JP2003022658A - Information recording medium and device for recording and reproducing information to and form information recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve suck problems in conventional DVD-RAM that the time map information in video object management information is recorded in the form organized to one within a management information file, but when the capacity of the DVD-RAM increases, the size of the management information file including the time map information to be read at a time becomes so large as to eventually required memory capacity of a large size for the device and in addition, and that the dealing is difficult when a plurality of video elementary streams are included in the video objects. SOLUTION: The time map information is formed for every PID in digital broadcasting and this time map information is recorded as a plurality of files/ tables. Further, the information indicating the blocks of the time map information of the streams corresponding to the respective PIDs is recorded within the video objects.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a readable / writable information recording medium, and more particularly to an information recording medium for recording multimedia data including data of various formats such as moving image data, still image data and audio data. Regarding the medium. Furthermore, the present invention relates to an apparatus for recording and reproducing information on such an information recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the field of rewritable optical disks whose upper limit was about 650 MB, a phase change disk DVD-RAM having a capacity of several GB has appeared. Along with the practical use of MPEG (MPEG2), which is a coding standard for digital AV data, DVD-RAM is expected as a recording / reproducing medium not only for computer use but also in the audio / video (AV) technical field. How to record AV data including image data by using these optical disks aiming at large capacity, and to realize performance and new functions that greatly exceed conventional AV equipment will be a big issue in the future. In addition, since it is an AV device, it is also necessary to reduce the amount of memory to be mounted and to realize a function that is easy for a general user who is not familiar with computer technology to easily understand, as compared with a personal computer.

In the conventional DVD-RAM, the playback time of the video object and the DVD-R in the video object management information for the recorded video object.
The time map information that correlates the physical addresses on the AM is recorded in the management information file in a unified form. However, when the capacity of the DVD-RAM is increased, the size of the management information file including the time map information to be read at one time becomes large in the conventional method, and the recording / reproducing apparatus is always required to have a large storage capacity. Will be.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to create time map information for each PID in a digital broadcast and store the time map information in a plurality of files. Or, an information recording medium that can be recorded as a plurality of tables is provided. In addition, while recording the program, the P
(EN) Provided is an information recording medium which can cope with a change in ID. Another object is to provide an apparatus for recording and reproducing data on such an information recording medium.

[0005]

An information recording medium of the present invention is an information recording medium for recording a video object and management information for managing reproduction of the video object, and relates to reproduction of the recorded video object. The time map information and the time map information that associates the physical address of the video object on the information recording medium with PID (Packet) in digital broadcasting.
IDentifier) is generated and recorded as a part of the management information.

Further, in the information recording medium of the present invention, the time map information directly represents time information regarding reproduction of the video object and a physical address of the video object on the information recording medium by a single table. May be associated with.

In the information recording medium of the present invention, the time map information indirectly indicates time information regarding reproduction of the video object and a physical address of the video object on the information recording medium by a plurality of tables. It may be characterized in that they are associated with each other.

Further, in the information recording medium of the present invention, the time map information may record a start packet number and an end packet number indicating a section in the video object.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A DVD disc, a DVD recorder and a DVD player which are embodiments of an information recording medium, a recording device and a reproducing device according to the present invention will be described below in the following order with reference to the accompanying drawings. In particular, the points of the invention are “8. Outline of the invention” and “9. Detailed embodiment”.
Described in. It should be noted that, although the degrees of association are different, they are all embodiments of the present invention.

1. 1. System overview of DVD recorder device Outline of functions of DVD recorder device 3. Overview of DVD disc 4. Outline of reproduced AV information 5. 5. Overview of AV information management information and playback control Basic operation of playback function 7. Basic operation of recording function 8. Summary of the invention 9. Detailed Embodiment (1. System Outline of DVD Recorder Device) FIG.
It is a figure explaining an example of the appearance of a VD recorder device, and an interface with related equipment. As shown in Figure 1, DVD
A DVD, which is an optical disc, is loaded in the recorder to record and reproduce video information. The operation is generally performed by a remote controller.

Video information input to the DVD recorder includes both analog signals and digital signals, analog signals include analog broadcasting, and digital signals include digital broadcasting. Generally, analog broadcasting is built in a television device and received and demodulated by a receiver,
It is input to a DVD recorder as an analog video signal such as NTSC, and digital broadcasting is performed by STB (S
demodulated into a digital signal by et Top Box), and D
It is input to the VD recorder and recorded.

On the other hand, a DVD disc on which video information is recorded is reproduced by a DVD recorder and output to the outside. Similarly to the input, the output has both an analog signal and a digital signal. If it is an analog signal, it is directly input to the television device, and if it is a digital signal, it goes through STB,
After being converted into an analog signal, it is input to the television device and displayed as an image on the television device.

There are cases where video information is recorded and reproduced on a DVD disc by a DVD camcorder other than the DVD recorder or a personal computer. Even if a DVD disc on which video information is recorded outside the DVD recorder is loaded in the DVD recorder, the DVD recorder reproduces it.

Audio information is usually attached to the above-mentioned video information of analog broadcasting and digital broadcasting. The accompanying audio information is also recorded / reproduced by the DVD recorder. The video information is generally a moving image, but may be a still image. For example, this is the case when a still image is recorded by the photo function of a DVD camcorder. In addition, STB
The digital I / F between the DVD recorder and the DVD recorder is IEEE13.
94, ATAPI, SCSI, etc.

Although NTSC which is a composite video signal is exemplified between the DVD recorder and the television device, it may be a component signal for individually transmitting a luminance signal and a color difference signal. Furthermore, as for the video transmission I / F between the AV equipment and the television device, research and development for replacing the analog I / F with a digital I / F, for example, DVI are under way, and the DVD recorder and the television device have a digital I / F. Of course, it is expected to be connected with / F.

(2. Outline of Functions of DVD Recorder Device) FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing functions of the DVD recorder device. The drive device includes an optical pickup 101 that reads out data from the DVD-RAM disc 100, an ECC (Er
error correcting code) processing unit 10
2, track buffer 103, 10 to track buffer
A switch 104, an encoder unit 105, and a decoder unit 106 for switching the input / output of the H. As shown in the figure, the DVD-RAM disc 100 has one sector = 2.
Data is recorded with KB as the minimum unit. Also, 16
With the sector = 1 ECC block, the ECC processing unit 102 performs error correction processing in units of ECC blocks.

