JP2002218412A - Device and method for inputting-outputting video information and transmitter - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To protect the copyright of an information provider and also to secure the range of image quality satisfying users in inputting high definition(HD) video information and outputting the high definition video information to an external device. SOLUTION: The high definition(HD) video information is converted into video information of progressive scan of the number of standard(SD) scan lines to be outputted. Control information for defining the conversion is also attached to the video information. Because of this, output information is deteriorated to an extent that a high quality reproduction can not be created from the output information, which does not dissatisfy the users with the progressive scan. An arithmetic processing operation for san-line conversion is also not difficult.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an input / output device and an output method for controlling the resolution and the like in order to protect the copyright of the input video information when the video information is input and output to an external device. About. Furthermore, the present invention relates to an apparatus for transmitting control by adding control information relating to resolution to video information when transmitting the video information.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the field of television broadcasting and information software services, digital broadcasting and HD (High Defini
tion: High definition) broadcasting has started. As a result, not only is it possible to increase the number of channels of broadcasting, but also the quality of video and audio information has been greatly improved. A high-quality information software corresponding to this will appear in the future.

[0003] Although quality improvement by digital technology has been effective in various devices in recent years, new problems have also arisen with this. In particular, when a digital recording system is used in a device that records and reproduces information, high-quality dubbing software is circulated in places unknown to the copyright holder, and there is a problem that profits cannot be returned to the right holder. This has been a problem when consumer digital audio recorders emerged, and measures have been considered in various areas. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-146378 discloses that when information is recorded, the information is intentionally degraded and recorded.

[0004]

In the case of a video information recording device, there is a method of encrypting a digital output signal so that only a specific user can view the digital output signal, or a method of multiplexing control data to prohibit unauthorized recording. It is developed and has high confidentiality. The most problematic is the analog output signal.
However, the analog output is limited in means even if a similar method is applied, and is easily broken. For this reason, when outputting high-quality information to a certain extent, particularly in analog output, it is effective to protect the copyright of the copyright holder by deteriorating the quality before outputting.

However, from the user's point of view, the deterioration should be limited to a certain limit, and it is unsatisfactory to view the video obtained by the HD broadcast at a resolution of, for example, half or less. is there. Based on these conditions, there has been no concrete proposal for a suitable method.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to protect the rights of copyright holders, particularly when recording and outputting high quality video information,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a quality control method suitable for both of the user's benefit.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, a video information input / output device according to the present invention receives video information transmitted via broadcast or communication means, or reproduces video information reproduced from a recording medium. Information is input, subjected to predetermined signal processing and output to an external device, and the input video information is information of a high-definition system of interlaced scanning with about 1000 scanning lines. Has a resolution limiting circuit that converts this into output video information of progressive scanning with about 500 scanning lines. Preferably, the resolution limiting circuit performs conversion when the output video information is an analog signal, and converts the number of scanning lines of the output video information to 540.

Further, the input video information includes control information relating to a resolution limit for defining whether or not to convert the number of scanning lines, and has a detection circuit for detecting the control information. Based on the result, the number of scanning lines is converted by the resolution limiting circuit. Further, the input video information includes control information on a broadcast system indicating whether or not the video information is high definition information, and the input video information is high definition information and defines scan line conversion. If so, the number of scanning lines is converted by a resolution limiting circuit.

Further, the video information input / output method of the present invention receives video information transmitted via broadcast or communication means,
Alternatively, video information reproduced from a recording medium is input, subjected to predetermined signal processing and output to an external device, and the input video information has about 1000 scanning lines and high interlaced scanning. If the information is of the fine format, it is converted into output video information of progressive scanning with about 500 scanning lines.

Further, the video information transmitting apparatus of the present invention transmits video information to a receiving apparatus. The video information transmitting apparatus has about 1000 scanning lines of video information and is information of a high-definition system of interlaced scanning. In this case, when the receiving apparatus that receives the signal outputs the information to an external apparatus, the control information about the resolution limit that defines whether or not the number of scanning lines is to be converted to progressive scanning video information with about 500 lines is transmitted to the video information. And a transmission circuit for transmitting the data.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In one embodiment of the present invention,
For example, information transmitted from an information providing unit such as a broadcasting station or information software recorded on a recording medium or the like is multiplexed with control information for specifying whether or not to limit the resolution of the analog output as described above. I do. For example,
Basically, it can be multiplexed with 1 bit, for example, when 0 is applied and 1 when not applied. Due to the limitation of the resolution and the like, HD information is converted into an SD (Standard Definition: SD) corresponding to a conventional television system such as NTSC and PAL.
(Standard definition) Can be changed to information that is on par or close to it. Also, when the output once having been subjected to the resolution limitation is displayed on a display, it is also considered that the number of scanning lines is changed to the same number as the HD information and displayed by interpolating the scanning lines. Furthermore, when HD information is output from the apparatus in the form of analog output, the number of pixels per frame is set to about 500,000 pixels, which is equivalent to that of the current SD information, as a condition for limiting the resolution. This is expressed in terms of the standard that has been used in the past,
480 vertical (number of scanning lines) x 853 horizontal pixels, or
It corresponds to 540 vertical x 960 horizontal pixels.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the entire video information transmitting / receiving system of the present invention, in which information is transmitted / received by broadcasting and recorded / reproduced. This system employs a method of limiting the resolution and the like according to the present invention. 1 is an information providing station (transmitting device) such as a broadcasting station, 2 is a relay station, 3 is a receiving device (input / output device), 4 is a first recording and reproducing device, 5 is a display, and 6 is a second recording and reproducing device. It is. The present invention can also be applied to a case where one or both of the first recording / reproducing device 4 and the second recording / reproducing device 6 do not exist, and are within the category.

