S2.
Is supplied to the main decoder 13 to start the decoding process of the video 1, and waits until the decoding process ends up to the start position a (FIG. 10) of the video 1 in step S3. When the decoding process up to the start position a is completed (step S3: YES), the controller 19 monitors whether the sub-decoder 5 is operating in step S4. Naturally, since the sub-decoder 5 has not been operated yet (step S4: NO), the controller 19 switches the switch 14 to the terminal P1 side in step S8, and thereafter controls the decoding process of the main decoder 13 in step S9. Therefore,
The video 1 decoded by the main decoder 13 is supplied to a TV monitor outside the device, and is displayed on the TV monitor.

Next, the controller 19 proceeds to step S
10 indicates that the main decoder 13 is in the vicinity of the end of the cell (according to the present embodiment, the VOBU # corresponding to the end of the cell ID # 1).
It waits for the decoding process to proceed up to VOBU # -1) four times before 3. As shown in FIG. 12, VOBU # -1
Is detected (step S)
10: YES), the controller 19 first proceeds to step S
11 is used to determine whether there is a continuation cell. As shown in FIG. 5, since there is the succeeding cell ID # 3 (step S11: YES), the controller 19 proceeds to step S1.
In step S13, a start request for the sub-decoder 5 is issued, and the process waits for the sub-decoder 5 to enter a pause state in step S13.

During the playback operation of the edited video, the controller 19 simultaneously performs control based on the sub-operation flow shown in FIG. The controller 19 determines in step S2
In step 1, a start request is awaited from the main operation flow. When the start request is issued by the main operation flow as described above, the sub operation flow proceeds to step S22, and the switch 4 (FIG. 2) is set to the terminal P side. Switch. The V currently being decoded by the main decoder 13
VOBU # 0 which is one ahead of OBU # -1 is supplied to the sub-decoder 5 to put the sub-decoder 5 in a pause state, and waits for a request to resume from the main operation flow in step S23. Here, the pause state indicates a standby state in which data to be decoded is supplied to the decoder, and the decoder can immediately decode and output the data.

When the sub-decoder 5 enters the pause state in this way, the controller 19 advances the main operation flow to step S14, and waits for the decoding process of the main decoder 13 to proceed to the pause position of the sub-decoder 5.
When the main decoder 13 finishes the decoding process of VOBU # -1 and proceeds to the pause position of the sub-decoder 5 (step S14: YES), the controller 19 switches the switch 14 to the terminal P2 side in step S15 (FIG. 11). , And issues a restart request to the sub-decoder 5 in step S16. When a restart request is issued according to the main operation flow, the controller 19 advances the sub-operation flow to step S24, and sets the sub-decoder 5 to the play state to start decoding output after VOBU # 0 which is the rear part of the video 1. Therefore, after that, the video 1 after VOBU # 0 decoded by the sub-decoder 5 is displayed on the TV monitor outside the device, following the video 1 up to VOBU # -1 decoded by the main decoder 13. Will be. Then, in step S25, the controller 19 continues the decoding process by the sub-decoder 5, and waits for the cell end time in step S26.

After issuing a restart request in the main operation flow, the controller 16 stops the decoding process of the main decoder 13 in step S17, and follows the start position of the stream signal Sdd to the main decoder 13 in step S18. VOBU # 6 (FIG. 5) corresponding to the head of cell ID # 3. Then, the process returns to step S2 described above, and VOBU # 6 is
To start the decoding process, and waits until the decoding process ends up to the start position c of the video 3 in step S3. When it is determined that the start position c shown in FIG. 5A has been reached (step S3: YES), the controller 1
9 monitors whether the sub-decoder 5 is operating in step S4.

As described above, since the sub-decoder 5 is currently operating (step S4: YES), the controller 19 puts the main decoder 13 in a pause state in step S5, and requests a restart from the sub-operation flow in step S6. Wait for.