The DVD recorder device may include a semiconductor memory card or a hard disk drive device as a data storage medium in addition to the DVD disc. Figure 3
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a DVD recorder having a semiconductor memory card and a hard disk drive device. Incidentally, one sector may be 512B or 8KB. The ECC block also has 1 sector, 16 sectors, and 3 sectors.
It may be 2 sectors. It is expected that the sector size and the number of sectors forming an ECC block will increase as the recordable information capacity increases.

The track buffer 103 is a DVD-RA.
A buffer for recording AV data at a variable bit rate (VBR) in order to more efficiently record AV data on the M disc 100. DVD-RAM disc 1
The read / write rate (Va) to 00 is a fixed rate, whereas the bit rate (Vb) of AV data changes according to the complexity of the content (image in the case of video). It is a buffer to absorb the difference of.

Further effective use of the track buffer 103 makes it possible to discretely arrange AV data on the disc 100. This will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4A is a diagram showing an address space on the disc. As shown in FIG. 4A, the AV data is [a1, a2].
When the data is recorded separately in the continuous area of [a3] and the continuous area of [a3, a4], the data stored in the track buffer is supplied to the decoder unit 106 while seeking from a2 to a3. Data can be continuously reproduced. The state at this time is shown in FIG.

The AV data read out at the position a1 is input to the track buffer 103 from time t1 and data output from the track buffer 103 is started. By this, the input rate (Va) to the track buffer and the output rate (V
Data is accumulated in the track buffer by the rate difference (Va-Vb) in b). This state continues until the search area reaches a2, that is, until time t2. If the amount of data accumulated in the track buffer 103 during this period is B (t2), B (t2) accumulated in the track buffer 103 from time t2 to time t3 when the reading of the data in the area a3 is started. Should be consumed and supplied to the decoder 106 continuously.

In other words, if the data amount ([a1, a2]) to be read out before seek is secured at a certain amount or more, even if seek occurs, continuous supply of AV data is possible. The size of the continuous area in which continuous supply of AV data is possible is expressed by the following formula when converted into the number of ECC blocks (N_ecc). In the formula, N_sec is ECC
It is the number of sectors constituting a block, S_size is the sector size, and Tj is the seek performance (maximum seek time).

N_ecc = Vb * Tj / ((N_s
ec * 8 * S_size) * (1-Vb / Va)) Also, defective sectors may occur in the continuous area. Considering this case as well, the continuous region is expressed by the following equation. In the equation, dN_ecc is the size of the defective sector to be accepted, and Ts is the time required to skip the defective sector in the continuous area. This size is also represented by the number of ECC blocks.

N_ecc = dN_ecc + Vb *
(Tj + Ts) / ((N_sec * 8 * S_size)
* (1-Vb / Va)) Here, an example of reading data from the DVD-RAM, that is, the case of reproduction is described here.
The same can be applied to the case of writing data to, that is, recording. As described above, in the DVD-RAM, continuous reproduction / recording is possible even if the AV data is distributed and recorded on the disc, as long as a certain amount of data or more is continuously recorded. In DVD, this continuous area is called CDA.

(3. Overview of DVD Disc) FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the appearance and physical structure of a DVD-RAM disc which is a recordable optical disc. DVD-RAM
Is generally loaded in a DVD recorder while being housed in a cartridge. The purpose is to protect the recording surface. However, if the recording surface is protected by another structure or if it is acceptable, the recording surface may be directly loaded into the DVD recorder without being housed in the cartridge. DV
The D-RAM disk records data by the phase change method. The recorded data on the disc is managed in sector units,
An address for access is attached. The 16 sectors serve as a unit for error correction, are provided with an error correction code, and
It is called a C block.

FIG. 5A is a diagram showing a recording area of a DVD-RAM disc which is a recordable optical disc. As shown in the figure, the DVD-RAM disc has a lead-in area at the innermost circumference, a lead-out area at the outermost circumference, and a data area therebetween. The lead-in area is
A reference signal necessary for stabilizing the servo when the optical pickup is accessed and an identification signal with other media are recorded. In the lead-out area, the same reference signal as in the lead-in area is recorded. The data area is
It is divided into sectors (2048 bytes) that are the smallest access unit. In addition, the DVD-RAM has a Z-CLV (ZoneConstan) during recording / reproducing.
In order to realize rotation control called t Linear Velocity), the data area is divided into a plurality of zone areas.

FIG. 5A is a diagram showing a plurality of zone areas provided concentrically on the DVD-RAM. As shown in the figure, the DVD-RAM has two zones 0 to 23.
It is divided into four zone areas. The rotational angular velocity of the DVD-RAM is set for each zone area so that it becomes faster toward the inner circumferential side zone, and is kept constant while the optical pickup makes access within one zone. This allows the DVD
-In addition to increasing the recording density of RAM, it facilitates rotation control during recording and reproduction.

FIG. 5B is an explanatory diagram in which the lead-in area, the lead-out area, and the zone areas 0 to 23, which are shown concentrically in FIG. 5A, are arranged in the lateral direction. The lead-in area and the lead-out area are internally provided with a defect management area (DMA: Defect Management).
Area). The defect management area is an area in which position information indicating the position of a sector in which a defect has occurred and alternative position information indicating in which of the alternative areas the sector that replaces the defective sector exists are recorded. .

Each zone area has a user area inside, and an alternative area and an unused area at the boundary. The user area is an area that the file system can use as a recording area. The replacement area is an area used as an alternative when a defective sector exists.
The unused area is an area that is not used for data recording.
The unused area is provided for about two tracks. The unused area is provided because the sector address is recorded at the same position on the adjacent tracks in the zone.
This is because, in the LV, the recording position of the sector address is different on the track adjacent to the zone boundary, and thus the sector address misjudgment resulting from this is prevented.

Thus, there are sectors that are not used for data recording at the zone boundaries. Therefore, as shown continuously in only the sectors used for data recording, the DVD-R
AM is a logical sector number (LSN: Log) in order from the inner circumference.
The physical sector number is allocated to the physical sector of the user area.

