JP2003339006A - Contents recording and reproducing apparatus or contents recording and reproducing method, information processing apparatus or information processing method, and computer program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suitably support jobs such as creation of comment information associated with each scene in a program and transmission of information of this kind. <P>SOLUTION: A GUI menu has each of fields for displaying or accepting revision of a broadcast date and time in an on-air broadcast program at present or during reproduction output of a broadcast program and a comment write-in filed to which a comment of each scene of the broadcast program is written. When a user creates a comment with respect to the broadcast program and makes a 'write-in' operation after confirming transmission contents, information denoting 'a comment associated with a video image on a channel in a matter of definite minutes, hours and date' is transmitted to a communication opposite party on a public network 25. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a content recording / reproducing apparatus for recording / reproducing content such as audio and video, and particularly recording content distributed according to a scheduled time of a broadcast program distributed from a broadcasting station or the like. The present invention relates to a content recording / reproducing device for reproducing.

More specifically, the present invention relates to a content recording / reproducing apparatus or a content recording / reproducing method, an information processing apparatus or an information processing method, and a computer program for supporting the sharing of information on the air or in recorded programs between users. In particular, the present invention relates to a content recording / reproducing apparatus or a content recording / reproducing method, an information processing apparatus or an information processing method, and a computer program that support work such as creation of information in a program and transmission of this kind of information.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art With the development of digital technology, it has become possible to store a large amount of AV data consisting of video and audio. In recent years, an HDD (hard disk drive) having a capacity of several tens of GB or more has become available at a relatively low cost, and an HDD-based recorder has also appeared.

The HDD is a device that allows random access to recorded data. Therefore, when playing back the recorded content, it is not necessary to play back the recorded programs in order from the beginning as in the case of the conventional video tape, and the playing can be started directly from the favorite program.

However, with the increase in capacity of HDDs,
When a large number of programs are stored, the user has to worry about which program to start watching first, when selecting content. It is considered necessary to provide some kind of viewing support in order to prevent the accumulated content from being stored and to effectively utilize it.

On the other hand, in today's highly advanced information society, various kinds of information are digitized and shared / distributed via networks. Therefore,
It is possible to share their own knowledge and experience among unspecified number of users. Various electronic bulletin boards (BBS: Bulletin Board System) are built on the Internet, and unspecified large numbers of users can voluntarily write comments to exchange problems and opinions about the same theme. .

For example, electronic bulletin boards on the Internet for television programs already exist, and the broadcasted programs can be critiqued by the general public by writing, or viewed by others.

[0008] Since a general electronic bulletin board is composed of a contributor name (or handle name), a posting date and time, and a comment writing field, it is possible to write comprehensive information, impressions, and comments about a certain program. However, when trying to mention a particular scene or the like therein, a person who writes on the bulletin board may say, for example, "1 from the start.
Information such as "a scene after about 0 minutes and 30 seconds" must be entered as a "character string" for specifying the scene. On the other hand, a person who browses the bulletin board, when he wants to confirm the scene, uses a video recording device such as a VTR and uses the information (memorization) "from what time" and the elapsed time counter of the device. , There is the inconvenience of having to search for that scene.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an excellent content recording / reproducing apparatus, content recording / reproducing method, or information capable of suitably supporting the sharing of information on air or in a recorded program between users. It is to provide a processing device or an information processing method, and a computer program.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an excellent content recording / reproducing apparatus, content recording / reproducing method, and information processing apparatus capable of suitably supporting work such as creation of information in a program and transmission of this kind of information. Or information processing method,
And to provide a computer program.

[0011]

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above problems, and a first aspect thereof is a content recording / reproducing apparatus for recording and reproducing content distributed according to a scheduled time. Or a content recording / reproducing method, which is a content receiving means or step for selecting a distribution channel to receive the distribution content, a time measuring means or step for measuring real time, a distribution channel and a time at which the distribution content is stored or stored. A content recording / reproducing apparatus or a content recording / reproducing method, comprising: a content accumulating unit or step for storing together with information.

