JP2005149700A - Video recorder and video server system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a video recorder which can record a broadcast program through a network without causing network failure or the like, maintaining an advantage of the interchangeability of an information recording medium. <P>SOLUTION: This video recorder connectable with the network is provided with a reservation management section 3 which manages broadcast program reservation information, a recording drive which records on an interchangeable information recording medium and which records broadcast program data on the information recording medium, and a controller which controls the reservation management section and the recording drive. When the recording drive is loaded with the information recording medium, and such a setting that the recording drive records the broadcast program data is performed, the controller prohibits other apparatus from accessing the recording drive through the network. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a video recorder including a recording drive for recording on an exchangeable information recording medium, and a video server system in which such a video recorder is connected via a network.

  In recent years, an optical disk recorder using a disk-like optical recording medium (hereinafter referred to as an optical disk) such as a recordable DVD is becoming widespread as a video recording apparatus replacing a video tape recorder. An optical disc has a flat data recording surface for recording digitized video information and audio information, and an optical head for recording and reproduction can access any position on the data recording surface within a few seconds. Can do. Therefore, arbitrary video information can be reproduced in a short time even if a plurality of pieces of video information are recorded on the optical disc. Further, since the optical disk as a recording medium can be exchanged, the optical disk recorder has no limitation on the recording capacity. New technologies have been proposed that take advantage of these characteristics of optical disks.

  For example, Patent Document 1 proposes recording information related to program recording reservation on an optical disc. When information related to program recording reservation is recorded on the optical disc, the optical disc recorder reads the information from the inserted optical disc and, based on the read information, a predetermined program at the time when the built-in TV tuner and optical disc drive are reserved. Make a timer reservation to record.

  Even after the reservation, even if the optical disk is taken out from the optical disk recorder that made the reservation, the reservation information is fixed to the taken-out optical disk. Therefore, when the taken optical disk is inserted into another optical disk recorder, the optical disk recorder can read the reservation information recorded on the optical disk, and can make a program reservation for the inserted optical disk based on the read information. . According to this technique, since the program recording reservation is made based on the information recorded on the optical disc, it is not necessary to make the program recording reservation again in another optical disc recorder.

The optical disk is also used as a computer recording medium, and it is easy to exchange data with a computer system. For this reason, Patent Document 2 proposes that an optical disk is replaced with a replaceable large-capacity recording medium and a plurality of optical disk recorders function as a so-called distributed server by connecting them via a network. Furthermore, Patent Document 3 discloses a system capable of simultaneously recording programs of a plurality of channels using a tuner of another device on the network as a form specialized for recording TV programs. In such a distributed server, when the number of recorders increases, access concentrates on the same recorders and tuners, and so-called traffic problems occur like computer networks. Patent Document 4 proposes a method for solving this problem.
JP 11-260043 A JP-A-12-90575 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 13-268461 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 14-077745

  In the case of a computer network, a hard disk drive is used as an information recording medium. A hard disk drive generally has a large recording capacity and is not replaceable. For this reason, information stored in the hard disk drive can be managed by a computer connected to the network.

  However, in the case of a video server using an optical disk recorder, an optical disk as a recording medium can be exchanged, so that there is a possibility that the optical disk is suddenly ejected by a third party. Specifically, when a first user manages the optical disc recorder that he / she manages to leave a recordable optical disc loaded, the second user can program the optical disc of the optical disc recorder via the network. There is a possibility of assigning a recording reservation so as to record. In this case, if the first user takes out the optical disk from the optical disk recorder, the recording reservation made by the second user cannot be executed. In addition, not only recording reservation cannot be executed, but also the optical disc recorder becomes inoperable, so that when the other device tries to access the optical disc recorder via the network, an appropriate response cannot be obtained and a network failure may occur. There is also sex.

  An object of the present invention is to solve such problems and to provide a video recorder and a video server system capable of recording a broadcast program via a network while maintaining the advantage of exchangeability of information recording media. To do.

