JP2004312759A - Video recording apparatus and method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a program recording apparatus and method which enables a desired program to be easily and surely recorded from beginning to end. <P>SOLUTION: In most cases, a television broadcast program is broadcasted for the unit of 30 minutes or 1 hour from beginning of time so that the program can be managed for 30 minutes or 1 hour as one unit. When the recording start of a program is inputted, on the assumption that the program is broadcasted for the unit of 30 minutes or 1 hour from the beginning of the time, a starting time and an ending time of the program are set. From the thus set starting time to ending time of the program, the received broadcast is recorded. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a video recording apparatus and method suitable for use in a television receiver in which a program is constantly recorded on a recording medium.

  While enjoying a television broadcast, it is often the case that suddenly a telephone call rings or there is a visitor, and the broadcast program is missed. If a television broadcast program is missed, the program cannot be viewed again except for the program that is to be rebroadcast. Programs that are rebroadcast in a short period of time are rare, and news and sports programs are not often rebroadcast. Therefore, in many cases, if a television broadcast program is missed, the program cannot be watched again.

  In addition, a scene that is desired to be saved while watching a broadcast program, such as a famous scene of a movie or drama, an interview with an important person, or a highlight scene of a sports program, may suddenly start. In such a case, even if a VTR (Video Tape Recorder) is set immediately, it is often impossible to record the scene in time for the scene.

  Therefore, the inventor of the present application has proposed a television receiver that continuously records a broadcast program on a recording medium while watching the program. In such a television receiver, even if there is a sudden telephone call or a visitor, the program can be reproduced retroactively, so that the program is not missed. In addition, the program can be easily stored, and even if the program to be recorded suddenly starts, it can be dealt with.

  In addition, the inventor of the present application has proposed using a hard disk drive as a recording medium in a television receiver in which a program is constantly recorded on the recording medium. Conventionally, magnetic tapes have been widely used as recording media for recording video signals. However, the access speed of the magnetic tape is low, and it is difficult to use the magnetic tape as a recording medium for such a television receiver. It is also conceivable to use a semiconductor memory, but a large-capacity semiconductor memory is very expensive, and in a semiconductor memory, a stored program disappears when the power is turned off, and the program is stored for a long time. It is not suitable for such cases. On the other hand, a hard disk drive has a large capacity and a sufficiently high access speed.

  As described above, in the television receiver having the hard disk drive, the program being received is constantly recorded, and the program can be easily stored. In a television receiver having such a hard disk drive, further, it is desired that recording be easily and reliably performed from the start to the end of a desired program.

  That is, conventionally, as a video signal recording device, a VTR that records a video signal on a tape has been widely used. In a VTR, when a recording key is pressed during reception of a program, the program being received is recorded as it is. Therefore, when a desired program is stored in the VTR, the recording key must be pressed at the start of the program, and the stop key must be pressed at the end of the program. However, if care is not taken, the start time of the program is missed, and recording cannot be performed from the start of the program.

  Although the VTR is provided with a timer reservation function, the operation of timer reservation is complicated, and setting a recording start time and a recording end time is a difficult task. As described above, with the conventional VTR, it is difficult to record a desired program from the start to the end of the program.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a video recording apparatus and method capable of recording a desired program easily and reliably from start to end.

  The invention according to claim 1 starts the accumulation of the supplied video signal in response to the first predetermined input operation, and when more video signals than the predetermined capacity are accumulated, sequentially starts from the oldest video signal. Storage means for erasing and storing so as to write a new video signal; and a video signal which has been stored so far in response to a second predetermined input operation, and a predetermined time after the input operation is performed. And a storage unit for storing the video signal.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the storage of the supplied video signal is started in response to the first predetermined input operation, and when more video signals than the predetermined capacity are stored, the oldest video signal is sequentially started. A storage step of erasing and storing so as to write a new video signal; and, in response to a second predetermined input operation, a video signal that has been stored so far, and a predetermined time after the input operation is performed. And a storing step of storing the video signal.

  In many cases, a television broadcast program is broadcast every 30 minutes or every hour from the beginning of time. From this, the program can be managed in units of 30 minutes or 1 hour. According to the present invention, when the recording start of the program is input, the start time and the end time of the program are set on the assumption that the program is broadcast in units of 30 minutes or one hour from the beginning of the hour. The received broadcast is recorded from the start time to the end time of the program thus set.

