JP2003134449A - Stream recording and reproducing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently use a recording medium by detecting variation of copy control information and controlling recording operation, and thus recording no stream when a stream including copy control information representing a copy-inhibited, one-generation copy-permitted, or copy-free state is recorded and reproduced. SOLUTION: A change point of the copy control information is detected and when the change point is present within a specified time from the point of time when the start of recording is indicated, the change point is stored as a recording start position; when the change point is present within a specified time traced back from the point of time when the end of recording is indicated, the change point is stored as a recording end point so that a stream before the recording start position and a stream after the recording end position are not saved or disabled to be reproduced.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention controls a recording operation by detecting a change in copy control information when recording / reproducing a signal including copy control information such as copy inhibition, 1st generation copy permitted, and copy free. However, the present invention relates to a stream recording / reproducing apparatus that efficiently uses a recording medium by not recording an unnecessary stream.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Digital television (hereinafter referred to as DTV), digital video cassette recorder (hereinafter referred to as DVCR)
To the DVCR from the DTV
An application has been realized in which the signal output from the DTV is recorded by the DVCR by controlling the. Here, the DTV which is a control device is a controller, and an application only for controlling a target DVCR which is a controlled device is installed. For example, DTV
The reserved video recording application performs an operation of recording a program designated by the user in the DVCR. This means that when the reserved recording start time comes, 1) select the digital tuner of your own, and 2) send the selected signal to the DVCR.
Send to DVCR using 94 serial bus and 3) DV
A recording start command is sent to the CR. Also, during execution of the reserved recording, it is monitored whether the DVCR is performing a recording operation, and at the reserved recording end time, the recording end command is transmitted to the DVCR and the transmission of the selected signal is terminated. If the copy control information of the stream at the start of recording indicates that recording is prohibited, the DVCR records no signal,
The signal recording is started at the first generation copy enabled or at the stage when the copy changed. Alternatively, there are DVCRs that do not start the recording operation itself. Further, after the recording operation is started, when the signal is changed to the copy prohibition, the recording operation is stopped or the processing is shifted to the non-signal recording state.

[0003]

Generally, when performing a reserved recording operation, the user may specify a recording start time that is, for example, about 1 minute earlier than the program start in order to surely perform the reserved recording. In some cases, the controller itself may send a recording start command at a slightly earlier time in consideration of the rise time of the DVCR. In such a case, if the previous program was prohibited from recording, the recording itself is not started, or there is a problem that an unnecessary recording portion is generated by performing signalless recording. If the recording operation is not started, the DTV that is the controller cannot start the reserved recording operation. In addition, when copy-free commercials and the like are included before and after a program that allows one generation of copying, there is also a problem that these commercials are also recorded. Also, if the same channel is reserved for recording for a long time and there is a program that is prohibited to copy in the middle, the subsequent programs cannot be recorded, or
There is a problem that unnecessary signalless recording is performed.

[0004]

In order to solve the above problems, in the stream recording / reproducing apparatus of the first invention, the change point of the copy control information is detected and within a predetermined time from the time when the recording start is instructed. If the change point exists, the change point is stored as a recording start position, and if the change point exists within a predetermined time period from the time when the recording end is instructed, the change point is recorded. Remember it as a position,
The stream before the recording start position and the stream after the recording end position are not saved or cannot be played back, whereby unnecessary recording portions existing before and after the recording operation can be automatically deleted.

Further, in the stream recording / reproducing apparatus of the second invention, when the copy control information of the stream at the time when the recording start is instructed indicates the copy prohibition, the actual recording operation is not performed and the state from the outside is not performed. By answering that the inquiry is being recorded, not only an unnecessary recording portion is not generated at the time of starting the reserved recording, but also the reserved recording program executed by the external controller can be normally operated.

Further, in the stream recording / reproducing apparatus of the third invention, when the copy control information changes to copy prohibition between the start of the recording operation and the end of the recording, the actual recording operation is performed. By responding that it is recording for the inquiry from the outside,
Even if the program is prohibited from copying before the timer recording ends, the timer recording application of the external controller can be normally ended.

In the stream recording / reproducing apparatus according to the fourth aspect of the invention, after the recording operation is further interrupted, if the copy control information is changed to copyable before the recording end is instructed, the recording operation is resumed from the position where the recording operation is interrupted. By restarting the above, it is possible to cut only the copy-prohibited program when continuously recording a plurality of programs.

In the stream recording / reproducing apparatus of the fifth aspect of the invention, when the copy prohibition period is included between the recording start instruction and the recording end instruction, during reproduction, the sections before and after the copy prohibition are included. By continuously reproducing, it is possible to prevent unnecessary reproduction signals from being output.