When detecting the end time of the cell ID # 1 in step S26 of the sub-operation flow, the controller 19 issues a restart request to the main decoder 13, and stops the decoding operation of the sub-decoder 5 in step S28. Thereafter, the process returns to step S21 described above. When a restart request is issued according to the sub-operation flow (step S
6: YES), the controller 19 restarts the decoding process of the main decoder 13 in step S7, switches the switch 14 to the terminal P1 side in step S8,
Thereafter, the decoding process of the main decoder 13 is controlled in step S9. Therefore, thereafter, the video 3 decoded by the main decoder 13 is supplied to the TV monitor outside the apparatus without interruption, and is displayed on the TV monitor.

Then, the controller 19 sets the cell ID #
Just before the end of Step 3 (Step S10: YES), there is no subsequent cell in Step S11 (Step S1).
1: NO), the end position of the cell ID # 3 is waited for in step S19, and the main decoder 13 is set in step S20.
Is stopped, and the above-described control of the playback operation of the series of edited videos is terminated.

As described above, according to the recording / reproducing apparatus 50 according to the embodiment of the present invention, when reproducing the edited video, the recording information at the rear of the video 1 is decoded by the decoding processing function provided in the encoder 5. Since the decoding processing is performed using the video data, the video 1 and the video 2 can be decoded and displayed without interruption. Further, since the decoding processing function of the encoder 5 is used, it is not necessary to newly provide an expensive main decoder, and the cost can be minimized.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, according to the above-described embodiment, as shown in FIG. 12, when the main decoder 13 becomes VOBU # -1) four times before VOBU # 3 corresponding to the rear end of cell ID # 1, the next Although VOBU # 0 is supplied to the sub-decoder 5 and put into a pause state at the head of VOBU # 0, as shown in FIG.
When VOBU # 3 becomes VOBU # 1, the next VOBU # 0 is supplied to the sub-decoder 5 to be in a pause state at the head of VOBU # 0. Not something. However, considering that the function of the sub-decoder 5 is minimal as described above, the decoding processing period by the sub-decoder 5 is made as short as possible, and the period during which a video is disturbed when a trick play operation is performed is made as short as possible. It is desirable.

Further, according to the above-described embodiment, the VOBU at the rear of the cell ID # 1 indicating the first range is decoded by the sub-decoder 5, and during this time, the main decoder 13 transmits the VOBU before the next cell ID # 3. Although the data of the VOBU of the section is supplied and brought into the pause state at the editing position c, as shown in FIG. The data at the front of cell ID # 3 is supplied and put into a pause state at the editing position c.
The decoding process may be shifted from the main decoder to the sub decoder. Also in this case, the sub-decoder 5
While the decoding process of the data at the front of D # 3 is being performed, the VOBU, for example, VOB, is provided to the main decoder.
The data of U # 8 may be supplied to cause a pause state at the tip of VOBU # 8, and the decoding process may be taken over from the sub decoder to the main decoder in VOBU # 8.

Although the DVD-RW is used as the recording medium according to the above-described embodiment, various recording media such as a DVD-RAM and other optical disks and hard disks can be used. Although the recording information is a video signal compressed and encoded based on the MPEG method, it may be encoded by another encoding method, and may be recording information other than the video signal such as an audio signal. good. Further, the recording format is not limited to the recording format shown in FIG.

Further, a control program corresponding to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 is recorded on a flexible disk, an optical disk, a hard disk, or the like as an information recording medium, and read and executed by a personal computer or the like. The CPU of the computer may be the controller 19 described above, and the computer may function as the recording medium reproducing device 50 described above.

[0058]

According to the present invention, smooth reproduction can be performed at each connection point. Further, a frame buffer which has been conventionally required is unnecessary, and a cost reduction effect can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a recording format diagram of an optical disc used in a recording / reproducing device 50 to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a block circuit diagram of a recording / reproducing device 50 to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 3 is a block circuit diagram of an encoder 5;

FIG. 4 is a block circuit diagram of a main decoder 13;

FIG. 5 is a timing chart for explaining the operation of reproducing the edited video by the recording / reproducing device 50;

FIG. 6 is a sub-operation flowchart showing operation control for the encoder 5.