  According to the present invention, when the recording start of the program is input, the start time and the end time of the program are set assuming that the program is broadcast in units of 30 minutes or one hour from the beginning of the time. The received broadcast is recorded from the start time to the end time of the program thus set. Therefore, by simply performing a simple key operation in the middle of a program, it is possible to reliably record from the start to the end of the program.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The present invention is applied to a television receiver in which a hard disk drive is built in the television receiver. In a television receiver provided with such a hard disk drive, it is possible to play back a scene that has been missed or a scene that the user wants to watch again, or to record and play back a desired program.

  FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a television receiver to which the present invention is applied. In FIG. 1, a received signal received by an antenna 1 is supplied to a tuner circuit 2. The tuner circuit 2 is supplied with a channel setting signal from the system controller 10. The tuner circuit 2 selects a signal of a desired reception channel based on the channel setting signal, and converts the signal into an intermediate frequency signal.

  The output of the tuner circuit 2 is supplied to the video intermediate frequency circuit 3. In the video intermediate frequency circuit 3, the intermediate frequency signal from the tuner circuit 2 is amplified, and this signal is video-detected. As a result, for example, a composite video signal of the NTSC (National Television System Committee) system is obtained. This video signal is supplied to one input terminal 5A of the video source changeover switch 5. Further, an audio signal is detected from a beat component of, for example, 4.5 MHz of the output of the intermediate frequency circuit 3. This output is supplied to the audio demodulation circuit 12.

  A video signal from an external video input terminal 6 is supplied to the other input terminal 5B of the video source changeover switch 5. The video source changeover switch 5 is supplied with a select signal from the system controller 10. The video source switch 5 switches between a video signal based on a received television broadcast and a video signal from the external video input terminal 6.

  The output of the video source switch 5 is supplied to the video signal processing circuit 7. The video signal processing circuit 7 separates the luminance signal Y and the chroma signal C from the NTSC composite video signal, further demodulates the color difference signals U, V from the chroma signal C, and converts the component video signals Y, U, V It is formed. The component video signals Y, U, and V are supplied to the terminal 8A of the switch circuit 8, and are also supplied to an A / D (Analog / Digital) converter 21 for storing the video signal in the hard disk drive 30. The output of a D / A (Digital / Analog) converter 35 is supplied to the other input terminal 8B of the switch circuit 8 in order to output a playback screen from the hard disk drive 30.

  The switch circuit 8 switches between a screen based on a received television broadcast or a video signal from the external video input terminal 6 and a reproduction screen from the hard disk drive 30. The switch circuit 8 is controlled by the system controller 10. When displaying a screen based on a received television broadcast or a video signal from the external video input terminal 6, the switch circuit 8 is switched to the terminal 8A side. When displaying the playback screen from the hard disk drive 30, the switch circuit 8 is switched to the terminal 8B side.

  The output of the switch circuit 8 is supplied to the video output circuit 9. The video output circuit 9 drives a matrix circuit for forming three primary color signals R, G, B from the component video signals Y, U, V from the switch circuit 8 and drives these three primary color signals R, G, B. And a video amplifier circuit for supplying the color picture tube 11. In the video output circuit 9, the component video signals Y, U, V from the switch circuit 8 are converted into three primary color signals R, G, B and supplied to the color picture tube 11.

  An audio signal detected from a beat component of, for example, 4.5 MHz of the output of the intermediate frequency circuit 3 is supplied to an audio demodulation circuit 12. The audio signal is demodulated by the audio demodulation circuit 12. This audio signal is supplied to the input terminal 13A of the audio source changeover switch 13.

  An audio signal from an external audio input terminal 14 is supplied to the other terminal 13B of the audio source switch 13. The audio source switch 13 selects an audio signal based on the received television broadcast and an audio signal from the external audio input terminal 14.

  The output of the audio source changeover switch 13 is supplied to a terminal 15A of the switch circuit 15, and is also supplied to an A / D converter 25 for storing the audio signal in the hard disk drive 30. The output of the D / A converter 38 is supplied to the other input terminal 15B of the switch circuit 15 in order to output an audio signal from the hard disk drive 30.

  The switch circuit 15 switches between an audio signal received from the television broadcast or the external audio input terminal 14 and an audio signal reproduced from the hard disk drive 30. The switch circuit 15 is controlled by the system controller 10. To output a received television broadcast or an audio signal from the external audio input terminal 14, the switch circuit 15 is switched to the terminal 15A side. When outputting an audio signal from the hard disk drive 30, the switch circuit 15 is switched to the terminal 15B side.

