JP2005072911A5 - - Google Patents

Description

Playback apparatus, content playback method, and content playback system

The present invention relates to a playback device and content playback method for playing back content data, and a content playback system including the playback device and a server device.

For example, there is a playback device that can play back media such as video and audio.
In recent years, the size of such playback devices has been reduced, and there are some which can be carried and used by users. Further, there is a display device that is integrally provided so that content reproduced from media can be viewed.

In such a portable playback device, in order to realize a small device with better portability, a small-sized medium is used as a medium for recording video / audio as described above. There is.
For example, an optical disk having a diameter of 120 mm is usually used, but an optical disk having a diameter of, for example, about 60 mm is used so that further downsizing of the device can be realized.
In this way, when the recording medium is reduced in size, the storage capacity is naturally reduced. Therefore, conventionally, as such a recording medium, the recording density is improved, and a larger storage capacity is obtained. As an example, an optical disk having a diameter of about 60 mm and a double-layer recording system having a data storage capacity of about 1.8 GB (gigabytes) has been proposed.

In addition, the portable playback device as described above is assumed to be used outdoors, and is generally battery-driven using, for example, a battery.
The battery-driven device is designed to particularly reduce the power consumption of the device so that content can be played back for a longer time with a limited battery capacity.

Note that the following patent document describes such a battery-driven portable device that controls to selectively record information on different recording media in accordance with the remaining battery level. However, the invention described in this document is not intended to suppress the battery consumption itself, and does not consider recording or reproducing the content for a longer time.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-142179

Incidentally, as described above, in recent years, the storage capacity of recording media has been increasing, but the capacity of such recording media is still limited. In particular, if the media is reduced in size as described above, the storage capacity is reduced in accordance with the reduction in the physical size of the media. It is necessary to record with lower image quality than in the case.
For this reason, it has been difficult to enjoy high-quality content with a portable playback device configured to play back such a downsized recording medium.

  Further, as described above, battery-powered playback devices are assumed to be battery-operated. At this time, particularly in playback devices that play back video content, the device power consumption is relatively large, There are many cases where long-time content playback is difficult. For this reason, it is preferable to further reduce the power consumption so that the content can be reproduced for a long time.

In view of the above problems, the present invention is configured as follows as a playback apparatus.
That is, the playback device of the present invention is a playback device for playing back content data, and performs a connection process for data communication with an external device in which the content data is stored, and between the external device and the external device. Communication connection means for performing data communication is provided.
Further, a reading means for reading data from the recording medium on which the content data is recorded is provided.
Further, when the communication connection means is connected to the external device so that data communication is possible, content data having the same content as content data read from the recording medium by the reading means is acquired from the external device. Control means for controlling the communication connection means is provided.

  According to the present invention, when connected to an external device so that data communication is possible, content data having the same content as the content data recorded on the recording medium is acquired from the external device. Can do.
  Thereby, for example, when the content data having the same content stored in the external device has a higher playback rate than the content data recorded in the recording medium, the external device has the same content. In addition, content data with a higher reproduction rate can be acquired. Alternatively, for example, when the content data having the same content stored in the external device has a lower reproduction rate than the content data recorded on the recording medium, the external device has the same content and more Content data with a low playback rate can be acquired.

  In the present invention, the reproducing apparatus is also configured as follows.
That is, the playback apparatus of the present invention is a playback apparatus for playing back content data, and includes a reading unit that reads data from a recording medium on which content data is recorded.
  Also, a communication unit that performs data communication with an external device that stores content data having the same content as the content data recorded on the recording medium and that has a different playback rate, and a power supply unit that supplies power to the playback device With.
  Further, the playback rate is selected based on at least the remaining power of the power supply means, and when the selected playback rate is the playback rate of the content data recorded on the recording medium, it is recorded on the recording medium. The content data is controlled to be read by the reading means, and when the selected playback rate is the playback rate of the content data having the same content stored in the external device, the external device performs the above-described processing based on the playback rate. Control means for controlling the communication means so as to obtain content data having the same content is provided.

According to the present invention, a playback rate for content data having the same content can be selected according to the remaining power of a power supply means such as a battery, and content data having the selected playback rate is read from the recording medium. Or from an external device.
  According to this, when content data having different playback rates is stored in the recording medium and the external device, the content data is played back at an appropriate playback rate according to the purpose under the condition of the limited remaining power. Can be done.

As described above , according to the present invention, when content data having a higher playback rate is stored in the external device as content data having the same content stored in the external device, it is possible to obtain a higher playback rate contents data from a device, the reproducing device side, high-quality content playback is possible regardless of the storage capacity of the recording medium.
Alternatively, when content data with a low playback rate is stored by the external device, it is possible to obtain content data with a lower playback rate having the same content, and according to this, it is recorded on the recording medium. than reproducing the content data with it, and the like to reduce the processing burden on the reproduction apparatus, it is possible to perform reproduction of the content data by less power consumption. That is, it is possible to perform content reproduction for a longer time than when reproducing from only the recording medium .

In the present invention, for example, a playback rate for content data having the same content is selected in accordance with the remaining power of a power supply means such as a battery, and content data having the selected playback rate is read from the recording medium, or an external device However, according to this, in the case where content data having the same content with different playback rates is stored in the recording medium and the external device, the purpose is limited under the condition of limited remaining power. The content data can be reproduced at an appropriate reproduction rate according to the above.

Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the invention (hereinafter, referred to as a first embodiment, a second embodiment, and a third embodiment, respectively) will be described. The description will be made in the following order.

1. 1. Outline of content reproduction system of embodiment 2. Appearance of playback apparatus according to embodiment First embodiment 3-1. Configuration example of playback apparatus 3-2. Configuration example of ID authentication server 3-3. Configuration example of distribution server 3-4. Outline of content reproduction operation 3-5. Content switching playback 3-6. Processing operation Second Embodiment 5. Third embodiment

1. Outline of content reproduction system according to embodiment

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a content reproduction system according to each embodiment of the present invention.
In FIG. 1, the content playback system 1 of the embodiment includes a portable entertainment device 2, an optical disc 100, a plurality of access points 3, a network 4, and an ID verification server 5 as playback devices of the embodiment as shown. And the distribution server 6 as the server device of the embodiment.
First, in the content reproduction system 1 shown in this figure, the optical disc 100 stores, for example, video content made up of video / audio data or game content as the illustrated content.
As the optical disc 100 in this case, ID information called a content ID shown in the figure is stored together with the video content for the optical disc 100 in which the video content is stored as described above.
This content ID is ID information that is unique for each video content.
As the content ID stored in the optical disc 100 in this way, for example, in a required area on the disc, such as writing to a burst cutting area located in the innermost peripheral portion of the disc by high-power laser irradiation. On the other hand, it may be written by a required method.

The portable entertainment device 2 is configured to be able to reproduce the optical disc 100.
In the portable entertainment device 2 loaded with the optical disc 100, when the video content is stored on the optical disc 100 as described above, the reproduction output operation for the video content is performed. Further, in response to a case where game content is stored, various operations according to the game content are executed.
Note that the content playback system 1 of each embodiment operates only in response to the playback of the optical disc 100 in which video content is stored in the portable entertainment device 2 described above. The description of the case where game content is stored on the optical disc 100 as described above will be omitted.

In addition, the portable entertainment device 2 is portable and can be used by a user.
Further, in this case, the portable entertainment device 2 is provided with a wireless LAN environment that can be connected to a required network.
For example, in this case, it is possible to connect to the network 4 via the access point 3 shown in FIG.
As such an access point, for example, a router having a wireless LAN function,
What is necessary is just to be comprised by required network interfaces, such as an ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) modem or a CATV modem.

  The ID verification server 5 and the distribution server 6 are connected to the network 4 as shown in the figure, and data communication via the network 4 is enabled. Thereby, in the content reproduction system 1, the portable entertainment device 2, the ID verification server 5, and the distribution server 6 can perform data communication with each other via the network 4.

As will be described later, the ID verification server 5 stores the content ID and the like stored in the optical disc 100 loaded in the portable entertainment device 2 and read by the portable entertainment device 2. It is supposed to be.
Further, as will be described later, the distribution server 6 stores video content having the same content as the video content stored on the optical disc 100, and the portable entertainment connected via the network 4 to the video content. It is made to deliver to the machine 2.

Note that such a content reproduction system 1 has a more enhanced wireless connection environment between the network 4 and the portable entertainment device 2 by adding more hot spots as described above than the current situation. It is intended for use in future network environments.

2. Appearance of playback device of embodiment

FIG. 2 is an external view of a portable entertainment device 2 as a playback device according to the embodiment.
First, the portable entertainment machine 2 of the embodiment has an appearance as a game machine as shown in the figure, and the input unit 25 for performing operation input to the portable entertainment machine 2 is, for example, a cross key or the like. Various operation keys such as those provided in general game machines such as are arranged.
Further, as an insertion slot of the optical disc 100 shown in FIG. 1, an optical disc insertion slot 29a as shown is provided.
Along with this, a memory card insertion slot 31a for inserting a card-type memory device (memory card) using a semiconductor memory is also provided as an insertion slot for media other than the optical disc 100. For the memory card inserted into the memory card insertion slot 31a, it is assumed that various data other than video content such as save / load of game data are recorded / reproduced.
As shown in the figure, the portable entertainment device 2 in this case includes speakers 40 and 40 and a display 27. Thus, it is possible to output audio / video based on game content / video content stored in the optical disc 100.

As described above, the portable entertainment device 2 according to the embodiment functions as a portable game machine and can reproduce and output the video content stored on the optical disc 100. An amusement machine that also functions as an output device is assumed.

3. First embodiment 3-1. Example of playback device configuration

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the internal configuration of the portable entertainment device 2 as the playback device of the embodiment.
First, in this figure, the CPU 21 shown performs overall control and arithmetic processing of the portable entertainment device 2 based on the activated program.
Particularly in the case of the present embodiment, the CPU 21 executes a processing operation for realizing a content reproduction operation as an embodiment as will be described later with reference to FIGS.
The CPU 21 exchanges control signals and data with each unit via the bus 42 shown in the figure.

The ROM 22 stores an operation program for the CPU 21, a program loader, and the like. Various calculation coefficients, parameters used in the program, and the like are also stored. Further, the device ID shown in the figure is stored in the ROM 22 in this case.
This device ID is ID information assigned in advance so as to be unique for each individual portable entertainment device 2. In other words, it is possible to identify each portable entertainment device 2 by the device ID.
The RAM 23 shown in the figure temporarily secures a data area and a task area for the CPU 21 to execute the program.

In the input unit 25, various operation keys as shown in FIG. 2 are arranged so as to be exposed outside the casing of the portable entertainment device 2, and the user inputs various operation inputs and data inputs. Do.
Information input by the input unit 25 is subjected to predetermined processing by the input processing unit 24 and is transmitted to the CPU 21 as an operation or data input. The CPU 21 performs necessary calculations and controls corresponding to the input information.

