JP2005347991A - Hard disk recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a hard disk recorder capable of completely deleting a program recorded on a hard disk and ensuring the security of the recorded program. <P>SOLUTION: The hard disk recorder is provided with: a program information tentative delete means for executing tentative delete processing for bringing an area on which program information of a program subjected to a tentative delete operation is recorded to an overwrite enabled state; and a program information complete delete means capable of setting a time for starting complete delete processing of initializing an area on which program information of a program subjected to complete information operation is recorded, and brings the area subjected to the complete delete operation by a user to an overwrite enabled state before a deletion start time, and deletes all of the program information recorded in the area in a way of excluding the areas having already been overwritten when the delete start time comes. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a hard disk recorder that receives a television broadcast signal, records it as digital data on a hard disk, and reads the digital data from the hard disk to reproduce the television broadcast signal.

  Conventionally, VTRs (video tape recorders) have been mainstream as recording / playback apparatuses for receiving and broadcasting TV broadcast signals and the like. Recently, however, large-capacity hard disks can be manufactured relatively inexpensively. Along with this, hard disk recorders incorporating this have been put into practical use. A hard disk recorder is a device that digitizes a received signal such as a television broadcast signal and records it on a hard disk, and reads out and reproduces the recorded video signal from the hard disk.

  VTRs record analog signals on videotapes, and therefore have the disadvantages of poor image quality and very difficult editing operations. However, hard disk recorders record digital signals on a hard disk, which degrades image quality and the like. There is an advantage that editing work can be performed freely. Also, in a hard disk recorder, when a user plays a desired program, the user can easily display the desired program by displaying a program list indicating program information recorded in the hard disk and selecting the desired program from the list. Can be played.

  On the other hand, even though the recording capacity of the hard disk has been increased, the capacity is limited, so the user can delete the already recorded program in order to secure the required capacity for recording the desired program. There is a need to. In addition, since the recording of a program requires a relatively large capacity (for example, several GB), the user frequently performs a deletion operation. For example, a hard disk having a capacity of 80 GB can record about 40 hours of programs, but in order to record more programs, the recorded programs must be deleted.

  Generally, in a hard disk recorder, when a user deletes a desired program, a program list indicating program information recorded in the hard disk is displayed, a desired program is selected from the list, and deletion setting is performed. The area where the program is recorded can be overwritten.

  In addition, as described above, a hard disk recorder has also been proposed in which a user can easily perform a deletion operation and secure a capacity for new recording without displaying a program list for deleting a recorded program. (For example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-228688 basically records when a TV broadcast signal is received, and terminates the recorded program when the user is watching the program at the same time as recording the program. A hard disk recorder that is sometimes deleted is disclosed. Patent Document 2 discloses a hard disk recorder that can issue a delete instruction for a program recorded on the hard disk when the program is being reproduced.
JP-A-10-188533 JP 2002-222101 A

  By the way, in the conventional hard disk recorder including the above-mentioned prior application technique, an existing recorded program is deleted in order to record a new program. The “deletion” here is a so-called overwritable state. This means that the recorded data (table of contents information and content information) is not completely erased. In other words, it takes a considerable amount of time to completely erase the recorded data, and there is a risk that the processing load will be reduced due to a heavy load on the CPU, and a new program will be overwritten in that area. Therefore, the data is not completely erased.

  Therefore, in the conventional hard disk recorder, even if a program deletion operation is performed, it is only deleted from the program list, and the data itself (content information) is not deleted, so it is deleted until the area is overwritten. It is also possible to return and replay the program. For example, Patent Document 2 clearly states that a deleted program can be restored as a deleted program restoration operation.

  On the other hand, if the hard disk recorder is used by only one person, if it is used by more than one person or if it is in the hands of others, it should not be played by others. There is also a possibility. For example, in the case of a personally recorded program (for example, a meeting scenery) instead of a television program, it may be inconvenient if it is played by another person.