  The video recorder of the present invention is a video recorder that can be connected to a network, and is a reservation management unit that manages recording reservation information of a broadcast program, and a recording drive that records on an exchangeable information recording medium, A recording drive for recording broadcast program data on the information recording medium; and a controller for controlling the reservation management unit and the recording drive, wherein the controller is loaded with the information recording medium, When the recording drive is set to record data of the broadcast program, other devices are prohibited from accessing the recording drive via the network.

  In a preferred embodiment, the reservation management unit sends reservation inquiry information based on the recording reservation information to one or more broadcast receivers connected to the network, and whether the broadcast program can be received from the broadcast receiver. Response information regarding whether or not is received, reception reservation setting information regarding broadcast to be received by the broadcast receiver is determined based on the response information, and the reception reservation setting information is transmitted to the broadcast receiver.

  In a preferred embodiment, the recording reservation information is recorded in advance on an information recording medium, and the recording drive reads the reservation information of the information recording medium and sends it to the reservation management unit.

  In a preferred embodiment, the information recording medium is an optical disc.

  The video server system according to the present invention includes one or more first servers including a tuner for receiving a broadcast and a reservation management unit for making a reception reservation for a broadcast program, and the video recorder connected to the first server via a network. And a second server.

  In a preferred embodiment, the first server further includes a compression unit that compresses the data of the broadcast program, and the recording rate of the previous broadcast program included in the reception reservation setting information transmitted by the second server is If the tuner of the first server is lower than the transfer rate of the broadcast program received, the first server sets the broadcast program data so that the image quality rate of the broadcast program becomes the image quality rate of the reception reservation setting information. Compress and send to the network.

  In a preferred embodiment, the first server generates a recording drive for recording a broadcast program received by the tuner, an encryption key, and encrypts the data of the broadcast program using the encryption key. An encryption unit, and when the recording rate of the previous broadcast program included in the reception reservation setting information transmitted by the second server is lower than the transfer rate of the previous broadcast program that can be received by the tuner of the first server, The first server encrypts the broadcast program data using the encryption key, records the encrypted broadcast program data in the recording drive, and the encryption key is stored together with the compressed information in the information The encryption key is sent to the second server via the network so as to be recorded on a recording medium.

  In a preferred embodiment, the first server further includes a timer, and the data of the encrypted broadcast program is recorded on the recording drive based on the time of the timer, and after the predetermined time has elapsed, Delete the encrypted broadcast program data in the recording drive.

  According to the present invention, when the video recorder is in the recording reservation state, access from other devices connected to the network is prohibited, so that even if the recording medium is removed from the video recorder, a network failure may occur. Access to the removed recording medium is prohibited. Therefore, it is possible to maintain an appropriate network connection while taking advantage of the fact that the recording medium can be exchanged.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a video server system 300 of the present invention. The video server system 300 includes first servers 11 and 12 and a second server 10. Each of the first servers 11 and 12 and the second server 10 includes an interface connectable to the network 100, and can transmit and receive data to and from each other. In the present embodiment, the video server system 300 includes the first servers 11 and 12, but may include one or more first servers.

  Each of the first servers 11 and 12 functions as a broadcast receiver that receives a broadcast program. The first server 11 includes a tuner 111, a timer 112, and a reservation management unit 113. The tuner 111 selectively receives a broadcast of a designated channel. In this embodiment, the tuner 111 cannot receive two or more broadcasts at the same time. The timer 112 measures time. The reservation management unit 113 manages which channel of the broadcast should be received by the tuner 111. Since the program is specified by the broadcast channel, broadcast date and time, and time, it can be said that the program to be received is managed. This information is called reception reservation setting information, and the reservation manager 113 stores this reception reservation setting information. The reservation management unit 113 refers to the timer 112 and sends a command to the tuner 111 to receive a predetermined program broadcast on the channel specified at the time specified by the reception reservation setting information. The reception reservation setting information may be input from a personal computer provided in the first server 11 or may be input from another device via the network 100.