The optical disk drive 29 is configured to be able to perform a reproduction operation on the optical disk 100 loaded via the optical disk insertion port 29a shown in FIG. In this case, the optical disk drive 29 includes, for example, an optical head, a spindle motor, a reproduction signal processing unit, a servo circuit, and the like that are necessary for optical disk reproduction.
The disk drive control unit 28 controls a reproduction operation, an access operation, and the like for the optical disk 100 in the optical disk drive 29. For example, when the user performs a reproduction operation on the loaded optical disk 100 from the input unit 25, the CPU 21 instructs the disk drive control unit 28 to reproduce the optical disk 100. Then, the disk drive control unit 28 controls the optical disk drive 29 to execute reproduction / access.
At this time, as will be described later, depending on the control of the CPU 21, the information of the content ID stored in the optical disc 100 is also read.
Then, the optical disk drive 29 sends the read reproduction data to the bus 42 via the disk drive control unit 28.

The memory card interface (I / F) 31 is loaded with a memory card inserted into the memory card insertion slot 31a shown in FIG. The memory card interface 31 is provided with a plurality of terminals corresponding to various terminals provided on the memory card side, and an operation power supply and an operation clock for the memory card are passed through predetermined terminals among the plurality of terminals. Supply is made. In addition, data is exchanged through another predetermined terminal among the plurality of terminals.
The memory control unit 30 reads / writes various data to / from the memory card loaded in the memory card interface 31 based on the control of the CPU 21.

The AV decoding unit 34 includes a video decoder for performing decoding processing on input video data and an audio decoder for performing decoding processing on audio data. The video data decoded by the video decoder is buffered in the reproduction switching buffer 33 shown in the figure, and then supplied to the display processing unit 26 via the bus 42.
Also, the audio data decoded by the audio decoder is buffered in the reproduction switching buffer 33 and thereafter supplied to the audio data processing unit via the bus 42.

Based on the control of the CPU 21, the decode program rewriting unit 32 performs an operation of rewriting a program for the decoding process in the AV decoding unit 34 described above.
For example, as will be described later, the program supplied by the CPU 21 is rewritten as a decoding program of the AV decoding unit 34 in response to a case where decoding processing is performed on content whose playback rate is different from the content stored on the optical disc 100. Perform the action.

The display 27 is a display device such as a liquid crystal panel, for example, and displays various information to the user.
For example, when the CPU 21 supplies display information to the display processing unit 26 according to various operation states, input states, and communication states, the display processing unit 26 causes the display 27 to execute a display operation based on the supplied display data.
In the above-described media drive 29, for example, when video data is reproduced and the video data is supplied from the reproduction switching buffer 33 as described above, signal processing is performed on the video data to obtain the video data. The display 27 is driven based on the received signal, thereby causing the display 27 to display an image.

Based on the control of the CPU 21, the audio data processing unit 39 performs sound field processing such as equalizing, volume adjustment, D / A conversion, amplification and the like on the input audio data, and outputs this through the speaker 40. To do.
For example, when audio data read by the optical disk drive 29 is reproduced and audio data is supplied from the reproduction switching buffer 33 as described above, various audio signal processing is performed on the audio data, and this is performed. The speaker 40 is driven based on the audio signal obtained by the above.

The wireless LAN interface 36 performs data communication with an external device connected to the network 4 that can be connected via the access point 3 shown in FIG.
The communication processing unit 35 detects a wireless LAN (network) provided at a hot spot where the access point 3 shown in FIG. 1 is installed, for example, and communicates with the network 4 based on the detection result. Perform processing to establish a connection. In addition, such a network detection result by the communication processing unit 35 is sequentially notified to the CPU 21.
Further, the communication processing unit 35 performs an encoding process of transmission data to be transmitted via the wireless LAN interface 36 and a decoding process of received reception data based on the control of the CPU 21.
In addition, when the video content from the distribution server 6 is received from the network 4 via the wireless LAN interface 36 based on the control of the CPU 21, the communication processing unit 35 transmits the data based on the video content to the bus 42. To the communication state detection buffer 37 shown in FIG.

In the communication state detection buffer 37, data based on the video content received by the wireless LAN interface 36 as described above is buffered.
The communication state detection unit 38 is a communication state performed via the wireless LAN interface 36 based on the result of comparison of the buffer capacity of data in the communication state detection buffer 37 with various preset threshold values. Detection is performed. The communication state detection operation by the communication state detection unit 37 will be described later.

  In addition, a battery is mounted on the battery unit 41, and a power supply voltage obtained by the battery is supplied to each unit in the portable entertainment device 2.

Note that the configuration of the portable entertainment device 2 is not limited to the configuration shown in FIG.
For example, an interface with a peripheral device using a communication method such as USB or IEEE1394 may be provided. In addition, a terminal used for connection of a microphone or external headphones, a video output terminal, a line connection terminal, an optical digital connection terminal, and the like corresponding to video data reproduction may be provided.
In addition, a PCMCIA slot or the like may be formed so that data can be exchanged with an external information processing apparatus or audio device.

3-2. Configuration example of ID authentication server

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of the internal configuration of the ID verification server 5 shown in FIG.
First, the illustrated CPU 50 performs overall control and calculation processing of the ID verification server 5 based on the activated program. For example, storage of data files in the storage unit 53 shown in the figure, creation / update of management information, and the like are performed.

A memory unit 51, a storage unit 52, an ID verification unit 53, and a communication processing unit 54 are connected to the CPU 50 via a bus 56 shown in the figure.
The memory unit 51 comprehensively shows RAM, ROM, flash memory and the like used by the CPU 50 for processing.
The ROM in the memory unit 51 stores an operation program for the CPU 50 and the like. The flash memory stores various calculation coefficients, parameters used in the program, and the like. Further, a data area and a task area for executing the program are temporarily secured in the RAM.

The storage unit 52 is a required storage device such as an HDD (Hard Disk Recorder), for example, and stores data files and creates / updates management information under the control of the CPU 50 described above.
The storage unit 52 stores ID collation information 52a as shown in the figure. This ID collation information is information for collating the device ID stored in advance in each portable entertainment device 2 and the content ID read from the optical disc 100 in the portable entertainment device 2 as will be described later. is there.
Collation for such device ID and content ID is performed based on the ID collation information 52a by the ID collation unit 53 shown in the drawing.

The communication processing unit 54 performs transmission data encoding processing and reception data decoding processing based on the control of the CPU 50.
The network interface 55 transmits the transmission data encoded by the communication processing unit 54 to a predetermined device, particularly the distribution server 6 via the network 4 shown in FIG. In addition, a signal transmitted from an external device such as the portable entertainment device 2 via the network 4 is transferred to the communication processing unit 54.
The communication processing unit 54 transfers the received information to the CPU 50.

For such an ID collation server 5, in practice, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, a remote commander, and other input devices are provided, and various operation inputs and data by an operator operating the service are provided. It suffices to enable input. Further, a display device may be provided so that various types of information can be displayed for an operator or the like.

3-3. Distribution server configuration example

FIG. 5 shows an internal configuration example of the distribution server 6 shown in FIG.
First, in the distribution server 6, the CPU 60 performs overall control and calculation processing of the distribution server 6 based on the activated program. For example, storage of data files in the storage unit 63 shown in the figure, creation / update of management information, and the like are performed.
A memory unit 61, a database management unit 62, and a communication processing unit 64 are connected to the CPU 60 via a bus 66 as shown in the figure.

As the memory unit 61, a RAM, a ROM, a flash memory, and the like used for processing by the CPU 60 are also shown in this case.
The ROM of the memory unit 61 stores an operation program of the CPU 60, and the flash memory stores various calculation coefficients, parameters used in the program, and the like. Further, a data area and a task area for executing the program are temporarily secured in the RAM.

Based on the control of the CPU 60, the database management unit 62 stores and reads data files in the storage unit 63, creates and updates management information, and the like.
The storage unit 63 is a required storage device such as an HDD (Hard Disk Recorder), for example, and a content database 63a is formed therein as shown.
Here, as described above, as content data stored in the content database 63a in the storage unit 63, video content having the same content as the video content stored in each optical disc 100 is stored. .
That is, content data having the same contents as each of the video contents recorded on the optical disc 100 as the package medium and provided to the user is stored.
In the content database 63a, each video content is stored in association with a content ID corresponding to the content of the video content. Thus, depending on the content ID information stored in the optical disc 100, it is possible to specify video content having the same content as the content stored in the optical disc 100 from the video content stored in the content database 63a. It is said that.

The storage unit 63 stores a decoding program 63b as shown in the figure.
As will be described later, the decoding program 63b is a program that is required when the AV decoding unit 34 in the portable entertainment device 2 decodes each content data stored in the content database 63a. Data is stored.
As will be described later, in the case of the first embodiment and the second embodiment, the content data stored in the content database 63a are all stored at the same playback rate. In this case, only one program corresponding to the reproduction rate needs to be stored as the decoding program 63b.

The communication processing unit 64 performs transmission data encoding processing and reception data decoding processing based on the control of the CPU 60.
The network interface 65 transmits the transmission data encoded by the communication processing unit 64 to a predetermined device, in particular, the portable entertainment device 2 via the network 4. In addition, a signal transmitted from an external device such as the ID verification server 5 via the network 4 is transferred to the communication processing unit 64. Then, the communication processing unit 64 transfers the received information to the CPU 60.

It should be noted that, for such a distribution server 6 as well, various operation inputs and data inputs by an operator or the like who operates the service are actually provided by providing, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, a remote commander, or other input devices. Can be made possible. Further, a display device may be provided so that various types of information can be displayed for an operator or the like.

3-4. Overview of content playback operations

An outline of the content reproduction operation performed in the content reproduction system 1 having the above configuration will be described.
First, with reference to FIG. 6, a description will be given of the relationship of the data format (reproduction rate) of each content assumed to be reproduced in the content reproduction system 1 of the first embodiment.
First, as shown in FIG. 6, in the content playback system 1 according to the first embodiment, video content with a playback rate of 6 Mbps for the optical disc 100 according to the MPEG4 (Moving Picture Experts Group Layer 4) system. Is to be remembered.
Therefore, in this case, in the portable entertainment device 2 that reproduces the optical disc 100, the AV decoding unit 34 is based on the program corresponding to the MPEG4 (reproduction rate = 6 Mbps) format when the optical disc 100 is reproduced. The decoding process is performed.

On the other hand, the content stored on the distribution server 6 side is HD (High Definition) video according to the MPEG2 system, and the playback rate is 20 Mbps.
That is, in the first embodiment, the content distributed by the distribution server 6 is higher in quality than the content reproduced from the optical disc 100 in this way.