  The output of the switch circuit 15 is supplied to the audio amplifier 16. The audio signal from the switch circuit 15 is amplified by the audio amplifier 16. This audio signal is supplied to the speaker 17.

  The component video signals Y, U, and V from the video signal processing circuit 7 are supplied to the A / D converter 21 for storage in the hard disk drive 30. The component video signal from the video signal processing circuit 17 is digitized by the A / D converter 21. The output of the A / D converter 21 is supplied to the field memory 22. The output of the field memory 22 is supplied to the image compression circuit 23. The image compression circuit 23 compresses the component video signal. As a compression method of the image, for example, motion JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) is used, and compression is performed so that the code amount of one field is equal. The video data compressed by the image compression circuit 23 is transmitted to the bus 29 via the buffer memory 24.

  The audio signal from the audio source switching circuit 13 is supplied to an A / D converter 25 for storage in the hard disk drive 30. The A / D converter 25 digitizes the audio signal from the audio source switching circuit 13. The output of the A / D converter 25 is supplied to the audio compression circuit 26. The audio signal is compressed by the audio compression circuit 26. As the audio compression method, for example, non-linear PCM is used. The audio data compressed by the audio compression circuit 26 is transmitted to a bus 29 via a buffer memory 28.

  The video data from the buffer memory 24 and the audio data from the buffer memory 28 are combined into fixed-length blocks. Each block is provided with a predetermined header for identifying the block.

  In this manner, the video data and the audio data which are blocked are recorded on the hard disk drive 30 via the bus 29 under the control of the recording / reproducing controller 27 including the CPU (Central Processing Unit). As a result, the video data and the audio data are stored in the hard disk drive 30.

  The video data and audio data recorded on the hard disk drive 30 are reproduced under the control of the recording / reproduction controller 27. The reproduction data from the hard disk drive 30 is supplied to the buffer memories 31 and 36 via the bus 29.

  The video data from the buffer memory 31 is supplied to an image decompression circuit 32. In the image decompression circuit 32, component video data Y, U, and V are formed from video data compressed by, for example, motion JPEG. The output of the image expansion circuit 32 is supplied to a D / A converter 35 via an image processing circuit 33 for forming a multi-screen and a field memory 34. The D / A converter 35 converts the digital video signal into an analog video signal. The output of the D / A converter 35 is supplied to the terminal 8B of the switch circuit 8.

  The audio data from the buffer memory 36 is supplied to an audio decompression circuit 37. The output of the audio expansion circuit 37 is supplied to a D / A converter 38. The digital audio signal is converted into an analog audio signal by the D / A converter 38. The output of the D / A converter 38 is supplied to the terminal 15B of the switch circuit 15.

  The system controller 10 controls the entire television receiver. The system controller 10 and the recording / playback processing controller 27 are bidirectionally connected.

  An input is given to the system controller 10 from the remote commander 52 via the light receiving unit 42. Various operations are set based on the input from the remote commander 52. The output of the system controller 10 is supplied to the display generation circuit 44. The display generation circuit 44 generates a display signal indicating various operation setting states. The output of the display generation circuit 44 is supplied to the video output circuit 9, and various operation states are displayed on the screen. Further, a timer 45 is provided for the system controller 10. The timer 45 is used when setting a time for storing a program.

  The television receiver to which the present invention is applied can be operated using a remote commander 52 as shown in FIG.

  The remote commander 52 includes various keys for performing basic settings of the television receiver, that is, a power switch 61 for turning on / off the power of the television receiver, and a channel key for performing channel settings. 62, 62, 62,..., Channel up / down keys 63A and 63B, volume up / down keys 64A and 64B, and an input source switch 65.

  Further, the remote commander 52 for operating the television receiver to which the present invention is applied includes a program pause key 66, a bookmark, and a bookmark as various keys for controlling recording / reproduction of the hard disk drive 30 of the television receiver. Record key 67, section repeat key 68, cancel key 69, reverse skip playback key 70, reverse fast forward key 71, double speed key 72, forward fast forward key 73, forward skip key 74, overview search key 75, arrow Keys 76A and 76B and an enter key 77 are provided.

  When the program pause key 66 is pressed, the screen being received is stopped on the spot and displayed as a still image. During that time, the program is recorded on the hard disk drive 30 of the television receiver. When the program pause key 66 is pressed again, the program recorded in the hard disk drive 30 is reproduced from the scene where the still image is displayed.