An information providing station 1 such as a broadcasting station transmits a signal wave modulated by information via a relay station 2 such as a broadcasting satellite. Of course, other than that, for example, transmission by cable, transmission by telephone line, transmission by terrestrial broadcasting, or the like may be used. This signal radio wave received by the receiving device 3 on the receiving side is suitable for recording into the first recording / reproducing device 4 or the second recording / reproducing device 6 after being demodulated into an information signal as described later. The recorded signal is sent to the display 5. Here, the user can directly view the information content. At least information reproduced by the first recording / reproducing device 4 among the above-mentioned recording / reproducing devices is provided to the display 5 via the receiving device 3, and the original information such as video and audio is viewed. Information reproduced by the second recording / reproducing device 6 can also be provided to the display 5 via the receiving device 3 as necessary. When the information prerecorded on the removable recording medium is provided, the reproduction operation from the first recording / reproducing device 4 or the second recording / reproducing device 6 to which the information is attached is performed.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the information providing station 1 such as a broadcasting station in FIG. 11 is a source generation unit, 12 is an encoding circuit that performs compression by the MPEG method or the like, 13 is a scramble circuit, 14 is a modulation circuit,
Reference numeral 15 denotes a transmission antenna, 16 denotes a management information adding circuit, and 17 denotes an input terminal.

Information such as video and audio generated by the source generator 11 including a camera and a recording / reproducing device is compressed by an encoding circuit 12 so that the data can be transmitted with a smaller occupied band. The signal is encrypted by the scramble circuit 13 so that only a specific viewer can view the signal, modulated by the modulation circuit 14 into a signal suitable for transmission, and then relayed from the transmission antenna 15 to a broadcast satellite, for example. It is emitted as radio waves toward the station. At this time, the management information adding circuit 16 adds information such as the above-described restriction information such as resolution, copy control information, and current time. Although not shown in FIG. 1, for example, request information is input from the input terminal 17 via a telephone line or the like. This is used in a system that determines information to be transmitted in response to a viewer request, such as video on demand.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the receiving device (input / output device) 3 in FIG. 31 is R
F / IF conversion circuit, 32 is a demodulation circuit, 33 is an error correction circuit, 34 is a descrambling circuit for decrypting a signal applied to a signal, 35 is a first demultiplex circuit, 36 is an input / output terminal, and 37 is an input / output terminal. A second demultiplexing circuit, 38 is a decoding circuit, and 39 and 310 are output terminals.

Radio waves from a relay station such as a broadcasting satellite are input to the RF / IF conversion circuit 31. Here, the radio wave of the RF band is the IF band (Intermediate Frequenc
The signal is frequency-converted to y) and becomes a signal of a fixed band independent of the receiving channel. The demodulation circuit 32 demodulates the modulation operation performed for transmission. Error correction circuit 3
At 3, the code error occurring during the transmission is detected and corrected, and then the descrambling circuit 34 decrypts the code. Then, the first and second demultiplexing circuits 3
5 and 37. In particular, in the case of digital broadcasting, a plurality of pieces of information are usually multiplexed on one channel by a method such as time division or spread spectrum. The demultiplexing circuit separates only desired information from this. The reason why the first and the second and the two are provided is not only to enable so-called back program recording, but also to remove information that is not worth recording in the first demultiplexing circuit 35. In other words, the information often includes additional information such as a weather forecast and a broadcast schedule of a program, which is good for viewing at the time of broadcasting, but is not worth recording and viewing at a later date. It is possible to remove it.

The output of the first demultiplex circuit 35 is supplied to an input / output terminal 36, and exchanges signals with the first recording / reproducing device 4 connected thereto. I / O terminal 36
Is a bi-directional terminal for exchanging information to be recorded / reproduced with the first recording / reproducing device 4 by, for example, digital data. Of course, one information line does not necessarily have to be bidirectional, and may be composed of a plurality of unidirectional information lines. The information sent from the descrambling circuit 34 or the information reproduced by the first recording / reproducing device from the input / output terminal 36 is connected to the second demultiplexing circuit 37. Information to be viewed is selected and input to the decoding circuit 38.

In the next decoding circuit 38, the data compression of the moving image which has been performed before transmission is decoded, and if necessary, converted by the method according to the present invention so as to be suitable for output from the apparatus, as will be described later. Then, it is output to the output terminal 39 and sent to the external display 5. The information to be output to the output terminal 310 is provided to the second recording / reproducing device 6 connected thereto as needed. This device is
For example, it was created for old SD information,
A general-purpose analog recording VTR for TSC, PAL or the like is a typical example. In order to enable recording and reproduction, if the information is, for example, HD information, the decoding circuit 38 down-converts the information to a format of SD information and gives the converted signal to an output terminal 310.