Next, FIG. 7 schematically shows a content distribution operation performed in the content reproduction system 1.
In FIG. 7, for the optical disc 100 shown in the figure, the content ID is stored together with the video content as described above. Here, it is assumed that the content A1 is stored as video content and the content ID-A is stored as a content ID corresponding to the content of the content A1 as illustrated.
Further, in the portable entertainment device 2, a decoding program type 1 as shown in the figure for decoding the content A 1 corresponding to the format of the content A 1 stored in the optical disc 100 is decoded by the AV decoding unit 34. Stored as a program.
Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the device ID assigned in advance for each individual portable entertainment device 2 is stored in the portable entertainment device 2 of the embodiment. Here, it is assumed that device ID-X is stored as illustrated.

In this case, the distribution server 6 has the same content as the content A1 stored on the optical disc 100 as shown in the figure, but stores the content A2 having a different format (reproduction rate). To do. Further, the distribution server 6 stores other contents B2, contents C2,... That have the same format as the contents A2 and have different contents.
In the distribution server 6, the content A2, the content B2, the content C2,... Are stored in association with content IDs indicating the content types. That is, for example, the content A2 is stored in association with the content ID-A, the content B2 is stored in the content ID-B, and the content C2 is stored in the content ID-C.
Further, on the distribution server 6 side, a decoding program type 2 is also stored for enabling decoding of each content having the same format.

  Assuming the content reproduction system 1 as described above, the portable entertainment device 2 stores the decoding program type1 in advance as a program of the AV decoding unit 34 as described above, so that the loaded optical disc is stored. It is possible to perform a decoding process on the content A1 read from 100 and reproduce and output it. In other words, normal disc playback of the content A1 is possible.

In such a content reproduction system 1, when the portable entertainment device 2 is connected to the network 4, video content is supplied from the distribution server 6 to the portable entertainment device 2 by the following operation. It is supposed to be.
First, when the portable entertainment device 2 is connected to the network 4 in this way, the portable entertainment device 2 stores the content ID stored in the loaded optical disc 100 and the ROM 22 in advance. The device ID thus transmitted is transmitted to the ID verification server 5.
That is, in this case, the content ID-A and the device ID-X are transmitted to the ID verification server 5 as shown in the figure.

When receiving the content ID and the device ID transmitted from the portable entertainment device 2 in this way, the ID verification server 5 performs verification processing on these ID information. That is, as described above with reference to FIG. 4, the ID verification unit 53 performs verification processing for the content ID and the device ID based on the ID verification information 52 a stored in the storage unit 52.
Then, in the ID verification server 5, when it is determined from the result of such verification processing that the content ID and the device ID are valid information, the received content ID (content ID-A) Is transferred to the distribution server 6 via the network 4.

The distribution server 6 refers to the content database 63a formed in the storage unit 63 shown in FIG. 5 based on the information of the content ID-A transferred in this way. Then, the content A2 stored in association with the content ID-A is retrieved and read out. At the same time, the decoding program type2 corresponding to the format of the content A2 stored in the storage unit 63 is read out.
Then, the distribution server 6 transmits the read content A2 and decoding program type2 to the portable entertainment device 2 via the network 4.
Thereby, in the portable entertainment device 2, the decoding program (type 2) transmitted in this way is rewritten as a decoding program of the AV decoding unit 34 by the decoding program rewriting unit 32, thereby reproducing and outputting the content A2. It is possible.

In this state where the connection with the network 4 is established, the portable entertainment device 2 can reproduce the higher-quality content as the content A2 stored on the distribution server 6 side. Is done.
Further, in this case, according to the content ID / device ID collation result by the ID collation server 5 as described above, content distribution from the distribution server 6 to the portable entertainment device 2 may result in legitimate portable entertainment. Only a user who uses the device 2 and purchases a legitimate optical disc 100 can view higher quality video content stored in the distribution server 6.

3-5. Content switching playback

As described above, in the present embodiment, the content distributed from the distribution server 6 side is reproduced and output when the portable entertainment device 2 is connected to the network 4.
At this time, as a video content stored on the distribution server 6 side, a high-quality content having a higher reproduction rate than that of the video content stored on the optical disc 100 is stored. In the entertainment machine 2, it is possible to reproduce content of higher quality than the content stored on the optical disc 100.

By the way, as described above, since such a portable entertainment device 2 has portability, it is assumed that the user uses it while moving.
Assuming use while moving in this way, it is conceivable that the same content being reproduced is viewed while moving.
At this time, for example, if it is assumed that the portable entertainment device 2 and the network 4 can be used in an environment where the portable entertainment device 2 can always be connected, it is possible to perform content reproduction only via the network 4.
However, when the mobile device is assumed to be used while moving as described above, reproduction from the network 4 is not always possible.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, the content playback from the optical disc 100 and the content playback from the network 4 are automatically switched according to the connection state with the network. Like that.
FIG. 8 is a diagram schematically showing how content reproduction is switched between the optical disc 100 and the network 4.
In FIG. 8, the passage of time is indicated by a time t shown in the figure. In this figure, it is assumed that the content A stored in the already loaded optical disc 100 has been reproduced before the time point t1 shown in the figure.
First, as shown as a period from time t1 to time t2 in FIG. 8, content playback from the optical disc 100 is performed when the portable entertainment device 2 and the network 4 are not connected. To be. That is, when the connection state with the network 4 cannot be obtained in this way, an image with the quality of MPEG4 (reproduction rate = 6 Mbps) as the reproduction output from the optical disc 100 can be obtained.
Then, at the time t2, for example, when the connection to the network 4 is made possible with the movement of the portable entertainment device 2, the content is automatically switched to the content reproduction via the network 4.

Here, in the case of the present embodiment, when the connection to the network 4 is made possible in this way and the playback from the disk 100 is switched to the playback through the network 4, the network output after the switching is made. 4, the continuation of the video that has been played from the optical disc 100 so far is played back so that the continuity as the content A is maintained as shown in the figure.
As a result, according to the connection with the network 4 being possible, as shown in the figure, as a continuation of the playback video from the optical disc 100 so far, high-quality video based on MPEG2 HD video is switched and output. To do.

  Further, when the connection between the portable entertainment device 2 and the network 4 becomes impossible again at the subsequent time t3, the playback is switched to the playback from the disc 100. Also in this case, it is assumed that a video that is a continuation of the video played back through the network 4 is played back from the disc 100 and output.

FIG. 9 is a diagram schematically showing an operation to be performed in each part of the portable entertainment device 2 in order to realize such a reproduction switching operation.
In FIG. 9, the configuration of the portable entertainment device 2 is extracted and shown only for the video content reproduction output system, and the other parts are omitted.
Further, in this case, the illustrated switch S1 schematically shows a switching operation of input data to the AV decoding unit 34 under the control of the CPU 21, and the switch S2 is a decode program rewriting unit 32 based on the control of the CPU 21. FIG. 6 schematically shows a decoding program rewriting operation according to FIG.

In FIG. 9, when the connection with the network 4 is not obtained, for example, at the time t1 to the time t2 shown in FIG. 8, the optical disk drive 29 reproduces the optical disk 100. In this case, the reproduction data from the optical disk drive 29 is supplied to the AV decoding unit 34 as shown.
Further, in this case, as a decoding program of the AV decoding unit 34, a decoding program type1 is set as shown in the figure, and thus the AV decoding unit 34 can decode reproduction data from the optical disc 100.
Then, the reproduction data from the optical disc 100 decoded by the AV decoding unit 34 in this way is buffered in the reproduction switching buffer 33 as shown in the figure, and thereafter, the display processing unit 26 shown in FIG. The required signal processing is performed and the display 27 outputs the signal.

From this state, as shown after time t2 in FIG. 8, when the connection state with the network 4 is obtained, the content A2 from the distribution server 6 is obtained via the wireless LAN interface 36. Start receiving data. At the same time, the decoding program type 2 corresponding to the content A 2 is received from the distribution server 6.
At this time, the portable entertainment device 2 reproduces from the optical disc 100 that has been reproduced so far (reproduced before time t2) as the data of the content A2 to be received from the distribution server 6 as described above. Request the data part that follows the content. For example, in this case, the reproduction time information of the reproduction data from the disc 100 output at the time t2 is transmitted to the distribution server 6 in advance, and the transmission from the subsequent data portion is requested. Shall.

As described above, when the decoding program type2 is received on the portable entertainment device 2 side, first, the program of the AV decoding unit 34 is executed by the decoding program rewriting unit 32 based on the control of the CPU 21. Rewrite to this decoding program type2.
Then, the switch S1 shown in the figure is switched to supply the content A2 data received via the wireless LAN interface 36 to the AV decoding unit 34 as described above. That is, in accordance with the rewriting of the decoding program as described above, the CPU 21 performs control so that the input data to the AV decoding unit 34 is switched to the content A2 received via the wireless LAN interface 36.
As a result, in response to the case where the connection with the network 4 is obtained up to the time point t2, a state is obtained in which the data of the received content A2 can be decoded and reproduced.

Here, as described above, in this case, the content A2 from the distribution server 6 side is received from the subsequent data portion, and the reproduction output is switched. It is difficult to seamlessly and seamlessly switch from the playback data from the disk to the playback data from the network simply by switching and outputting such subsequent data portions.
Therefore, in this embodiment, it is assumed that seamless reproduction switching is performed as follows, for example, using reproduction data from the disk 100 buffered in the reproduction switching buffer 33 as shown in the figure.
First, in this case, the CPU 21 switches the input data to the AV decoding unit 34 as described above, and reproduces data from the optical disc 100 buffered in the reproduction switching buffer 33 as shown in the figure. Any frame image is designated. In this case, for example, it is assumed that the frame image A-1 in the reproduction data (content A1) from the disc 100 is designated.
When the frame image is designated from the reproduction data buffered in the reproduction switching buffer 33 as described above, the reproduction time information of the frame image is recognized.

In addition, the frame having the same reproduction time information as the reproduction time information recognized as described above from the reproduction data as the content A2 that is decoded and output by the AV decoding unit 34 after the time point t2 as described above. Try to detect the image.
In this case, it is assumed that the frame image having the same reproduction time information in the data of the content A2 is the frame image A-2.
Then, in response to the detection of the frame image A-2, the data after the frame image A-2 is overwritten as the data after the frame image A-1 in the reproduction switching buffer 33. In addition, the writing operation of the reproduction switching buffer 33 is controlled.
As a result, as the data buffered in the reproduction switching buffer 33, the data before the reproduction time of the frame image A-1 and the frame image A-2 becomes reproduction data from the optical disc 100, and this reproduction time. From this onward, it can be reproduction data based on the data received from the network 4.
Accordingly, in this case, as the video output from the playback switching buffer 33 and displayed on the display 27, the playback video from the disc and the playback video from the network are seamlessly switched at the playback time. It will be displayed and output.

