JP2004213402A - Video and voice signal recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a video and voice signal recording device for preventing the user of equipment from unconsciously continuing the recording of abnormal data by estimating a data transferring rate from the data recording capacity of a recording medium, and preventing the writing of data when it is presumed that the data transferring rate is low, and that any obstacle is generated in the writing of data. <P>SOLUTION: This device is provided with a transferring rate discriminating means 10 for discriminating the data transferring rate of a memory card 9, and the transferring rate discriminating means 10 discriminates the data transferring rate from the recording capacity of the memory card 9. Then, when the discrimination result exceeds the data transferring rate of compression processing in a digital signal processing means 6, a system control means 12 controls the digital signal processing means 6 not to perform data writing in the memory card 9. Thus, even when the kind or manufacturer of the recording medium such as a memory card are identical, there is a case that the data transferring rates are different according to the recording capacity in a conventional manner, it is possible for the equipment which records data in the memory card to prevent the generation of any failure that the writing processing is damaged as long as it does not record data at any rate below the data transferring rate of the memory card. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a video and audio signal recording device for recording video and audio signals such as moving images and still images on a removable recording medium.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in a device for recording a video such as a moving image or a still image, a recording medium is going to be switched from a conventional magnetic tape or film to a nonvolatile semiconductor memory such as a flash memory. In particular, it is well known that digital still cameras, which record still images with digital signals, have rapidly penetrated the market due not only to lower prices for the devices themselves, but also to larger capacities and lower prices for various memory cards. It is as follows. Also, a technique for recording a moving image having a large data amount on a memory card has already been proposed and put into practical use (for example, see Patent Document 1).
[0003]
Specifically, in the example of Patent Document 1, both the image signal at the time of shooting a still image and the image signal at the time of shooting a moving image are converted into block-type signals, and the data is compressed by the same compression circuit. There is disclosed a device capable of photographing both of them, and capable of recording more images on a recording medium.
[0004]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-6-253251 (pages 3 to 4, FIGS. 1 to 3)
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In a recording medium for recording data in a semiconductor memory such as a memory card, even though the nominal data recording capacity is the same, the data writing speed, that is, the data transfer speed is not always the same depending on the type of the recording medium and the manufacturer. Absent. Further, there is an example in which even if the type of recording medium and the manufacturer are the same, the data transfer speed is different if the data recording capacity is different. In particular, as the capacity of memory cards increases, not only still images and audio with relatively small data volume, but also moving images with larger data volume will be recorded on the memory card. Higher data transfer rates are required. As a result, even if the type of recording medium and the manufacturer are the same, memory cards with different data transfer speeds due to differences in recording capacity already exist on the market.
[0006]
In a device that records data, if the data transfer speed that can be supported by the recording medium is lower than the speed at which the device generates data to be recorded on the recording medium, normal data writing may not be performed. There is. If the user continued to record data without notifying the user of such a condition, the data that the user of the device considered as being able to record normally was not actually recorded as intended. Such a problem may occur.
[0007]
In order to solve such a problem, the present invention estimates a data transfer speed that can be supported from the data recording capacity of a recording medium, and if the data transfer speed is low and it is predicted that a problem will occur in data writing. The object of the present invention is to provide a video and audio signal recording apparatus in which a user of a device does not unconsciously continue recording abnormal data by not writing data. .
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-described problems, a video and audio signal recording device according to the present invention includes a signal processing unit that performs a processing process on at least one of a video signal and an audio signal, and a signal processing unit. Interface means for writing the processed data to the removable memory means, and transfer speed determining means for determining the data transfer rate of the memory means, the transfer speed determining means from the storage capacity of the memory means, The data transfer speed of the memory means is determined, and whether or not data can be written to the memory means is determined based on the result of the determination.
[0009]
Thus, in a device for recording at least one of a video signal and an audio signal in a memory means which is a detachable recording medium, a data transfer rate which can be supported is estimated from a data recording capacity of the recording medium, and the data transfer rate is estimated. Is low and it is predicted that there will be a problem in writing data. By not writing data, the device user will not be able to continue recording abnormal data unintentionally. The advantageous effect that it can be obtained is obtained.
