JP2006041970A - Recording reproduction device and recording reproduction processing program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a recording reproduction device for setting a viewing and listening environment at reproduction automatically. <P>SOLUTION: A server 200 collects operation information for each recording program from a recording reproduction device 100. Operation collection data for representing a section in which each user's operation is overlapped, and a weight value W equivalent to the number of users (frequency) overlapped in the section are generated for each recording program. In the recording reproduction device 100 to which the operation collection data for each recording program are downloaded from the server 200 when the recording data RD of a non-listened recording program are reproduced in a normal reproduction mode and the operation collection data of the recording program has already downloaded, a position(position on a reproduction time axis) to be considered where the user makes fast forward operation is forecast by referring the operation collection data if the fast forward operation is carried out during the reproduction, and skip viewing (fast forward reproduction) up to the position is carried out automatically. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording / playback apparatus and a recording / playback processing program suitable for use in a video server, a video recorder or the like provided with a non-linear accessible recording medium.

  2. Description of the Related Art A recording / playback apparatus that records, for example, a TV program and plays back / views using a non-linear accessible recording medium such as a RAID including a plurality of hard disks, video disks, or hard disk drives is known. As this type of device, for example, in Patent Document 1, automatic recording setting information is generated based on operation history information obtained by accumulating user operation history for each day of the week, and a user-preferred television program is estimated in accordance therewith. A recording / reproducing apparatus that automatically records images is disclosed.

Japanese Patent Publication No. 2002-15639

By the way, the apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 estimates a user-preferred program from a user's operation history and automatically records the program. However, when the recorded program is reproduced and viewed, for example, CM In many cases, the user performs various setting operations so as to obtain a desired viewing environment, such as fast-forwarding a part and playing it.
In particular, when a program that repeatedly broadcasts the same scene before and after the CM is recorded and played back and viewed, not only the CM part but also the redundant part where the same scene overlaps before and after the CM is fast-forwarded and played back. However, when playing and watching for the first time after recording, it is unclear which part of the program has such a redundant part, so every time a redundant part appears during playback and viewing, There is a problem that the operation of “seeing” must be performed and the operation is troublesome.

  Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and provides a recording / reproducing apparatus and a recording / reproducing processing program capable of automatically setting a viewing environment when a recorded program is reproduced and viewed. It is aimed.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, operation information representing user operations when playing a recorded program is collected from a plurality of users and aggregated for each recorded program, and the period of each user operation overlaps. Depending on the operation total data generating means for generating the operation total data representing the time interval to be recorded and the weight value corresponding to the number of users duplicated in the time interval for each recorded program, and the fast-forward operation performed at the time of the first playback of the recorded program From the operation total data for each recorded program generated by the operation total data generation means, search means for searching for operation total data of the recorded program to be reproduced for the first time, and the operation total data searched by the search means Reproduction control means for predicting a fast-forward end point that is less than or equal to the weight value of the time interval including the fast-forward start point and that decreases in weight value, and fast-forwarding to that fast-forward end point Characterized by including the.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the operation information representing the user operation at the time of playing the recorded program is collected from a plurality of users and aggregated for each recorded program. Operation total data generating means for generating operation total data representing the weight value corresponding to the number of users duplicated in the section for each recorded program, and the recording generated by the operation total data generating means at the first playback of the recorded program Search means for searching operation summary data of a recorded program to be reproduced for the first time from operation summary data for each program, setting means for setting a fast-forward level, and a weight value corresponding to the fast-forward level set by the setting means And a playback control means for extracting the time section from the operation total data searched by the search means and fast-forwarding playback of the extracted time section.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, the operation information representing the user operation at the time of reproducing the recorded program is collected from a plurality of users and aggregated for each recorded program. Operation total data generation processing is performed in response to an operation total data generation process that generates operation total data representing a weight value corresponding to the number of users duplicated in a section for each recorded program, and a fast-forward operation performed at the first playback of the recorded program. Search processing for searching operation total data of a recorded program to be reproduced for the first time from operation total data for each recorded program generated by the processing, and time including a fast forward start time from the operation total data searched by the search processing The computer executes a playback control process that predicts a fast-forward end point that is less than or equal to the section weight value and decreases the weight value, and performs fast-forward playback to that fast-forward end point. It is characterized in.