  When the bookmark recording key 67 is pressed, the program being broadcast at this time can be stored in the hard disk drive 30 of the television receiver.

  Repeat playback is set by the section repeat key 68. When the section repeat key 68 is pressed first, a repeat start position is set, and when the section repeat key 68 is pressed next, a repeat end position is set.

  The cancel key 69 is pressed when canceling the set operation or function.

  The reverse skip reproduction key 70, the reverse high speed feed key 71, the double speed key 72, the normal high speed feed key 73, and the normal rotation skip key 74 are keys for performing variable speed reproduction.

  The overview search key 75, the arrow keys 76A and 76B, and the enter key 77 are used for program search. When the overview search key 75 is pressed, the screen of the television receiver is divided into a center screen and a plurality of surrounding small screens. On the surrounding small screens, screens at predetermined time intervals are displayed from among the screens recorded on the hard disk drive 30. When a desired screen is selected from a plurality of screens by operating the arrow keys 76A and 76B and the reproduction start position is searched, the enter key 77 is pressed. When the enter key 77 is pressed, the reproduction is started from the selected screen.

  As described above, the remote commander 52 of the television receiver to which the present invention is applied is provided with the bookmark key 67. When the bookmark key 67 is pressed, the program being broadcast at this time is transmitted to the hard disk drive. 30 can be recorded. The recording of a program by the bookmark key 67 will be described in more detail.

  Current television broadcast programs are mostly broadcast in units of 30 minutes or 1 hour. For example, a broadcast program of a television of a certain broadcasting station is as follows.

7:00-7:30: News 7:30-8:00: News commentary ...
10:00 to 10:30: News 10:30 to 11:00: Documentary 12:00 to 13:00: Drama.

  Thus, with a few exceptions, in many cases, a television broadcast program starts at 0:00 or X: 30, ends at X: 30 or X0: 00, and ends at 30 or It is broadcast in units of one hour. From this, the program can be managed in units of 30 minutes or 1 hour.

  The management of the program by the bookmark key 67 is performed in units of 30 minutes or 1 hour. If the program is managed in such a unit of 30 minutes or 1 hour, the program can be easily recorded by pressing the bookmark key 67 at the program to be stored. No input is required to start or end recording.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 3, "Program B" is broadcast from 21:00 to 22:00, and this "Program B" is recorded. In a conventional VTR or the like, when recording "Program B", it is necessary to press a recording key at 21:00 and a stop key at 22:00. As shown in FIG. 3, if it is delayed to press the recording key, for example, the recording key is pressed at 21:21 after 21:00, and the stop key is pressed at 22:00, The saved program is a program from 21:21 to 22:00, and the first half of “Program B” is missing.

  On the other hand, since the management of the program by the bookmark key 67 is performed in units of 30 minutes or 1 hour, the "program B" can be completely stored even in such a case.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 4, "Program B" is broadcast from 21:00 to 22:00, and this "Program B" is recorded. In this case, a one-hour program from 21:00 to 22:00 is managed as one unit. Therefore, if the bookmark key 67 is pressed at any time during the period from 21:00 to 22:00, “unit B” as one unit is completely stored. For example, if the bookmark key 67 is pressed at 21:21, this means that the program from 21:00 to 22:00 is to be saved, as shown in FIG. 4, from 21:00 to 22:00. "Program B" is stored.

  Further, a program set using the bookmark key 67 can be recorded daily or weekly by reservation recording.

  As described above, in the television receiver to which the present invention is applied, the video signal being received is always recorded on the hard disk drive 30. The hard disk drive 30 always stores, for example, a 90-minute video signal. When a video signal for 90 minutes or more is stored by a ring-shaped address, an old video signal is discarded and a new video signal is written. Therefore, it is possible to retroactively save the program before the bookmark key 67 was pressed.

  It is needless to say that one unit of the program to be recorded may be one hour, 30 minutes or 15 minutes. Further, the unit time of a program to be recorded may be changeable.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a program recording process using such a bookmark key 67.

  In FIG. 5, it is determined whether or not the bookmark key 67 has been pressed (step ST1). When the bookmark key 67 is pressed, the current time information T and the channel information C are fetched (step ST2).

Then, a recording start time T _start and a recording end time T _end are calculated from the current time information T (step ST3). For example, when the program is managed in units of one hour, the recording start time T _start is a value obtained by setting the minute and second values of the current time T to “00”. Further, the recording end time T _end is obtained by _{moving up} the current time T by one hour and setting the minute and second values to “00”. For example, if the current time T is _21:21 , the recording start time T _start is _21:00:00 and the recording end time T _end is _22:00:00 .