  However, since the conventional hard disk recorder is not configured to meet such a demand, there is a risk that important data may be leaked to the outside, and it cannot be said that it is safe in terms of security.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a hard disk recorder capable of completely erasing a program recorded on a hard disk and ensuring the security of the recorded program.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and a program comprising digitized video signals inputted from the outside and including table of contents information including program title, broadcast date and time, channel, etc. and program content information Recording means for recording information on the hard disk, reproducing means for reading out the recorded program information from the hard disk and reproducing it, recorded program list display means for displaying the table of contents information of the program recorded on the hard disk in a list format, and the program In a hard disk recorder provided with program information deletion means for deleting information based on a user's deletion operation, the program information deletion means can overwrite an area in which program information of a program that has been temporarily deleted by a user is recorded A table of table of contents information of the program by the recorded program list display means. Program information temporary deletion means for executing temporary deletion processing for non-display, and program information complete deletion means for executing complete deletion processing for initializing an area in which program information of a program that has been completely deleted by a user is recorded And so on. That is, when the user performs a complete deletion operation of the program, all the information related to the program is deleted and cannot be restored and played back.

  Further, the program information complete deletion means is configured to be able to set a time for starting the complete deletion process, and before the deletion start time, overwrites the area where the program information of the program for which the user has performed the complete deletion operation is recorded. The display of the table of contents information of the program by the recorded program list display means is not displayed and the area to be deleted is determined so as to exclude the already overwritten area when the deletion start time is reached. Later, all program information recorded in the area was deleted. In other words, if the area corresponding to the program information to be completely deleted is determined as the area to be completely deleted in advance, the program that has already been overwritten before the complete deletion processing is started after the user completes the complete deletion operation. Was also a target of complete deletion processing, so this problem was resolved.

  Further, the program information complete deletion means executes the complete deletion process when the processing by the recording means and the reproduction means is not performed. Since the complete deletion process according to the present invention requires a relatively large processing capability, if this complete deletion process is executed in parallel while the recording or reproduction process is being executed, a great burden is placed on the CPU. As a result, frames may be dropped and the recording / playback process may be hindered. Further, if the complete deletion process is executed during recording / reprocessing, the head of the hard disk moves violently, causing the hard disk to break. Therefore, the complete deletion process is automatically executed avoiding the recording / playback process.

  And a deleted program storage means for storing the table of contents information of the program deleted by the program information temporary deletion means, and a deleted program list display means for displaying the table of contents information of the program stored in the deleted program storage means. The complete deletion process can be executed after the temporary deletion process.

  According to the present invention, the hard disk recorder includes program information complete deletion means for executing complete deletion processing for initializing an area in which program information of a program that has been completely deleted by the user is recorded. Since the information can be completely deleted, the deleted program information is not restored and reproduced by another person, and the security of the program information which is not necessary to be leaked can be sufficiently ensured.

  DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a hard disk recorder according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, a hard disk recorder 100 is a block surrounded by a broken line.

  The hard disk recorder 100 according to the present embodiment extracts a TV broadcast signal of a desired channel from a TV broadcast signal of a plurality of broadcast stations input from an antenna 31 and a main control unit 11 that controls the entire hard disk recorder 100, and a video signal ( Tuner 12 for outputting as a video signal and an audio signal), and an A / D converter 13 for converting a video signal taken out by tuner 12 or a video signal input from another AV device via an external input terminal into a digital signal. A compression processing unit 14 that encodes a digital signal input from the A / D converter 13 to generate digital data, and a hard disk that records the digital data encoded by the compression processing unit 14 as recorded program data (HDD) 17 and reading the digital data recorded on HDD 17 A decompression processing unit 15 that composites and generates an original digital signal, a D / A converter 18 that converts the decoded digital signal into an analog video signal and outputs the analog video signal to an external device such as a TV monitor, and a front panel (FIG. (Not shown), various operation switches 19 for performing channel setting and the like, a remote control light receiving unit 20 for receiving an optical signal (operation signal) from a remote control device 21 for performing channel setting and the like and converting it into an electric signal, and liquid crystal The display unit 22 includes a display, an LED lamp, and the like, and displays the operation content from the remote control device 21 or the operation switch 19. In the hard disk recorder 100 of the present embodiment, the sub-control unit 16 that controls only the operations of the compression processing unit 14 and the decompression processing unit 15 is provided to reduce the burden on the main control unit 11.

  In addition, the control unit 11 controls each unit and performs predetermined calculations to control the operation of the hard disk recorder 100, a RAM 112 that is used as a working memory of the CPU 111 and stores information about programs recorded in the HDD 17, and the like. And a ROM 113 in which a control program executed by the CPU 111 is recorded.