The relay station 2, the first recording / reproducing device 4,
Since the display 5 and the second recording / reproducing device 6 can recognize the present invention simply by recognizing that the device relays an information radio wave and that the device records or reproduces or displays information,
No detailed description of the internal operation is provided. The first recording / reproducing device 4 directly records a digitally transmitted or broadcast compressed bit stream as it is, and a digital recording method mainly used recently or in the future will be suitable.
In this case, the exchange of information with the receiving device 3 is preferably performed digitally as described above. Further, the recording medium is not limited to a tape, and various types of media such as a removable disk such as a digital video disk and a disk built in a device such as a hard disk are possible. When handling HD information, the display 5 having, for example, 1000 or more scanning lines is most suitable. The second recording / reproducing device 6 is not particularly limited, but may be an analog recording device corresponding to SD information as described above.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a control information signal according to the present invention. The control information signal is generated and transmitted by the management information adding circuit 16 of the information providing station 1 shown in FIG. In particular, it is recorded on a recording medium by the first recording / reproducing device 4 in FIG. For example, in the case of a tape medium, it is sufficient that one piece is recorded on one recording track, but it is naturally recorded in a fixed relation with information data such as video and audio, so that it can be easily separated at the time of reproduction. .

The program number 100 indicates the number of the program on the medium. The sector information 101 is
This is the number of a sector obtained by dividing the program into predetermined units. The division may be performed in fixed units, for example, in units of 2 kbytes, or may be performed in fixed units of information, for example, in units of division when encoding. The number may be assigned in the program or may be a serial number for the entire recording medium. Information such as a recording time 106 to be described later is added in units of this sector. The time information 102 indicates how long the recorded portion has passed since the start of the program. The type 103 indicates attribute information such as whether the program is sold, rented, self-made, or broadcast.

The copy control 104 indicates whether or not the information can be recorded on a medium. Copy Never, Copy One Ge
There are specifications such as neration, Copy No More, and Copy Free. In this order, recording duplication is prohibited, recording duplication is permitted for only one generation, recording duplication is permitted for one generation, and no further duplication is permitted, and recording duplication is permitted. Copy No More is Copy OneGen
When recording an eration signal, it is used to mean that no more duplication is allowed. Copy Never, Copy One
The designation of Generation and Copy Free is determined by the copyright holder such as the creator of the information.
Since re is a total of four, transmission can be performed with 2-bit information.

Reference numeral 105 denotes copy control information (APS; Analogue Protecti
on System), and controls whether copying is possible by adding a pseudo sync pulse to the analog video signal. Thus, separate copy control can be performed on the signals at the input / output terminal 36 and the output terminal 310 in FIG.

The recording time 106 records, for example, the time given by the management information providing circuit 16 in FIG. The recording at the recording time 106 is performed, for example, in sector units. The viewing period 107 is added when a time limit is set for viewing information recorded on a medium. This is also often provided by the management information providing circuit 16 described above. For this time limit, the previous recording time 106 may be used.

Reference numeral 108 denotes a broadcasting system used by the information, such as the HD information or the SD information. 109 is
It is to decide whether to limit the resolution etc.
In the case of broadcasting, the information is often provided by the management information providing circuit 16, but when the information software is provided by a recording medium, the right holder records it at the time of creation. Although the specific limiting method will be described later in detail, for example, in the case of a high-resolution video signal such as HD information, control is performed such that the image signal is not output as it is but is output at a reduced resolution. In addition, here, a case will be described in which the limitation such as the resolution is mainly performed on the analog output, but similar control may be performed on the digital output without being limited to this. In this case, the control may be performed not only based on the resolution but also based on whether security can be ensured by, for example, encryption.

The user identification 110 is recorded when a user-specific code is used so that the information recorded on the medium can be reproduced only by the same device or the same user at the time of recording. The encrypted information 111 is used when decrypting the data during reproduction when the data is encrypted and recorded on the recording medium. Since the information itself has a large data amount, a code number may be recorded, and the corresponding information stored in advance in the reproducing apparatus may be used.

The above is recorded at relatively small time intervals, such as for each frame of a video or for a fixed amount of data as required. Of the components described above, in particular, 103 to 1
Those indicated by 09 are often added in advance on the transmitting side. Although the present invention can be implemented by adopting the configuration of the control information signal as shown here, the one shown in FIG. 4 is merely an example, and various configurations such as the configuration, the recording position on the medium, and the frequency can be applied. It is. Also, not all of the contents are essential, and some of them may be omitted. Of course, the order is not limited to this.

FIG. 5 shows a control information signal on a recording medium,
This is a schematic drawing of a recording position of information data such as video and audio. In the figure, (a) is suitable for a tape medium. In this case, it is desired that a block of the control signal is provided, for example, for each recording track. Therefore, for each track, a block of control information is arranged in, for example, a header portion thereof prior to information such as video and audio. (b)
Is suitable for digital video discs and the like. In this case, it is desired that each sector has a certain amount of information.
Therefore, each sector is arranged in its header section or the like. (c) is suitable for a hard disk or the like. In this case, the information such as video and audio and the control information are preferably recorded at separate positions on the disk so that the entire control information can be read within a short time at the time of startup.