Here, the content recording / reproducing apparatus or the content recording / reproducing method according to the first aspect of the present invention includes content output means or steps for presenting a distribution content to a user at the same time as receiving the content or extracting it from the content storage means. A comment input means or step for inputting a comment from the user regarding the content being presented by the content output means, and a content presentation position by the content output means or step when the comment is input by the comment input means or step Distribution time calculating means for calculating distribution time, input comment from the user regarding the content being presented by the content output means, distribution channel of the content, and distribution of the content at the presentation position at the time of inputting the comment And viewing support information creating means for creating a viewing support information including at least, may be further provided.

According to the content recording / reproducing apparatus or the content recording / reproducing method of the first aspect of the present invention, the viewing support information including the comment input for each scene of the distributed content and the distribution time or the reproduction position of the scene can be easily provided. Can be created.

Therefore, while the user is manually watching the recorded program, the user can obtain the time at the time of on-air from the recording start time, the channel, and the reproduction time until now, or
The on-air time for a specific scene can be calculated more easily and accurately than the actual time that is passing momentarily while watching on-air.

Further, it is possible to favorably support work such as creation of information in distribution contents such as broadcast programs and transmission of this kind of information.

Also, such viewing support information can be sent to a specific communication partner on the network by the communication means. As a result, it is possible to favorably support the sharing of information on the air or in the recorded program between the users.

Here, the delivery time calculating means or step is configured such that, when the content output means or step is presenting the content at the same time as receiving the delivery content, the real time measuring means or step is performed when a comment is input. The delivery time at the presentation position of the content at the time of inputting the comment may be calculated based on the actual time measured.

Alternatively, the distribution time calculating means or step, when the content outputting means or step is presenting the content retrieved from the content accumulating means, stores the storage start time of the content and the current time from the storage start position. The distribution time at the presentation position of the content at the time of content storage may be calculated based on the time difference between the presentation positions of.

A second aspect of the present invention is an information processing apparatus or information processing method for supporting viewing of content distributed according to a scheduled time, the comment being input during content presentation, and the content. Viewing support information receiving means or step for receiving, from one or more users, viewing support information including at least a distribution channel and a distribution time at the presentation position of the content when the comment is input, and viewing for accumulating the received viewing support information. And a viewing support information providing unit or step for providing the viewing support information stored by the viewing support information storage unit or step in response to a request from a user. The information processing apparatus or the information processing method.

Here, the viewing support information storage means or step may arrange the distribution contents for each distribution content according to the distribution time and publish the viewing support information on the network.

Therefore, according to the information processing apparatus or the information processing method according to the second aspect of the present invention, the user can easily share the comment for each scene in the program with the transmission partner on the network. Therefore, it is possible to mutually support the viewing of the recorded contents. Also,
By collecting comments on each scene of a program from a large number of users and disclosing the comment contents of the program on the network by the server, it is possible to collect information on broadcast programs from an unspecified number of users and share the information. Conversion is performed efficiently. Since the viewing support information includes channel information for specifying a program, a comment about a specific scene in the program, and an on-air time of the commented scene, a person who receives the information is
A scene of a favorite comment can be easily or automatically searched based on its on-air time.

Further, a third aspect of the present invention is a computer program written in a computer-readable format so as to execute a process for recording and reproducing content distributed according to a scheduled time on a computer system. Therefore, a content receiving step of selecting a distribution channel to receive the distribution content, a time measuring step of measuring a real time, a distribution content, a distribution channel,
And a content storage step of storing together with time information at the time of distribution or storage.

A fourth aspect of the present invention is a computer program written in a computer-readable format so as to execute a process for supporting viewing of content distributed according to a scheduled time on a computer system. So, the comment entered during the content presentation,
A viewing support information receiving step of receiving from one or more users viewing support information including at least a distribution channel of the content and a distribution time at the presentation position of the content when the comment is input, and storing the received viewing support information. A computer program comprising: a viewing support information storage step; and a viewing support information providing step of providing the viewing support information stored by the viewing support information storage step in response to a request from a user. is there.

The computer program according to the third and fourth aspects of the present invention defines a computer program written in a computer-readable format so as to realize a predetermined process on a computer system. . In other words, by installing the computer program according to each of the third and fourth aspects of the present invention in the computer system, a cooperative action is exerted on the computer system, and the first aspect of the present invention. It is possible to obtain the same operational effects as the content recording / reproducing apparatus or the content recording / reproducing method according to the present invention, and the information processing apparatus and the information processing method according to the second aspect of the present invention.