[0010]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
According to a first aspect of the present invention, a signal processing means for processing at least one of a video signal and an audio signal, and data processed by the signal processing means are attached and detached. Interface means for writing to a flexible memory means, transfer rate determining means for determining a data transfer rate of the memory means, and deciding means for determining whether or not data can be written by the interface means; The determining means determines the data transfer speed of the memory means based on the recording capacity of the memory means, and the determining means determines whether data can be written by the interface means based on the determination result of the data transfer speed. As a result, the data transfer speed of the memory means is low, and If the trouble is expected to occur, an effect that can realize the device without the user of the equipment by not perform writing of data to continue recording the data not normal unconsciously.
[0011]
The invention according to a second aspect of the present invention is the invention according to the first aspect, further comprising a notifying unit for notifying an operator of the device of information, wherein the notifying unit determines whether or not the data is written by the determining unit. When it is determined to be impossible, information relating to the determination is notified to the operator, whereby it is possible to recognize that data can not be recorded by the memory means mounted on the device user. This has the effect that the user of the device can easily take appropriate measures such as replacing the memory means with another one.
[0012]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, the signal processing means performs a data compression process on at least one of the input video signal and the audio signal. In this case, one or a plurality of data transfer rates can be set as the data transfer rate, whereby the signal processing means can perform the compression processing according to the data transfer rate of the memory means. The data transfer speed can be selected.
[0013]
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to any one of the first to third aspects, the notifying means determines that writing of the data is not possible among the one or more data transfer rates. The information about the data transfer speed of the compression process in the case of being determined is notified, so that the device user can easily know the data transfer speed at the time of the compression process that causes a problem in data writing. Having.
[0014]
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the memory means has a logical format, and the storage capacity of the memory means is the logical capacity. Thus, when the recording capacity of the memory means is obtained, the information of the logical format of the memory means can be used.
[0015]
In the invention according to claim 6 of the present invention, the memory means has an internal register in which its own characteristic information is recorded, and a recording capacity of the memory means is obtained based on a stored value of the internal register. This has the effect that the information in the internal register of the memory means can be used when determining the recording capacity of the memory means.
[0016]
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6.
[0017]
(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a video and audio signal recording device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. In FIG. 1, an optical system 1 is an optical system including a plurality of lens groups for forming a subject image on a solid-state imaging device 2, and the solid-state imaging device 2 is a subject image formed by the optical system 1. Is an image pickup device that converts an image signal into an electric signal (video signal). For example, a CCD (charge coupled device) or the like is used. The camera signal processing means 3 is a means for performing well-known camera signal processing such as gain adjustment, noise removal, gamma correction, aperture processing, knee processing, and the like on the video signal obtained from the solid-state imaging device 2. Although a video signal obtained via the solid-state imaging device 2 may be a moving image or a still image, the following description will be made assuming that a moving image is captured, but the present invention is not limited to this. Reference numeral 4 denotes a microphone for converting voice into an electric signal (voice signal). The voice signal from the microphone 4 is subjected to well-known voice signal processing such as removal of unnecessary noise and wind noise by a voice signal processing means 5. Is done. The digital signal processing means 6 is a means for compressing and multiplexing the video signal and the audio signal which have passed through the camera signal processing means 3 and the audio signal processing means 5, and a card I / F means (card interface means) 7 Is a means for transferring and writing data compressed and multiplexed by the digital signal processing means 6 to a memory card 9 electrically connected via a socket 8. The card I / F unit 7 also has a function of detecting the data recording capacity of the memory card 9 and notifying the transfer speed determining unit 10. The memory card 9 is a recording medium as a detachable memory unit incorporating a semiconductor memory, for example, a flash memory (flash EEPROM), and is logically based on, for example, an FAT (file allocation table) file system in an operating system (OS) of a microcomputer. Format. The transfer speed determining means 10 determines the data transfer speed corresponding to the memory card 9 by referring to the recording capacity of the memory card 9 obtained via the card I / F means 7 and the information recorded in the conversion table 11. This is a means for notifying the system control means 12 of the information. The conversion table 11 is a table that internally stores information that defines the relationship between the recording capacity and the data transfer speed. The system control unit 12 integrally controls the execution and stop of the compression processing of the video signal and the audio signal in the digital signal processing unit 6 and the start and stop of data writing to the memory card 9 by the card I / F unit 7. Further, according to the data transfer speed of the memory card 9 obtained from the transfer speed discriminating means 10, whether or not the video signal and the audio signal can be compressed by the digital signal processing means 6, and the memory card 9 by the card I / F means 7 This is a means for determining whether or not data can be written to the memory, and includes, for example, a microcomputer and a control program stored in the microcomputer. The recording ON / OFF switch 13 is a switch for the user of the device to instruct recording and stop of the video signal and the audio signal. When the recording ON / OFF switch 13 is set to the ON state, the system control unit 12 Controls the digital signal processing means 6 and the card I / F means 7 to execute data recording on the memory card 9. Conversely, when the recording ON / OFF switch 13 is set to the OFF state, the recording is stopped.