Next, a specific method for limiting the resolution and the like will be described. First, we will describe where in the system this is done. In FIG. 1, the first recording / reproducing device 4 is a consumer digital VTR, and the display 5 is an HD.
The second recording / reproducing device 6 is a consumer analog VTR compatible with SD.

Here, the operation of a conventional apparatus already on the market will be described. FIG. 3 which is received by the receiving device 3 and included therein
When displaying the information given to the display 5 via the descrambling circuit 34, the second demultiplexing circuit 37, and the decoding circuit 38, ie, the information currently being broadcast, the resolution is limited. Was displayed without. That is, the HD information is displayed at a high resolution, and the SD information is displayed at the same resolution as before. The signal is also received by the receiving device 3 and recorded and reproduced by the first recording / reproducing device 4 via the first demultiplex circuit 35 in FIG. When the information provided to the display 5 via the circuit 38, that is, the information once recorded in the apparatus, is displayed, the following was performed. If the copy control information 104 in FIG. 4 is Copy Free at the stage when the information is input to the receiving device 3, the information is recorded and reproduced as it is without any limitation on the resolution and the like, and is displayed. If you show Never Copy,
Since the first recording / reproducing apparatus 2 does not perform a recording operation, it cannot be reproduced / displayed. The same applies to the case where Copy No More is indicated by information from information software, and the first recording / reproducing apparatus 4 does not perform a recording operation. Copy One Gener
If the recording is performed by the first recording / reproducing device 4, this is rewritten as Copy No More and recorded, and when displayed on the display 5, the resolution is restricted by the decoding circuit 38 and the output terminal is limited. Output from 39 and 310 is displayed.

The method of this restriction is as follows. In some cases, the resolution simply refers to the horizontal resolution, but this can be limited by resampling or filtering using a low-pass filter or the like. On the other hand, the vertical resolution is achieved by reducing the number of scanning lines. The specific method will be described later, but is limited to, for example, 480 interlaces. Since the number of effective scanning lines of the SD information is basically this level, there is no need to limit the number of effective scanning lines.
Since there are about 0 interlaced signals, restriction is imposed. This restriction operation can be provided as a function to the decoding circuit 38 in FIG. 3, for example. In the output terminal 39 as well as the output terminal 310, the information may be analog, and it is preferable to operate the information before outputting to this terminal.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. The control information indicated by the resolution restriction information 109 in FIG. 4 is added to the information received by the receiving device 3. This is, for example, added by the management information adding circuit 16 in FIG. 1, and may be 1-bit information such as 0 when restricting, and 1 when not restricting. Here, the resolution restriction information 1
In the case where the request for restriction 09 is made, both the information currently being broadcast and the information once recorded on the apparatus via the first recording / reproducing apparatus 4 are performed. This restriction is also set to about 500,000 pixels per frame, for example, about 960 horizontal pixels and about 540 vertical pixels, also by resampling and filtering in the horizontal direction and reducing the number of scanning lines. Furthermore, when displaying on the display 5, conversion may be performed again from here, for example, the number of scanning lines may be doubled and displayed as 1080 interlaced lines, and all the scanning lines of the display 5 may be used. .

Further features of the present embodiment are, for example, 5
In order to reduce the number of scanning lines once every 40 lines, the purpose is to convert to progressive (non-interlaced) instead of interlaced. This has at least two meanings. One is, of course, to provide a certain stop in the degradation of image quality due to the operation of limiting the number of scanning lines. As mentioned earlier,
If the image quality is equivalent to that of the conventional SD information as a result of the restriction, the user receiving the high-definition HD information is greatly dissatisfied and unilaterally disadvantaged. This disadvantage can be reduced by making the pixel progressive, even though it is about 500,000 pixels per frame. The other one is the operation for limiting the number of scanning lines and the interlacing 1
This is to simplify the operation of re-conversion to 080 lines, which will be described in detail later. These restrictions or reconversion operations can also be provided as functions to the decoding circuit 38.

FIG. 6 shows the decoding circuit 3 in FIG.
FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of FIG. In FIG.
Since the terminals 39 and 310 may be the same as those shown in FIG. 3, they are assigned the same numbers. 3801 is an input terminal, 38
02 is a decoding circuit for a compression operation performed before transmission such as MPEG, 3803 is a control information detection circuit, 3804 is an up converter, 3805 is a down converter, 380
6 is the first switch, 3807 is the second switch, 38
Reference numeral 08 denotes a limiting circuit such as a resolution, 3809 denotes an APS signal adding circuit, and 3810 denotes a third switch.

An input terminal 3801 is an output of the second demultiplexing circuit 37 shown in FIG. 3, for example, information currently being broadcast, or the first recording / reproducing device 4 input from the input / output terminal 36. Is provided. This is decoded by the decoding circuit 3802, and the compression operation performed by, for example, MPEG before transmission is restored. Among them, at least information such as video and audio is given to the up-converter 3804, the down-converter 3805, the first switch 3806, and the second switch 3807. At least the control information is transmitted to the control information detection circuit 3.
803.