Still other objects, features and advantages of the present invention are as follows.
It will be apparent from the embodiments of the present invention described later and the more detailed description based on the accompanying drawings.

[0026]

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

FIG. 1 schematically shows a hardware configuration of a video recording / playback apparatus capable of performing in-program information creation and its transmission support according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in the figure, this video recording / playback apparatus is
A tuner 1, an audio signal processing circuit 2, a video signal processing circuit 3, an MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) encoder / decoder / buffer VRAM 6, a broadband network interface 7, a modem 8, a remote control light receiving section 9, Remote control 10 and CPU (Central Proc
essing unit) 11 and a RAM for temporary storage (Random Acce
ss Memory) 12 and ROM for persistent data (Read Only M
emory) 13, non-volatile RAM 14, storage 1
5, a keyboard 16, a mouse 17, and a clock 18. Audio signal processing circuit 2 and video signal processing circuit 3
Usually, a reproduction output device such as a speaker 4 or a display 5 is externally connected to. Further, the keyboard 16 and the mouse 17 can be replaced by another user input device.

The CPU 11 is a main controller that totally controls the operation of the entire video recording / playback apparatus, and executes various application programs under an execution environment provided by an operating system (OS). The CPU 11 is interconnected to each unit via a bus 19.

The RAM 12 is composed of a writable semiconductor memory device, and is used, for example, to expand an OS and application programs, and to temporarily store work data during program execution. Also, RO
M13 is a read-only memory in which retained data is permanently written. For example, a self-diagnosis program when the video recording / playback apparatus is turned on, a hardware operation code, a bootstrap module (for booting an OS). Modules) etc. are stored.

The non-volatile RAM 14 stores, for example, ID information unique to the hardware set of the video recording / playback apparatus, ID information of the user, and area information in which the user lives. Further, these pieces of information can be stored in the storage 15, and in this case, the nonvolatile RA
M14 can be omitted.

The storage 15 is composed of, for example, a hard disk drive (HDD) or a rewritable DVD disk, and stores video content and stores information data (video date, channel, etc.) at the time of recording video content. Used to Also, storage 1
5 is another application, the operating system (O
S), application programs, network connection programs (general-purpose web browsers) and other execution programs, and is used for storing application program specific data. However, the OS and application programs may be stored in the ROM 13 instead of the storage 15.

The user can operate the video recording / playback apparatus by using the remote controller 10 or the user input device such as the keyboard 16 and the mouse 17.
The operation command from the remote controller 10 is received by the remote controller light receiver 9 and transferred to the CPU 11 via the bus 19.
Further, the operation command from the keyboard 16 or the mouse 17 is similarly transferred to the CPU 11. The CPU 11 processes the operation command sent from these input devices to determine the operation of the video recording / playback device.

On the display 5, a GUI (Graphical) for user operation is displayed in addition to the image during on-air or recording / playback.
The User Interface screen is displayed. For example, a list of reproducible video contents is displayed. In such a case, the CPU 11 executes the GUI processing program to generate the display image in the buffer VRAM 6,
It is output to the display 5 via the video signal processing circuit 3. Therefore, the user can know the state of the device and the possible operation via the display 5. However, not all the operation lists are displayed on the display 5.

When watching an on-air program, the tuner 1 produces video, audio waves and program information (EPG: Electric Progr).
am Guide), information about the inside of the program (metadata) is received. Then, under the control of the CPU 11, the audio signal and the video signal are demodulated by the audio signal processing circuit 2 and the video signal processing circuit 3, and are externally output from the speaker 4 and the display 5.

When recording a program, the received video and audio signals are digitally compressed by the MPEG encoder 6,
It is stored in the storage 15 under the control of the CPU 11. When stored in the storage 15, the RAM 12 may be used as a temporary data storage location.