  When recording a program in the hard disk recorder 100 as described above, a recording command is transmitted from the operation switch 19 or the remote control light receiving unit 20 to the main control unit 11 based on a recording operation by the user, and the main control unit 11 performs the recording. Execute control procedures for processing. Thereby, the TV broadcast signal input from the outside is digitized and recorded in the HDD 17. At this time, the recorded program information includes table of contents information including information such as a program title, broadcast date and time, and channel, and program content information.

  On the other hand, when the program recorded on the HDD 17 is reproduced, the main control unit 11 as the recorded program list display means displays the table of contents information of the program recorded on the HDD 17 on the screen of the TV monitor, and the user selects the program. Based on the reproduction operation, a reproduction command is transmitted from the operation switch 19 or the remote control light receiving unit 20 to the main control unit 11, and the main control unit 11 executes a control procedure for the reproduction process. As a result, the content information of the program recorded in the HDD 17 is read out by the main control unit 11, and the reproduced video is displayed on the TV monitor. The above basic operation is the same as that of a conventional hard disk recorder.

  When the program information recorded in the HDD 17 is deleted, the main control unit 11 as a recorded program list display means displays the table of contents information of the program recorded in the HDD 17 on the screen of the TV monitor so that the program by the user is displayed. Based on the selection / deletion operation, a reproduction command is transmitted from the operation switch 19 or the remote control light receiving unit 20 to the main control unit 11, and the main control unit 11 as program information deletion means executes a control procedure for the deletion process.

  Here, in the hard disk recorder of the present embodiment, when the program is temporarily deleted by the user, the area where the program information of the program is recorded can be overwritten, and the recorded program list display means Not only can the temporary deletion processing to hide the display of the table of contents information of the program, but also the complete deletion processing to initialize the area where the program information of the program is recorded when the user performs a complete deletion operation of the program. Is different from the conventional hard disk recorder in that it is executable. That is, the program information deleting unit includes a program information temporary deleting unit and a program information complete deleting unit.

  2 is a conceptual diagram showing a storage state of program information (table of contents information and content information) recorded in the HDD 17 and a storage state of program information after temporary deletion processing, and FIG. 3 is a storage state of the program information recorded in the HDD 17. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the storage state of the program information after a complete deletion process.

  As shown in FIG. 2A, when program information composed of table of contents information (A.txt ..) and content information (0x00-0x0F ..) is recorded in the HDD 17, temporary deletion processing is executed. As shown in FIG. 2B, the table of contents information is erased, but the content information is not erased and remains as it is. However, since the area where the content information is recorded is overwritten, even if the content information of the program remains, it is recorded in that area when a new program is recorded. That is, the deletion process in the conventional hard disk recorder corresponds to this temporary deletion process. On the other hand, when the complete deletion process is executed, both the table of contents information and the content information are erased and initialized as shown in FIG. As described above, when the complete deletion process is executed, all the content information is also deleted, so that the deleted program information cannot be recovered and reproduced.

The program information deletion process in the hard disk recorder of this embodiment will be specifically described below.
(Example 1)
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the deletion process executed by the main control unit 11 as program information deletion means, in which the user can specify the time for executing the complete deletion process by himself. FIG. 5 is an example of a display screen on the TV monitor when the deletion process is performed according to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, when deleting the program information recorded on the HDD 17, the table of contents information of the program recorded on the HDD 17 is displayed on the TV monitor screen by the recorded program list display means (FIG. 5A). In FIG. 5A, the program title, broadcast date, and channel in the table of contents information are displayed in a list format. On the display screen D1 in FIG. 5A, the user can start the deletion process by operating the delete button DB in accordance with the program for deleting the cursor C.

  When the deletion process is started, first, a deletion confirmation message is displayed in step S101 of FIG. At this time, a screen D2 shown in FIG. 5B is displayed on the TV monitor. When the “Yes” button YB is operated on the screen D2 in FIG. 5B, the complete deletion process is executed, and when the “No” button NB is operated, the temporary deletion process is executed.