In the stream recording / reproducing apparatus of the sixth invention, at the time of recording / reproducing a stream containing copy control information, at least the reservation information which can specify the recording start time and the recording end time is held, and the recording start time is predetermined from the recording start time. If there is a change point of the copy control information within the time of, the change point is stored as a recording start position, and if the change point is detected within a predetermined time before the recording end time, the change point is stored. Is stored as the recording end position, and the stream before the recording start position and the stream after the recording end position are not saved or cannot be played back, so that unnecessary recording contents before and after the reserved recording are automatically cut. can do.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a system to which a stream recording / reproducing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention is applied. In FIG. 1, 10 is a DTV which is a control device, 11 is a display, 12 is a tuner for receiving digital broadcasting, and 13 is a controller for executing a control application (not shown), which is recorded using program information of the tuner 12. A reservation is made or a reserved recording operation is performed by using the HDD recorder 20 connected to the tuner 12 and the outside. Reference numeral 14 is recording information managed by the controller. Reference numeral 15 denotes a 1394 I / F unit, which is used to send a command issued by the controller to the HDD recorder to the bus and to receive a response to the command, and to output the stream output from the tuner 12 to the 1394 bus 1. Used to do
An HDD recorder 20 records the data received from the 1394 bus 1 in the HDD 21 and outputs the recorded program to the 1394 bus 1. Reference numeral 21 is an HDD for recording / reproducing a program, 22 is an HDD control unit for controlling a recording / reproducing operation, 24 is a 1394 I / F unit for a DTV.
It receives a command from 10, a command response, and receives stream data of the tuner 12 sent via the 1394 bus 1. The controller 13 inputs the electronic program guide information (EPG information) from the tuner 12, displays it on the display 11, determines the channel of the program to be recorded, the recording start time, and the ending time by the remote control operation from the user, and the reservation information 1
Remember as 4. The controller sends a power-on command to the HDD recorder 20 2 minutes before the recording start time in consideration of the rise time of the HDD recorder.
Issued via the / F unit 15. This command is sent to the HDD control unit 22 via the 1394 I / F unit 24 of the HDD recorder 20, and the HDD control unit starts the HDD 21. After that, the controller 13 turns the tuner 12
Channel to the specified channel, and stream 139
The output is performed via the 4I / F unit, and the HDD recorder 20 is connected to receive this stream. At this point, the preparation for the reserved recording operation is completed. At the scheduled recording start time, the controller 13
Sends a recording start command to the HDD control unit 22. The operation of the HDD control unit 22 at the start of recording is shown in FIG.
This will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of. First, HD
Upon receiving the recording start command in step 100, the D control unit 22 changes the state of responding to the outside to "recording". The controller 13 confirms that the HDD recorder 20 has performed the recording operation by using the command for inquiring the status. If the stream being received is copy-inhibited (step 102), the actual recording operation is not performed, and the step 103 and step 102 are repeatedly executed to allow the stream to be copied (copy one generation is permitted, or Wait until the status changes to (copy free). As a result, even if the program immediately before the recording reservation is copy-protected, the reserved recording operation does not fail. Moreover, since the operation such as the signalless recording is not performed, the recording medium is not wastefully consumed. If copying is still prohibited even after one hour or more, or if a recording end instruction is received during standby, the state is changed to "stop" in step 104 and the processing ends abnormally. If the copy is changed to the copy-enabled state within one hour, or if the copy control information is copy-enabled when the recording start instruction is received, the recording operation is started in step 105, and
The recording start position is stored. The recording start position mentioned here is data indicating from which position the reproduction is started when the reproduction of the recorded contents is instructed. Step 1
In 06, it is detected whether or not there is a change in the copy control information, and if there is no change, steps 1110, 108, 10
6 is repeated, but if a recording end instruction is received during this period (step 110), the recording operation is stopped and the current position is registered as the recording end position (step 11).
1) Change the recording status to "stop" (step 10
4) Abnormal termination. That is, when a recording end instruction is received within 5 minutes from the start of recording, the operation of deleting the streams having the same copy control information recorded up to that point is not performed. If there is a change to copy prohibition in step 106, the recording operation is stopped and the recording start position is deleted in step 109, and the process proceeds to step 103.
In step 107, the current recording position is stored as the recording start position, and if the change detected in step 106 is between copying one generation and copy free, the current position is registered as the recording start position, and The contents recorded up to are deleted. These series of operations are performed only for 5 minutes after receiving the recording start instruction (step 108). For example, if a copy-free stream is received when the recording start instruction is received and the stream is changed to copyable for one generation after 2 minutes, the recorded content for the first 2 minutes is deleted, and Only the generation-recordable content is recorded.