[0018]
The operation of the video and audio signal recording device configured as described above will be described in detail below.
[0019]
First, a video signal and an audio signal obtained through the optical system 1, the solid-state imaging device 2, the camera signal processing unit 3, the microphone 4, and the audio signal processing unit 5 are subjected to compression processing in the digital signal processing unit 6. Therefore, the data amount is reduced as compared with the original data. The compression method at this time is not particularly limited. For example, an MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) 2 method can be considered. Next, the video signal and the audio signal after the compression processing are multiplexed with time synchronization, and are converted into one set of data. The card I / F means 7 also has a function of detecting when the memory card 9 is inserted into the socket 8, and immediately after detecting the insertion of the memory card 9, a FAT file system which is a logical format of the memory card 9. To the basic data unit in the logical format of the memory card 9 (for example, the value stored in the sector size (SectorSize) field), and the total number of sectors (for example, stored in the total sector (TotalSectors) field). Is obtained, and the recording capacity of the memory card 9 is detected by multiplying the two values. Then, the result is notified to the transfer speed determining means 10. Thereafter, the transfer speed determining means 10 determines the data transfer speed of the memory card 9 with reference to the conversion table 11, and an example of the conversion table 11 is shown in FIG.
[0020]
The upper part of FIG. 2 shows the recording capacity of the memory card, and the lower part shows the data transfer rate for that capacity. The transfer rate determining means 10 converts the conversion table 11 from the recording capacity of the memory card 9 obtained from the card I / F means 7. The data transfer speed is determined by referring to the data transfer speed. Then, the result is notified to the system control means 12.
[0021]
The system control means 12 controls the start and stop of the recording of the video signal and the audio signal in accordance with the instruction of the device user via the recording ON / OFF switch 13, and the system control means 12 is notified by the transfer speed determination means 10 at this time. Based on the discrimination result, it is determined whether the digital signal processing unit 6 can perform the compression processing of the video signal and the audio signal and whether the card I / F unit 7 can write the data to the memory card 9. This operation will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. In FIG. 3, it is assumed that step 301 is a standby state in which the device can start recording a video signal and an audio signal at any time after the recording ON / OFF switch 13 is set to the ON state. Step 302 is a step of comparing the data transfer rate of the memory card 9 determined by the transfer rate determining means 10 with the data transfer rate of the compression processing in the digital signal processing means 6. Here, if the data transfer rate of the memory card 9 exceeds the data transfer rate of the compression processing, the process proceeds to steps 303 and 304, and it is determined that the compression processing of the video signal and the audio signal and the data writing to the memory card 9 are possible. Is determined, the compression processing of the video signal and the audio signal in the digital signal processing means 6 and the writing of data to the memory card 9 by the card I / F means 7 are started. Conversely, in step 302, if the data transfer rate of the memory card 9 is lower than the data transfer rate of the compression processing, the process proceeds to steps 305 and 306, where it is determined that the compression processing and data writing to the memory card 9 are not possible, The compression processing of the video signal and the audio signal in the digital signal processing means 6 and the data writing to the memory card 9 by the card I / F means 7 are not performed.