FIG. 6 shows a DV composed of logical sectors.
The logical data space of D-RAM is shown. The logical data space is called a volume space and records user data. The volume area manages recorded data by a file system. That is, volume structure information that manages a group of sectors that store data as a file and further manages a group of files as a directory is recorded at the beginning and end of the volume area. The file system of this embodiment is called UDF and conforms to the ISO13346 standard.

The above-mentioned group of sectors is not necessarily arranged continuously in the volume space, but is partially arranged in a discrete manner. Therefore, the file system manages, as an extent, a group of sectors that are continuously arranged in the volume space among the sector groups that make up the file, and manages the file as a set of related extents.

FIG. 7 shows the structure of directories and files recorded on the DVD-RAM. Below the root, VI
There is a DEO_RT directory, and under this, files of various objects that are reproduction data and VIDEO as management information indicating the reproduction order and various attributes of these files.
The Manager file is stored. The object is data conforming to the MPEG standard, PS_VOB,
There are TS1_VOB, TS2_VOB, AOB, and POB.

PS_VOB, AOB and POB are MPEG
Program stream (PS) of TS1_VO
B and TS2_VOB are transport streams (T
S). The program stream has a data structure that allows the AV information to be stored in the package media, while the transport stream has a data structure that allows the communication media.

PS_VOB, TS1_VOB, TS2_
Each VOB is an object that has both video information and audio information and is mainly video information. Of these, TS
In principle, 1_VOB is an object that is encoded by a DVD recorder and whose internal picture structure is managed in detail, and TS2_VOB is an object that is encoded outside the DVD recorder and has a data structure such as an internal picture structure. It is an unknown object.

Typically, TS1_VOB is an object in which an analog video signal input from the outside is encoded into a transport stream by a DVD recorder, and TS2_VOB is directly recorded onto a disc without encoding the digital video signal input from the outside. It is the recorded object. AOB and POB are MPEG program streams, AOB is an object whose main component is audio information, and POB is an object whose main component is a still image.

The above-mentioned "video information subject" and "audio information subject" mean that the bit rate allocation is large.
VOB is used for applications such as movies, AOB
Is used for music applications.

(4. Outline of AV information to be reproduced) FIG. 8
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the structure of MPEG data recorded as various AV objects on a DVD disc. As shown in FIG. 8, the video stream and the audio stream are respectively divided and multiplexed. In the MPEG standard, the multiplexed stream is called a system stream. In the case of a DVD, a system stream in which information unique to the DVD is set is a VOB (Video Objec).
It is called t). The unit of division is called a pack packet and has a data amount of about 2 KBytes.

The video stream is coded according to the MPEG standard and is compressed at a variable bit rate, and the bit rate is high for a complicated video image such as a strong motion. In the MPEG standard, each picture of a video is I
It is coded by classifying into pictures, P pictures, and B pictures. Of these, the I picture is subjected to spatial compression coding that is completed within the frame, and the P picture and B
A picture is temporally compressed and encoded by utilizing the correlation between frames. In MPEG, a section including at least an I picture is a GOP (Group of Pictu).
re). The GOP becomes an access point in special reproduction such as fast-forward reproduction. This is because it has an I-picture compressed in a frame.

On the other hand, the audio stream is encoded by DV.
In the case of D, in addition to AAC and MP3 which are MPEG audio, encoding of AC3 and LPCM is used. As shown in FIG. 8, a data unit after multiplexing including video information forming GOP and audio information accompanying it is VOBU.
(Video Object Unit).
The VOBU may include information for managing the moving image section as header information.

The system stream described with reference to FIG.
There are a program stream (PS) and a transport stream (TS). The former has a data structure considering package media, and the latter has a data structure considering communication media.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining the outline of the data structures of the program stream and the transport stream. The program stream is composed of fixed-length packs, which are the minimum units for transmission and multiplexing, and the packs each have one pack.
Has more than one packet. Both the pack and the packet have a header part and a data part. In MPEG, the data part is called the payload. In the case of DVD, the fixed length of the pack is 2 KB in conformity with the sector size. A pack can have a plurality of packets, but since a pack storing video and audio of a DVD has only one packet, one pack = 1 packet except for a special case.

On the other hand, the transport stream transmission and multiplexing unit is composed of fixed length TS packets. TS
The packet size is 188B, which is compatible with the ATM transmission which is a communication standard. 1 TS packet
One or more gather to form a PES packet. The PES packet is a concept common to the program stream and the transport stream, and the data structure is common. The packet stored in the pack of the program stream is P
The ES packet is directly constructed, and one or more TS packets of the transport stream are assembled to form a PES packet.

The PES packet is the minimum unit of encoding, and stores video information and audio information which are commonly encoded. That is, video information and audio information with different encoding methods are not mixedly stored in one PES packet. However, if the same encoding method is used, the picture boundary and the boundary of the audio frame may not be guaranteed. Multiple PEs as shown in FIG.
S packet can store one I picture or one P picture
There may be a case where a plurality of picture data are stored in the ES packet.

10 and 11 show individual data structures of the transport stream and the program stream. As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the TS packet is T
It is composed of an S packet header, an applicable field, and a payload part. The PID (Pa
Clet Identifier) is stored, and thereby various streams such as a video stream or an audio stream to which the TS packet belongs are identified.

PCR (Program) is set in the applicable field.
m Clock Reference) is stored.
PCR is a reference value of a standard clock (STC) of a device that decodes a stream. The device typically demultiplexes the system stream at the PCR timing and reconstructs it into various streams such as a video stream.

The PES header contains DTS (Decodi
ng Time Stamp) and PTS (Presen)
(station time stamp) is stored.
DTS indicates the decoding timing of the picture / audio frame stored in the PES packet, and PTS
Indicates the presentation timing such as video / audio output. In addition, PTS and DT are added to all PES packet headers.
It is not necessary to have S, and if PTS and DTS are included in the header of the PES packet in which the start data of the I picture starts to be stored, there is no problem in decoding and output.

Details of the structure of the TS packet are shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 12, PCR is set in the applicable field.
In addition to that, a random access display flag is stored, and the flag indicates whether or not to store the data which is the head of the video / audio frame and can be an access point in the corresponding payload part. In addition to the above PID, a unit start display flag indicating the start of the PES packet and applicable field control information indicating whether or not the applicable field follows are stored in the header part of the TS packet.