  In the invention according to claim 4, operation information representing a user operation at the time of playing a recorded program is collected from a plurality of users and aggregated for each recorded program. Operation total data generation processing that generates operation total data representing the weight value corresponding to the number of users duplicated in a section for each recorded program, and recording generated by the operation total data generation processing at the first playback of the recorded program Search processing for searching operation total data of a recorded program to be played for the first time from operation total data for each program, setting processing for setting a fast-forward level, and a weight value corresponding to the fast-forward level set in the setting processing Is extracted from the operation total data searched in the search process, and a playback control process for fast-forward playback of the extracted time section is executed by a computer. And it features.

  According to the first and third aspects of the present invention, the operation information representing the user operation at the time of reproducing the recorded program is collected from a plurality of users and aggregated for each recorded program, and the time period in which the period of each user operation overlaps And operation total data representing the weight value corresponding to the number of users duplicated in the time interval are generated for each recorded program, and when fast-forwarding operation is performed during the first playback of the recorded program, the operation total of the recorded program to be played back for the first time Since the data is searched, the fast-forward end point where the weight value is less than the weight value of the time interval including the fast-forward start time and the weight value decreases is predicted from the searched operation total data, and the fast-forward playback is performed to the fast-forward end point. As a result, it is possible to automatically set the viewing environment when playing back and watching recorded programs. That.

  According to the second and fourth aspects of the present invention, the operation information representing the user operation when reproducing the recorded program is collected from a plurality of users and aggregated for each recorded program, and the time period in which the period of each user operation overlaps And the operation total data representing the weight value corresponding to the number of users duplicated in the time interval are generated for each recorded program, and when the recorded program is played for the first time, the operation total data of the recorded program to be played for the first time is retrieved. Is done. When the fast-forward level is set, a time interval equal to or greater than the weight value corresponding to the set fast-forward level is extracted from the searched operation total data, and the extracted time interval is played back in a fast-forward manner. As a result of automatically skipping after copying, it is possible to automatically set a viewing environment when playing back and viewing a recorded program.

The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
A. Configuration FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of a recording / reproducing apparatus 100 according to an embodiment. The recording / reproducing apparatus 100 is connected to the server 200 via the Internet NT, and automatically sets a viewing environment for reproducing and viewing a recorded program based on operation total data (to be described later) downloaded from the server 200. It is like that. Hereinafter, each structure of the recording / reproducing apparatus 100 and the server 200 is demonstrated in order.

(1) Configuration of Recording / Reproducing Device 100 The recording / reproducing device 100 includes constituent elements 10-19. The operation unit 10 receives an infrared light signal (operation event) generated by the remote controller 10 a in response to a user operation, generates an operation command, and sends the operation command to the control unit 11. The operation commands include, for example, a channel selection command for specifying a broadcast station to be received, a recording command for instructing recording execution, and a playback command for instructing playback of the recorded program, as well as operations performed by the user when playing back the recorded program Commands (change playback volume, screen settings, fast forward, fast reverse, etc.) are included. The control unit 11 includes a CPU and the like, and controls each unit of the apparatus according to various operation commands supplied from the operation unit 10. The characteristic processing operation of the control unit 11 according to the gist of the present invention will be described later.

  The ROM 13 stores various control programs executed by the control unit 11. The various control programs include a later-described main routine executed by the control unit 11, a normal reproduction control process, a reproduction 2 control process, and a reproduction 3 control process. The tuner 14 receives and demodulates the broadcast signal of the broadcast station designated by the control unit 11 in accordance with the channel selection command among the broadcast signals input via the antenna ANT, and then demultiplexes and outputs the video / audio signal. The encoder 15 generates video / audio data obtained by compressing and encoding the video / audio signal output from the tuner 14 by the MPEG method.

  The hard disk device 16 performs a recording operation or a reproducing operation in accordance with a recording command and a reproducing command from the control unit 11. As shown in FIG. 2, the hard disk device 16 includes a recording medium M including a system area SYS, a recording reservation data area RRA, various setting data areas SDA, and a recording data area RDA. Recording data RD of a plurality of programs 1 to N is stored in the recording data area RDA. The recorded data RD includes program information, operation information, and video / audio data. The program information represents a title name, recording date / time, recording time, and recording mode. The operation information is information that represents the history of each operation that the user changed the playback volume, set the screen, fast-forwarded, and fast-forwarded to set the viewing environment of his / her preference when the recorded program was played back for the first time. It is formed from a viewing completion flag F, volume data VOL, screen setting data DSD, fast forward data FWD, and fast reverse data FRD.