In FIG. 9, only the reproduction switching from the optical disk 100 to the network 4 has been described. However, in the opposite case (network 4 → optical disk 100), the network buffered in the reproduction switching buffer 33 is similarly applied. If the frame image in the reproduction data from is designated and the reproduction data from the optical disc 100 is overwritten thereafter from this frame image, the reproduction can be switched seamlessly.
Although only video data has been described here as reproduction data, for audio data, an arbitrary data portion is designated from the data buffered in the reproduction switching buffer 33, and the reproduction time information of this data portion is similarly designated. If the overwriting operation is performed for the reproduction switching buffer 33 based on the reproduction switching, the reproduction switching can be performed seamlessly.

By the way, when video content received via the network 4 is reproduced and output in real time as described above, a sufficient data transfer rate cannot be obtained depending on the status of the connected network. Must be taken into account.
In particular, since a relatively high communication rate is required for video data, it is necessary to consider that content reproduction may fail if a sufficient transfer rate cannot be obtained.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the communication state detection buffer 37 is provided, and the received data from the network 4 is buffered here. The communication state detection unit 38 detects the communication state based on the data buffering state.
FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining the detection operation by the communication state detection buffer 37 and the communication state detection unit 38 as described above.
In FIG. 10, FIG. 10A is a graph showing the buffer capacity of the communication state detection buffer 37 when the buffering capacity of the received data as the content A2 is on the vertical axis and the time t is on the horizontal axis. is there. FIG. 10A schematically shows changes in the buffer capacity for convenience of explanation.
10B shows the detection result of the network detection operation by the communication processing unit 35 shown in FIG. 3, and FIG. 10C shows the drive state of the optical disc drive 29. FIG. 10D shows another format of the output video content.

First, in FIG. 10B, it is assumed that a network is detected by the detection operation by the communication processing unit 35 and reception of video content from the distribution server 6 is started in response to the detection operation by the communication processing unit 35 as shown in FIG.
In response to this, the content data from the distribution server 6 received in this way is supplied to the communication state detection buffer 37 by the communication processing unit 35.
As a result, the capacity of the communication state detection buffer 37 starts to gradually increase in accordance with the timing of the time point t1 (see FIG. 10A).

In this way, in response to the start of buffering of received data by the communication state detection buffer 37, the communication state detection unit 38 causes the communication rate threshold th3 as shown in FIG. Compare with.
That is, the communication rate obtained at this time is compared by comparing the buffer capacity with the threshold that is increased with a predetermined slope as time passes, as the communication rate threshold th3. It is discriminated whether or not the predetermined rate is exceeded.
At this time, the inclination of the communication rate threshold th3 is determined in advance so that content data as HD video by MPEG2, for example, received via the network 4 can be reproduced (stream reproduced) in real time. A value corresponding to the communication rate is set.
Accordingly, in this case, if the buffer capacity increases below the threshold th3 as described above as the rate of increase of the buffer capacity of the communication state detection buffer 37 over time, MPEG2-HD video content data is stream-reproduced. Therefore, it can be assumed that a sufficient communication rate is not obtained.
That is, if the switching to the content reproduction from the network 4 is not performed in response to the case where the buffer capacity is less than the threshold th3, the content reproduction will fail. Can be prevented.

Further, in the communication state detection unit 38, when buffering is started in the communication state detection buffer 37 as described above, the buffer capacity is monitored also by the threshold th1 according to the level as shown in FIG. To be done.
Thus, the threshold value th1 set in the communication state detection unit 38 is a threshold value for determining whether or not a sufficient amount of data for stream reproduction has been accumulated in the communication state detection buffer 37. is there.
As the threshold th1 in this case, for example, a value corresponding to a required data capacity, which is determined to be stored in advance in order to decode MPEG2 HD video content data in the AV decoding unit 34, is set. That's fine.

When the capacity of the communication state detection buffer 37 exceeds the threshold th1 at the time point t2 shown in the figure, the content from the optical disc 100 in the optical disc drive 29 is shown in FIG. 10C. Try to stop playback.
Then, as described with reference to FIG. 9, the AV decoding unit 34 is switched to supply the reception data from the network 4, that is, the output data from the communication state detection buffer 37.
That is, at the time point t2, the playback switching operation described with reference to FIG. 9 is started. As a result, as shown in FIG. All playback outputs (MPEG2-HD video) are switched (time t3).

Further, in the communication state detection unit 38, after the capacity of the communication state detection buffer 37 exceeds the threshold th1 as described above (after time t2), the buffer capacity is at a level as shown in FIG. Monitoring is continued according to the threshold value th2.
As such a threshold value th2 set for the communication state detection unit 38, a value corresponding to a buffer capacity for preventing data reproduction from failing is set. For example, such a threshold th2 may be set according to a required data capacity that should be stored in advance when the AV decoding unit 34 decodes content data of HD video of MPEG2. .

In FIG. 10A, when it is detected that the buffer capacity of the communication state detection buffer 37 is lower than the threshold th2, as shown at time t4, the optical disc is processed as shown in FIG. 10C. The reproduction operation of the optical disc 100 in the drive 29 is started.
Also in this case, the same playback switching operation as in FIG. 9 is executed to switch from content playback from the network 4 to content playback from the optical disc 100.
As a result, as shown in FIG. 10D, the reproduction output is switched from the MPEG4 video from the optical disc 100 to the MPEG2-HD video from the network 4 (time t5).

In this way, on the portable entertainment device 2 side, the data received from the network 4 is buffered in the communication state detection buffer 37, and the communication state detection unit 38 determines the communication state based on the buffering state. To detect.
Then, based on this detection result, the reproduction output from the disc / the reproduction output from the network is switched to prevent the content reproduction from failing.

3-6. Processing action

Processing operations to be performed in the content reproduction system 1 in order to realize the operation as the present embodiment described so far will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.
In FIG. 11, the operation shown as the portable entertainment device 2 is executed by the CPU 21 based on, for example, a program stored in the ROM 22 shown in FIG. The operation shown as the ID verification server 5 is performed by the CPU 50 shown in FIG. 4, and the operation shown as the distribution server 6 is executed by the CPU 60 shown in FIG.
First, in the portable entertainment device 2, in step S <b> 101 shown in the figure, it is monitored whether an instruction to reproduce the optical disc 100 is given. In this step S101, when a predetermined operation input to the input unit 25 shown in FIG. 3 is performed and playback of the loaded optical disc 100 is instructed, the process proceeds to step S102.

In step S102, the content ID stored in the optical disc 100 is read by the optical disc drive 29. Then, the read content ID information is held in, for example, the RAM 23 or the like.
In step S103, the detection of the network is monitored by the detection operation of the communication processing unit 35.
If the communication processing unit 35 notifies that the network has been detected in step S103, the device ID stored in the ROM 22 shown in FIG. 3 is read in step S104.

In the subsequent step S105, the reproduction time information about the reproduction data being reproduced from the optical disc 100 is recognized.
As step S105, for example, reproduction time information included in video data output from the reproduction switching buffer 33 may be recognized. As a result, as described with reference to FIG. 9, the reproduction time information of the reproduction data currently being reproduced and output is recognized.
When the reproduction time information is recognized in step S105 in this way, in step S106, the content ID read in step S102 and the information on the upper device ID read in step S104 are combined with the reproduction time information. It transmits to ID collation server 5. That is, these pieces of information are supplied to the communication processing unit 35 to perform a transmission operation.

The ID verification server 5 monitors whether or not the reproduction time information, the content ID, and the device ID transmitted from the portable entertainment device 2 are received in step S201 shown in the figure. If it is determined in step S201 that such information has been received, the process proceeds to step S202, and collation processing is performed on the received content ID and device ID information.
That is, as described above, the ID collation unit 53 performs collation processing for these content ID and device ID.

In the subsequent step S203, it is determined whether or not a result that the content ID / device ID information is valid is obtained as the collation result of the ID collation unit 53.
If it is determined in step S203 that the content ID / device ID information is not valid as the determination result of the ID collation unit 53 and a negative result is obtained, the process proceeds to step S204 as shown in the figure. Then, the portable entertainment device 2 is notified that the negative result is obtained in this way.

In the portable entertainment device 2, it is determined whether or not such a notification of impossibility has been received by the processing in step S107 shown in the drawing.
If a negative result is obtained in this step S107 that it has not been received, the process proceeds to step S109 described later. Then, when this impossibility notification is received, the process proceeds to step S108 as shown in FIG.
Here, the case of reaching step S108 is a case where the ID information that is not valid as the content ID / device ID is stored in the optical disc 100 and the ROM 22 as described above. That is, it is conceivable that a disc that is not properly purchased is loaded as the optical disc 100, or that a valid device is not used as the portable entertainment device 2.
Therefore, as the non-reproducible process in step S108, a process corresponding to the case where the optical disc 100 and the portable entertainment device 2 that do not have a valid right are used may be executed. For example, as such a non-reproducible process, it is conceivable to execute a process for forcibly stopping the reproduction of the optical disc 100. Or you may make it display the message data which shows that it is not legitimate ID information on the display 27 in this way, and the process which waits for corresponding operation by a user may be performed.
In this way, when the reproduction disable process is executed, the processing operation is terminated as shown in FIG. 12 (FIG. 12).

  On the ID collation server 5 side, in step S203, if the ID collation unit 53 obtains a result that the content ID / device ID information is valid and obtains a positive result, Proceeding to S204, the communication processing unit 54 shown in FIG. 4 causes the distribution server 6 to transmit the information of the content ID and the reproduction time information received in step S201.

The distribution server 6 monitors whether or not such information is received in step S301 shown in the figure.
When each of these pieces of information is received, the content database 63a is searched based on the received content ID information in step S302. That is, the database management unit 62 shown in FIG. 5 searches content data stored in the content database 63a in association with the same ID as the received content ID.
In step S303, the database management unit 62 reads the content data searched in this way.

In the subsequent step S304, only the data portion based on the reproduction time information is extracted from the content data read in this way.
In the process of step S304, a frame image having the same reproduction time information as the reproduction time information in the read content data is recognized. In the content data, a data portion subsequent to the frame image recognized as described above is recognized.
As a result, only the subsequent data portion that is later in time than the video reproduced and output in the portable entertainment device 2 can be extracted from the read content data.

In step S305, the decoding program 63b stored in the storage unit 63 is read out. That is, in this case, the decoding program type2 as described with reference to FIG. 7 is read for decoding each content data based on MPEG2-HD video stored in the content database 63a.
When the decoding program 63b is read in this way, in step S306, an operation of transmitting the decoding program 63b and the previously extracted data portion to the portable entertainment device 2 is started.
That is, as the processing of step S306, the communication processing unit 64 is caused to execute an operation of transmitting the decoding program 63b to the portable entertainment device 2 side. At the same time, the communication processing unit 64 starts the transmission operation for the subsequent data portion from the frame image recognized in step S304.