When recording a program, in addition to the video signal and audio signal, EPG information of the program to be recorded, recording start time and length of recording time, channel, genre to which the program belongs, and information regarding the inside of the program. (Metadata) and the like are also recorded in the storage 15. Specifically, the metadata referred to here is an index (a certain time,
A comment about the time, a set of icons, like a bookmark in a program), or a segment in the program (start time, end time, comment, a part of the program in a set of icons, a highlight scene) Etc.), a segment in one or more programs, a comment, a story consisting of icons, and information about other programs. Further, these pieces of information may be recorded in the nonvolatile RAM 14.

The video recording / playback apparatus according to the present embodiment is
You can watch and record on-air programs at the same time. In this case, the broadcast wave received by tuner 1 is MPE
It outputs to the G encoder 6, the audio signal processing circuit 2, and the video signal processing circuit 3, respectively.

When the recorded program is reproduced, the CP
Under the control of U11, the compressed video and audio data is transferred from the storage 15 to the MPEG decoder 6 and MP
After being decoded by the EG decoder 6, it is demodulated by the audio signal processing circuit 2 and the video signal processing circuit 3 and externally output by the speaker 4 and the display 5. Here, when data is transferred from the storage 15 to the MPEG decoder 6,
The RAM 12 may be used as the temporary storage area. Further, when the MPEG decoder 6 expands the compressed data, the buffer VRAM 6 may be used as a temporary storage area for the screen information.

During program reproduction, the CPU 11 manages information such as what content is being reproduced and what time portion is currently being reproduced, and temporarily records it on the RAM 12. In addition, when the program is reproduced, the CPU 11 also collects information about the inside of the program (metadata) being used.
And is temporarily recorded in the RAM 12.

Even while watching an on-air program, the channel information being reproduced, which is acquired from the tuner 1, is stored in the CPU 1
Managed by 1. The CPU 11 also manages the actual time acquired from the system clock 18.

The modem 8 is connected to a public telephone line and realizes communication between the video recording / playback apparatus and an external host. The modem 8 is used for receiving update information of the OS and application programs, and for transmitting data from viewers to broadcasting stations, data servers, and the like. Tuner 1 mentioned above
The information (metadata) related to the inside of the program obtained in 1. may be received via the modem 8.

Broadband network interface 7
Is, for example, DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) or CA
It is connected to a broadband network such as a TV or an optical fiber to realize communication between the video recording / playback device and an external host. The broadband network interface 7 is
It is used to receive update information of the OS and application programs, and to transmit data from viewers to broadcast stations, data servers, and the like. The information (metadata) about the inside of the program obtained by the tuner 1 is transmitted to the broadband network.
It may be received by the interface 7.

The video recording / reproducing apparatus is a general-purpose application such as a web browser for transmitting / receiving information to / from a network such as the Internet using the modem 8 and the broadband network interface 7.
It is equipped with a program. That is, these programs are stored in the storage 15, the ROM 13, or the non-volatile RAM 14, and are expanded and executed in the RAM 12 as appropriate.

As described above, the information within the program of the target on-air or recorded program is managed by the CPU 11, and is used for creating the in-program information for the on-air or recorded program and supporting the transmission process thereof. In the following, in-program information creation of an on-air or recorded program according to the present embodiment,
Also, the processing of the transmission support will be described in detail.

FIG. 2 schematically shows a functional structure for realizing in-program information creation and its transmission support on the video recording / playback apparatus according to the present embodiment. As shown in the figure, the video reproduction management module 20, the on-air channel management module 21, the program time information acquisition management module 22, the general-purpose network information transmission / reception module 23, and the real-time clock management module 25 are functional modules. Composed of.

These functional modules are actually stored in the storage 15, the non-volatile RAM 14, and the ROM 13 through the R
It can be implemented as a software module that is expanded in the AM 12 and executed by the CPU 11. Of these, the video playback management module 20 and on-air
The channel management module 21 and the real-time clock management module 25 are generally included in a general video recording / playback device. The general-purpose network information transmitting / receiving module 23 is composed of, for example, a web browser.

When playing back the content recorded in the video recording / playback apparatus, the video playback management module 20 records the date and time when the content was recorded, the channel, the recording time, and the current playback position (offset from the start of recording). , Constantly monitor or manage the playback status.