  In addition, the reservation management unit 113 receives reservation inquiry information from other devices via the network 100. In the present embodiment, the other device is the second server 10. The reservation inquiry information includes data on broadcast programs to be transmitted to other devices via the network 100, that is, information on broadcast channels and broadcast dates and times. When the reservation management unit 113 receives the reservation inquiry information, the reservation management unit 113 refers to the received reception reservation setting information, and the reception reservation is not set at the date and time designated by the reservation inquiry information, and the tuner 111 uses the reservation inquiry information. Reply information indicating whether or not it is possible is sent to another device.

  As with the first server 11, the first server 12 includes a tuner 121, a timer 122, and a reservation management unit 123. These have the same functions as the corresponding elements of the first server 11. The tuner 111 of the first server 11 and the tuner 121 of the first server 12 may receive broadcasts of the same standard or may receive broadcasts of different standards. In addition, when the broadcast is restricted so that it can be viewed only by a user who has contracted or registered with the broadcaster, the tuner 111 and the tuner 121 are based on such contract or registered, A function for canceling the viewing restriction may be added. In the present embodiment, the tuner 111 and the tuner 121 receive the broadcast of the same standard, specifically, the broadcast of the SD (Standard Definition) standard.

  The second server 10 includes a recording drive 4, a timer 2, a reservation management unit 3, and a controller 7, and functions as a video recorder including a recording drive.

  The recording drive 4 is loaded with a replaceable recording medium 1, and information is recorded on the recording medium 1. The recording drive 4 includes, for example, an optical disk drive using an optical disk, a memory drive using a nonvolatile memory, a replaceable hard disk drive having a relatively small storage capacity, and the like. In the present embodiment, an optical disk drive using an optical disk as the recording medium 1 is employed as the recording drive 4.

  Timer 2 measures time. The reservation management unit 3 stores and manages recording reservation information of programs to be recorded in the recording drive 4. In this embodiment, the recording reservation information INF stored in the reservation management unit 3 is recorded in advance on the recording medium 1. However, the recording reservation information INF may be obtained from an EPG that can be used on the Internet or TV broadcasting, or may be input by a user using a remote controller or the like. Moreover, you may input using a personal computer etc. The recording reservation information INF includes a broadcast channel, a recording start time, a recording end time, a bit rate related to the recording image quality (hereinafter referred to as a recording rate), and the like. Here, the recording rate is not the program transfer rate set by the broadcasting station but defines how sharply the user records the program. The recording rate also depends on whether the recording drive 4 and the recording medium 1 support recording at the recording rate and the free space of the recordable recording medium 1.

  The reservation management unit 3 also sends reservation inquiry information TX to the network 100 in order to check whether the broadcast receiver that can use the date and time and the broadcast channel set in the recording reservation information INF is on the network 100. When response information is received from a broadcast receiver connected to the network 100, reception reservation setting information is sent to the broadcast receiver based on the response information.

  The controller 7 controls the interface such as information transmission processing and the recording drive 4, timer 2, and reservation management unit 3. Further, when the information recording medium 1 is loaded in the recording drive 4 and a recording reservation is set, it is prohibited for other devices to access the recording drive 4 via the network 100.

  Next, the operation of the video server system 300 will be described. First, the recording medium 1 is loaded into the recording drive 4 of the second server 10. Recording reservation information INF is recorded on the recording medium 1. After the recording medium 1 is loaded into the recording drive 4, the recording reservation information INF is read from the recording medium 1 and sent to the reservation management unit 3. The reservation management unit 3 generates reservation inquiry information based on the recording reservation information INF and sends the reservation inquiry information TX to the network 100. FIG. 2A shows an example of reservation inquiry information TX. The reservation inquiry information TX includes a broadcast channel (6ch), a recording start time (20:00), a recording end time (20:54), and a recording rate (8 Mbps). In FIG. 2A, date information is not shown for simplification, but the recording start time and recording end time also include information related to the date. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the recording rate specified in the reservation inquiry information TX is equal to the broadcast transfer rate received by the first servers 11 and 12.