Although the embodiment shown in FIG. 6 shows that information is input from the decoding circuit 3802 to the control information detecting circuit 3803, the information is inputted from the second demultiplexing circuit 37 shown in FIG. Information may be directly input to the 3803. Control information detection circuit 380
3, the APS 105 is obtained from the control information shown in FIG.
And outputs the result to the APS signal addition circuit 3809. Further, the broadcast system 108 is detected, and the result is given to the first switch 3806, the second switch 3807, and the third switch 3810. Also, it detects the restriction information 109 such as resolution and gives the result to a restriction circuit 3808 such as resolution.

First, a case where the control information detection circuit 3803 determines that the information is SD information from the broadcast system 108 in FIG. 4 will be described. At this time, the first switch 3806 and the second switch 3807 are on the lower side in the drawing (denoted by b in the drawing).
The third switch 3810 is located on the upper side in the drawing (a in the drawing).
And connect it to the next component. This information is an interlaced signal of about 480 to 540 scanning lines (hereinafter referred to as 480i to 540i).

Of the outputs of the decode circuit 3802, the one sent from the output terminal 310 to the external second recording / reproducing device 6 passes through the second switch 3807 as it is,
The APS addition circuit 3809 is provided. When the control information detecting circuit 3803 detects a request to apply and output the copy control information APS to the analog recording device from the APS 105 of FIG. 4, the APS adding circuit 3809 is described in, for example, JP-A-61-288858. Like,
It is impossible to record normal information in the external second recording / reproducing circuit 6 by adding a pseudo synchronization signal or the like.

Of the outputs of the decode circuit 3802, the one sent from the output terminal 39 to the external display 5 is
First, in the up-converter 3804, 10
About 80 interlaced signals (hereinafter referred to as 1080i)
And the number of scanning lines apparently corresponds to HD information. Thereafter, the signal is supplied to the output terminal 39 via the first switch 3806 and the third switch 3810.

Next, a case where the control information detection circuit 3803 determines that the information is HD information will be described. This information is, for example, an interlaced signal (1080i) of about 1080 scanning lines. At this time, the first switch 3806 and the second switch 3807 are on the upper side (a in the drawing)
The third switch 3810 selects a signal on the lower side (b in the figure) on the drawing and connects it to the next component.

Among the outputs of the decode circuit 3802, the one sent from the output terminal 310 to the external second recording / reproducing device 6 is first reduced in the number of scanning lines by the down converter 3805, and the signals of, for example, 480i to 540i are output. After that, via the second switch 3807, and further upon request, the APS
An adding circuit 3809 adds the pseudo synchronizing signal to the output terminal 310 and supplies the pseudo synchronizing signal.

Of the outputs of the decode circuit 3802, those output from the output terminal 39 to the external display 5 are:
The signal passes through the first switch 3806 as it is and is supplied to a limiting circuit 3808 for limiting the resolution and the like. In the control information detection circuit 3803, based on the restriction information 109 such as the resolution in FIG.
For example, when outputting HD information from a device in analog,
When a request for limiting the resolution or the like is detected, the limiting circuit 3808 for the resolution or the like performs resampling or filtering in the horizontal direction to limit it to, for example, about 960 pixels, and in the vertical direction, for example, to about 540 scanning lines. Is converted to a progressive signal (hereinafter referred to as 540P), and the restriction is performed. Then, through the third switch 3810,
It is provided to an output terminal 39. By using the progressive signal, it is possible to prevent the image quality from deteriorating so that the user feels dissatisfied, and to simplify the operation of converting the number of scanning lines as described later.

Even if the information is HD information, if the resolution limitation is not required, the limiting circuit for the resolution or the like outputs the input information without limiting the resolution. Alternatively, this can be realized by selecting the input information on the a side of the third switch 3810.

The output terminals 39 are connected to 480i, 540i, 540P
When information of (or less than 720P) is output and input to the display 5, it is often up-converted on the display 5 and converted into a format of high definition information for display. This up-conversion processing can also be performed by the limiting circuit 3808 for limiting the resolution and the like.

A DA for converting information into analog information
Although the conversion circuit is not described so far, the location is not particularly limited. If the display is connected by analog information, the signal is connected between the third switch 3810 and the output terminal 39, and further, the APS addition circuit 3809 and the output terminal 310.
And the like. Of course, in the former case, the output terminal 3
9 and in front of the display 5. If it is connected to the display 5 by digital information, it is naturally inside the display 5. Even in this case, especially when the display 5 is provided with an analog output, there may be a case where a restriction such as resolution is required here. Next, HD information or S
For determining whether the information is D information, there are several methods in addition to the method based on the broadcast method 108 in FIG. For example, the determination can be made based on the cycle of the horizontal synchronization signal. The limiting circuit 3808 for the resolution and the like is not limited to the position shown in FIG.
May be provided between the first demultiplex circuit 35 and the input / output terminal 36. In this case, when a restriction such as a resolution is required, this is performed before recording in the first recording / reproducing device 4. However, in this case, since the resolution of the recording information itself is also limited, the merit of the user is reduced.