On-air channel management module 21
Manages a broadcast channel (channel selection operation) of a broadcast program which is on air on the video recording / playback apparatus.

The real-time clock management module 25 acquires and manages the current time from the system clock 18.

In-program time information acquisition management module 22
While reproducing the recorded content, the recording date and time, the channel, and the current reproduction position are acquired from the video reproduction management module 20 at a constant time interval or in response to a user operation such as pause or stop. By adding the current playback position to the recording date and time, it is possible to derive the position where the video / audio currently being played back and output is in the on-air state, that is, what month, day, hour, minute, and which channel was on-air. Hold.

Further, the in-program time information acquisition management module 22 acquires the currently output channel from the on-air channel management module 21 and outputs the current time from the real-time clock management module 25 at the time of on-air broadcasting output. It is acquired, and the video / audio currently output in real time is obtained and held as to the video / audio (scene) of what month, day, hour, minute, and channel.

Then, the in-program time information acquisition management module 22 uses the recorded contents thus obtained,
In addition, the time information regarding the on-air content is transferred to the general-purpose network information transmitting / receiving module 23. At that time, it is judged whether the communication partner connected to the general-purpose network information transmitting / receiving module 23 via the public network 25 is the partner already registered in the video recording / playback apparatus, and the registered partner. Send only if

As a modified example of the in-program time information acquisition management module 22, the time information regarding the obtained recorded contents and on-air contents may be written in a permanent storage such as a file. In such a case, the general-purpose network information transmitting / receiving module 23 may appropriately read desired information from the file and transmit it to the public network 25. In this case, the general-purpose network information transmission / reception module 23 determines whether or not the communication partner on the public network 25 is a previously registered communication partner by using the function in the general-purpose network information transmission / reception module 23. If the communication partner is not the one registered in advance in the device, the information is not read.

General-purpose network information transmitting / receiving module 2
3 displays time information regarding the recorded content or the on-air content on the screen of the display 5 to ask the user for confirmation. According to the user's instruction, the latest information and updated information can be obtained again from the in-program time information management module 22. In addition, the information displayed on the screen can be explicitly changed by the user to any value. Further, the user can input the comment contents (comment) on the bulletin board on the network.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the structure of a GUI screen prepared by the general-purpose network information transmission / reception module 23 for prompting the user to confirm the time information and to input a comment on the program. As shown in the figure, in this GUI screen, each field displaying the broadcast date and time of the broadcast program currently on-air or being reproduced and output, or accepting a change, and a comment for entering a comment in the scene of the broadcast program It has a writing field.

The user creates a transmission content such as a comment for the broadcast program, confirms the content to be transmitted, and then performs a "write (transmission)" operation to notify the communication partner on the public network 25 " You can send the information of "Comments about the video of what channel, what day, hour, minute, and channel". By operating the "reset" button, the written comment contents can be cleared.

The information transmitted by operating this GUI screen is composed of date and time, channel, comment, and user's residence area information. The date and time information is an absolute time or an elapsed time from a certain time. If the user's residence area information can be known by another means to the transmission partner on the public network 25, the transmission of the residence area is not essential.

Next, a processing procedure for realizing in-program information creation and its transmission support on the video recording / playback apparatus according to this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. This procedure is actually
The program code stored in the storage 15, the non-volatile RAM 14, and the ROM 13 is expanded in the RAM 12 and executed by the CPU 11. The program code referred to here corresponds to the in-program time information acquisition management module 22 and the general-purpose network information transmission / reception module 23 described above.

First, the in-program time information acquisition management module 22 determines whether or not the video recording / playback apparatus is playing back the recorded content (step S1). If it is being reproduced, the process proceeds to step S5, and if it is not being reproduced, the process proceeds to step S2.

If the video recording / playback apparatus is not playing back the recorded content, then the in-program time information acquisition management module 22 determines whether the apparatus is outputting the on-air broadcast video / audio. (Step S
2). If no output is in progress, the entire processing routine ends. When the on-air broadcast is being output, the process proceeds to the next step S3.

If the video recording / playback apparatus is not playing back the recorded content but is outputting on-air broadcasting,
The in-program time information acquisition management module 22 is
The channel information being output is acquired from the channel management module 21 (step S3). Then, the current time is acquired from the real time clock management module 25 (step S4). With the above processing, the time and channel of the broadcast content currently outputting video / audio are obtained.