  The reservation inquiry information sent to the network 100 is received by the first server 111 and the second server 12. The reservation management unit 113 of the first server 11 and the reservation management unit 123 of the first server refer to the reception reservation setting information stored therein, respectively, at the date and time designated by the reservation inquiry information TX, Reply information AS1 and AS2 indicating whether or not 121 is available is sent to the second server 10 via the network 100. FIG. 2B schematically shows an example of the answer information AS1 and AS2. For example, the tuner 111 of the first server 11 can be used from 19:00 to 20:35 at the date and time specified by the reservation inquiry information TX, and the tuner 123 of the first server 12 is 20:10. To 21:10 is available. Outside of these time zones, the tuner 111 of the first server 11 and the tuner 121 of the first server 12 cannot be used.

  The reservation management unit 3 of the second server 10 receives the response information AS1 and AS2, and determines the reception reservation setting information TX1 and TX2 based on the response information AS1 and AS2. Then, the reception reservation setting information TX1 and TX2 are sent to the first server 11 and the first server 12 via the network 100. For example, as shown in FIG. 2 (c), the reception reservation setting information TX1 receives 6ch broadcast from 20:00 to 20:30, and receives the received information to the second server 10 at a transfer rate of 8 Mbps. Information for operating the first server 11 to be transmitted is included. The reception reservation setting information TX2 is a setting value for operating the first server 12 to receive 6ch broadcast from 20:30 to 20:54 and send it to the second server 10 at an image rate of 8 Mbps. Is included. The recording reservation to the recording drive 4 is completed by sending the reception reservation setting information TX1 and TX2.

  The reception reservation setting information can be determined based on the response information using various rules. For example, when there are a plurality of servers that can be used at the date and time specified by the reservation inquiry information TX, the reception reservation setting information may be determined so that the number of servers to be used is as small as possible. As the number of servers to be used is smaller, the number of occupied servers can be reduced. Further, when there are a plurality of servers that can be used at the date and time specified by the reservation inquiry information TX, the reception reservation setting information may be determined so that as many servers as possible are used. In this case, the load on the servers is distributed by using many servers. Network traffic is also distributed.

  When the information recording medium 1 is loaded in the recording drive 4 and the recording reservation by the reservation management unit 3 is completed, the controller 7 prohibits other devices from accessing the recording drive 4 via the network 100. For example, a method of automatically setting the property of the recording drive 4 to be accessed to “reproduction only” can be considered. More specifically, a predetermined flag bit in the ID header portion of the recording drive 4 is changed, and a flag for prohibiting access to the recording drive 4 is set as shown in FIG.

  As a result, as shown in FIG. 3, when the reception reservation is performed using the first server 12 and the recording destination of the received program is designated from the first server 12 (so-called tuner-linked reservation). The recording drive 4 of the second server 10 cannot be designated as the recording destination. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a program recorded by a third party from being recorded on the recording medium 1. In addition, when the recording medium 1 is removed, it is possible to prevent a failure of the network 100 from occurring by cutting off access from other devices to the recording drive 4 of the second server 10.

  Prohibition of access to the recording drive 4 may be performed, for example, by designating the recording drive 4 or the entire second server 10 as an area that can be used only by an administrator.

  The user of the second server 10 can take out the optical disc 1 from the second server 10. However, since the removal of the optical disc 1 is based on the user's intention, the network is not disconnected unexpectedly, but the user intentionally cancels the reservation. Unlike AV networks such as video server systems, users of servers such as video recorders connected to the network tend to be fixed, unlike personal computer networks. For this reason, it is considered that the frequency with which the recording medium 1 loaded in the second server 10 is intentionally ejected by a third party is small.