  Here, the contents of the viewed flag F, volume data VOL, screen setting data DSD, fast forward data FWD, and fast reverse data FRD will be described with reference to FIG. The viewing completed flag F is a flag indicating whether or not the corresponding recorded data RD has been viewed (reproduced), and is “0” if not viewed (unreproduced), and “1” when the first reproduction is completed. . The volume data VOL is composed of a volume level representing a history of volume operations performed by the user when the recorded data RD is reproduced for the first time, and a change time. The screen setting data DSD is composed of screen setting information indicating a history of screen setting operations performed by the user at the first playback of the recording data RD and a change time.

  The screen setting information is information representing the setting contents of brightness, contrast, and image quality. The fast-forward data FWD is composed of a fast-forward operation performed by the user at the first playback of the recorded data RD, for example, a fast-forward start time and a feed time (fast-forward period) representing a history of fast-forwarding the CM portion of the recorded data RD. The fast rewind data FRD is a fast rewind operation performed by the user at the time of first playback of the recorded data RD, for example, a fast rewind start time and a rewind time indicating a history of rewind when a predetermined portion of the recorded data RD is repeatedly viewed (fast rewind period). ).

  Next, the configuration of the recording / reproducing apparatus 100 will be described with reference to FIG. 1 again. The RAM 12 is controlled by the control unit 11 based on various register / flag data necessary for execution of a main routine, a normal reproduction control process, a reproduction 2 control process, and a reproduction 3 control process, which will be described later, and operation commands supplied from the operation unit 10. Data for storing a playback table RT and a control table CT, as well as a work area for temporarily storing operation information representing a series of operations performed by the user to set his / her preferred viewing environment during playback of the recorded program. Provide an area. The data area of the RAM 12 stores operation total data downloaded from the server 200 connected via the Internet NT.

  The reproduction table RT and the control table CT are tables created by the control unit 11 and stored in the RAM 12 based on operation information read by the hard disk device 16 prior to reproduction of the recorded data RD. As shown in FIG. 4, the reproduction table RT instructs an event time indicating a fast-forward or fast-reverse execution timing and a fast-forward operation or a fast-rewind operation based on the fast-forward data FWD and the fast-rewind data FRD in the operation information. It is a table in which events are arranged in chronological order.

  Although not shown, the control table CT is similar to the reproduction table RT, based on the volume data VOL and the screen setting data DSD in the operation information, the event time indicating the execution timing of the volume change or the screen setting change, the volume change or It is the table which arranged the event which instruct | indicates a screen setting change in time series order. As will be described later, the control unit 11 refers to the reproduction table RT stored in the RAM 12 and instructs the hard disk device 16 to reproduce the recorded data RD. Further, the control unit 11 refers to the control table CT stored in the RAM 12 and generates a volume control signal and a screen setting signal.

  The hard disk device 16 for recording a medium with the data structure shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 is configured to be able to simultaneously execute recording / reproduction. When recording a program, the hard disk device 16 records the compression-coded video / audio data output from the encoder 15 as recording data RD for each program according to a recording instruction given from the control unit 11. The decoder 17 decodes (decompresses) and outputs the recorded data RD (compressed and encoded video / audio data) reproduced and output by the hard disk device 16 in accordance with a reproduction instruction from the control unit 11.

  The video / audio output unit 18 converts the video / audio data output from the decoder 17 into an analog video signal and audio signal, and supplies the converted video signal to the video input terminal of the monitor 20 and is converted. The audio signal is level-controlled according to the volume control signal output from the control unit 11 and supplied to the audio input terminal of the monitor 20. The video / audio output unit 18 generates a screen control signal for controlling the brightness, contrast, and image quality of the monitor 20 in accordance with the screen setting signal output from the control unit 11. The monitor 20 reproduces video and audio with the brightness, contrast, and image quality set according to the screen control signal output from the video / audio output unit 18. The communication unit 19 communicates with the server 200 via the Internet NT under the control of the control unit 11 and receives operation total data (described later) supplied from the server 200.