[0022]
The operation described above will be described more specifically. For example, when the digital signal processing means 6 sets the data transfer rate of the video signal and the audio signal to 1 megabyte / second and the recording capacity of the memory card 9 inserted via the socket 8 is 16 megabytes, The data transfer speed of the memory card 9 is 0.5 megabytes / second from the conversion table 11 shown in FIG. At this time, if the digital signal processing means 6 executes data compression processing at 1 megabyte / second, the data transfer speed of the memory card 9 is low, so that writing cannot be performed normally. Therefore, the system control unit 12 does not perform the compression processing in the digital signal processing unit 6 and does not write data to the memory card 9.
[0023]
As described above, when the data transfer speed of the memory card 9 is lower than the data transfer speed of the compression processing in the digital signal processing means 6, the compression processing in the digital signal processing means 6 and the writing of data to the memory card 9 are not performed. By doing so, it is possible to avoid the problem that abnormal data is written in a state that is not intended by the user of the device.
[0024]
As described above, according to the present embodiment, in accordance with the data transfer rate determined from the data recording capacity of the memory card 9, the video signal and the audio signal are compressed and the card I / F means 7 transfers the data to the memory card 9. Is determined by the user of the device in a situation where normal data cannot be written because the data transfer speed during the compression process exceeds the data transfer speed of the memory card 9. Instead, the problem of continuing to write abnormal data as it is can be avoided.
[0025]
In the present embodiment, the logical format of the memory card 9 has been described as the FAT file system, but the present invention is not limited to this. It goes without saying that the present invention is effective as long as the recording capacity of the memory card 9 can be detected in any logical format.
[0026]
(Embodiment 2)
The second embodiment of the present invention relates to an improvement of the first embodiment, and the overall configuration is the same as that of FIG. However, since the operation for detecting the recording capacity of the memory card 9 shown in the figure is different, only the parts different from the first embodiment will be described below.
[0027]
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing functions of the memory card 9 used in the video and audio signal recording device according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 401 denotes a flash memory main body for recording data. Reference numeral 402 denotes an internal register for storing identification information of the memory card 9, in which information relating to the recording capacity of the card is recorded in advance, and this identification information can be freely read out via the card I / F means 7. Shall be.
[0028]
In the video and audio signal recording apparatus configured as described above, when the card I / F unit 7 detects the recording capacity of the memory card 9 as in the first embodiment, the recording capacity recorded in the internal register 402 Then, information about the transfer rate is read out and notified to the transfer rate determining means 10. The transfer speed determining unit 10 determines the data transfer speed of the memory card 9 based on the information on the recording capacity of the memory card 9 obtained from the card I / F unit 7. Other operations are the same as those in the first embodiment, and a description thereof will not be repeated.
[0029]
As described above, by detecting the recording capacity by using the information pre-recorded in the internal register 402 of the memory card 9, the memory card 9 is not logically formatted, as in the first embodiment. Even when it is impossible to obtain the recording capacity of the memory card 9 from the file system, it is possible to detect the correct recording capacity.
[0030]
As described above, according to the present embodiment, the effects obtained in the first embodiment can be realized even when the memory card 9 is not logically formatted.
[0031]
(Embodiment 3)
In the third embodiment of the present invention, in contrast to the configuration of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the compression processing in the digital signal processing means 6 and the data writing to the memory card 9 are not performed for the user of the device. The difference is that a notifying unit 501 for notifying that is added. Therefore, the same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted, and only the portions different from the first embodiment will be described. Will be described below.
[0032]
FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a video and audio signal recording device according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention. In the figure, a notification unit 501 notifies a user of a device when the system control unit 12 determines not to perform compression processing in the digital signal processing unit 6 and write data to the memory card 9. It is a means to do. Specifically, for example, the notification unit 501 is a liquid crystal display device, and a notification is given to the device user by a message or an icon displayed on the display screen.
[0033]
The operation of the video and audio signal recording device configured as described above will be described below.