  As shown in FIG. 4, at the time of recording reservation (20:00), in the first server 11, the tuner 111 receives a 6ch broadcast according to the reception reservation setting information TX1 stored in the reservation management unit 3. The program data DT1 is sent to the second server 10 via the network 100. In the second server 10, the recording drive 4 records the program data DT1 in accordance with the recording reservation information stored in the reservation management unit 113. When the end time specified in the reception reservation setting information TX1 is reached, the tuner 111 of the first server 11 stops receiving the 6ch broadcast. Subsequently, in the first server 12, the tuner 121 receives the 6-channel broadcast according to the reception reservation setting information TX 2 stored in the reservation management unit 123, and the program data DT 2 is received via the network 100 as the second server 10. To send. In the second server 10, the recording drive 4 continues to record the received program data DT2. The program data DT1 and DT2 are recorded integrally on the information recording medium 1 of the recording drive 4 as DT. When the recording is completed, the recording reservation information INF stored in the reservation management unit 3 of the second server 10 is deleted. Accordingly, the controller 7 cancels the prohibition of access to the recording drive 4.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, a program can be recorded using a broadcast receiver connected via a network to a video recorder provided with a recording drive for recording on an exchangeable recording medium. Can do. Also, when the video recorder is in the recording reservation state, access from other devices connected to the network is prohibited, so even if the recording medium is removed from the video recorder, the removed recording will cause a network failure. Access to the media is prohibited. Therefore, it is possible to maintain an appropriate network connection while taking advantage of the fact that the recording medium can be exchanged.

  In the present embodiment, the second server 10 does not include a tuner, but the second server 10 may include a tuner. In this case, when the tuner of the second server 10 satisfies the conditions specified by the recording reservation information, the second server 10 can perform recording using the tuner of the second server 10. . Further, as described above, by prohibiting access from other devices, a network failure or the like can be prevented.

(Second Embodiment)
In the first embodiment, the recording rate of the program recorded by the user on the recording drive 4 matches the transfer rate of the program. In the video server system of the present embodiment, a program can be recorded on a recording drive at a bit rate lower than the transfer rate of a broadcast program to be received, and the program can be viewed at the original transfer rate as necessary. For example, when a program is broadcast in the HD (High Definition) standard and the recording drive 4 supports only the SD standard and does not support the HD standard, or the recording drive 4 supports the HD standard. The present embodiment can be suitably used when recording at a bit rate lower than that of the HD standard for reasons such as recording for a long time.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the video server system according to the present invention. The video server system 310 includes a first server 13 and a second server 10, and the first server 13 and the second server 10 are connected via a network 100. Although the first server 12 is shown in FIG. 5, the first server 12 is not used in the present embodiment.

  The first server 13 includes a tuner 111, a timer 112, a reservation management unit 113, a compression unit 132, an encryption unit 133, and a recording drive 134. In the present embodiment, the tuner 111 receives HD standard broadcasts. The timer 112 and the reservation management unit 113 function in the same manner as the timer 112 and the reservation management unit 113 of the first embodiment.

  The compression unit 132 compresses the program data received by the tuner 111 so that the recording rate specified by the reception reservation setting information TX1 stored in the reservation management unit 113 is obtained. In this embodiment, the HD standard program data is converted (down-converted) into SD standard program data by a re-encoding method. More specifically, the compression unit 132 first decodes the received HD standard program data into uncompressed information. Next, the decoded information is encoded with a higher compression rate and encoded into SD standard information. The compression unit 132 may convert the information using another method or algorithm as long as the information is converted so as to reduce the information amount. For example, the standard of the program to be received and the reception reservation setting information are the same standard, but the compression unit 132 may transcode the program data so that only the bit rate is reduced.

  The encryption unit 133 generates a predetermined encryption key X and sends the encryption key X to the second server 10 via the network 100. Further, the program data received by the tuner 111 is encrypted with the encryption key X, and the encrypted information is sent to the recording drive 134. Here, the encryption key X does not mean a key (for example, CPRM, Content Protection for Recordable Media) added in advance by a broadcaster or a content provider. The encryption key X is negotiated and used only between the first server 13 and the second server 10 as described below. The encryption key X can be generated by various methods. For example, the encryption unit 133 may generate a random number as the encryption key X. The encryption key X may be generated based on information such as date and time. Alternatively, the first few bits of the broadcast program data having received the encryption key X may be used. Alternatively, the encryption in the encryption unit 133 may be scrambled based on an appropriate encryption key X. Further, it may be compliant with DES (Data Encryption Standard) or AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) standards.