When the recording start processing shown in FIG. 2 ends normally, the HDD control unit 41 executes the recording end processing routine shown in FIG. In this process, the following process is performed until the end of recording is instructed from the outside (step 200). First, in step 206, it is checked whether or not the copy control information has been changed. If there is no change, it returns to step 200 without doing anything, but if there is a change,
In step 207, the content is stored. At this time, what is stored is the time of the change, how the copy control information was changed, and the recording position at the time of the change. If this change is a change to copy one generation or copy free, the process returns to step 200. If this change is a change to copy prohibition, step 209
The recording operation is stopped by and the current position is registered as the recording end position. When the copy-prohibited state has passed for 3 hours or when a recording end instruction is input, the recording end position registered in step 209 is confirmed as the final recording end position, and the process proceeds to step 205 where the HDD control unit Change the state to "stopped". If the copy prohibition is changed to the copy one generation permitted or copy free within 3 hours without a recording end instruction, the changed contents are stored and the recording operation from the recording end position is restarted in step 212. Further, while checking the change of the copy control information (step 206), the operation of waiting for the recording end instruction (step 200) is restarted. As a result, during reproduction, the streams before and after the copy inhibition period are continuously reproduced. When the recording end instruction is detected in step 200, the recording operation is ended (step 204), and it is checked whether or not the copy control information has been changed within the past 5 minutes (step 201). This check is step 2
It is carried out by referring to the contents of change stored in 07 or step 212. If the copy control information has not been changed within the last 5 minutes, the current recording position is registered as the recording end position (step 203).
When there is a change, the change is registered as the recording end position, and the recorded contents after the change are deleted (step 202). As a result, when the copy control information is changed within 5 minutes from the end of recording, the changed position is set as the recording end position, and the contents recorded thereafter are not reproduced. After these processing,
Change the state to "stopped". As a result, even if the recording operation is not actually performed, the response from the outside is answered "recording" between the recording start instruction and the recording end instruction, so that the external controller does not malfunction. There is no.

(Second Embodiment) Next, a description will be given of a stream recording / reproducing apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention, in which the HDD recorder itself has reservation information. FIG. 4 shows the system configuration of the stream recording / reproducing apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention.
Since the blocks having the same numbers as in the above-mentioned block operate in the same manner as in the first embodiment, the description thereof will be omitted. When the reserved recording operation is designated by the user, the controller 33 not only stores it as the reservation information 14, but also stores it in the HDD recorder 40.
Notify the time zone (reservation time zone) in which the HDD recorder 40 is used. The HDD control unit 41 that receives this information
It is stored as HDD reservation information 42. Although the reservation information stored in the DTV 30 also includes the channel number for reserved recording, the HDD reservation information 42 does not need to include the channel number. Since the operation at the recording start time is the same as the content shown in FIG. 2 of the first embodiment, the description will be omitted. As in the first embodiment, the HDD control unit 41 that has normally completed the recording start processing executes the recording end processing routine shown in FIG. Since the same processing as that of FIG. 3 in each step number shown in FIG. 5 is the same, description thereof will be omitted. The part different from the first embodiment is step 30 after storing the changed contents in step 207.
Only 0. In step 300, the HDD control unit 41 checks the HDD reservation information 42 and the current time. Specifically, it is checked whether the current time is included in the reserved time zone and the remaining time is less than 5 minutes. If you have more than 5 minutes remaining, or if it is not included in the reserved time zone,
Proceeding to step 208, the same operation as in the first embodiment is performed. If it is included in the reserved time zone and the remaining time is less than 5 minutes, the process proceeds to step 301 and the recording operation is stopped.
Further, in step 203, the current position is registered as the recording end position, and the state is changed to "stop". As a result, if the copy control information is changed within the remaining 5 minutes, the recording operation is ended at that point. In this example, the state is immediately changed to “stop”, but the state may be changed to “stop” after waiting for the recording end instruction from the controller 33.

In the above embodiment, the time-out time when copying is prohibited at the start of recording is 1 hour,
The time-out when the copy prohibition is included during recording is set to 3 hours, but the time-out values are not limited to this. Also, the maximum value of the time to be deleted by changing the copy control information at the start or end of recording is 5
Minutes, but not limited to this.

Further, with respect to the copy control information, the copy prohibition, copy one generation allowed, and copy free have been described as examples, but other copy control information may be used.
For example, when analog output is performed, it is also possible to use information as to whether or not analog protection such as macrovision is required.

Further, in the present embodiment, the DTV, which is a controller for controlling reserved recording, and the HDD recorder, which performs a recording operation, are separate devices, but they may be configured by the same device.

In the first embodiment, reserved recording is explained as an example, but the present invention is not limited to reserved recording, and the user may operate the "record" and "stop" buttons by remote control operation. . For example, even if the "Record" button is operated before the desired program starts and the "Stop" button is pressed after the program ends, by judging the copy control information, unnecessary recording contents before and after can be recorded. It can be deleted automatically.