On the other hand, when the video recording / playback apparatus is playing back the recorded content, the in-program time information acquisition management module 22 causes the video playback management module 20 to record the date on which the video program currently being played back is recorded. , Time is acquired (step S5). Then, the elapsed time from the beginning of the video program being reproduced is acquired from the video reproduction management module 20 (step S6). The difference is calculated from the information obtained in these processing steps S5 and S6, and the on-air time and channel of the broadcast content currently outputting video / audio are obtained (step S
7).

When the time and channel of the broadcasting contents which are currently outputting video / sound on air are obtained,
The in-program time information acquisition management module 22 inquires of the general network information transmission / reception module 23 about the other party on the currently connected network (step S).
8). Then, it is checked whether or not the connected party is a party preset in the video recording / playback apparatus. If the party is a preset party, the process proceeds to step S9, and is not the preset party. In that case, the process proceeds to step S10.

General-purpose network information transmitting / receiving module 2
When the connection partner of No. 3 is the one preset in the video recording / playback apparatus, the time and channel information is displayed on the GUI screen (see FIG. 3) of the general-purpose network information transmitting / receiving module 23. It is displayed (step S9). The user looks at the information displayed on the GUI screen and determines whether to reacquire the time and channel information (step S11). When the user requests reacquisition of the information, the process proceeds to step S2. Further, when the user does not request reacquisition of the information, the information as it is continues to be displayed on the GUI screen.

General-purpose network information transmitting / receiving module 2
If the connection partner of No. 3 is not a preset partner in the video recording / playback apparatus, the time and channel information acquired in the processing so far are discarded, and the time of the specified (default) value and the channel The information is displayed on the GUI screen of the general-purpose network information transmitting / receiving module 23 (step S10). In this case, the stipulated value is, for example, "January 1, 00:00:00, 1 channel".

The user can use the keyboard 16 as necessary.
Using the or mouse 17, the time and channel information can be entered or corrected (step S12).

Further, the user can use the keyboard 16 and the mouse 17 to enter or correct the character string information to be written on the bulletin board on the network (comment on the time and the broadcast contents on the channel), if necessary. Yes (step S13).

On the GUI screen (see FIG. 3), the user can display the time and channel information automatically set by the device, and the time and channel information and character string information entered or modified by the user himself. Check to determine if you want to send it over the network. The video recording / playback apparatus waits for the user's input for the determination (step S14), and if the transmission is instructed, the next step S1.
If it is instructed not to transmit, the whole process routine is finished.

When the user has instructed the transmission of data on the network, the general-purpose network information transmission / reception module 23 transmits the data to the transmission partner on the network (step S15), and then the entire processing routine ends. To do.

As a result of executing the in-program information creation and transmission support processing as shown in FIG. 4, the user can easily share the comment for each scene in the program with the transmission partner on the network. Therefore, it is possible to mutually support the viewing of the recorded content. At this time, not only the channel information about the program and the comprehensive comment but also the time information of the commented scene is notified, so that the transmission partner can easily find the playback position of the favorite comment in the program. .

Further, the transmission partner on the network may be a server which collects comments on each scene of the program from a large number of users instead of general users. In the latter case, the server makes the comment contents of the program open to the public on the network, so that information about the broadcast program can be collected from an unspecified number of users and the information can be shared efficiently. The information sent from the user includes channel information that identifies the program, comments about specific scenes in the program, and the on-air time of the commented scene. A scene can be easily or automatically searched for its on-air time as a clue.

Such a server may publish information about programs in a format such as BBS (electronic bulletin board). The information sent from each user includes channel information for specifying a program, a comment on a specific scene in the program, and on-air time of the commented scene. Therefore, on the server side, for example, a bulletin board may be set for each program, the comments sent for each program may be arranged according to the on-air time, and the comment list may be displayed.

FIG. 5 shows an example of the screen structure of a bulletin board in which comments for each scene of a certain program are collected. In the example shown in the figure, in addition to the comment registration (registration) date and time, the comment registrant name, the comment, ie, the writing, the offset time from the start time of the program to the written scene is shown. Therefore, when a favorite comment is found, it is possible to jump to the corresponding scene by using the offset time as a clue.