FIG. 11 shows the structure of a pack which constitutes the program stream. SC in the pack header
It has R and StreamID. SCR is substantially the same as transport stream PCR, and StreamID is substantially the same as PID. Moreover, since the data structure of the PES packet is common to the transport stream, PTS and DTS are stored in the PES header.

One of the major differences between the program stream and the transport stream is that the transport stream allows multiple programs. That is,
Although only one program can be transmitted as a program stream in the unit of program, it is assumed that a transport stream simultaneously transmits a plurality of programs. For this reason, in the transport stream, the playback device needs to identify for each program which of the video stream and the audio stream the program comprises.

FIG. 13 is a PAT for transmitting the configuration information of the audio stream and the video stream which form the program.
A table and a PMAP table are shown. As shown in FIG. 13, the PMAP table stores information about a combination of a video stream and an audio stream used for each program, and the PAT table stores information about a combination of a program and a PMAP table. The playback device is P
It is possible to detect the video stream and the audio stream forming the program requested to be output by the AT table and the PMAP table.

Next, the pack of the program stream and the arrangement of the transport stream TS packets on the disc will be described with reference to FIG.
As shown in FIG. 14A, 16 sectors form an ECC block. A pack (PS Pack) forming a video object (PS_VOB) in the form of a program stream is arranged at a sector boundary as shown in FIG. This is because both the pack size and the sector size are 2 KB.

On the other hand, a video object (TS1-VOB / TS2-V) in the form of a transport stream is used.
The OB) is arranged in the ECC block in a unit having a size of 8 KB called a capsule. The capsule has a header area of 18B, and the data area is A
Forty-three TS packets to which TS information is added are arranged. ATS information (Arrival Time Stam)
p Information) is information generated and added by the DVD recorder, and the packet is DV.
This is information indicating the timing transmitted from the outside to the D recorder.

(5. Overview of AV Information Management Information and Playback Control) FIGS. 15 and 16 are diagrams showing the data structure of a file called video management information (Video Manager) shown in FIG. The video management information includes object information indicating management information such as recording positions of various objects on the disc, and reproduction control information indicating reproduction order of the objects.

FIG. 15 shows PS-VOB # 1 to PS-VOB # n, TS as objects recorded on the disc.
1-VOB # 1 to TS1-VOB # n, TS2-VOB
The case where there are # 1 to TS2-VOB # n is shown. As shown in FIG. 15, depending on the type of these objects, PS
-The information table for VOB, the information table for TS1-VOB, and the information table for TS2-VOB exist individually, and each information table has VOB information for each object.

The VOB information has general information of the corresponding object, attribute information of the object, a time map for converting the reproduction time of the object into an address on the disc, and management information of the time map. There is. The general information includes identification information of the corresponding object, the recording time of the object, and the like. The attribute information includes video stream information (V_ATR) including the coding mode of the video stream, the number of audio streams (AST_Ns), It is composed of audio stream information (A_ATR) including the coding mode of the audio stream.

There are two reasons for needing a time map. The first is to prevent the reproduction path information from directly referring to the recording position of the object on the disk by the sector address or the like, and to indirectly refer to the reproduction time of the object at the reproduction time of the object. In the case of a RAM medium, the recording position of an object may be changed by editing or the like, but when the reproduction route information directly refers to the recording position of the object by a sector address or the like, the reproduction route information to be updated. Because there will be more. On the other hand, when the playback time is indirectly referenced, the playback path information need not be updated, and only the time map needs to be updated.

The second reason is that an AV stream generally has two standards of a time axis and a data (bit string) axis, and there is no perfect correlation between these two standards. For example, M, which is an international standard for video streams
In the case of PEG-2 video, it is becoming mainstream to use a variable bit rate (a method that changes the bit rate according to the complexity of the image quality), and in this case, it is proportional to the amount of data from the beginning and the playback time. Since there is no relationship, random access based on the time axis is not possible. In order to solve this problem, the object information has a time map for converting between the time axis and the data (bit string) axis.

As shown in FIG. 15, the reproduction control information has a user-defined reproduction path information table, an original reproduction path information table, and a title search pointer.

As shown in FIG. 16, the playback path includes DV.
There are two types: original definition reproduction path information that is automatically generated by the D recorder so as to indicate all the objects recorded at the time of object recording, and user definition reproduction path information that allows the user to freely define the reproduction sequence. The playback path for DVD is PGC information (Program Chain).
Information), and is also referred to as
The user-defined reproduction path information is called U-PGC information, and the original reproduction path information is called O-PGC information. O-PG
The C information and the U-PGC information are information listing cell information, which is information indicating a cell that is a reproduction section of an object, in a table format. The reproduction section of the object indicated by the O-PGC information is the original cell (O-CEL
L), and the reproduction section of the object indicated by the U-PGC information is called a user cell (U-CELL).

The cell indicates the reproduction section of the object by the reproduction start time and the reproduction end time of the object, and the reproduction start time and the reproduction end time are converted into the actual recording position information on the disc of the object by the above-mentioned time map. It

As shown in FIG. 16B, the cell group indicated by the PGC information constitutes a series of reproduction sequences which are sequentially reproduced according to the entry order of the table.

FIG. 17 shows an object, a cell, a PGC,
It is a figure which illustrates the relationship of a time map concretely. Figure 1
As shown in FIG. 7, the original PGC information 50 includes at least one cell information 60, 61, 62, 63. The cell information 60 ... Designates the object to be reproduced, and also specifies the object type and the reproduction section of the object. The recording order of the cell information in the PGC information 50 is
The playback order when the object specified by each cell is played is shown.

In one cell information 60, type information (Type) 60a indicating the type of object specified by the cell information 60a.
And the object ID that is the identification information of the object
(Object ID) 60b and start time information (Start_PTM) 60c in the object on the time axis
And the end time information (En in the object on the time axis
d_PTM) 60d.

At the time of data reproduction, the cell information 60 in the PCG information 50 is sequentially read out, and the object designated by each cell is reproduced for the reproduction section designated by the cell. The time map 80c converts the start time information and the end time information indicated by the cell information into position information on the disc of the object.