  The recording drive 134 is configured by a recording device having a large capacity such as a hard disk drive.

  The first server 13 preferably further includes a decryption unit 136. The composite unit 136 decrypts the encrypted information using the encryption key X.

  Next, the operation of the video server system 310 will be described. In the video server system 310, the procedure for making a recording reservation is the same as in the first embodiment. When the reserved recording time comes, first, in the first server 13, the tuner 111 receives the broadcast program according to the reception reservation setting information. Since the transfer rate of the broadcast received by the tuner 111 is larger than the transfer rate specified by the reception reservation setting information, it is not sent directly to the network 100 but sent to the compression unit 132. The compression unit 132 compresses the received broadcast information so as to have an image quality rate specified by the reception reservation setting information, and sends the compressed broadcast program data DTX to the second server 10 via the network 100. Is done.

  The encryption unit 133 generates a predetermined encryption key X and sends it to the second server 10 via the network 100. Further, the data of the uncompressed program received from the tuner 111 is encrypted using the encryption key X. The recording drive 134 records the encrypted program data STX.

  The second server 10 records the encryption key X and the compressed broadcast program data DTX on the recording medium 1. Thereby, the reserved recording is completed. As shown in FIG. 5, program data DTX recorded at a rate lower than the broadcast standard transfer rate is recorded on the recording medium 1. In addition, program data STX is recorded on the recording drive 134 of the first server 13 at the same transfer rate as the broadcast standard, that is, at a high rate. However, the program data STX is encrypted using the encryption key X, and the encryption key X is recorded only on the recording medium 1 of the second server 10. For this reason, the program data STX recorded in the first server 13 cannot be viewed. That is, in the video server 310, only the second server 10 records the received program in a viewable state.

  As described in the first embodiment, the recording medium 1 is an exchangeable medium. Therefore, the recording medium 1 on which the program data DTX is recorded is taken out from the recording drive 4 and the recording medium 1 is loaded into another device. Then, it is possible to reproduce the program data DTX recorded using a place different from the second server 10 or using another device not connected to the network 100.

  When viewing a recorded program with high bit rate image quality at the time of broadcasting, the controller 3 sends the encryption key X from the second server 10 to the first server 13 via the network 100. The recording medium 1 may be sent to the first server 13 via the network 100 from another device having a drive corresponding to the recording medium 1. After sending the encryption key X, the controller 7 sends a command DEL for deleting the encryption key X and the program data DTX to the recording drive 4. As a result, the encryption key X and the program data DTX recorded on the recording medium 1 are erased. Note that the encryption key X and the program data DTX may be erased so that the encryption key X and the program data DTX cannot be read from the recording medium 1.

  In the first server 13, the decryption unit 136 decrypts the program data STX encrypted using the received encryption key X, and generates program data STX ′. The generated program data STX 'can be sent to other devices via the network 100 and the program data STX' can be viewed. Alternatively, the program data STX ′ may be recorded on the recording drive 134. The encrypted program data STX is erased after the program data STX 'is generated, whether it is sent to the network 100 or recorded to the recording drive 134. As a result, the program data STX 'can be reproduced and viewed with a high bit rate image quality during broadcasting of the recorded program. At this time, the program data DTX recorded on the recording medium 1 has been deleted, and the program data DTX cannot be reproduced and viewed.

  Thus, in the video server system 310, two or more received broadcast programs are not recorded in a viewable state. That is, the broadcast program is not copied. Therefore, appropriate copy management can be performed in the video server system 310.