[Supplement] The present invention has been described in detail with reference to the specific embodiments. However, it is obvious that those skilled in the art can modify or substitute the embodiments without departing from the scope of the present invention. That is, the present invention has been disclosed in the form of exemplification, and the contents of this specification should not be construed in a limited manner. In order to determine the gist of the present invention, the section of the claims described at the beginning should be taken into consideration.

[0076]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention,
To provide an excellent content recording / reproducing apparatus or content recording / reproducing method, information processing apparatus or information processing method, and computer program capable of suitably supporting sharing of information on air or in recorded programs between users. You can

Further, according to the present invention, an excellent content recording / reproducing apparatus, content recording / reproducing method, and information processing capable of suitably supporting work such as creation of information in a program and transmission of this kind of information. An apparatus or an information processing method, and a computer program can be provided.

According to the present invention, the user can manually determine the on-air time from the recording start time, the channel, and the reproduction time up to the present while watching the recorded program, or the time can be ticked during the on-air watching. The on-air time for a specific scene can be obtained more easily and accurately than obtaining the actual time.

The video playback management module, the on-air channel management module, and the real-time clock management module are generally present in existing video recording / playback devices. In addition, a general-purpose network information transmission / reception module such as a web browser can be used for transmitting information on the network, and can be realized on an existing video recording device relatively easily. Therefore, it is possible to obtain great merit for the user at low cost.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a program information creation according to an embodiment of the present invention;
It is the figure which showed typically the hardware constitutions of the video recording / reproducing apparatus which can perform the in-program information creation and its transmission support.

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing a functional configuration for realizing in-program information creation and its transmission support on the video recording / playback apparatus according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a general-purpose network information transmission / reception software 23
It is the figure which showed the structural example of the GUI screen prepared by which a user is asked to confirm time information and to input the comment with respect to a program.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for realizing in-program information creation and its transmission support on the video recording / playback apparatus according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a screen configuration example of a bulletin board in which comments for each scene of a certain program are collected.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Tuner 2 ... Audio signal processing circuit 3 ... Video signal processing circuit 4 ... speaker 5 ... Display 6 ... MPEG encoder / decoder / VRAM 7 ... Broadband network interface 8 ... Modem 9 ... Remote receiver 10 ... Remote control 11 ... CPU 12 ... RAM 13 ... ROM 14 ... Nonvolatile RAM 15 ... Storage 16 ... Keyboard 17 ... Mouse 18 ... Clock 19 ... Bus 20 ... Video playback management software 21 ... On-air channel management software 22 ... In-program time information acquisition management software 23 ... General-purpose network information transmission / reception software 24 ... Public network (Internet) 25 ... Real-time management module

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) G11B 27/00 H04N 5/76 Z 27/034 5/91 L H04N 5/76 G11B 27/02 K F term (Reference) 5C052 AA01 AB02 CC01 DD04 5C053 FA20 FA23 GB06 GB37 JA16 JA21 KA01 KA24 LA06 LA07 LA14 5D044 AB05 AB07 BC01 CC05 DE02 DE03 DE12 DE49 DE54 EF05 GK12 HL11 HL14 5D110 AA13 AA27 AA29 CA07 DA42 BB25 CA07 BB25 CA07

Claims (16)