(2) Configuration of Server 200 The server 200 includes a communication unit 201, a control unit 202, and a storage unit 203, and collects operation information uploaded from each terminal (recording / playback apparatus 100) connected via the Internet NT. The operation information for each content (recorded program recording data RD) is totaled to generate operation total data. The server 200 registers the generated operation total data for each content in the storage unit 203 in a database, and according to a request from each terminal (recording / reproducing apparatus 100) connected via the Internet NT, the corresponding operation total is performed. Search the database for data and download it.

  Here, with reference to FIGS. 5 to 7, the contents of the operation total data generated in the server 200 will be described. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of operation information uploaded to the server 200 side from each of the recording and playback devices 100 of the users A and B. The operation information shown in this figure is fast-forwarding data FWD representing a history of fast-forwarding operations performed at the time of first reproduction of the recording data RD of the same recorded program. When the operation information (fast forward data FWD) of the user A and B in the example shown in FIG. 5 is expressed on the time axis, as shown in FIG. 6, from the start time 560 (seconds) to 890 (seconds) in the user A. Fast-forwarding is performed in 330 seconds and 530 seconds from start time 3020 (seconds) to 3550 (seconds), while user B has 700 seconds from start time 800 (seconds) to 1500 (seconds), Fast-forwarding is performed in 880 seconds from the start time 3020 (seconds) to 3900 (seconds).

The server 200 receives the operation information (fast forward data FWD) of the users A and B, sets the weight value W = 1 in the period during which the fast forward operation is performed in each operation information, and then fast forwards both of them. Operation total data in which the weight value W of the section where the operations overlap is “2” is generated. Thereby, the operation total data obtained by totaling the operation information (fast forward data FWD) of the users A and B is, as shown in FIG. 7, from the start time 0 (second) to 560 (second), the fast forward weight “0”, From start time 560 (seconds) to 800 (seconds), fast forward weight “1”, from start time 800 (seconds) to 890 (seconds), fast forward weight “2”, from start time 890 (seconds) to 1500 (seconds) Is the fast-forwarding weight “0”,.
As described above, in the server 200, by collecting and totaling operation information in which time and start period for each operation are arranged in chronological order from each user, a section in which operation periods overlap from the operation information, Operation aggregate data representing the weight value W corresponding to the number of users (frequency) duplicated in the section is generated.

B. Next, each operation of the server 200 and the recording / reproducing apparatus 100 will be described with reference to FIGS. In the following, the server processing executed by the control unit 202 of the server 200 will be described first, and then the main routine, normal playback control processing, playback 2 control processing, and playback 3 control processing executed by the control unit 11 of the recording / playback apparatus 100 will be described. Each operation will be described.

(1) Operation of Server Process The control unit 202 of the server 200 executes the server process illustrated in FIG. When the server process is executed, the control unit 202 advances the process to step SA1 shown in FIG. 8 and waits until operation information (including program information) is uploaded from the recording / reproducing apparatus 100 side. When the operation information is uploaded from the recording / reproducing apparatus 100 side, the determination result is “YES”, and the process proceeds to Step SA2. In step SA2, by referring to the program information included in the uploaded operation information, the operation total data of the corresponding content is searched from the operation total data of various contents (recorded programs) registered in the database in the recording unit 203. To extract.

  Next, in steps SA3 to SA4, an operation data set, that is, a time for each start of operation and its period (time separation area) is extracted from the operation information uploaded from the recording / reproducing apparatus 100 side, and corresponds to the extracted period. The weight value W of the period (time delimiter region) in the operation summary data to be incremented is incremented (+1). In step SA5, the process of incrementing the weight value W of the period (time delimiter area) in the operation total data corresponding to the operation period extracted from the operation information is performed for all operation data sets of the operation information. It is determined whether or not counting has been completed. If the counting has not been completed, the determination result in step SA5 is “NO”, and the process returns to step SA3.

Thereafter, steps SA3 to SA5 are repeated until the counting is completed. When the totaling is completed, the determination result in step SA5 is “YES”, and the process proceeds to step SA6, where an end code is added to the end of the generated operation totaling data, and then updated and registered in the storage unit 203. Finish.
In this way, every time operation information including program information is uploaded from the recording / playback apparatus 100 side via the Internet NT, the server 200 extracts operation total data of the corresponding recorded program from the database, and extracts the operation total extracted. In the data, the weight value W of the operation period (time delimiter region) of each operation data set constituting the operation information is incremented. Thereby, operation total data representing a section in which the operation period overlaps from the operation information of each user and a weight value W corresponding to the number of users (frequency) overlapped in the section are generated.