  If it is determined in step S102 in FIG. 4 that the deletion process by the user is a complete deletion process, the process proceeds to step S103 to execute a temporary deletion process, overwriting the area where the program information of the program to be deleted is recorded. At the same time, the table of contents information is deleted so that the table of contents information of the program is not displayed by the recorded program list display means.

  Next, in step S104, the time for executing the complete deletion process is set. At this time, the screen D3 in FIG. 5C is displayed on the TV monitor. In the screen of FIG. 5 (c), the user selects the time after which the complete deletion process is to be executed or the time when the complete deletion process is to be executed by the radio button RB, and inputs the time for executing the complete deletion process. Then, by operating the setting button SB, a deletion time for executing the complete process deletion process is set. For example, the user can cause the complete deletion process to be executed without hindering the recording / playback process by designating a time predicted to not use the hard disk recorder. In addition, by designating that 0 hour has elapsed, the complete deletion process can be executed immediately.

  Next, the process of step S105 of FIG. 4 is repeated until the deletion designated time is reached, and when the deletion designated time is reached, the deletion area is determined in step S106. At this time, the deletion area is determined so as to exclude the area that has already been overwritten before the deletion designated time comes. In step S107, all data in the confirmed deletion area is erased and initialized, and the deletion process ends.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S102 in FIG. 4 that the deletion process by the user is a temporary deletion process, it is determined in step S108 whether security of the program information to be deleted is unnecessary. At this time, the screen D4 in FIG. 5D is displayed on the TV monitor. When the “Yes” button YB is operated on the screen D4 in FIG. 5D, the security of the program information is unnecessary, so the temporary deletion process is executed in Step S109 in FIG. 4, and the “No” button NB is operated. If this is the case, the security of the program information is necessary, so to confirm with the user again, the process returns to step S101 in FIG. 4 to display a deletion confirmation message.

  Here, after deleting the table of contents information of the program designated for temporary deletion in step S109, the table of contents information of the deleted program is backed up to another area as a deleted program until the content information of the program is completely overwritten. You may keep it. Then, the list of deleted programs backed up is displayed on the TV monitor (deleted program list display means) so that the program information that has been temporarily deleted can be completely deleted again in the same manner as the deletion processing of the recorded program. Good.

As described above, the hard disk recorder according to the present embodiment includes program information complete deletion means for executing complete deletion processing for initializing an area in which program information of a program that has been completely deleted by the user is recorded. Can completely delete the desired program information, so that the deleted program information cannot be recovered and played back by others, and the security of the program information that would not be leaked can be sufficiently guaranteed. . Also, when executing the complete deletion process, the temporary deletion process is performed for the time being, and when the deletion start time is reached, the area to be deleted is determined so as to exclude the area that has already been overwritten, and then recorded in that area. Since all the program information is deleted, the area corresponding to the program information to be completely deleted is determined as the area to be completely deleted in advance, so that the complete deletion operation is performed after the user performs the complete deletion operation. There is no problem that a program overwritten in the area before the processing is started is also a target of complete deletion processing and is deleted.
(Example 2)
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing another example of the deletion process executed by the main control unit 11 as program information deletion means, in which the hard disk recorder automatically executes the complete deletion process.

  In this embodiment, the complete deletion process is not executed at the time designated by the user as in the first embodiment, but is automatically performed when the original process of the hard disk recorder such as the recording / playback process is not hindered. The complete deletion process is executed. That is, in step S204, it is determined whether the recording / reproducing process is being performed in the hard disk recorder. If the recording / reproducing process is not being performed, the complete deletion process is executed. Steps S201 to S203 and S205 to S208 are the same as steps S101 to S103 and S206 to S209 of FIG.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the complete deletion process is automatically executed when the recording / reproduction process is not performed, so that the complete deletion process does not interfere with the recording / reproduction process. In addition, since the complete deletion process is executed when it is determined that the recording / playback process has not been automatically performed, the user setting is also easy.

  It should be noted that the complete deletion process does not end instantaneously, and is often a process that requires several minutes to several hours, for example. Therefore, although not shown in the flowchart of FIG. 6, when the recording / playback process is started when the complete deletion process is being executed, the complete deletion process is temporarily interrupted, and the recording / playback process ends. Then, it is desirable to control to resume.