In the portable entertainment device 2, the determination as to whether or not each of the decoding program 63b and content data from the distribution server 6 has been received is performed by the process of step S109.
If it is determined in step S109 that these data are not received and a negative result is obtained, the process of the previous step S107 is executed to determine whether or not an impossibility notification has been received from the ID verification server 5. In other words, in this case, the reception of either the notification of the failure and the decoding program 63b or the content data is monitored by executing the processing of steps S109 → S107.
If an affirmative result is obtained in step S109 that the decode program 63b / content data has been received, the process proceeds to step S110.

In step S110, the received decoding program 63b is temporarily stored in, for example, the RAM 23 or the like.
In step S111, the communication processing unit 35 starts to input the content data received via the wireless LAN interface 36 to the communication state detection buffer 37. When the process of step S111 is executed, the process proceeds to the next step S112 shown in FIG.

In FIG. 12, in step S112, a communication state detection process is started.
As the communication state detection processing, discrimination based on the comparison result between the buffer capacity of the communication state detection buffer 37 and various threshold values set in the communication state detection unit 38 as described above with reference to FIG. The process is started.
Specifically, first, referring to the comparison result between the buffer capacity of the communication state detection buffer 37 and the communication rate threshold th3 shown in FIG. > Starts the discrimination process as to whether or not the state of the threshold value th3 is continuously obtained.
At the same time, referring to the comparison result between the buffer capacity of the communication state detection buffer 37 and the threshold value th1, a determination process as to whether or not the buffer capacity is greater than the threshold value th1 is started.

In step S113, it is determined whether or not stream reproduction is possible from the result of the communication state detection process.
That is, if the result of the above-described determination process of “buffer capacity> threshold th3” shows that the result of buffer capacity <threshold th3 is obtained, it is assumed that stream playback of the received content data is not possible.
On the other hand, when the result of the determination process of “buffer capacity> threshold th1” is obtained that the buffer capacity> threshold th1 is obtained, it is assumed that the stream reproduction of the received content data is possible.
If it is determined in step S113 that the stream reproduction is not possible as a result of the determination process as described above, the process proceeds to step S103 shown in FIG. Monitors network discovery. In other words, in this case, the received content data is not reproduced, assuming that a sufficient communication rate is not obtained by communication via the detected network.
Accordingly, as described above with reference to FIG. 10, it is possible to prevent the content reproduction from failing due to the reproduction of the received content data when the communication rate is low. .
At this time, it is conceivable that the network congestion level is alleviated and a sufficient communication rate is obtained. Corresponding to such a case, the network detection is not performed again as described above, and the monitoring of the buffer capacity of the communication state detection buffer 37 is continued. Playback switching to content data may be performed.

In step S113, if an affirmative result is obtained as a result of the above discrimination processing that stream reproduction is possible, the operation of the disk drive 29 is first stopped in step S114.
In step S115, a process for rewriting the decoding program of the AV decoding unit 34 is performed.
That is, the decoding program rewriting unit 32 shown in FIG. 3 causes the decoding program (type 1) written as the program of the AV decoding unit 34 so far to be rewritten to the decoding program 63b (type 2) held in the previous step S110. The process is executed.

In the following step S116, the decoding process for the received content data is started.
That is, the content data buffered in the communication state detection buffer 37 is supplied to the AV decoding unit 34, and the decoding process for the received content data is started.

In subsequent step S117, a reproduction switching process is executed.
As the reproduction switching process in step S117, the reproduction switching operation as described above with reference to FIG. 9 is performed. That is, first, any frame image data of the reproduction data from the optical disc 100 that is buffered in the reproduction switching buffer 33 is designated, and reproduction time information corresponding to the frame image data is recognized. Then, frame image data having the same reproduction time information as the recognized reproduction time information is detected for the received content data decoded and output by the AV decoding unit 34.
Then, the received content data decoded and output from the AV decoding unit 34 and subsequent data from the frame image thus detected are buffered in the reproduction switching buffer 33 and reproduced from the optical disc 100. The writing operation of the reproduction switching buffer 33 is controlled so that data after the designated frame image in the data is overwritten.
Accordingly, as described above, the playback video from the disk 100 and the playback video from the network 4 are seamlessly switched and output as the video output from the playback switching buffer 33 and displayed on the display 27. Will be able to.

When the reproduction switching process is executed in this way, it is determined whether or not the buffer capacity of the communication state detection buffer 37 has fallen below the threshold th2 set in the communication state detection unit 38 by the process of step S118. The
That is, as described above with reference to FIG. 10, by determining whether or not the buffer capacity has fallen below the threshold th2, the stream reproduction of the received content data can be performed as the communication state in the connected network. It is determined whether or not a difficult state has been reached.
If a positive result is obtained in this step S118 that the buffer capacity has fallen below the threshold value th2, the process proceeds to step S119, where the decoding program of the AV decoding unit 34 is rewritten.
That is, in this case, for example, a decode program (type 1) for decoding reproduction data from the optical disc 100, which is stored in the ROM 22 or the like, is read, and this is decoded program 63b (type 2) rewritten in the previous step S114. In place of ()), the AV decoding unit 34 is rewritten as a decoding program.

When rewriting to the decoding program type 1 is performed in this way, decoding of reproduction data from the optical disc 100 is started in the subsequent step S120.
That is, as the processing of step S120, first, the optical disk drive 29 starts the data reading operation from the optical disk 100. Then, the data read from the optical disc 100 in this way is supplied to the AV decoding unit 34.
In this case, as a reading operation from the optical disc 100 in this case, actually, after detecting the reproduction time information of the reproduction data from the network reproduced and output at this time, the content data stored in the optical disc 100 is used. Reading from the subsequent data portion of the detected reproduction time information is executed.
As a result, in this case, only the data portion that is reproduced and output at this time and that is the continuation of the reproduced data from the network is read from the optical disc 100. In other words, at this time, reproduction data in the vicinity of the continuation portion of the current reproduction output data can be supplied to the AV decoding unit 34 as reproduction data from the optical disc 100.

Then, when the AV decoding unit 34 starts decoding the reproduction data from the optical disc 100 in this way, the reproduction switching process is performed in the subsequent step S121.
In other words, the playback output in this case is switched from the playback data from the network to the playback video from the disc 100.
When the process of step S121 is executed, as shown in the figure, the process proceeds to step S103 shown in FIG. 11 to monitor the detection of the network again. In other words, when a new network is detected, the processing operation for switching to content reproduction from the network is executed again.

On the other hand, if an affirmative result is obtained in the previous step S118 that the buffer capacity of the communication state detection buffer 37 is not less than the threshold value th2 set in the communication state detection unit 38, the process proceeds to step S122. The process proceeds to determine the end of content playback. In other words, for example, it is determined whether or not the content has been in a state where it should be finished, for example, when the content has been played to the end, or a playback end instruction has been given by an operation input to the input unit 25 or the like. is there.
If it is determined in step S122 that the content reproduction is not to be terminated, the process proceeds to step S118 as shown to determine whether or not the buffer capacity has again fallen below the threshold th2. To be done. In other words, by executing the processing of steps S122 → S118 in this way, either the decrease in the buffer capacity or the end of reproduction is monitored.
On the other hand, if it is determined that the content reproduction is to be terminated, a process for terminating the reproduction operation is executed in step S123.

As described above, as the content playback system 1 according to the embodiment, the portable entertainment device 2 plays back the video content stored on the optical disc 100 and receives it from the distribution server 6 connected via the network 4. Both of the playback of the video content to be performed are possible.
In this case, the portable entertainment device 2 receives the video content having the same content as the video content being reproduced from the disc 100 from the distribution server 6 side in response to being connected to the network 4, and based on this. The playback output is switched.
In addition, as shown in FIG. 6, the content playback system 1 of the first embodiment has a playback rate higher than that of the video content stored on the optical disc 100 with respect to the distribution server 6 side. Higher and higher quality video content is stored.

According to the content playback system 1 of the first embodiment, the portable entertainment device 2 has the same content as the video content being played back when the connection to the network is obtained as described above. Is received from the distribution server 6 side, and can be reproduced and output.
That is, in this way, the portable entertainment device 2 can reproduce and output higher-quality video content regardless of the capacity of the optical disc 100 when reproducing the same content.

In the present embodiment, the portable entertainment device 2 automatically switches from content playback from the optical disc 100 to content playback from the network 4 in response to the connection state with the network being obtained. It will be.
As a result, the user of the portable entertainment device 2 can automatically view high-quality video content simply by moving to a place where it can be connected to the network. That is, at this time, the user is not required to perform an operation for switching the output video.

Further, as described above with reference to FIG. 9, since the switching of the playback content can be performed seamlessly and seamlessly, the content being output is not interrupted. Such a discontinuity can prevent the user from feeling uncomfortable.

4). Second embodiment

Next, a content reproduction system according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described.
The content reproduction system 1 according to the second embodiment is configured in the same manner as the content reproduction system 1 according to the first embodiment, the video content stored in the optical disc 100, and a distribution server. For the video content stored on the 6th side, the data format is set differently from the case of the first embodiment.
That is, as shown in FIG. 13, in the case of the second embodiment, MPEG-2 SD (Standard Definition) video and video content with a playback rate = 10 Mbps are stored in the optical disc 100. . The distribution server 6 stores video content in the MPEG4 format and playback rate = 6 Mbps, and in accordance with this, the decoding program 63b uses the MPEG4 format (playback rate = 6 Mbps). A program for enabling decoding of video content according to (1) is stored.
In this way, in the second embodiment, video content having a lower playback rate than the video content stored on the optical disc 100 is stored on the distribution server 6 side.

Assuming the video content stored on the optical disc 100 and the distribution server 6 side as described above, even in the case of the second embodiment, the same operation as in the first embodiment is performed. .
That is, also in the content reproduction system 1 of the second embodiment, each part of the portable entertainment device 2, the ID collation server 5, and the distribution server 6 is equivalent to the processing operations shown in FIGS. The processing operation is performed.

  By the way, when the video server having the reproduction rate lower than that of the optical disc 100 is stored on the distribution server 6 side as described above and the operations shown in FIGS. In the entertainment machine 2, as content playback from the network, playback is performed for the video content that has a lower playback rate in this case than the video content stored in the optical disc 100.

Here, as a content playback operation of the portable entertainment device 2, for example, when playing back video content that is assumed to have a high playback rate, as a playback process including a decoding process in the AV decoding unit 34, It tends to require a lot of processing. Therefore, in this case, the power consumption required for the reproduction process tends to increase.
In other words, when playing back content with a low playback rate, the processing burden on each unit is reduced compared to when playing back content with a high playback rate, and the playback processing is required accordingly. The power consumption is also reduced.
Furthermore, in this case, considering the power consumption for playback from the disk and playback via the network, in the playback from the disk, each part including the spindle motor and thread drive is driven. Therefore, in principle, more power can be consumed than when playing from the network.
For these reasons, in the content reproduction system 1 of the second embodiment, if switching from reproduction from the disc 100 to content reproduction at a low reproduction rate via the network is performed, in the portable entertainment device 2 It is thought that power consumption can be reduced.
That is, the power consumption of the portable entertainment device 2 can be reduced as compared with the case where the content is reproduced only from the optical disc 100.