(2) Operation of Main Routine Next, the operation of the main routine executed by the control unit 11 of the recording / reproducing apparatus 100 will be described with reference to FIG. When the main routine is executed in response to the power-on of the apparatus, the control unit 11 proceeds to step SB1 illustrated in FIG. 9, and the operation commands generated by the operation unit 10 are “record”, “play”, and “others”. Which operation is to be instructed is determined.

If the command is a recording command for instructing a “recording” operation, the process proceeds to step SB 2, and a recording control process for recording the compression-coded video / audio data output from the encoder 15 on the hard disk device 16 as the recording data RD is executed.
When the operation command indicates an operation of “others”, for example, download of operation total data, the process proceeds to step SB3, a program name is designated, and in the subsequent step SB4, the server 200 is connected via the Internet NT, A communication process for downloading the operation total data of the designated program name from the server 200 is executed.

  If the command is a playback command for instructing a “playback” operation, the process proceeds to step SB5 to determine whether the currently set playback mode is “normal playback mode”, “playback 2 mode”, or “playback 3 mode”. To do. If the “normal playback mode” is selected, a normal playback control process (described later) is executed via step SB6, and then the process proceeds to step SB7 where operation information generated in the normal playback control process of step SB6 is sent to the server 200. Perform communication processing to upload. When in the “reproduction 2 mode”, a reproduction 2 control process (described later) for performing fast-forward reproduction or the like with reference to its own operation information is executed via step SB8. In the “reproduction 3 mode”, a reproduction 3 control process (described later) for automatically performing fast-forward reproduction or the like with reference to the operation total data received from the server 200 is executed via step SB9.

(3) Operation of Normal Playback Control Process Next, the operation of the normal playback control process will be described with reference to FIG. When this process is executed via step SB6 (see FIG. 9) of the main routine described above, control unit 11 advances the process to step SC1 shown in FIG. In step SC1, the operation total data regarding the recorded data RD of the recorded program to be reproduced is searched from the downloaded operation total data, and in the subsequent step SC2, the presence or absence of the corresponding operation total data is determined. If there is no corresponding operation total data, the determination result is “NO”, the process proceeds to step SC3, “No operation total data” is displayed on the monitor 20 to notify the user, and then the normal process is performed via step SC4. (To be described later).

On the other hand, if there is corresponding operation total data, the determination result in step SC2 is “YES”, the process proceeds to step SC5, and a reproduction command is sent to the hard disk device 16 to instruct the reproduction start. Thereby, the recording data RD of the recorded program designated by the reproduction command is reproduced by the hard disk device 16.
Next, in step SC6, it is determined whether or not there is a fast-forward operation during reproduction. If the fast-forward operation is not performed, the determination result is “NO” and the process proceeds to step SC10 described later. However, if the fast-forward operation is performed during reproduction, the determination result is “YES” and the process proceeds to step SC7. In steps SC7 to SC8, a position (position on the reproduction time axis) that the user is supposed to fast forward is predicted with reference to the operation total data, and “jumping” (fast forward reproduction) is made to that position.

  Specifically, after the fast forward start time point, a change point that is equal to or less than the weight value W at the fast forward start time point and the weight value W decreases is predicted as the fast forward end point. For example, when the recorded data RD having the operation total data shown in FIG. 11 is being reproduced, if a fast-forward operation is performed with a weight value W = 0 as shown by A in the figure, a weight value W higher than that is shown. The fast-forward reproduction is performed until the end point at which the weight value W becomes 0 again through the section. Further, as shown by B in the figure, when the fast forward operation is performed with the weight value W = 2, the fast forward reproduction is performed until the end point at which the weight value W = 2 again after passing through the section of the weight value W higher than that. Further, as indicated by C in the figure, when a fast-forward operation is performed with a weight value W = 4, a change point that is equal to or less than the weight value W at the start of fast-forwarding and further decreases, that is, the weight value. Fast-forward playback is performed until the end point where W = 3.