[0018]

According to the present invention, the change point of the copy control information is detected, and if the change point exists within a predetermined time from the time when the recording start is instructed, the change point is stored as the recording start position. If the change point exists within a predetermined time retroactively from the time when the recording end is instructed, the change point is stored as a recording end position, and the stream before the recording start position and the recording end position and subsequent streams are recorded. By not saving the stream or rendering it unplayable, unnecessary recording portions existing before and after the recording operation can be automatically deleted.

Further, even when the copy control information of the stream at the time when the recording start is instructed indicates the copy prohibition, or when the copy prohibition is changed during the recording,
By not responding to the status inquiry from the outside by actually answering that recording is in progress, the unnecessary recording part does not occur at the start of reserved recording, and the reserved recording executed by the external controller is performed. The program can also operate normally. In addition, when the copy control information changes to copyable after the recording operation is interrupted and before the recording end instruction is given, when the recording operation is restarted from the position at which the recording operation was interrupted, a plurality of programs can be continuously recorded. To
Not only can the copy-prohibited program be cut, but during reproduction, by continuously reproducing the sections before and after the copy-prohibition, it is possible to prevent unnecessary reproduction signals from being output. Further, the reservation information is held, and if there is a change point of the copy control information within a predetermined time from the recording start time, the change point is stored as a recording start position, and within the predetermined time before the recording end time. When the change point is detected in step 1, the change point is stored as the recording end position, and the stream before the recording start position and the stream after the recording end position are not saved or cannot be played back. The effect that unnecessary recording contents before and after recording can be efficiently and automatically cut is obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the HDD control unit at the start of recording in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the HDD control unit during recording and at the end of recording in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the HDD control unit during recording and at the end of recording in the second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 1394 bus 10, 30 DTV 11 display 12 tuners 13 Controller 14 Reservation information 15, 24 1394 I / F section 20, 40 HDD recorder 21 HDD 22 HDD control unit

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F-term (reference) 5C052 AB02 DD04                 5C053 FA01 FA13 FA15 FA20 LA06                       LA07                 5D044 AB07 BC01 CC03 DE50 GK08                       GK12 HL11

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. When recording and reproducing a stream containing copy control information, a change point of the copy control information is detected,
When the change point exists within a predetermined time from the time point when the recording start is instructed, the change point is stored as a recording start position, and the change point is returned within a predetermined time period retroactively from the time point when the recording end is instructed. If it exists, the change point is stored as a recording end position, and the stream before the recording start position and the stream after the recording end position are not saved or cannot be reproduced. apparatus. 2. When the copy control information of the stream at the time when the recording start is instructed indicates that copying is prohibited, the actual recording operation is not performed, and it is being recorded in response to an inquiry from the outside. The stream recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a reply is given. 3. When the copy control information is changed to copy prohibition between the time point when the recording start is instructed and the time point when the recording end is instructed, the actual recording operation is interrupted and the external status inquiry is made. 2. The stream recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the stream recording / reproducing apparatus responds that the recording is being performed. 4. The recording operation is resumed from a position where the recording operation is interrupted when the copy control information is changed to copyable after the recording operation is interrupted and before the time when the recording end is instructed. Item 3. The stream recording / reproducing apparatus according to item 3. 5. When the copy prohibition period is included between the time point when the recording start is instructed and the time point when the recording end is instructed, during reproduction, the sections before and after the copy prohibition are continuously reproduced. The stream recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein 6. When the recording status of a copy-prohibited stream has passed a predetermined time or more, an inquiry from the outside is answered that the recording is not in a recording status, and the recording is terminated when the copy control information changes to copy-prohibited. The stream recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the stream recording / reproducing apparatus stores the position as a position. 7. When recording / reproducing a stream including copy control information, at least reservation information that can specify a recording start time and a recording end time is held, and the copy control information of the copy control information is stored within a predetermined time from the recording start time. When the change point exists, the change point is stored as a recording start position, and when the change point is detected within a predetermined time before the recording end time, the change point is stored as a recording end position, A stream recording / reproducing apparatus characterized in that a stream before a recording start position and a stream after the recording end position are not stored or cannot be reproduced. 8. When a copy-prohibited stream includes a copy-prohibited stream between the recording start time and the recording end time, the actual recording operation is not performed during this time, and an inquiry about the status from the outside is made. The stream recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the stream recording / reproducing apparatus responds that recording is in progress. 9. A stream according to claim 7, wherein when a copy-prohibited period is included between the recording start time and the recording end time, the section before and after the copy-prohibition is continuously reproduced at the time of reproduction. Recording / playback device.