The map information mentioned above is generated and recorded together when the object is recorded. In order to generate the map, it is necessary to analyze the picture structure in the data of the object. Specifically, it is necessary to detect the position of the I picture shown in FIG. 9 and detect the time stamp information such as PTS which is the reproduction time of the I picture shown in FIGS.

The problem that occurs when the map information of PS-VOB, TS1-VOB and TS2-VOB is generated will be described below. PS-VOB, TS-VOB1
Is mainly generated by the DVD recorder encoding the received analog broadcast into an MPEG stream as described in FIG. Therefore, the information of the I picture and various time stamps is generated by itself, and D
The data structure inside the stream is clear to the VD recorder, and no problem occurs in the generation of map information.

Next, regarding the TS2-VOB, the received digital broadcast is mainly DV as described in FIG.
The data is recorded directly on the disc without being encoded by the D recorder. Therefore, unlike the PS-VOB, the position of the I picture and the time stamp information are not generated by itself, so that the data structure inside the stream is not clear to the DVD recorder, and it is necessary to detect these information from the digital stream to be recorded. Will be required.

Therefore, the DVD recorder is a TS recording the stream encoded outside the recorder.
Regarding the 2-VOB map information, the I picture and the time stamp are detected as follows.

First, the I picture is detected by detecting the random access display information in the applicable field of the TS packet shown in FIG. The time stamp is detected by detecting the PTS of the PES header. Regarding the time stamp, instead of PTS, PCR in the applicable field or TS packet is D
The arrival timing A transmitted to the VD recorder
It may be replaced by TS. In any case, the DVD recorder detects the position of the I picture based on the information of the system layer, which is the upper layer of the DVD stream, without analyzing the data structure of the video layer of the MPEG stream. This is because the load of the system is large because the analysis of the video layer is performed to generate the map information.

In some cases, it may not be possible to detect the system layer. In this case, however, map information cannot be generated, so it is necessary to indicate that there is no valid map information. In the DVD recorder, these are indicated by the map management information shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 15B, the map management information has map validity information and a self-encoding flag. The self-encoding flag indicates that it is an object encoded by the DVD recorder itself, the internal picture structure is clear, and the time stamp information of the map information and the position information of the I picture are accurate. Further, the map validity information indicates whether or not there is a valid time map.

As an example in which the system layer cannot be detected, a case where the applicable field is not set or a case where the digital stream is not an MPEG transport stream in the first place can be considered. Since various systems of digital broadcasting can be established in various countries around the world, it is naturally expected that the DVD recorder records an object for which a map cannot be generated. For example, DV assuming Japanese digital broadcasting
When the D recorder is used in the United States and the digital broadcasting of the United States is recorded, there are cases where an object for which a map cannot be generated is recorded.

However, it is possible for the DVD recorder to sequentially reproduce even objects for which map information is not generated from the beginning. In this case, by outputting the recorded digital stream to the STB corresponding to the stream via the digital I / F, the video can be reproduced.

(6. Basic operation of reproduction function) Next, FIG.
The reproducing operation of the DVD recorder player for reproducing the optical disc will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 18, the player temporarily stores the optical pickup 201 that reads data from the DVD-RAM disc 100, the ECC processing unit 202 that performs error correction of the read data, and the read data after error correction. Track buffer 203 and moving object (PS_VOB)
PS decoder 20 for reproducing a program stream such as
5 and a TS decoder 20 for reproducing a transport stream of a digital broadcasting object (TS1_VOB)
6, an audio decoder 207 for reproducing an audio object (AOB), and a still image object (P
OB) still image decoder 208, a switch 210 for switching data input to each decoder 205, 206, ..., And a control unit 211 for controlling each unit of the player.
With.

The data recorded on the DVD-RAM disc 100 is read from the optical pickup 201 and passed through the ECC processor 202 to the track buffer 20.
3 is stored. The data stored in the track buffer 203 includes the PS decoder 205, the TS decoder 206,
It is input to either the audio decoder 207 or the still image decoder 208, and is decoded and output.

At this time, the control unit 211 determines the data to be read based on the reproduction sequence indicated by the reproduction path information (PGC) shown in FIG. That is, in the example of FIG. 16, the control unit 211 controls the partial section (CELL) of VOB # 1.
# 1) is reproduced first, then a partial section (CELL # 2) of VOB # 3 is reproduced, and finally VOB # 2 (CEL # 2) is reproduced.
L # 3) and the reproduction control.

Further, the control section 211 can acquire the type of cell to be reproduced, the corresponding object, the reproduction start time and the reproduction end time of the object, from the cell information of the reproduction path information (PGC) shown in FIG. . The control unit 211 inputs the data of the section of the object specified by the cell information to a suitable decoder. On this occasion,
The control unit 211 identifies the object to be reproduced by the Object ID of the cell information. Furthermore, the control unit 2
Reference numeral 11 designates a cell that is a reproduction section of the identified object by specifying StartPTM and EndPTM of cell information.
Is converted into the address of the disc information by the time map of the corresponding VOB information.

Further, the player of the present embodiment further includes
It has a digital interface 204 for supplying the AV stream to the outside. This makes it possible to supply the AV stream to the outside via a communication means such as IEEE1394 or IEC958. This is because, particularly for a TS2-VOB that has not been encoded by itself, there may be a case where a corresponding decoder does not exist inside the player. Therefore, without decoding, the TS2-VOB is directly output to the external STB through the digital interface 204. It can be played on the STB.

When the digital data is directly output to the outside, the control unit 211 determines whether or not random access reproduction is possible based on the map management information of FIG. 15 (b). If the access point information flag is valid, the time map has the position information of the I picture. For this reason,
If there is a request for fast-forward reproduction from the external device, the control unit 211 can output digital data including an I picture to the external device via the digital I / F in response to the request. If the time access information flag is valid,
Time access is possible. Therefore, the control unit 211
Responds to requests for time access from external equipment,
Digital data including picture data corresponding to the designated reproduction time can be output to an external device via the digital I / F.