This will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 14 is a diagram schematically illustrating the relationship between the transition of the connection state between the portable entertainment device 2 and the network according to the second embodiment and the power consumption of the portable entertainment device 2 associated therewith.
First, as the network connection shown in FIG. 14 is possible / impossible, the fact that the network connection is possible means that an affirmative result is obtained in the discrimination process (step S113 in FIG. 12) regarding whether or not stream reproduction is possible. Is shown. Further, the fact that network connection is impossible indicates that a negative result has been obtained by the determination processing in step S118 of FIG. That is, it indicates a case where content reproduction via the network is disabled.

In FIG. 14, when the network connection is disabled as shown in the period t1 to t2 in the figure, the disk drive 29 is turned on and the optical disk is turned on as described in the first embodiment. Content reproduction from 100 is performed.
It is assumed that the power consumption at the time of content reproduction from the optical disc 100 is at a level as shown in the figure during the period t1 to t2.

Then, after the time point t2 when the network connection is enabled, the disk drive 29 is turned off and switched to playback from the network (steps S114 and S115 in FIG. 12). The content reproduction operation via the network is continued until time t3 when the network connection is disabled.
In this case, as described above, the video content received via the network has a lower playback rate than the content stored on the optical disc 100. In addition, in this case, since content reproduction from the optical disc 100 is stopped as described above, the power consumption in the periods t2 to t3 is as follows from the above, so that the optical disc 100 in the periods t1 to t2 is shown in the figure. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the power consumption at a level lower than that at the time of content playback.

Then, after the time t3 when the network connection becomes impossible and until the time t4 when the network connection becomes possible again, the content reproduction from the optical disc 100 is performed, and the power consumption at the same level as in the previous period t1 to t2 is obtained. Become.
Further, during the period t4 to t5 in which the network connection is allowed again, the content reproduction is performed via the network, and the power consumption at this time is suppressed to the same level as in the previous period t2 to t3. it can.

  As is apparent from the results of FIG. 14, in this case, it is possible to reduce the power consumption as shown by the hatched lines in the figure, compared to the case where the content is reproduced only from the optical disc 100. I understand.

In this way, in the content reproduction system 1 of the second embodiment, unlike the case of the first embodiment, when the connection between the network and the portable entertainment device 2 becomes possible, the optical disc 100 Since the content having a lower reproduction rate than the content stored in is received and reproduced and output, it is possible to reduce the power consumption required for the reproduction processing in the portable entertainment device 2 at this time.
Therefore, depending on the second embodiment, it is possible to reduce the power consumption in the portable entertainment device 2 as compared with the case where the content is reproduced only from the optical disc 100.
In addition, since the power consumption can be reduced in this way, the portable entertainment device 2 can perform content reproduction for a longer time with a limited battery capacity.

5). Third embodiment

Next, a content reproduction system as a third embodiment of the present invention will be described.
Also in the content reproduction system 1 of the third embodiment, video content having a data format different from that of the first embodiment is stored in each of the optical disc 100 and the distribution server 6 side.
That is, in the case of the third embodiment, the video content is stored in the optical disc 100 and the distribution server 6 side as shown in FIG.

In FIG. 15, for the optical disc 100 in this case, HD content according to the MPEG2 system as shown in FIG. 15 and video content with a playback rate of 30 Mbps are stored.
The distribution server 6 stores a plurality of types of video contents having different data formats (reproduction rates) as video contents having the same content.
In this case, for the same video content, a total of 3 content including MPEG4 format / reproduction rate = 5 Mbps, MPEG2 format SD video / reproduction rate = 10 Mbps, and MPEG2 format HD video / reproduction rate 20 Mbps. It is supposed to store various types of video content.
That is, in this case, for example, as the content A having the same content, three types of video content having different formats (reproduction rates) as shown in the figure are stored.

Further, in this case, although not shown, on the distribution server 6 side, the content database 63a shown in FIG. Are stored in association with each other.
In other words, for example, the content with the MPEG2 HD video / reproduction rate 20 Mbsp shown in FIG. Further, for example, content in the MPEG4 format / reproduction rate = 5 Mbps is associated with one format designation information for designating each content.

Along with this, a plurality of decoding programs are stored on the distribution server 6 side in this case so as to be able to decode the video contents of these plural formats.
That is, as shown in the figure, the decoding programs for MPEG4 (reproduction rate 5 Mbps), MPEG2SD (reproduction rate 10 Mbps), and MPEG2HD (reproduction rate 20 Mbps) are stored.
Further, in this case, such a plurality of types of decoding programs are stored in the storage unit 63 in association with the above-described format designation information for designating the respective formats.

Assuming video content to be stored on the optical disc 100 and distribution server 6 side in this way, in the third embodiment, video content stored on the optical disc 100 loaded in the portable entertainment device 2 When playing back video content of the same content, video content having a playback rate that enables playback of content to the end is selected according to the remaining battery level in the battery unit 41.
Here, as described above, the power consumption in the portable entertainment device 2 differs depending on the playback rate of the content to be played back, so depending on the playback rate of the content selected at this time, There is a possibility that something that can be reproduced and some that can not be reproduced.
Therefore, at this time, as described above, video content is selected at a playback rate at which the content can be reproduced to the end, so that the user can view the content to the end more reliably.

At this time, for example, in the case where the portable entertainment device 2 has a sufficient remaining battery capacity, it is conceivable that there are several types of video content at a playback rate at which the content can be played back to the end.
Therefore, in order to deal with such a case, the video content having the highest playback rate (that is, the highest quality) is selected from the video content having the playback rate at which the content can be played back to the end as described above. This is to reproduce and output this.
In the following, for convenience of explanation, each of the video content stored on the optical disc 100 and the video content stored on the distribution server 6 side, which is selected on the portable entertainment device 2 side during content playback, Each format is called a “source”.
That is, at this time, the content of the MPEG2 HD video (reproduction rate = 30 Mbps) stored on the optical disc 100 is one “source”, and the plurality of video content stored on the distribution server 6 side are: One “source” is formed for each format (reproduction rate).

In order to realize such an operation, in the third embodiment, the portable entertainment device 2 is configured as shown in FIG.
In FIG. 16, parts already described in FIG. 3 are given the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.
First, in the portable entertainment device 2 in this case, it is assumed that the communication state detection buffer 37 and the communication state detection unit 38 are not provided, as can be seen in comparison with the portable entertainment device 2 shown in FIG. Yes.
This is because, in the third embodiment, the portable entertainment device 2 is assumed not to be used while moving.
That is, in the third embodiment, as described above, the source capable of reproducing the content to the end is selected and the reproduction output is performed for this. If the playback is interrupted and the playback of this source is interrupted, it may be difficult to play back the content to the end. Therefore, here, the portable entertainment device 2 is assumed to be used in a place where connection with a network such as a hot spot is established.
Therefore, the portable entertainment device 2 in this case does not have the communication state detection buffer 37 and the communication state detection unit 38 for detecting the communication state as described in FIG. Is also good.

In this case, the portable entertainment device 2 does not include the reproduction switching buffer 33.
This is because in the third embodiment, as understood from the above description, switching between playback from the optical disc 100 / playback from the network is not performed in real time. The reproduction switching buffer 33 for switching between various reproductions is not necessarily provided.

In this case, the portable entertainment device 2 includes a remaining battery level detection unit 45 for detecting the remaining battery level of the battery unit 41.
The remaining battery level detection unit 45 detects a voltage level corresponding to the power supply voltage input from the battery unit 41, and uses the result as remaining battery level information to connect the CPU 21 via the bus 42 as shown in the figure. To supply.

In this case, a power consumption table 22b as shown in the figure is stored in the ROM 22.
As the structure of the power consumption table 22b, for example, as shown in FIG. 17, the information on the power consumption (hourly) required for reproduction processing for each source is stored in association with each source.
In other words, according to the power consumption table 22b in this case, for example, when playing content (source) of MPEG4: playback rate 5 Mbps stored on the distribution server 6 side and played back via the network, a portable entertainment device For example, it is shown that the power consumption of 10 W / h is required for the reproduction process in FIG. Further, for example, the reproduction of a source (content) of MPEG2 HD video: playback rate 30 Mbps from the optical disc 100 requires 40 W / h of power consumption, for example.

If it is possible to obtain hourly power consumption information for each source from the contents of the power consumption table 22b, information on the remaining battery level detected by the remaining battery level detection unit 42 and the remaining playback time of the content can be obtained. From the information, it is possible to recognize a source capable of reproducing the content to the end.
That is, in this case, assuming that the remaining battery level is “X” and the hourly power consumption of the source is “Y”, the reproducible time length of each source can be calculated by the calculation of “X ÷ Y”.
Then, by comparing the reproducible time length of each source calculated in this way with the replay time length of the content to be reproduced, a source capable of reproducing the content to the end can be determined.
That is, at this time, if the reproducible time length of the source is “Z” and the remaining playback time of the content is “W”, a source satisfying “Z> W” may be determined.

  If the source having the highest playback rate is selected from the sources thus determined, as described above, the highest quality video content among the sources capable of reproducing the content to the end is selected. Playback output can be performed.

18 and 19 are executed in each of the portable entertainment device 2, the ID collation server 5, and the distribution server 6 of the content reproduction system 1 in order to realize the operation as the third embodiment as described above. It is the flowchart shown about the processing operation which should be performed.
The operation shown as the portable entertainment device 2 is executed by the CPU 21 based on a program stored in, for example, the ROM 22 shown in FIG. The operation shown as the ID collation server 5 is also performed by the CPU 50 shown in FIG. 4 and the operation shown as the distribution server 6 is also executed by the CPU 60 shown in FIG. .
In this case, the following description is continued assuming that the portable entertainment device 2 and the network 4 are already connected.

  First, in FIG. 18, the portable entertainment device 2 monitors whether or not playback of the optical disc 100 is instructed by the processing in step S <b> 401 shown in the figure. In this step S401, when a predetermined operation input to the input unit 25 shown in FIG. 16 is performed and reproduction of the loaded optical disc 100 is instructed, the process proceeds to step S402.

  In step S402, the content ID stored in the optical disc 100 is read by the optical disc drive 29. Then, the read content ID information is held in, for example, the RAM 23 or the like.

  In subsequent step S403, the time length of the content is recognized. That is, for example, time length information about the video content is read from the reproduction management information about the video content stored in the optical disc 100 and recognized.