FIG. 7 shows a decoding circuit 38 different from FIG.
An example of the configuration will be described. Here, up converter 3804A
Is different from FIG. 6, and the first switch 3806 does not exist. Here, the information output to the output terminal 39 is as follows. The output of the decode circuit 3802 is 48
0i to 540i are stored in the third switch 381.
0, 1080i with upconverter 3804A
, And is provided to an output terminal 39. HD information whose output of the decoding circuit 3802 is 1080i is converted into 540P information by the limiting circuit 3808 such as a resolution, and then converted into 1080i information via the third switch 3810 and the up-converter 3804A. The output is supplied to the output terminal 39. In this case, the original 1080i
However, since it is 540P once, some resolution restrictions are applied. In this case, the upconverter 3804A can be separated and incorporated in the display 5, for example.

Next, a method of limiting the resolution and the like will be specifically described. As described above, the restriction in the horizontal direction can be achieved by resampling, filtering, or the like. Here, the remaining vertical direction, that is, the conversion of the number of scanning lines will be described with reference to schematic drawings.

First, a conventional method of converting the number of scanning lines will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 8 shows a case where the information of 1080i is converted into 540i having half the number of scanning lines.
This schematically shows a case where the information converted to 0i is returned to 1080i again. In the figure, (a) shows an odd field of the two fields, (b) shows an even field,
Together they form a single frame. In the figure, the vertical direction indicates the relative position of the display in the vertical direction. The horizontal lines correspond to the scanning lines, and AB,.
.. Or MN .. First 1080
The information of i is a solid line, after converting to 540i it is a dotted line,
After conversion to 0i, it is shown by a two-dot broken line.

When converting the left 1080i into the right 540i in FIG. 8, focusing on the vertical relative positions before and after the conversion, in the odd field shown in FIG. 8A, M = (A + B) / 2, N = (C + D) / 2 Expression (1) and calculating the average value of the scanning lines A and B sandwiching the scanning lines M at equal intervals, for example. On the other hand, in the even field shown in (b), it is preferable to bring the scanning lines at the same position as in T = H, U = J (2), that is, to thin out every other scanning line.

540i on the right side in FIG. 9 (same as the right half of FIG. 8)
Is re-converted to 1080i on the left side, again focusing on the relative position before and after, in the odd field shown in (a), B = (3M + N) / 4, C = (M + 3N) / 4. Equation (3) and the distance from two scanning lines sandwiching them are taken into account.
A weighted average will be taken. On the other hand, in the even-numbered field shown in (b), re-H = T, re-I = (T + U) / 2 (Equation (4)), every other scanning line is brought to the same position. Try to calculate the average value. As described above, particularly in the case of re-conversion, there is an inconvenience to change the operation formula for each field and for each scanning line.

The equations (3) and (4) are replaced by the equations (1) and (2).
As can be seen from the above, even with the same 1080i information, before and after this conversion, re-B = (3A + 3B + C + D) / 8, re-C = (A + B + 3C + 3D) / 8, re-H = H, re-I = (H + J) / 2 ... In the same scanning line as in the equation (5), information originally existing in another scanning line is mixed, and the vertical resolution is lost. This is the function of limiting the resolution in the vertical direction. Further, since filter characteristics are different for each line and each field, image quality deterioration such as flicker is added.

Next, a method of converting the number of scanning lines used in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG.
When converting 1080i information to 540P with half the number of scanning lines, FIG. 11 converts the information once converted to 540P to 1080P again.
This is a diagram schematically showing the case of returning to i. At the stage of 1080i, (a) shows the odd field of the two fields, and (b) shows the even field, and both of them constitute one frame. However, at the stage of 540P,
There is no distinction between even and odd fields, and one field is one frame. The first 1080i information is a solid line, 540
It is shown by a dotted line after conversion to P, and by a two-dot broken line after conversion to 1080i again.

When converting 1080i on the left side into 540P on the right side in FIG. 10, focusing on the relative position in the vertical direction before and after the conversion, for example, the ratio of the distance between A and B after conversion is 1: 3.
It is. Therefore, in the odd field shown in (a), M = (3A + B) / 4, M ′ = (3B + C) / 4... On the other hand, in the even field shown in (b), T ′ = (G + 3H) / 4, U = (H + 3I) / 4...

When re-converting 540P on the right side (same as the right half of FIG. 10) to 1080i on the left side in FIG. 11, again focusing on the relative positions before and after, the odd field shown in FIG. = (M + 3M ') / 4, C = (M' + 3N) / 4 Expression (8) On the other hand, in the even field shown in (b), re-H = (3T '+ U) / 4, re-I = (3U + U') / 4 ... Equation (9).

As can be seen from the above, in the process of conversion and re-conversion between 1080i and 540P, a three-to-one weighted average of the pixels sandwiching the converted scanning line may be obtained. That is, there is an advantage that the operation formula does not need to be changed for each field or each scanning line as in the conventional example, and the operation is not troublesome.