(7. Basic operation of recording function) Next, FIG.
The configuration and operation of the DVD recorder according to the present invention for performing recording and reproduction on the optical disc by using will be described. As shown in FIG. 19, the DVD recorder is a user I which receives a display to the user and a request from the user.
/ F unit 222, system control unit 212 that manages and controls the entire DVD recorder, analog broadcast tuner 213 that receives VHF and UHF, encoder 214 that converts an analog signal into a digital signal and encodes it into an MPEG program stream, digital satellite broadcasting A digital broadcasting tuner 215 for receiving a stream, an analysis unit 216 for analyzing an MPEG transport stream sent by a digital satellite, a display unit 217 such as a television and a speaker,
And a decoder 218 for decoding the AV stream.

The decoder 218 comprises the first and second decoders shown in FIG. Further, the DVD recorder includes a digital I / F unit 219, a track buffer 220 that temporarily stores write data, and a DVD-RA.
And a drive 221 for writing data to the M100. The digital I / F unit 219 is an interface that outputs data to an external device by communication means such as IEEE1394.

In the DVD recorder thus configured, the user I / F section 222 first receives a request from the user. The user I / F unit 222 transmits the request from the user to the system control unit 212, and the system control unit 212
Interprets the request from the user and makes a processing request to each module. Recording includes self-encoding in which input digital data is encoded by itself, and outside encoding in which encoded digital data is recorded on a disc without being encoded.

(7.1 Recording Operation by Self-Encoding) First, for recording by self-encoding, the operation of encoding and recording an analog broadcast in PS-VOB will be specifically described below. System control unit 2
Reference numeral 12 requests the analog broadcast tuner 213 for reception and the encoder unit 214 for encoding. Encoder part 2
Reference numeral 14 video-encodes, audio-encodes, and system-encodes the AV data sent from the analog broadcasting tuner 213, and sends it to the track buffer 220.

Immediately after the encoding is started, the encoder unit 214 sends the time stamp information included in the start data of the MPEG program stream being encoded to the system control unit 212 as the reproduction start time (PS_VOB_V_S_PTM), and then creates the time map. Information necessary for this is sent to the system control unit 212 in parallel with the encoding process. This value is set in the Start_PTM of the cell information shown in FIG. 17, which will be generated later. The time stamp information is generally PTS, but SCR may be used instead.

Next, the system controller 212 determines that the drive 2
21, and the drive 221 takes out the data accumulated in the track buffer 220 and outputs the data D
Recording on the VD-RAM disk 100. At this time, the above-mentioned continuous area (CDA) is searched from the recordable area on the disc, and data is recorded in the searched continuous area.

The end of recording is instructed by a stop request from the user. A recording stop request from the user is transmitted to the system control unit 212 via the user I / F unit 222, and the system control unit 212 causes the analog broadcast tuner 21 to operate.
3 and the encoder unit 214 are requested to stop.

The encoder 214 is the system controller 212.
The encoding process is stopped in response to the encoding stop request from the device, and the time stamp information included in the end data of the last encoded MPEG program stream is sent to the system control unit 212 as the reproduction end time (PS_VOB_V_E_PTM). This value is set in End_PTM of the cell information shown in FIG. Although PTS is usually set as the time stamp information, SCR may be used instead.

After the encoding process is completed, the system control unit 212, based on the information received from the encoder 214, the VOB information for PS-VOB (PS-VOB shown in FIG. 15).
VOBI) and reproduction control information. Here, the generated VOB information includes a time map and map management information suitable for the object type. System control unit 212
Sets the map validity information in the map management information to valid and turns on the self-encoding flag.

As the reproduction control information, the original reproduction path (O-PGC information) shown in FIG. 16 in which the recorded object is one of the reproduction targets is generated. The generated O-PGC information is added to the original reproduction path table. The original reproduction path (O-PGC information) has cell information. The type information of the cell information includes “PS-VO
B ”is set.

Finally, the system controller 212 requests the drive 221 to finish recording the data stored in the track buffer 220 and record the PS-VOB VOB information (PS_VOBI) and the reproduction control information. The drive 221 stores the remaining data in the track buffer 220 and these pieces of information in the DVD-RAM disc 100.
, And the recording process ends.

Of course, analog broadcasting may be encoded into TS1-VOB. In this case, encoder 2
Reference numeral 14 needs to be an encoder that converts an analog signal into a digital signal and encodes it into an MPEG transport stream, and the type information in the cell information is "TS1-
VOB ”is set. Start_PTM in this case
The End_PTM may be PTS or PCR.

(7.2 Recording Operation by Outside Encoding) Next, recording by outside encoding will be specifically described below through an operation of recording a digital broadcast. In this case, the type of recorded object is TS2-VOB. The digital broadcast recording request from the user is transmitted to the system control unit 212 through the user I / F unit 222. The system control unit 212 requests the digital broadcasting tuner 215 for reception and the analysis unit 216 for data analysis. The MPEG transport stream sent from the digital broadcast tuner 215 is transferred to the track buffer 220 via the analysis unit 216.

The analysis unit 216 receives the VOB information (TS2_TS) of the encoded MPEG transport stream (TS2-VOB) that was first received as a digital broadcast.
The time stamp information included in the head data of the transport stream is extracted as start time information (TS2_VOB_V_S_PTM) as information necessary for generating VOBI) and is sent to the system control unit 212. The start time information is the Start of the cell information shown in FIG. 17, which will be generated later.
_PTM. This time stamp information is P
Become CR or PTS. Also, the ATS, which is the timing when the object is transmitted to the DVD recorder, may be substituted.

The analysis unit 216 further analyzes the system layer of the MPEG transport stream to detect the information necessary for creating the time map. Regarding the position of the I picture in the object, as described above, the applicable field (adaptation) in the TS packet header is used.
Random access indicator (ra in field)
(ndam_access_indicator).

Next, the system controller 212 determines that the drive 2
A recording request is output to the drive 21, and the drive 221 takes out the data accumulated in the track buffer 220 and records it on the DVD-RAM disc 100. At this time, the system control unit 212 also instructs the drive 221 where to record on the disc from the allocation information of the file system. At this time, the above-mentioned continuous area (CDA) is searched from the recordable area on the disc, and data is recorded in the searched continuous area.

The end of recording is instructed by a stop request from the user. A recording stop request from the user is transmitted to the system control unit 212 through the user I / F unit 222, and the system control unit 212 issues a stop request to the digital I digital broadcast tuner 215 and the analysis unit 216.