In step S404, the remaining battery level information of the battery unit 41 is recognized with reference to the remaining battery level information supplied from the remaining battery level detection unit 45 shown in FIG.
In step S405, the reproducible time length for each source is calculated based on the information on the remaining battery capacity recognized as described above and the information content stored in the power consumption table 22b shown in FIG. To do.
In other words, as described above, the “remaining battery amount X ÷ the power consumption Y of the source per hour” is calculated to calculate the reproducible time length of each source.

In the subsequent step S406, the calculated reproducible time length for each source is compared with the time length of the content recognized in the previous step S403.
In step S407, a source capable of reproducing the content to the end is recognized based on such a comparison result.
That is, as described above, for each calculated reproducible time length, a source satisfying “reproducible time length Z> content time length W” is determined.
In step S408, the source having the highest playback rate among the sources thus determined is recognized.
As a result, the highest quality source among the sources capable of reproducing the content to the end can be recognized.

In step S409, it is determined whether or not the recognized source is video content stored on the optical disc 100.
If an affirmative result is obtained in this step S409 that the recognized source is the video content stored on the optical disc 100, the process proceeds to step S410 and reproduction of the video content from the optical disc 100 is started. To do. That is, the disc drive control unit 28 starts the playback operation for the optical disc 100 loaded in the optical disc drive 29, and starts playback of video content from the optical disc 100.
In this way, when content reproduction from the optical disc 100 is started in step S409, the process proceeds to step S419 shown in FIG. 19 to monitor the end of content reproduction. That is, for example, it is monitored whether or not the reproduction of the content is to be terminated, for example, when the content has been reproduced to the end, or a reproduction end instruction has been given by an operation input to the input unit 25 or the like.
Then, in response to the state where the reproduction of the content is to be terminated, the process proceeds to step S420, and the process for terminating the reproduction operation is performed.

On the other hand, if a negative result is obtained in step S409 that the recognized source is not the video content stored on the optical disc 100, the process proceeds to step S411 shown in FIG. The format designation information described above for designating the format is generated.
Such format designation information is information for designating video content (source) stored on the distribution server 6 side, which has been decided in advance between the portable entertainment device 2 side and the distribution server 6 side.

In subsequent step S412, the device ID 22a stored in the ROM 22 shown in FIG. 16 is read out.
In step S413, the content ID read in step S402 and the format designation information read in step S411 are transmitted to the ID verification server 5 together with the information of the device ID 22a.

  In the ID collation server 5, whether or not each of the content ID, device ID, and format designation information transmitted from the portable entertainment device 2 is received is monitored in step S501 shown in the figure. If it is determined in step S501 that such information has been received, the process proceeds to step S502, and in this case as well, collation processing is performed on the received content ID and device ID information. That is, the ID collation unit 53 performs collation processing for the content ID and the device ID.

In the subsequent step S503, it is determined whether or not the content ID / device ID information is valid as the verification result of the ID verification unit 53.
Also in this case, in this step S503, if a result that the content ID / device ID information is valid is not obtained as a discrimination result of the ID collation unit 53 and a negative result is obtained, the step shown in FIG. In step S504, the portable entertainment device 2 is notified that the negative result has been obtained.

In the portable entertainment device 2, it is determined whether or not such a notification of impossibility has been received by the process of step S <b> 414 shown in the drawing.
If a negative result is obtained in this step S414 that the impossibility notification has not been received, the process proceeds to step S416 described later. On the other hand, when a disapproval notice is received, the process proceeds to step S415 as shown in FIG.
In this case, as the non-reproducible process in step S415, a process corresponding to the case where the optical disc 100 and the portable entertainment device 2 that do not have a valid right are used may be executed. For example, as such a non-reproducible process, it is conceivable to execute a process for forcibly stopping the reproduction of the optical disc 100. Or you may make it display the message data which shows that it is not legitimate ID information on the display 27 in this way, and the process which waits for corresponding operation by a user may be performed.
In this way, when the non-reproducible process is executed, the processing operation is terminated as shown in the figure.

  In the above-described step S503 on the ID verification server 5 side, if the ID verification unit 53 determines that the content ID / equipment ID information is valid and a positive result is obtained, The processing proceeds to S504, and the communication processing unit 54 shown in FIG. 4 causes the content ID received in step S501 and the format designation information to be transmitted to the distribution server 6.

The distribution server 6 monitors whether or not these pieces of information are received by the processing in step S601 shown in the figure.
If it is determined in step S601 that these pieces of information have been received, the process proceeds to step S602, and the content database 63a is searched based on the received content ID and format designation information.
That is, as this step S602, content data stored in association with both the received content ID and the format designation information in the content database 63a by the database management unit 62 shown in FIG. 5 is stored. Search.
In step S603, the database management unit 62 reads the content data searched in this way.

In a succeeding step S604, a decoding program is searched based on the received format designation information. That is, the decoding program stored in association with the same designation information as the received format designation information is searched from among the three types of decoding programs stored in the storage unit 63.
Thereby, a decoding program for decoding the video content of the source selected on the portable entertainment device 2 side is searched.

In step S605, the database management unit 62 reads the decoded program searched in this way.
Furthermore, in step S606, the decoding program read in this way and the content data read in the previous step S603 are transmitted to the portable entertainment device 2 by the communication processing unit 64.

The portable entertainment device 2 determines whether or not each of the decoding program and content data from the distribution server 6 has been received by the process of step S416.
If it is determined in step S416 that these data have not been received and a negative result is obtained, the process of the previous step S414 is executed to determine whether or not a disapproval notification has been received from the ID verification server 5. In other words, even in this case, the reception of either the notification of the failure and the decoding program / content data is monitored by executing the processing of steps S416 → S414.
If a positive result is obtained in step S416 that the decoding program and content data have been received, the process proceeds to step S417.

In step S417, a process for rewriting the decoding program of the AV decoding unit 34 is performed.
That is, the decoding program rewriting unit 32 shown in FIG. 16 performs control so that the decoding program received from the distribution server 6 side is rewritten as the decoding program of the AV decoding unit 34 as described above. .

In the subsequent step S418, reproduction of the received content data is started.
That is, the content data received from the distribution server 6 via the wireless LAN interface 36 is supplied to the AV decoding unit 34 by the communication processing unit 64, and the decoding process for the received content data is started. Thus, the reproduction operation for the received content data is started.

When the reproduction of the received content data is started in this way, the process proceeds to step S419 described above, and the end of the content reproduction is monitored. If it is determined in step S419 that the content reproduction is to be terminated, a process for terminating the reproduction operation is performed in step S420.
That is, in this case, a process for ending the reproduction operation for the content received as described above is executed.

In this way, in the content playback system 1 of the third embodiment, video content having different data formats (different playback rates) is distributed as the video content having the same content to the optical disc 100 and distributed. The data is stored on the server 6 side.
That is, for the video content having the same content, the video content with different power consumption required for the reproduction operation is stored on the optical disc 100 and the distribution server 6 side.
Then, from the information on the remaining battery level in the portable entertainment device 2 and the time length of the content to be played back, video content that can be played back to the end of these video content (sources) is determined.
Further, the portable entertainment device 2 selects the source having the highest playback rate from the sources thus determined, receives the video content of this source from the distribution server 6 side, and plays back and outputs it. Yes.

According to the content reproduction system 1 of the third embodiment as described above, the video content having the highest reproduction rate among the video contents that can be reproduced to the end of the same content to be reproduced is obtained. It is possible to reproduce and output in the portable entertainment device 2.
In other words, the content playback system 1 according to the third embodiment allows the user to view the video content to the end with the highest possible image quality under the condition of the limited battery level of the portable entertainment device 2. Is possible.

In this case, in the portable entertainment device 2, the video content (source) that can be played back to the end is selected according to the remaining battery level. It is also possible to select a source (video content) that can be played for the length of time.
In other words, in this case, for example, when the user views content for 60 minutes, and a time length of 60 minutes is specified, a source (for which content can be played for 60 minutes according to the remaining battery level) Playback rate) is selected.
When this is realized, first, each reproducible time calculated by the process of step S406 shown in FIG. 18 is compared with the information of the preset time length as described above, and then continued. In step S407, a source capable of reproducing the content for such a preset time length may be recognized.

Also, in this case, when the purpose is to suppress battery consumption as much as possible, it is sufficient to always select the source with the lowest playback rate.
In this way, it is possible to keep the battery consumption of the portable entertainment device 2 as low as possible.

Further, in this case, it may be configured so that the user can select an arbitrary source and reproduce and output it without automatically selecting a source capable of reproducing the content to the end.
When the user selects an arbitrary source in this way, for example, the following operation may be performed as the processing operation on the portable entertainment device 2 side.
First, as the processing operation on the portable entertainment device 2 side in this case, after calculating each reproducible time by the process of step S405 shown in FIG. 18, the following steps are shown in FIG. 20, for example. A process of displaying a source selection screen 27a as shown on the display 27 is performed.
That is, as shown in FIG. 20, as such a source selection screen 27a, for example, each source is indicated by character data and the reproducible time for each source is indicated. Further, as shown in the figure, the reproduction rates for the respective sources are shown in correspondence with each other.
Further, on the source selection screen 27a, a cursor CR as shown in the figure for selecting each source is displayed. By displaying such a cursor CR, an arbitrary one of these sources can be selected and determined by an operation input through the input unit 25, for example.
Then, on the source selection screen 27a, processing after step S409 may be executed in response to selection / determination of one source by operation.
As a result, for each reproducible source, information on the reproducible time and the replay rate is presented, and the user can select any one source and reproduce and output it.

Further, in the third embodiment, as described above, assuming that the portable entertainment device 2 is not moved from the state connected to the network during operation, the communication state detection buffer 37, the communication Although the connection state as shown in FIG. 10 is not detected by the state detection unit 38, when it is assumed to be used while moving, the first and second embodiments and the like are used. Similarly, the communication state detection buffer 37 and the communication state detection unit 38 may be provided to detect the connection state.
Further, in the portable entertainment device 2 of the third embodiment, a playback switching buffer 33 is provided because it is assumed that playback from the optical disc 100 / playback from the network 4 is not switched in real time. The playback switching operation shown in FIG. 9 is not performed. Similarly, when it is assumed to be used while moving, a playback switching buffer 33 is provided to perform such playback switching operation. You may make it perform.

At this time, if the portable entertainment device 2 is assumed to be used while moving as described above, the connection with the network may be interrupted while a certain source is selected and played back. In such a case, for example, a buffer memory for storing video content received from the network as much as possible is provided, and the received content is stored here whenever connection to the network is obtained. Keep it.
Then, as much content data as possible is stored in this way, and the stored content may be reproduced and output.