[0034]
First, after the system control unit 12 determines that the compression processing in the digital signal processing unit 6 and the writing of data to the memory card 9 are not performed, the system control unit 12 sends the digital signal processing unit The user of the device is notified that the compression process in step 6 and the writing of data to the memory card are not performed, for example, by displaying a warning message on a display screen. By performing such a notification, the user of the device can recognize that the memory card 9 attached to the device to record data by himself is not suitable for data recording. This allows the user of the device to take measures such as removing the currently inserted memory card 9 and replacing it with a memory card 9 having a large capacity, that is, a high data transfer rate, when wishing to write data normally. You can do it on your own.
[0035]
As described above, according to the present embodiment, in addition to the effects obtained in the first embodiment, it is possible for the device user to recognize that data cannot be recorded on the currently inserted memory card 9, There is an advantage that the user can easily take appropriate measures such as replacing the memory card 9 with another one.
[0036]
(Embodiment 4)
Embodiment 4 of the present invention relates to an improvement of Embodiment 3, and the overall configuration is the same as that of FIG. However, since the operation of the system control means 12 shown in FIG. 11 is different, only the parts different from the third embodiment will be described below.
[0037]
In the fourth embodiment, the digital signal processing means 6 shown in FIG. 5 performs a plurality of data transfer speeds during compression processing, for example, 3 megabytes / second (hereinafter, referred to as A mode), 1 megabytes / second. (Hereinafter referred to as B mode) and 0.5 Mbytes / sec (hereinafter referred to as C mode).
[0038]
FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the system control means 12 of the video and audio signal recording device according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, it is assumed that step 601 is a standby state in which the device can start recording a video signal and an audio signal at any time after the recording ON / OFF switch 13 is set to the ON state. Step 602 is a step of comparing the data transfer rate of the memory card 9 determined by the transfer rate determining means 10 with the data transfer rate of the A mode of the compression processing in the digital signal processing means 6.
[0039]
If the data transfer rate of the memory card 9 exceeds the data transfer rate of the A mode, the process proceeds to step 603, and it is determined whether the compression processing in the A mode and the data writing to the memory card 9 are possible. In the opposite case (No), the process proceeds to step 604, where the data transfer speed of the memory card 9 is compared with the data transfer speed in the B mode of the compression processing in the digital signal processing means 6.
[0040]
If the data transfer rate of the memory card 9 exceeds the data transfer rate of the B mode, the process proceeds to steps 605 and 606, where it is determined that the compression processing in the B mode and the data writing to the memory card 9 are possible. The user of the device is notified via 501 that the recording in the A mode is impossible or that the recording in the B mode and the C mode is possible. In the opposite case (No), the process proceeds to step 607, where the data transfer speed of the memory card 9 is compared with the data transfer speed in the C mode of the compression processing in the digital signal processing means 6.
[0041]
If the data transfer rate of the memory card 9 exceeds the data transfer rate of the C mode, the process proceeds to steps 608 and 609, where it is determined that compression processing in the C mode and data writing to the memory card 9 are possible. The user of the device is notified via 501 that the recording in the A mode and the B mode is impossible or that the recording in the C mode is possible. In the opposite case (No), the process proceeds to steps 610 and 611, where it is determined that compression processing in all modes and data writing to the memory card 9 are not possible. To the user that recording in all modes is not possible.
[0042]
In the video and audio signal recording device configured as described above, when the digital signal processing means 6 has a plurality of data transfer speeds at the time of compression processing, the attached memory card 9 can write data at any data transfer speed. This makes it possible for the user of the device to recognize whether or not there is a device. For example, when the recording capacity of the inserted memory card 9 is 64 megabytes, the data transfer speed can be determined to be 2 megabytes / second from the conversion table 11 shown in FIG. In this case, it is impossible to perform recording in the A mode among the above three modes, and this is notified to the user of the device by a series of steps shown in the flowchart of FIG. By doing so, the user of the device can recognize that the memory card 9 attached to the device to record data by himself / herself is not suitable for data recording in the A mode. This allows the user of the device to take measures such as removing the currently inserted memory card 9 and replacing it with a memory card 9 having a large capacity, that is, a high data transfer rate, when wishing to write data normally. You can do it on your own.
[0043]
As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the digital signal processing means 6 has a plurality of data transfer speeds at the time of compression processing, the apparatus user recognizes the mode in which data cannot be recorded on the currently mounted memory card 9. Therefore, there is an advantage that the convenience of the user of the device is increased.