Then, a reservation setting process is performed (step ST4). In the reservation setting process, a reservation start time T _start and a reservation end time T _end are set using a daily or weekly reservation mode previously set in the apparatus, and a reservation channel C is set.

Then, a process of saving the program broadcast before the current time is performed (step ST5). That is, for example, a 90-minute video signal is always stored in the hard disk drive 30 by a ring-shaped address. In step ST7, of the video data stored in the hard disk drive 30, the area of the video data from the recording start time T _start to the current time is prohibited from being erased.

Then, a process of storing the broadcast program being received is performed (step ST6). In the process of storing the broadcast program being received, the area of the video data stored in the hard disk drive 30 is prohibited from being erased during that time. It is determined whether or not the _end time T _end has been reached while performing the saving process of the broadcast program being received (step ST7). If not become the end time T _end, returns to the step ST7, the process of storing broadcast program in such reception is continued. When the end time T _end is reached, recording preservation end processing is performed (step ST8), and the preservation of the program ends.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing timer timer recording processing. As shown in step ST4, when the bookmark key 67 is pressed and the program is saved, the program is set to the reservation recording mode for making a daily or weekly reservation. As described in step ST4, when the timer recording mode is set, the reservation start time T _{start, the} reservation end time T _end , and the reservation channel C are set.

It is determined whether or not the current time T has reached the reservation start time T _start (step ST11). When the current time T has reached the reservation start time T _start , the reception program processing of the reservation channel C is performed (step ST12). Then, a process of storing the broadcast program being received is performed (step ST13). In the process of saving the broadcast program being received, the area of the video data stored in the hard disk drive 30 during that time is prohibited from being erased. It is determined whether or not the reservation end time _Tend has been reached while performing the saving process of the broadcast program being received (step ST14). If it is a reserved end time T _end, returns to step ST13, the process of storing broadcast program in such reception is continued. When the reservation end time T _end has been reached, recording preservation end processing is performed (step ST15), and the preservation of the program ends.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment of the present invention, and various modifications and applications are possible without departing from the gist of the present invention.

1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a television receiver to which the present invention has been applied. FIG. 21 is a plan view used for describing a remote commander in a television receiver to which the present invention has been applied. It is a schematic diagram used for description of a program record. It is a schematic diagram used for description of a program record. It is a flowchart used for description of program recording. It is a flowchart used for description of program recording.

Explanation of reference numerals

10 System Controller 30 Hard Disk Drive 52 Remote Commander 67 Bookmark Key

Claims (8)

In response to the first predetermined input operation, the storage of the supplied video signal is started, and when more video signals than the predetermined capacity are stored, the video signals are sequentially deleted from the old video signal and the new video signal is deleted. Storage means for storing to write;
A video recording apparatus, comprising: a storage means for storing, in response to a second predetermined input operation, a video signal which has been stored up to that time and a video signal from when the input operation was performed until a predetermined time has elapsed.   2. The storage device according to claim 1, wherein the storage unit stores, as one unit, a video signal for a predetermined period of time retroactive from the time when the input operation is performed and a video signal until after the predetermined period has elapsed. Video recording device.   3. The video recording apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a recording time setting unit that variably sets a predetermined time to be stored as one unit.   2. The video recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the storage unit stores the video signal for a predetermined time retroactive from the time when the input operation is performed and the video signal until after the lapse of the predetermined time in association with each other. In response to the first predetermined input operation, the storage of the supplied video signal is started, and when more video signals than the predetermined capacity are stored, the video signals are sequentially deleted from the old video signal and the new video signal is deleted. An accumulation step of accumulating to write;
A video recording method, comprising: a storage step of storing, in response to a second predetermined input operation, a video signal that has been stored up to that point and a video signal from when the input operation was performed until a predetermined time has elapsed.   6. The storage step according to claim 5, wherein the storing step stores, as one unit, a video signal for a predetermined time retroactive from the time when the input operation is performed and a video signal until the predetermined time has elapsed. Video recording method.   The video recording method according to claim 6, further comprising a recording time setting step of variably setting a predetermined time to be stored as one unit.   6. The video recording method according to claim 5, wherein the storing step stores the video signal for a predetermined time retroactive from the time when the input operation is performed and the video signal up to the lapse of the predetermined time in association with each other.

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