JP2002344879A - Video recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a video recording device which is provided with a means for recording video data and records the video data after securing a free area by automatically deleting recorded data at the time of recording. SOLUTION: The device is provided with a means for recording video data. Recording is started from the vacant area at the time of recording. When the vacant area becomes less than prescribed, past recorded data is automatically deleted in the order from the oldest one. Thus, the vacant area is secured and the video data is recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a video recording apparatus having a function of recording video data from broadcasting, communication, external input, or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional video recording apparatus will be described.
In the conventional video recording apparatus, as the recording of the video data is continued, the recording area eventually becomes full of the recorded video data and cannot be recorded. When newly recording, the operator calculates the video data necessary for recording, manually deletes the recorded video data, and secures an empty area before recording.

[0003]

As described above, in the conventional apparatus, the operator has to select and determine whether to delete the recorded video data one by one in order to secure a free area, and the operation is complicated. In addition, calculating the necessary free space and deleting the recorded video data by the required amount also adds to the complexity of the operation.

[0004] Particularly, in a home video recording apparatus, it is necessary that old and young men and women can easily operate. Therefore, in the above-described conventional apparatus, the operation is complicated, and thus, an improvement in operability has been a problem.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a video recording apparatus according to the present invention comprises a means for recording video data, and automatically deletes recorded data at the time of recording to make available space available. The problem of improvement of operability is solved by recording after securing.

[0006]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
A video recording apparatus comprising means for recording video data, and automatically deleting recorded data at the time of recording to secure a free area before recording.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the video recording apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein when deleting recorded data, old recorded data is preferentially deleted.

The invention according to claim 3 of the present invention is the video recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein whether or not recorded data can be deleted can be set.

The invention according to claim 4 of the present invention is the video recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein whether or not recorded data can be deleted can be set in video data units.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided means for recording an image, wherein recording is first started from an empty area at the time of recording, and when the empty area reaches a certain amount or less, recorded data is recorded. This is a video recording apparatus characterized by securing a free area by deleting old data and recording.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the video recording apparatus according to the fifth aspect, wherein a fixed amount of a free area serving as a criterion when deleting the recorded data can be changed. .

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

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a diagram showing management of video data in a video recording area in a recording section of a video recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention (claim 1).
The recording unit is a hard disk drive (HDD)
Disk Drives) and DVDs (Digital Versatile Discs) are representative examples, and also include semiconductor storage media and the like.

FIG. 1A shows recording management information 2 for managing video data recorded in a video recording area. The recording management information 2 is an array of numbers of all recorded video data and a head address of each video data. The order of the arrangement is recorded in the order of the recorded time series. Here, there are four pieces of recorded video data, and means the oldest recorded video data. The head address of the video data indicates 4 as a recording unit.

FIG. 1B is a schematic diagram of the video recording area 1. One cell is a recording unit, and here, there are ten recording units. The numerical value in the cell is the number of the corresponding video data, and the cell without a numerical value is a free area. The numerical value above the cell indicates the address of the recording unit.

FIG. 1C shows recording unit management information 3 of a video recording area. Information recorded for each recording unit address indicates an address of a recording unit to be continued as the same video data. Note that E other than a numerical value indicates that there is no address to be continued, and F indicates a free area.

With the above two types of management information, the addresses of all video data in the video recording area can be managed. For example, the recording unit addresses of the video data are in the order of addresses 2, 5, and 7.

The time series management of video data is realized by providing the recording management information 2 in the apparatus. The recording management information 2 may include information such as a deletion prohibition flag in addition to the video data number. The registration order of the management information is the same as the time sequence of the recording, that is, the management information is added to the tail if it is recorded, and the corresponding management information is deleted if it is deleted.

The recording unit indicates a capacity of, for example, 512 bytes to 2 megabytes, and an aggregate of these becomes video data. As recording and deletion are repeated, the arrangement of continuous recording units in the recording unit is broken and fragmented, and the arrangement in the recording unit becomes discrete.

As described above, discretization of a recording unit occurs in one piece of video data. However, the recording head frequently moves on the disk, and there is a possibility that the performance of the recording speed is reduced. Therefore, if the minimum recording unit is managed with a large capacity of, for example, 2 megabytes, it is possible to solve the problem because the recording can be performed sufficiently in time even when the recording head is moving.