[0044]
In all the embodiments of the present invention, the determination whether the compression processing of the video signal and the audio signal and the data writing to the memory card 9 are possible is performed by setting the recording ON / OFF switch 13 to the ON state. Although the description has been made as to be performed later, the present invention is not limited to this, and this determination is performed at any timing, for example, after the completion of the data transfer speed determination of the memory card 9 by the transfer speed determination unit 10. It does not matter. In particular, in a configuration in which the user is notified using the notification unit 501 as in the third and fourth embodiments of the present invention, the determination is made before the recording ON / OFF switch 13 is set to the ON state. It is preferable to notify the user in consideration of the convenience of the device. This is because, when the recording ON / OFF switch 13 is set to the ON state and the device user attempts to start recording data, if it is notified that data recording is not possible, recording is performed at that time. This is because it is impossible to record video or audio intended to do so.
[0045]
In the third and fourth embodiments of the present invention, the notification unit 501 is configured to notify the user of the device by a message or an icon displayed on the display screen. However, the present invention is not limited to this. A method of notifying the user of the device by generating a sound may be considered.
[0046]
Further, in all the embodiments of the present invention, the detection of the recording capacity of the memory card 9 has been described as when the memory card 9 is inserted. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the main power of the device is turned on. Configuration that detects the recording capacity after the device has been operated or when the device user performs some operation such as switching between the still image recording mode and the moving image recording mode on the device. The same effect is obtained.
[0047]
Further, in all the embodiments of the present invention, the data transfer speed at the time of the compression processing in the digital signal processing means 6 has been described as the data transfer speed combining the video signal and the audio signal in order to simplify the description. A configuration may be employed in which compression processing is performed at one or more different data transfer rates that are independent of the video signal and the audio signal. Then, a method is also conceivable in which either the video signal or the audio signal is not compressed according to the data transfer speed of the memory card 9 and writing to the memory card 9 is not performed. The advantage of this method is that the video signal generally has a larger data amount than the audio signal, so if the compression processing for the video signal and the writing to the memory card 9 are not performed, the data transfer speed of the memory card 9 is low. However, a device that can record only the audio signal on the memory card 9 can be realized. Further, since the video signal has a larger data amount than the audio signal, the data transfer speed of the video signal at the time of compression processing is compared with the data transfer speed of the memory card 9 so that the compression performed by the digital signal processing means 6 is performed. A configuration for determining whether or not the processing and writing to the memory card 9 are possible is also conceivable. In this case, it is only necessary to compare only the data transfer speed at the time of the compression processing of the video signal with the data transfer rate of the memory card 9, so that the compression processing and the processing of determining whether or not writing to the memory card 9 is possible can be simplified. There is an advantage.
[0048]
In all the embodiments of the present invention, the compression processing executed by the digital signal processing means 6 and the determination as to whether or not writing to the memory card 9 is possible depend on the data transfer speed of the memory card 9 and the data transfer of the compression processing. Although the configuration for comparing the speed is shown, when data is actually recorded on the memory card 9, a command for data recording generated between the card I / F means 7 and the memory card 9 is issued, or a file is issued. There is an overhead such as updating of setting values on the system. Therefore, the compression processing performed by the digital signal processing unit 6 and the determination of whether or not the data can be written to the memory card 9 need to be determined in consideration of these overheads in addition to the data transfer speed of the memory card 9. Not even.
[0049]
In all the embodiments of the present invention, when the data transfer rate of the memory card 9 is lower than the data transfer rate of the compression processing, the digital signal processing means 6 performs the compression processing of the video signal and the audio signal, and the card I / F. Although the configuration in which the data writing to the memory card 9 by the means 7 is not described has been described, the present invention is not limited to this. It is possible to realize a device in which a user of a target device does not unconsciously continue to record abnormal data.
[0050]
Further, in all the embodiments of the present invention, the configuration in which the video signal and the audio signal are obtained using the solid-state imaging device 2 and the microphone 4 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a TV tuner or an external video input unit may be used. It is apparent that the present invention is also effective in a configuration in which the video signal and the audio signal input via a TV broadcast or another device are compressed and recorded on the memory card 9.