  As described above, every time a broadcast program is recorded on the second server 10 in the video server system 310, encrypted program data is recorded and stored in the recording drive 134 of the first server 13. The For this reason, the recordable capacity of the recording drive 134 is reduced. If this becomes a problem, the encrypted information STX may be deleted after a predetermined time has elapsed using the timer 112. The time until the information STX is deleted is determined in consideration of various conditions such as the usage status of the user and the capacity of the recording drive. For example, if the encrypted program data is recorded in the recording drive 134 and a few weeks have passed, the decryption into the original information STX ′ using the encryption key X as described above is not possible. It is considered that the user's purpose has been achieved by recording the program on the medium 1. In this case, the encrypted program data STX may be deleted based on the timing of the timer 112. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the capacity of the recording drive 134 from being reduced.

  The present invention can be recorded on an exchangeable recording medium such as an optical disk, and is suitably used for various recorders that can be connected to a network. Further, the present invention is suitably used for a home AV server to which such a recorder and a broadcast tuner are connected and a server system using the home AV server.

It is a block diagram which shows 1st Embodiment of the video server system by this invention. (A) to (c) is a diagram for explaining information used for recording reservation. It is a schematic diagram explaining the operation | movement which prohibits the access to the recording drive of a 2nd server. In the video server system of 1st Embodiment, the flow of the program data at the time of reception is shown. It is a block diagram which shows 2nd Embodiment of the video server system by this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Information recording medium 2,112,121 Timer 3,113,123 Reservation management part 4,134 Recording drive 7 Controller 10 2nd server 11,12,13 1st server 111,121 Tuner 132 Compression part 133 Encryption part 136 Decryption unit

Claims (8)

A video recorder connectable to a network,
A reservation management unit for managing recording reservation information of broadcast programs;
A recording drive for recording on an exchangeable information recording medium, the recording drive for recording data of the broadcast program on the information recording medium;
A controller for controlling the reservation management unit and the recording drive;
With
When the information recording medium is loaded in the recording drive and the recording drive is set to record the data of the broadcast program, the controller sends another data to the recording drive via a network. A video recorder that prohibits devices from accessing.   The reservation management unit sends reservation inquiry information based on the recording reservation information to one or more broadcast receivers connected to the network, and receives response information about whether the broadcast program is receivable from the broadcast receiver. The video recorder according to claim 1, wherein reception reservation setting information related to a broadcast to be received by the broadcast receiver is determined based on the answer information, and the reception reservation setting information is transmitted to the broadcast receiver.   3. The video recorder according to claim 2, wherein the recording reservation information is recorded in advance on an information recording medium, and the recording drive reads out the reservation information of the information recording medium and sends it to the reservation management unit.   The video recorder according to claim 1, wherein the information recording medium is an optical disk. One or more first servers comprising a tuner for receiving broadcasts and a reservation management unit for making reservations for receiving broadcast programs;
A second server comprising a video recorder as defined in claim 2 or 3 connected to said first server by a network;
Including video server system. The first server further includes a compression unit that compresses data of the broadcast program,
When the recording rate of the previous broadcast program included in the reception reservation setting information transmitted by the second server is lower than the transfer rate of the broadcast program received by the tuner of the first server, the first server 6. The video server system according to claim 5, wherein the data of the broadcast program is compressed and transmitted to the network so that the image quality rate of the program becomes the image quality rate of the reception reservation setting information. The first server is
A recording drive for recording a broadcast program received by the tuner;
An encryption unit that generates an encryption key and encrypts the data of the broadcast program using the encryption key;
Further comprising
When the recording rate of the previous broadcast program included in the reception reservation setting information transmitted by the second server is lower than the transfer rate of the previous broadcast program that can be received by the tuner of the first server, the first server The broadcast program data is encrypted using the encryption key, the encrypted broadcast program data is recorded on the recording drive, and the encryption key is recorded on the information recording medium together with the compressed information. The video server system according to claim 6, wherein the encryption key is transmitted to the second server via the network.   The first server further includes a timer, and based on the time of the timer, the encrypted broadcast program data is recorded on the recording drive, and then the recording drive is encrypted after a predetermined time has elapsed. 8. The video server system according to claim 7, wherein data of the broadcast program is deleted.

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