In each embodiment, the format of the video content stored on the optical disc 100 and the distribution server 6 side is merely an example, and is not limited to these.
However, in this case, in order to obtain the effect of the first embodiment, it is necessary to store video content having higher quality (higher playback rate) than the video content stored on the optical disc 100 on the distribution server 6 side. .
Further, in the second embodiment, it is necessary to store video content having a lower playback rate than the video content stored on the optical disc 100 on the distribution server 6 side.
In order to obtain the operation as the third embodiment described above, video content having a lower playback rate than the video content stored on the optical disc 100 is stored on the distribution server 6 side. In addition, as the video content stored on the distribution server 6 side, a plurality of video contents having the same content are set to have different reproduction rates.

Further, the configuration of the content reproduction system 1 may be changed as long as the operation as the embodiment can be realized.
For example, in each embodiment, the case where the ID verification server 5 and the distribution server 6 are configured separately is illustrated, but these may be configured as one device connected to the network 4. .
Further, the decoding program is supplied from the distribution server 6 to the portable entertainment device 2, but for example, all decoding programs corresponding to a format assumed to be reproduced are stored in the optical disc 100 in advance, and thus The portable entertainment device 2 may read out the decoding program stored in the optical disc 100 and rewrite the decoding program. Alternatively, these decoding programs may be held in advance on the portable entertainment device 2 side, and a decoding program corresponding to the content to be reproduced and output may be selected and rewritten.
Further, in the embodiment, the case where the portable entertainment device 2 and the network 4 are connected wirelessly is exemplified, but in addition to such wireless connection, a configuration capable of connecting to the network 4 by wire is adopted. May be.

It is a figure shown about the outline | summary of the content reproduction system of embodiment of this invention. It is an external view of the reproducing | regenerating apparatus as embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the example of an internal structure of the reproducing | regenerating apparatus as 1st, 2nd embodiment. It is the block diagram which showed the internal structural example of the ID collation server in the content reproduction | regeneration system of embodiment. It is the block diagram which showed the example of an internal structure of the delivery server in the content reproduction | regeneration system of embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the outline | summary of the content reproduction system as 1st Embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the outline | summary of the operation | movement obtained in the content reproduction system as 1st Embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating switching operation | movement of reproduction | regeneration content as operation | movement performed in the content reproduction | regeneration system as 1st Embodiment. It is the figure which showed typically the operation | movement of each part about switching operation | movement of reproduction content. It is a figure for demonstrating the detection operation of a communication state. It is the flowchart shown about the processing operation which should be performed in the content reproduction system of 1st, 2nd embodiment. Similarly, it is a flowchart showing processing operations to be performed in the content reproduction systems of the first and second embodiments. It is a figure for demonstrating the format of the video content reproduced | regenerated in the content reproduction | regeneration system as 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the outline | summary of the content reproduction system as 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the outline | summary of the content reproduction system as 3rd Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the example of an internal structure of the reproducing | regenerating apparatus as 3rd Embodiment. It is the data structure figure which showed the structural example of the power consumption table. It is the flowchart shown about the processing operation which should be performed in the content reproduction system of 3rd Embodiment. Similarly, it is the flowchart shown about the processing operation which should be performed in the content reproduction system of 3rd Embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the modification of 3rd Embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

  1 content reproduction system, 2 portable entertainment device, 3 access point, 4 network, 5 ID verification server, 6 distribution server, 21 CPU, 22a device ID, 22b power consumption table, 23 RAM, 24 input processing unit, 25 input unit , 26 Display processing unit, 27 Display, 28 Disc drive control unit, 29 Optical disc drive, 29a Optical disc insertion slot, 30 Memory control unit, 31 Memory card interface, 31a Memory card insertion slot, 32 Decode program rewriting unit, 33 For playback switching Buffer, 34 AV decoding unit, 35 Communication processing unit, 36 Wireless LAN interface, 37 Communication state detection buffer, 38 Communication state detection unit, 39 Audio data processing unit, 40 Speaker, 41 Battery unit, 42 Vinegar, 45 battery level detection unit, 100 optical disc

Claims (15)

A playback device for playing back content data,
Communication connection means for performing data communication with the external device by performing connection processing for performing data communication with the external device in which content data is stored;
Reading means for reading data from a recording medium on which content data is recorded;
When the communication connection means is connected to the external device so that data communication is possible, the communication is performed such that content data having the same content as content data read from the recording medium by the reading means is acquired from the external device. Control means for controlling the connection means;
A playback apparatus comprising:   The external device stores content data having a higher playback rate than the content data recorded on the recording medium,
  Depending on the control means,
  Content data having a higher reproduction rate than content data read from the recording medium is acquired as content data having the same content.
  The reproducing apparatus according to claim 1.   The external device stores content data having a lower playback rate than the content data recorded on the recording medium,
  Depending on the control means,
  Content data having a reproduction rate lower than that of content data read from the recording medium is acquired as the content data having the same content.
  The reproducing apparatus according to claim 1.   Furthermore, reproduction means for reproducing content data;
  A communication state detecting means for detecting a data communication state with the external device by the communication connection means,
  The control means includes
When the communication connection means is connected to the external device so that data communication is possible, the communication is performed so that content data having the same content as content data read from the recording medium by the reading means is acquired from the external device. After controlling the connection means, based on the detection result of the communication state detection means, it is determined whether or not the stream reproduction of the content data having the same content is possible, and as a result, the stream reproduction is possible. If determined, the reproduction output by the reproduction means is controlled so as to be switched from the reproduction output for the content data read from the recording medium to the reproduction output for the content data having the same content.
  The reproducing apparatus according to claim 1.   And reproducing means for reproducing the content data;
  A communication state detecting means for detecting a data communication state with the external device by the communication connection means, and
  The control means includes
When the communication connection means is connected to the external device so that data communication is possible, the communication is performed so that content data having the same content as content data read from the recording medium by the reading means is acquired from the external device. After controlling the connection means, it is further determined whether or not the stream reproduction of the content data having the same contents is possible based on the detection result of the communication state detection means, and as a result, the stream reproduction is possible. If it is determined, the playback output by the playback means is controlled to be switched from the playback output for the content data read from the recording medium to the playback output for the content data having the same contents, and the result of the determination If stream playback is not possible, read Content read out from the recording medium from the reproduction output of the content data having the same contents as the reproduction output by the reproducing means, while controlling so that the content data recorded on the recording medium is read by the means Control to switch to playback output for data,
  The reproducing apparatus according to claim 1.   The detecting means is
  Detecting the data communication state based on a data storage amount of a communication buffer memory in which the content data having the same content acquired from the external device by the communication connection means is temporarily stored;
  The reproducing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein:   The control means includes
  In switching the reproduction output between the content data read from the recording medium and the content data having the same content acquired from the external device, control is performed so that the subsequent portions are reproduced and output.
  The reproducing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein:   The control means includes
  When switching the playback output between the content data read from the recording medium and the content data having the same content acquired from the external device, the subsequent portions are played back and output, and the switching portions are played back seamlessly. Control to output,
  The reproducing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein: A reproduction device for reproducing content data, a communication connection means for performing data communication with the external device by performing a connection process for performing data communication with an external device in which the content data is stored; As a content playback method in a playback device including reading means for reading data from a recording medium on which content data is recorded,
When the communication connection means is connected to the external device so that data communication is possible, the communication is performed such that content data having the same content as content data read from the recording medium by the reading means is acquired from the external device. A control step for controlling the connection means;
A content reproduction method characterized by the above. A content playback system including a playback device and a server device in which content data is stored,
The playback device is
A communication connection means for performing data communication with the external device by performing a connection process for performing data communication with the external device;
Reproducing device side reading means for reading data from a recording medium on which content data is recorded;
Content data having the same content as content data read from the recording medium by the playback device-side reading means is acquired from the server device when the communication connection means is connected to the server device so as to be able to perform data communication. And a playback device side control means for controlling the communication connection means,
The server device is
Data communication means for performing data communication with an external device;
Storage means for storing content data having at least the same contents;
Server-side reading means for reading the content data from the storage means;
Control is performed so that the content data having the same contents instructed in accordance with the control of the playback device side control means is read by the server side read means, and the read content data is played back by the data communication means. Server-side control means for controlling to be transmitted to the device,
A content reproduction system characterized by the above. A playback device for playing back content data,
Reading means for reading data from a recording medium on which content data is recorded;
Communication means for performing data communication with an external device having the same content as the content data recorded on the recording medium and storing content data having a different playback rate;
Power supply means for supplying power to the playback device;
Content data to be recorded on the recording medium when the reproduction rate is selected based on at least the remaining power of the power supply means and the selected reproduction rate is the reproduction rate of the content data recorded on the recording medium Is read by the reading means, and when the selected playback rate is the playback rate of the content data having the same content stored in the external device, the same content according to the playback rate from the external device. Control means for controlling the communication means so that content data having
A playback apparatus comprising: The control means includes
  Based on the power remaining amount and the information on the reproduction time length of the content data recorded on the recording medium, it is possible to perform reproduction for the reproduction time length with the remaining power amount and to obtain the highest reproduction rate. select,
  The playback apparatus according to claim 11. The control means includes
  Based on the power remaining amount and the specified time length information, a playback rate at which playback for the specified time length can be performed with the power remaining amount is selected.
  The playback apparatus according to claim 11. A reproducing apparatus for reproducing content data, the reading means for reading data from the recording medium on which the content data is recorded, and the reproduction rate having the same content as the content data recorded on the recording medium A content playback method in a playback device comprising: communication means for performing data communication with an external device storing different content data; and power supply means for supplying power to the playback device,
Content data to be recorded on the recording medium when the reproduction rate is selected based on at least the remaining power of the power supply means and the selected reproduction rate is the reproduction rate of the content data recorded on the recording medium Is read by the reading means, and when the selected playback rate is the playback rate of the content data having the same content stored in the external device, the same content according to the playback rate from the external device. A control step of controlling the communication means so that content data having
A content reproduction method characterized by the above. A playback device for playing back content data, which can read the content data recorded on the recording medium, and has the same content as the content data recorded on the recording medium and has a different playback rate A content reproduction system including a server device in which content data is stored,
The playback device is
Reproducing device side communication means for performing data communication with an external device,
Reproduction device side reading means for reading data from the recording medium;
Power supply means for supplying power to the playback device;
Content data to be recorded on the recording medium when the reproduction rate is selected based on at least the remaining power of the power supply means and the selected reproduction rate is the reproduction rate of the content data recorded on the recording medium Is read by the playback device side reading means, and when the selected playback rate is the playback rate of the content data having the same content stored in the external device, the playback rate depends on the playback rate from the external device. Replay apparatus side control means for controlling the replay apparatus side communication means so that content data having the same content is acquired,
The server device is
A server-side communication means for performing data communication with an external device;
Storage means for storing content data having the same content;
Server-side reading means for reading the content data from the storage means;
Control is performed so that the content data having the same content instructed in accordance with the control of the playback device side control means is read by the server side reading means, and the read content data is read by the server side communication means. Server-side control means for controlling to be transmitted to the playback device,
A content reproduction system characterized by the above.