  As mentioned above, although the invention made by this inventor was concretely demonstrated based on embodiment, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, It can change in the range which does not deviate from the summary. For example, it is configured so that both the complete deletion process shown in the first and second embodiments can be realized, and the user can select whether to set the deletion time by himself or to automatically execute the complete deletion process. Also good.

1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a hard disk recorder according to the present invention. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the storage state of the program information recorded on HDD17, and the storage state of the program information after temporary deletion processing. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the storage state of the program information recorded on HDD17, and the storage state of the program information after a complete deletion process. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the deletion process performed in the main control part 11 as a program information deletion means. FIG. 5 is an example of a display screen on a TV monitor when performing deletion processing according to the flowchart of FIG. 4. FIG. It is a flowchart which shows another example of the deletion process performed in the main control part 11 as a program information deletion means.

Explanation of symbols

11 Main control unit 111 CPU
112 RAM
113 ROM
12 Tuner 13 A / D Converter 14 Compression Processing Unit 15 Decompression Processing Unit 16 Sub Control Unit 17 Hard Disk (HDD)
18 D / A converter 19 Operation switch 20 Remote control light receiving unit 21 Remote control 22 Display unit 31 Antenna 100 Hard disk recorder

Claims (5)

Recording means for digitizing a video signal inputted from the outside to record program information consisting of table of contents information including program title, broadcast date and time, channel, etc. and program content information on the hard disk, and recorded program information from the hard disk Reproduction means for reading and reproducing, recorded program list display means for displaying the table of contents information of the program recorded on the hard disk in a list format, and program information deletion means for deleting the program information based on a user deletion operation In a hard disk recorder
The program information deleting unit sets an area in which program information of a program for which a temporary deletion operation has been performed by a user is recorded to be overwritable, and hides display of the table of contents information of the program by the recorded program list display unit. Program information temporary deletion means for executing temporary deletion processing, and program information complete deletion means for executing complete deletion processing for initializing an area in which program information of a program that has been completely deleted by a user is recorded. Prepared,
The program information complete deletion means can set a time for starting the complete deletion process, and is configured to execute the complete deletion process when the processing by the recording means and the reproduction means is not performed. Indicates that the area in which the program information of the program that has been completely deleted by the user is recorded can be overwritten, the display of the table of contents information of the program by the recorded program list display means is not displayed, and the deletion start time After confirming the area to be deleted so as to exclude the area that has already been overwritten, delete all the program information recorded in the area,
And a deleted program storage means for storing the table of contents information of the program deleted by the program information temporary deletion means, and a deleted program list display means for displaying the table of contents information of the program stored in the deleted program storage means. A hard disk recorder characterized in that the complete deletion process can be executed after the temporary deletion process. Recording means for digitizing a video signal inputted from the outside to record program information consisting of table of contents information including program title, broadcast date and time, channel, etc. and program content information on the hard disk, and recorded program information from the hard disk Reproduction means for reading and reproducing, recorded program list display means for displaying the table of contents information of the program recorded on the hard disk in a list format, and program information deletion means for deleting the program information based on a user deletion operation In a hard disk recorder
The program information deleting means includes
A temporary deletion process is executed in which an area in which program information of a program that has been temporarily deleted by the user is recorded is overwritten and the display of the table of contents information of the program by the recorded program list display means is not displayed. Program information temporary deletion means,
Program information complete deletion means for executing complete deletion processing for initializing an area in which program information of a program that has been completely deleted by the user is recorded;
A hard disk recorder comprising: The program information complete deletion means is configured to be able to set a time for starting a complete deletion process,
Before the deletion start time, an area in which program information of a program that has been completely deleted by the user is recorded can be overwritten, and the display of the table of contents information of the program by the recorded program list display means is not displayed. ,
3. The program information recorded in the area is deleted after determining an area to be deleted so as to exclude an already overwritten area when the deletion start time is reached. Hard disk recorder.   4. The hard disk recorder according to claim 3, wherein the program information complete deletion unit executes a complete deletion process when processing by the recording unit and the reproduction unit is not performed. Deleted program storage means for storing table of contents information of the program deleted by the program information temporary deletion means;
Deleted program list display means for displaying table of contents information of programs stored in the deleted program storage means,
5. The hard disk recorder according to claim 2, wherein the complete deletion process can be executed after the temporary deletion process.

Images