Here again, as can be seen by substituting equations (6) and (7) into equations (8) and (9), re-B = (3A + 10B + 3C) / 16, re-C = (3B + 10C + 3D) / 16, H = (3G + 10H + 3I) / 16; Has been lost. This is the function of limiting the resolution. However, there is an advantage in that the image quality is not converted into a progressive image when the image is once converted, so that the image quality does not cause the user to be dissatisfied.
In addition, each of the converted scanning lines has a weighted average of 3: 10: 3 of the original three scanning lines, so that flicker for each scanning line can be reduced, and no flicker between fields due to processing occurs. There is.

Next, another example to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to FIGS. When digitizing an original using a film medium such as a movie as an original, progressive scanning (hereinafter referred to as “72”) at 24 frames per second and 720 scanning lines is used.
0P). A case where this is converted to 540P at 60 frames per second and further converted to 1080i will be described.

First, the left side of FIG. 12 schematically shows a 720P scanning line. Since this is converted to 540P, 4
A conversion operation for forming three scanning lines from the scanning lines is performed. In the figure, the scanning lines from A 'to C' are formed by the scanning lines from A to D, and the arithmetic expression is as follows. A ′ = (5A + B) / 6, B ′ = (B + C) / 2, C ′ = (C + 5D) / 6 Equation (11) Naturally, in the adjacent frame, if A is replaced with G and B is replaced with H, good. Before and after this, the number of frames is adjusted every second. Since 60 frames are formed by 24 frames, 5 frames are formed by using 2 frames. Frames sent in the order of 1, 2, 3, 4
It can be realized by repeating 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4,.

Next, a case where the 540P is reconverted to 1080i will be described with reference to FIG. This is basically Figure 1.
Same as 1, and A = (3A ′ + B ′) / 4, B = (3B ′ + C) / 4, G = (G ′ + 3H ′) / 4, H = (H ′ + 3I ′) ) / 4 Expression (12), and there is no need to change the arithmetic expression for each field or each scanning line, and there is no need for complicated operations.

By substituting equation (11) into equation (12), re-A = (15A + 6B + 3C) / 24, re-B = (9B + 10C + 5D) / 24, re-G = (5G + 10H + 9I) / 24, re-H = (3H + 6I + 15J) /24...Equation (13) also contains information originally in other scanning lines in the same scanning line, and the resolution in the vertical direction is lost. Therefore, the image quality does not provide the user with dissatisfaction. In addition, since the same filter characteristics are obtained for each field after restoration, flicker hardly occurs.

In the above description, the limitation on the resolution and the like when outputting information from the apparatus has been mainly described for the case where the output is limited to the analog output. However, the present invention is also applicable to the digital output. It goes without saying that the same applies.

When the output signal of the receiving apparatus 3 is to be output as a 540P signal whose resolution or the like is restricted, the conversion shown in FIG. 10, ie, the equations (6) and (7) or the equations shown in FIG. The conversion, that is, equation (11) may be applied to the limiting circuit 3808 such as the resolution shown in FIGS. When the output signal of the receiving apparatus 3 is output in a high-definition signal format after restricting the resolution or the like, the conversion shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, that is, the equation (10) or FIGS. , I.e., the equation (13) may be applied to the limiting circuit 3808 such as the resolution. Equation (1
If the processes shown in (0) and (13) are used, two conversion processes can be performed at once, and signal processing can be performed efficiently.

In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the circuit block configuration is shown, but it may be realized by an arithmetic signal processing using a microprocessor.

Further, FIGS. 10, 11, 12, and 13
In the embodiment shown in (1), the case where the calculation is performed using the information of two lines is described. However, if the calculation is performed using the information of four lines, for example, a decrease in the vertical resolution can be reduced. The present invention is not limited to the filter coefficients shown in Expressions (6), (7), (8), (9), and (10) and Expressions (11), (12), and (13). If the following filter is used, the decrease in the vertical resolution can be further reduced.

FIG. 14 is a circuit block diagram showing an example of the resolution limiting circuit 3808. The horizontal and vertical resolution limitations described above can be performed independently. 38081 is an input terminal, 38082 is a horizontal limiting circuit, 38083 is a vertical limiting circuit, 3808
4 is an output terminal. For example, in the case of the embodiment of FIG. 6, the output of the first switch 3806 is supplied to the input terminal 38081. This information signal is supplied to a horizontal limiting circuit 3.
At 8082, the horizontal resolution is limited by resampling, filtering, or the like. Next, after the above-described conversion of the number of scanning lines is performed by the vertical limiting circuit 38083, the output is output to the output terminal 38084, and FIG.
Is supplied to the third switch 3810. Of course, the horizontal limiting circuit 38082 and the vertical limiting circuit 3808
3 may be arranged in reverse. As described above, a circuit for performing inverse conversion may be added, and two processes may be performed at once.

The present invention is particularly effective when the receiving device 3 and the display 5 shown in FIG. 1 are connected by analog signals. In the case of connection by digital signals, when the receiving device 3 and the display 5 are in the same housing, the resolution is not necessarily limited according to the present invention. It is effective to apply the present invention to the present invention, and is within the category.