[0051]
Further, in all the embodiments of the present invention, the MPEG2 system is described as a method for compressing a video signal and an audio signal, but the present invention is not limited to this.
[0052]
Further, in all the embodiments of the present invention, the memory card 9 is described as a memory means having a built-in semiconductor memory, for example, a flash memory (flash EEPROM). However, the present invention is not limited to this. It goes without saying that the present invention is effective for a medium whose data transfer speed changes depending on the capacity.
[0053]
Further, in all the embodiments of the present invention, description has been made based on a device for recording a video signal and an audio signal, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a device for recording only a video signal or only an audio signal. Needless to say, the present invention is also effective in the above.
[0054]
Further, in all the embodiments of the present invention, the configuration for compressing the video signal and the audio signal has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and at least one of the video signal and the audio signal is uncompressed to the memory card 9. It goes without saying that the present invention is also effective in a writing configuration.
[0055]
Further, in all the embodiments of the present invention, the configuration and operation of the apparatus have been described as above, but it is needless to say that the apparatus can be realized by software. In particular, the control method in the system control means 12 can be realized by software utilizing computer resources such as a CPU (central processing unit) and an MPU (microprocessor unit).
[0056]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, according to the data transfer rate determined from the data recording capacity of the memory means, the compression processing of the video and audio signals and the determination of whether or not the data can be written to the memory means are determined. In a situation where normal data cannot be written because the data transfer speed during processing exceeds the data transfer speed of the memory means, the user of the device does not recognize this and continues writing abnormal data as it is. The advantageous effect that the problem can be avoided can be obtained.
[0057]
In addition to the above effects, the user of the device can recognize that data cannot be recorded with the currently mounted memory means, and the user of the device can replace the memory means with another one. An advantageous effect is obtained that it is easy to take appropriate measures.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a video and audio signal recording device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a conversion table in the video and audio signal recording device.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of compressing a video signal and an audio signal in the video and audio signal recording device, and determining whether data can be written to a memory card;
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing internal functions of a memory card applied to a video and audio signal recording / playback device according to a second embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a video and audio signal recording device according to the third embodiment.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of compressing a video signal and an audio signal in the video and audio signal recording device according to the fourth embodiment, and determining whether or not data can be written to a memory card;
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Optical system
2 Solid-state imaging device
3 Camera signal processing means
4 microphone
5 Audio signal processing means
6 Digital signal processing means
7 Card I / F means
8 sockets
9 Memory card
10 Transfer speed determination means
11 Conversion table
12 System control means
13 Recording ON / OFF switch

Claims (6)

Signal processing means for performing processing on at least one input signal of a video signal or an audio signal,
Interface means for writing the data processed by the signal processing means to a removable memory means,
Transfer speed determining means for determining a data transfer speed of the memory means,
Determining means for determining whether data can be written by the interface means,
The transfer speed determining unit determines a data transfer speed of the memory unit based on a recording capacity of the memory unit,
The video and audio signal recording device according to claim 1, wherein said determining means determines whether or not data can be written by said interface means based on a result of the determination of said data transfer speed. Notifying means for notifying information to an operator of the device, wherein the notifying means, when the writing of the data is determined to be impossible by the determining means, notifying the operator of information regarding the determination. The video and audio signal recording device according to claim 1, wherein: The signal processing means performs a data compression process on at least one of the input video signal and audio signal, and at that time, one or more data transfer rates can be set. 3. The video and audio signal recording device according to claim 1, wherein: 4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the notifying unit notifies information relating to a data transfer speed of a compression process when the writing of the data is determined to be impossible among the one or more data transfer speeds. The video and audio signal recording device according to any one of the above. 5. The memory according to claim 1, wherein the memory has a logical format, and the storage capacity of the memory is determined based on the information of the logical format. Video and audio signal recording device. 5. The memory device according to claim 1, wherein the memory device includes an internal register in which characteristic information of the memory device is recorded, and a storage capacity of the memory device is obtained based on a value stored in the internal register. And a video and audio signal recording device.

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