Upon receiving the analysis stop request from the system control unit 212, the analysis unit 216 stops the analysis process, and finally displays the time stamp information included in the data of the end section of the MPEG transport stream that has been analyzed, at the display end time (TS
2_VOB_V_E_PTM) as the system control unit 2
Send to 12. This value is the End of the cell information shown in FIG.
_PTM. This time stamp information is P
Become CR or PTS. Also, the ATS, which is the timing when the object is transmitted to the DVD recorder, may be substituted.

After the completion of the digital broadcast reception processing, the system control unit 212, based on the information received from the analysis unit 216, shows the VOB information (T2-VOB for TS2-VOB shown in FIG.
S2_VOBI) and reproduction control information.

Here, the generated VOB information includes a time map and map management information suitable for the object type. The system control unit 212 sets the map validity information of the map management information to be valid when the position of the I picture in the object can be detected and a valid time map is generated. Also, the self-encoding flag is OFF
Make settings. If a valid time map could not be generated, the map validity information is set to invalid. In addition, as a case where an effective time map cannot be generated, a case where an unsupported digital broadcast is received, a case where there is no random access information in the applicable field, and the like are considered.
Also, if it is directly input from the digital I / F, MP
There may be cases where it is not an EG transport stream,
Also in this case, naturally, the map validity information is set to be invalid.

As the reproduction control information, the original reproduction path (O-PGC information) shown in FIG. 16 in which the recorded object is one of the reproduction targets is generated. The generated O-PGC information is added to the original reproduction path table. The original reproduction path (O-PGC information) has cell information. The type information of the cell information includes “TS2-VO
B ”is set.

Finally, the system controller 212 requests the drive 221 to finish recording the data accumulated in the track buffer 220 and record the VOB information (TS2_VOBI) for TS2-VOB and the reproduction control information. The drive 221 stores the remaining data in the track buffer 220 and these pieces of information in the DVD-RAM disc 100.
, And the recording process ends.

The operation has been described above based on the recording start and end requests from the user. For example, in the case of timer recording used in a VTR, the system controller automatically starts recording on behalf of the user. And issuing an end request, the operation of the DVD recorder is not essentially different.

(8. Outline of the Invention) The present invention relates to an object recorded on a disc, time map information associating reproduction time information of the recorded object in the object management information with a physical address on the disc. With reference to PID of digital broadcast (PID of video elementary stream), when recording broadcasts having different PIDs, they are recorded in different files or different tables. If the PID of the recorded broadcast changes during recording, the section of the recording stream referred to by each time map table is indicated by the start and end packet positions in the object file, and this is recorded. Thus, a data structure capable of managing a time map for one program or one recording operation is realized.

(9. Detailed Embodiment) The details of the embodiment of the present invention will be described. As shown in FIG. 20, the time map has a plurality of time map information in order to convert the reproduction time of the object to the recording address of the object on the disc. In FIG. 20, the time map is composed of a plurality of time map information. The time map information is composed of time map general information, a time entry, and an object unit entry.

The time map general information includes the number of time entries indicating the number of time entries, the number of object units indicating the number of object units, and the PID of the video elementary stream used to generate the time map information.
A time map PID indicating (Packet ID), a time offset indicating the time from the beginning of the object unit to the point indicated by the time entry # 1, and a start position of the section referred to by the time map information as a relative number of packets from the beginning of the object The packet number, the end packet number which also indicates the end position by the relative number of packets from the object head, and the start time of the section referenced by the time map information, which is indicated by the start PTS of the video elementary stream used to generate the time map information. The time and the end time of the end time of the section referred to by the time map information are represented by the start PTS of the video elementary stream used to generate the time map information.

The time entry indicates the object unit including the time entry at a fixed time (for example, 10 seconds) or at a fixed packet number interval (called a time unit). For time entry,
From the beginning of the first object unit, the object unit entry number indicating the number of the object unit indicated by that time entry, the time difference indicating the time difference between the point indicated by the time entry and the beginning of the object unit containing the time entry An object unit address indicating an address up to the beginning of the object unit including the time entry is included. Further, in the object unit entry, when the object unit includes video data, the first reference image size, the reproduction time of the object unit, and the size of the object unit on the disc are recorded.

By generating the time map as described above, it becomes possible to generate and manage the time map for each PID.

Regarding the reference of the PID, FIG. 21A and FIG.
PMT (Program Map Ta shown in (b))
ble), and Stream_type in PMT
(FIG. 21 (c)) and the contents of the elementary_PID are checked, so that the PID of the video elementary stream in the broadcast can be detected.

Next, a specific recording / reproducing operation will be described. FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation at the time of recording a digital broadcast. Here, the recording operation when the PID is changed during the recording operation will be described. In FIG. 22, when recording is started, the PID of the broadcast is acquired (step 501).
Next, the loop from step 502 to step 507 is repeated while the object to be recorded exists.

First, a recording object is generated (step 503), and then object information, time map information, and time map management information are generated (step 504). After that, the object generated in step 503 is recorded (step 505), and in step 506, it is checked whether or not the PID of the currently recorded video stream has changed. If the PID has not changed, the loop is continued as it is, but if the PID has changed, the time map information is switched (step 510). In particular,
The end packet number is written in the time map general information at the PID change point, and a new time map information table is created. This loop is continued until the end of recording. When the loop is completed, the required fields of object information and time map information are written as the end processing (step 5).
08) The recording operation ends.

FIG. 23 is a flow chart at the time of reproducing the data recorded as shown in FIG. In FIG. 23, first, an object to be reproduced is selected (step 601). Next, the time map information including the reproduction start point of the selected object is searched and selected (step 602). Based on the selected time map information, reproduction is performed in the loop of steps 604 to 609. This can be thought of as a loop that rotates for each object unit. First, the object information and time map information for the object to be reproduced is read (step 605), the object to be reproduced is read based on it (step 606), and the read object is reproduced (step 607).

When the end of the time map information is reached (step 608), if there is time map information in the section following it, the time map information is switched (step 610) and based on the new time map information. Continue playing. Whether or not the time map information of the following section exists is determined by the packet number being played at that time (relative packet number from the object head) and the start packet number recorded in the general information of each time map information forming the object. It can be determined by comparing with the end packet number. Finally, when the reproduction up to the final packet of the object ends, the loop is exited and the reproduction ends.