[0068]

As described above, according to the present invention, when a large amount of information such as high-definition (HD) video information is output as analog information, a certain limit such as resolution can be imposed. It is difficult to make a perfect copy, and the rights of the copyright holder can be protected. In addition, since the conversion to progressive is used, the deterioration of the image does not cause user dissatisfaction, and the conversion does not require changing the arithmetic expression for each field or for each scanning line. There is an effect that there is no trouble and there is little occurrence of flicker and the like.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the entire video information transmitting / receiving system of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a configuration of an information providing station (transmitting device) 1 in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of a configuration of a receiving device (input / output device) 3 in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a control information signal according to the present invention.

5A and 5B are schematic diagrams showing recording positions of a control information signal and video information data on a recording medium according to the present invention, wherein FIG. 5A is a tape medium, FIG. 5B is a video disk medium, and FIG. It is an example.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a decoding circuit 38 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing another configuration example of the decoding circuit 38 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing a conventional method for converting the number of scanning lines 1080i to 540i.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing a conventional method for reconverting the number of scanning lines from 540i to 1080i.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing the method of the present invention for converting the number of scanning lines 1080i to 540P.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing a method of the present invention for reconverting the number of scanning lines from 540P to 1080i.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram showing a method of the present invention for converting the number of scanning lines 720P to 540P.

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing a method of the present invention for reconverting the number of scanning lines 540P to 1080i.

FIG. 14 is a circuit for limiting resolution etc. in FIGS. 6 and 7;
8 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Information providing station (transmitting device) 11 Source generating unit 16 Management information adding circuit 104 Copy control 105 APS 108 Broadcasting system 109 Restriction information such as resolution 2 Relay station 3 Receiver 31 RF / IF conversion circuit 32 Demodulation circuit 33 error correcting circuit 34 descrambling circuit 35 first demultiplexing circuit 37 second demultiplexing circuit 38 Decoding circuit 3802 Decoding circuit 3803 Control information detecting circuit 3804 Upconverter 3805 Downconverter 3808 Resolution limiting circuit 3809 APS signal addition circuit 39 Output terminal 310 output terminal 4 first recording / reproducing device 5 display 6 second recording / reproducing device

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Atsushi Yoshioka 292 Yoshida-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture F-term (reference) 5C063 AA06 AB03 BA03 BA20 CA01 DA07 in Digital Media Development Division, Hitachi, Ltd.

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A video information input device which receives video information transmitted via a broadcast or communication means or inputs video information reproduced from a recording medium, performs predetermined signal processing, and outputs the processed video information to an external device. In the output device, when the input video information is information of a high-definition system of interlaced scanning with about 1000 scanning lines, the input video information is output video information of progressive scanning with about 500 scanning lines. 1. A video information input / output device comprising a resolution limiting circuit for converting a video signal into a video signal. 2. The video information input / output device according to claim 1, wherein said resolution limiting circuit performs conversion when the video information to be output is an analog signal. 3. The video information input / output device according to claim 1, wherein the resolution limiting circuit converts the number of scanning lines of the video information to be output to 540. 4. The input video information includes control information relating to a resolution limit for defining whether or not to convert the number of scanning lines, and further comprises a detection circuit for detecting the control information. 2. The video information input / output device according to claim 1, wherein the number of scanning lines is converted by the resolution limiting circuit based on a detection result. 5. The input video information further includes control information on a broadcast system indicating whether the video information is information of a high-definition system, and the detection circuit further controls the broadcast system. Detecting the information, based on the detection result of the detection circuit, when the input video information is information of a high-definition system and defines scanning line conversion, the number of scanning lines is converted by the resolution limiting circuit. The video information input / output device according to claim 4, wherein 6. A video information input device which receives video information transmitted via broadcast or communication means, or inputs video information reproduced from a recording medium, performs predetermined signal processing, and outputs the processed video information to an external device. In the output method, when the input video information is information of a high-definition system of interlaced scanning with about 1000 scanning lines, the input video information is output video information of progressive scanning with about 500 scanning lines. A video information input / output method characterized by converting the information into a video signal. 7. The video information input / output method according to claim 6, wherein the conversion of the number of scanning lines is performed when the video information to be output is an analog signal. 8. The video information input / output method according to claim 6, wherein the number of scanning lines of the video information to be output is converted to 540. 9. The input video information includes control information relating to a resolution limit for determining whether or not to convert the number of scanning lines. The control information is detected, and based on the result, the number of scanning lines is determined. 7. The video information input / output method according to claim 6, wherein 10. The input video information further includes control information on a broadcast system indicating whether or not the video information is information of a high-definition system. 10. The video according to claim 9, wherein the number of scanning lines is converted when the video information to be input is high-definition information and defines the conversion of scanning lines. Information input / output method. 11. A video information transmitting apparatus for transmitting video information to a receiving apparatus, wherein when the number of scanning lines of the video information is about 1000 and the information is of a high-definition method of interlaced scanning, this is transmitted. When the receiving device outputs to the external device, the number of scanning lines is about 500
A video information transmitting apparatus, comprising: a transmission circuit that transmits control information relating to a resolution restriction defining whether or not to convert the video information into progressive scanning video information in the video information. 12. The transmission circuit according to claim 11, wherein the transmission circuit further transmits the video information to be transmitted including control information on a broadcast system indicating whether or not the information is information of a high definition system. A video information transmitting device according to claim 1.