[Claims] 1. A content recording / reproducing apparatus for recording and reproducing content distributed according to a scheduled time, comprising content receiving means for selecting a distribution channel to receive the distributed content, and time measuring means for measuring real time. A content recording / reproducing apparatus, comprising: a distribution channel, and a content storage unit that stores a distribution channel and time information at the time of distribution or storage. 2. Content output means for presenting distributed content to a user at the same time as it is received or taken out from the content storage means, and comment input means for inputting a comment from the user regarding the content being presented by the content output means. A delivery time calculating means for calculating a delivery time at the presentation position of the content by the content output means when a comment is input by the comment input means; an input comment from a user regarding the content being presented by the content output means; The content according to claim 1, further comprising: viewing support information creating means for creating viewing support information including at least a distribution channel of the content and a distribution time at the presentation position of the content when the comment is input. Recording / playback equipment . 3. A communication means for sending the viewing support information to a specific communication partner, further comprising:
The content recording / playback apparatus described in 1. 4. The delivery time calculating means, based on the real time measured by the real time measuring means at the time of comment input, when the content output means presents the content at the same time as receiving the delivered content. The content recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a distribution time at the presentation position of the content when the comment is input is calculated. 5. The distribution time calculation means, when the content output means is presenting the content retrieved from the content storage means, displays the storage start time of the content and the current presentation position from the storage start position. The content recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the distribution time at the presentation position of the content when the content is stored is calculated based on the time difference. 6. A content recording / reproducing method for recording and reproducing content distributed according to a scheduled time, the content receiving step of selecting a distribution channel to receive the distributed content, and a time counting step of measuring real time. A content recording / reproducing method, comprising: a distribution channel, and a content accumulation step of storing a distribution channel together with time information at the time of distribution or storage. 7. A content output step of presenting distributed content to a user at the same time as receiving the delivered content or extracting a stored content, and a comment input step of inputting a comment from the user regarding the content being presented by the content output step. A distribution time calculating step for calculating a distribution time at the content presentation position by the content output step when a comment is input by the comment input step; an input comment from the user regarding the content being presented by the content output step; The viewing support information creating step of creating viewing support information including at least a distribution channel of the content and a distribution time at the presentation position of the content at the time of inputting the comment. Content recording and reproducing method as claimed. 8. The content recording / reproducing method according to claim 6, further comprising a communication step of transmitting the viewing support information to a specific communication partner. 9. In the delivery time calculating step, when the delivery content is presented at the same time as the delivery content is received in the content output step, based on the real time counted in the real time measuring step at the time of comment input. 7. The distribution time at the presentation position of the content at the time of inputting the comment is calculated.
Content recording / playback method described in. 10. In the distribution time calculation step, when presenting the content extracted from the content accumulated in the content output step, the storage start time of the content and the current presentation position from the storage start position are displayed. 7. The content recording / reproducing method according to claim 6, wherein the distribution time at the presentation position of the content when the content is stored is calculated based on the time difference. 11. An information processing apparatus for supporting viewing of content distributed according to a scheduled time, comprising a comment input during presentation of the content, a distribution channel of the content, and a content when the comment is input. Viewing support information receiving means for receiving viewing support information including at least the distribution time at the presentation position from one or more users, viewing support information storage means for storing the received viewing support information, and the viewing in response to a request from the user. An information processing device, comprising: viewing support information providing means for providing the viewing support information stored by the support information storage means. 12. The viewing support information storage means arranges the distribution contents according to distribution time, and publishes the viewing support information on a network.
1. The information processing device according to 1. 13. An information processing apparatus for supporting viewing of content distributed according to a scheduled time, comprising a comment input during presentation of the content, a distribution channel of the content, and a content when the comment is input. Viewing assistance information receiving step of receiving viewing assistance information including at least distribution time at the presentation position from one or more users, viewing assistance information accumulating step of accumulating the received viewing assistance information, and the viewing in response to a request from the user. A viewing support information providing step of providing the viewing support information accumulated in the support information storing step, the information processing method. 14. The information processing method according to claim 13, further comprising an information disclosing step of arranging the accumulated viewing support information for each distribution content according to a distribution time and disclosing the information on a network. 15. A computer program written in a computer-readable format so as to execute a process for recording and reproducing content distributed according to a scheduled time on a computer system, by selecting a distribution channel. A content receiving step of receiving the distributed content, a time counting step of measuring a real time, and a content storing step of storing the distributed content together with a distribution channel and time information at the time of distribution or storage. Computer program. 16. A computer program written in a computer-readable format so as to execute a process for supporting viewing of content distributed according to a scheduled time on a computer system, the program being input during content presentation. Viewing support information receiving step of receiving viewing support information including at least one comment, a distribution channel of the content, and a distribution time at the presentation position of the content when the comment is input, the received viewing support And a viewing support information providing step of providing the viewing support information stored in the viewing support information storing step in response to a request from a user. Computer program.