Hereinafter, automatic deletion of recorded video data when new video data is recorded, which is a feature of the present invention, will be described.

First, recording of video data to be newly recorded is started in a free area by the recording unit management information 3. Then, the recording is continued to the recording unit of the next empty area. At the same time, the recording unit management information 3 is updated. When it is detected that the remaining free space is about one minute, for example, the oldest one of the recorded video data is deleted and recording is continued. At the same time, the record management information 2 is updated. Thereafter, the deletion and recording of the recorded video data are repeated until the recording is completed.

In the above-described deletion of video data, if the recording management information 2 has a deletion prohibition flag and is prohibited, it is checked whether the next video data can be deleted without deleting it.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a video recording apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention. Video data 18 is extracted from the carrier of the broadcast by the television receiver 11 via the antenna 10. The video data 18 is converted into a drawing signal by the reproduction control unit 14 and displayed on the display unit 15.

The video data 18 can be recorded in the recording section 13 by the recording control section 12. The video data recorded in the recording unit 13 can be converted into a drawing signal by the reproduction control unit 14 and reproduced and displayed on the display unit 15. Timer 16
The control unit 17 controls these components. The record management information 2 is managed by the control unit 17. The video recording area and the recording unit management information may exist in the recording unit 13.

FIG. 3 is a schematic flowchart showing a recording processing procedure of the video recording apparatus in one embodiment of the present invention. First, it is determined whether there is an empty area in the recording unit. If there is a free area, recording is started from the free area.
If there is no free area, it is determined whether there is recorded video data. If there is recorded video data, the oldest recorded video data is deleted. Recording is made in the free space generated by this. When there is no more free space, the process returns to the beginning and repeats these processes.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are diagrams showing a list of recorded video data in the recording section in the present invention. The attributes of the recorded video data are listed on a sub-screen 30 of the screen 29 of the video recording device. In the attributes, the recorded date (day of the week), recording start time, recording time, and program name are displayed for each video data. The operator selects video data with the remote control while watching this screen, and the selected video data is switched to the full screen and displayed for reproduction.

FIG. 4A shows a list of recorded video data in the recording unit in FIG. There are four pieces of recorded video data, which are arranged in the reverse chronological order of recording. FIG. 4B shows an example in which three old video data are automatically deleted and new video data is recorded, so that a total of two video data are arranged.

[0029]

As described above, the video recording apparatus of the present invention has means for recording video data, and automatically deletes recorded data at the time of recording to secure a free area before recording. There is an effect that operability is improved. In other words, there is no need for the conventional manual operation of checking the required area of newly recorded video data and determining whether to delete the recorded video data one by one in order to secure the necessary free space. Becomes

Since the video data is automatically deleted, especially for the elderly and beginners who are not good at remote control operation in the home video recording device, the deletion operation is unnecessary and the burden on the operator is reduced, which is effective. It is.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1A is a diagram showing an array of recording management information of a video recording device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1B is a diagram showing a video recording area in a recording unit of the video recording device according to an embodiment of the present invention. (C) A diagram showing an array of recording unit management information of a video recording device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a video recording device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the video recording apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4A is a diagram showing a list of recorded video data in a recording unit of a video recording device according to an embodiment of the present invention; Diagram showing a list of recorded video data

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Array in recording part 2 Recording management information 3 Recording unit management information 10 Antenna 11 Television receiving part 12 Recording control part 13 Recording part 14 Playback control part 15 Display part 16 Timer 17 Control part 18 Video data 29 Screen 30 Child screen

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F-term (reference) FA08

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A video recording apparatus comprising means for recording video data, and automatically deleting recorded data at the time of recording to secure a free area before recording. 2. The video recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when recording data is deleted, old recording data is deleted preferentially. 3. The video recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein whether or not recorded data can be deleted can be set. 4. The video recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein whether or not recorded data can be deleted can be set in video data units. 5. A means for recording a video, wherein recording is started from an empty area at the time of recording, and when the empty area has reached a certain amount or less, the recorded data is deleted from the oldest recorded data to remove the empty area. A video recording device for securing and recording. 6. The video recording apparatus according to claim 5, wherein a fixed amount of an empty area serving as a criterion when deleting the recorded data can be changed.