FIG. 7 is a main operation flowchart showing operation control for the main decoder 13;

FIG. 8 shows a VOBU stored in the stream buffer 12.
FIG.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a switching state of each switch at the start of playback of an edited video.

FIG. 10 is a timing chart at the time of starting playback of an edited video.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a switching state of each switch during reproduction of an edited video.

FIG. 12 is a timing chart at a connection point of an edited video.

FIG. 13 is a timing chart showing a first modification of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a timing chart showing a second modified example of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the MPEG system.

FIG. 16 is a timing chart at the time of playing back an edited video in a conventional device.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Optical disk 2 ... Pickup 3 ... A / D converter 4, 6, 14 ... Switch 5 ... Encoder 5 with a decoding process function (sub-decoder means) 7 ... Recording buffer 8. ..Recording encoder 9 Recording circuit 10 Reproduction circuit 11 Reproduction decoder 12 Stream buffer 13 Main decoder (main decoder means) 15 D / A converter 18 Operation unit 19 controller

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F-term (reference) AA17 AA29 BB01 CA16 CA50 CA53 CC02 CD09 CD15 CD27 CH29 CJ16 CK22

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. Encoding with a predetermined encoding unit,
In a recording medium reproducing device capable of reproducing by connecting a first range and a second range of recording information recorded on a recording medium, a sub-decoder means for decoding processing of recording information at the rear of the first range; And a main decoder for decoding the first range of record information and the second range of record information excluding the rear portion. 2. The sub-decoder is in a standby state so that while the main decoder is decoding the recording information in the first range, the recording information in the rear part of the first range can be immediately decoded. The main decoder is in a standby state such that the main decoder can immediately decode the recording information in the second range while the sub-decoder performs the decoding processing of the recording information in the rear part of the first range. 2. The recording medium reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: 3. Encoding with a predetermined encoding unit,
In a recording medium reproducing apparatus capable of reproducing by connecting a first range and a second range of recording information recorded on a recording medium, a sub-decoder means for decoding recording information at a front part of the second range; And a main decoder unit for decoding the first range of recording information and the second range of recording information excluding the front part. 4. The standby state in which the sub-decoder can immediately decode the front recorded information in the second range while the main decoder is decoding the recorded information in the first range. The main decoder immediately decodes the second range of record information following the front while the sub-decoder performs the process of decoding the record information in the front of the second range. 4. The recording medium reproducing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the recording medium reproducing apparatus is in a standby state so as to be able to stand. 5. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a recording unit that records the recording information on the recording medium, wherein the sub-decoder functions as an encoder that decodes the recording information using the predetermined coding unit during recording. 1 to 4
The recording medium reproducing device according to any one of the above. 6. A computer according to claim 1, wherein said computer encodes a predetermined encoding unit and records the encoded information on a recording medium.
The information recording medium in which the control program is recorded so as to be readable by the computer, wherein the control program is configured to function as a reproducible recording medium reproducing device by connecting the range and the second range. A sub-decoder means for decoding recording information in the rear part of the range 1; and a main decoder means for decoding recording information in the first range and the recording information in the second area excluding the rear part. An information recording medium in which a control program is recorded so as to be readable by the computer. 7. A computer according to claim 1, wherein said computer encodes a predetermined encoding unit and records the encoded information on a recording medium.
The information recording medium in which the control program is recorded so as to be readable by the computer, wherein the control program is configured to function as a reproducible recording medium reproducing device by connecting the range and the second range. Sub-decoder means for decoding the recording information in the front part of the range 2; main decoder means for decoding the recording information in the first range and the recording information in the second area excluding the front part; An information recording medium having a control program recorded thereon in a manner readable by the computer.