Although the case where the PID changes in the middle has been described in the present embodiment, if the time map of the present invention is used, a plurality of video elementary streams are simultaneously transmitted, as in multi-view broadcasting of digital broadcasting. Even if it is possible, check the PID of each stream, create each time map information, compile them,
It can be constructed as a time map of objects.

In this embodiment, as the time map structure, the address designation is performed by the two-tier table such as the time entry and the object unit entry. However, the reproduction time information is changed to the address information by using a single table. You can convert it directly.

In the present embodiment, the method of recording a plurality of time map information items constituting an object in a plurality of tables is described, but each time map information item is recorded as an individual file for each PID. I don't mind.

In this embodiment, the DVD-RA is mainly used.
Although the M disk has been described, it may be applied to other optical disks, hard disk drives, magnetic recording devices, and semiconductor memories.

In the present embodiment, it has been described that the time map is created for each PID of the video stream, but the PID of the audio stream may be referred to instead of the video stream to create the time map for each audio stream PID. .

In this embodiment, the time map information is generated for each PID and the PID is also recorded in the time map information. However, the time map is generated for each PID and recorded as the time map information. The PID does not have to be recorded as long as it has information that can identify the object.

In this embodiment, P of digital broadcasting is used.
Although it has been described that the time map is created for each ID, the PID may be virtually set and the time map information for each PID may be created when the analog broadcast is self-encoded and recorded, not limited to the digital broadcast. .

In the present embodiment, the object is generated in units of one program or one recording operation, but an arbitrary number of programs or an arbitrary number of recording operation units and the entire disc. You may generate the link information with respect to.

[0120]

The information recording medium, the recording device and the reproducing device of the present invention generate time map information for each PID of a digital broadcast. Therefore, when recording and reproducing a digital broadcast on a large capacity disc for a long time. It is possible to reduce the memory capacity required for recording and reproducing equipment.

Further, by recording the section indicated by the time map information of the stream corresponding to each PID in the video object, even in a video object including a plurality of video elementary streams, each section in the video object is recorded. A time map capable of clarifying the positional relationship of video elementary streams can be constructed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an appearance of a DVD recorder device and an example of an interface with related devices.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a drive device of a DVD recorder.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a drive device of a DVD recorder equipped with an HDD and a semiconductor memory.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a continuous area on a disc and a data storage amount in a track buffer.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the appearance and physical structure of a disc.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a logical data space of a disc.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the directory and file structure of the disc.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the structure of a video object.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an MPEG system stream.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an MPEG-TS stream.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an MPEG-PS stream.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a TS packet.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a PAT table.

FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining the arrangement of video objects on a disc.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating a data structure of video management information.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating a data structure of video management information.

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between PGC information of video management information, object information, and an object.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a playback device.

FIG. 19 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a recording device.

FIG. 20 is a data structure diagram of time map information.

FIG. 21 is a data structure diagram of PMT and PID.

FIG. 22 is a flowchart of device operation during recording.

FIG. 23 is a flowchart of device operation during reproduction.

[Explanation of symbols]

100 DVD-RAM disc 101,201 Optical pickup 102, 202 ECC processing unit 103, 203, 220 track buffers 104, 210 switches 105, 214 encoder 106,205,206,218 Decoder 207 audio decoder 208 still picture decoder 211 Control unit 212 System Control Unit 213 Analog Broadcast Tuner 215 Digital Broadcast Tuner 216 Analysis Unit 217 Display 219 Digital I / F section 221 drive 222 User I / F section

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Hiroshi Yahaneda             1006 Kadoma, Kadoma-shi, Osaka Matsushita Electric             Sangyo Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 5C052 AA04 AB03 AB04 CC06 DD04                 5C053 FA20 FA25 GB06 GB38 JA21                       JA22 JA24 LA07                 5D044 AB05 AB07 BC06 CC04 DE24                       DE38 DE39 DE53 EF05 FG19                       GK12                 5D077 AA30 BA26 CA02 DC03 EA33                       EA34 GA02                 5D110 AA17 AA19 AA27 AA29 DA01                       DA06 DA11 DA17 DB03 DB09                       DC05 DC16 DE01

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. An information recording medium for recording a video object and management information for managing reproduction of the video object, the time information relating to reproduction of the recorded video object, and the video on the information recording medium. The time map information that associates the physical address of the object with the PID (Pa
cet IDentifier), and records it as a part of the management information. 2. The time map information directly associates time information regarding reproduction of the video object with a physical address of the video object on the information recording medium by a single table. The information recording medium according to claim 1. 3. The time map information is characterized by indirectly associating time information regarding reproduction of the video object with a physical address of the video object on the information recording medium by using a plurality of tables. The information recording medium according to claim 1. 4. The information recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the time map information records a start packet number and an end packet number indicating a section in the video object. 5. A recording device for recording information on the information recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the video object management information includes means for generating the video object, and the time map information for each PID in digital broadcasting. And a means for recording the generated video object, and a means for recording the generated video object management information. 6. The time map information is such that time information relating to reproduction of the video object and the physical address of the video object on the information recording medium are directly associated with each other in a single table. The recording apparatus according to claim 5. 7. The time map information indirectly associates time information regarding reproduction of the video object with a physical address of the video object on the information recording medium using a plurality of tables. The recording device according to claim 5. 8. The recording apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the time map information includes means for recording a start packet number and an end packet number indicating a section within the video object. 9. A reproducing apparatus for reproducing the information recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the reading means reads the video object management information including the time map information, and PIDs for each read PID in the digital broadcast. And a reading unit for reading the video object based on the video object management information including the time map information, and a unit for playing the read video object based on the read video object management information. A playback device characterized by the above. 10. The time map information directly associates time information regarding reproduction of the video object with a physical address of the video object on the information recording medium by a single table. The playback device according to claim 9. 11. The time map information is characterized by indirectly associating time information regarding reproduction of the video object with a physical address of the video object on the information recording medium by using a plurality of tables. The reproducing device according to claim 9. 12. The time map information is recorded with a start packet number and an end packet number indicating a section in the video object, and time map information to be read is selected according to a reproduction point in the video object. 10. The reproducing apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising selection means for performing the operation.