In this way, when the position (position on the playback time axis) that the user is supposed to fast forward is predicted from the operation total data, and “jumping” (fast forward playback) is reached to that position, the process proceeds to step SC10 to determine whether or not the playback is finished. To do. If the reproduction has not ended, the determination result is “NO”, and the process returns to step SC6. Thereafter, steps SC6 to SC10 are repeated until the reproduction is completed. When the reproduction is completed, the determination result in step SC10 is “YES”, and this processing is completed.
As described above, in the normal playback control process, when operation total data related to the recording data RD of the recorded program to be played back exists, if a fast-forward operation is performed during playback, the user will fast-forward with reference to the operation total data. A possible position (position on the playback time axis) is predicted, and “jumping” (fast forward playback) is made to that position.

(4) Operation of Normal Processing Next, the operation of normal processing will be described with reference to FIGS. When the normal process is executed via the above-described step SC4 (see FIG. 10), the control unit 11 performs the reproduction process illustrated in FIG. 12 according to the operation command (reproduction, fast forward, fast reverse), FIG. The fast-forward process shown in FIG. 14 and the fast-rewind process shown in FIG. 14 are executed. The operation of each of these processes will be described below.

<Operation of playback processing>
When the user operates the remote controller 1a to play back the recorded data RD recorded in the hard disk device 16 for the first time, the control unit 11 generates a playback command and sends it to the hard disk device 16. Then, the hard disk device 16 reads the operation information given to the recorded data RD prior to the reproduction of the recorded data RD and sends it to the control unit 11. The control unit 11 determines whether or not the first playback is based on the viewed flag F in the operation information. If the viewed flag F is “0”, the control unit 11 determines that the playback is the first time, and executes the playback process shown in FIG. When the playback process is executed, the control unit 11 advances the process to step SD1, resets the time counter, and in the subsequent step SD2, instructs the hard disk device 16 to start playback of the recorded data RD. The time counter is counted by a timer interrupt process (not shown).

  Next, in steps SD3 to SD6, it is determined whether or not the user has performed an operation (volume change, screen setting, fast forward and fast reverse operations) for setting his / her favorite viewing environment during reproduction of the recorded data RD. If these operations are not performed, the determination results in steps SD3 to SD6 are “NO”, and the process proceeds to step SD7 to determine whether or not there is a stop command. When a stop command is generated by a user operation, the determination result is “YES”, and this process is completed. If the stop command is not generated, the determination result is “NO”, and the process proceeds to step SD8 to determine whether or not the reproduction is finished. If the reproduction is completed, the determination result is “YES”, and the process proceeds to step SD 9 where the viewed flag F is set to “1” and stored in the RAM 12. If the reproduction is not completed, the determination result is “NO”, and the process returns to step SD3.

On the other hand, when the user performs any operation of volume change, screen setting, fast forward, and fast reverse during playback of the recorded data RD, a process of storing the history of the operation in the RAM 12 as operation information is performed. That is, when the volume change operation is performed, the determination result in step SD3 is “YES”, and the process proceeds to step SD10. After the volume data VOL including the volume level and change time representing the history of volume operation is stored in the RAM 12, the step SD3 is performed. Return processing to.
When the screen setting operation is performed, the determination result in step SD4 is “YES”, and the process proceeds to step SD11. After the screen setting information DSD indicating the history of the screen setting operation and the change time are stored in the RAM 12, the step Return processing to SD3.
When a fast-forward operation is performed, the determination result in step SD5 is “YES”, and the fast-forward process shown in FIG. 13 is executed. When the fast reverse operation is performed, the determination result in step SD6 is “YES”, and the fast reverse process shown in FIG. 14 is executed.

<Operation of fast-forward processing>
When the fast-forward process is executed, the control unit 11 proceeds to step SE1 illustrated in FIG. 13 and stores the fast-forward start time in the RAM 12. Next, in step SE2, the fast-forward time counter is reset. The fast-forwarding time counter is counted by a timer interrupt process (not shown). Subsequently, in steps SE3 to SE8, it is determined whether or not a user operation (volume change, screen setting, fast reverse, playback and playback stop) performed during the fast-forward period and playback end. If these operations are not performed and the reproduction is not finished, each determination result is “NO”, and steps SE3 to SE8 are repeated.

When the volume change operation is performed, the determination result in step SE3 is “YES”, and the process proceeds to step SE9, where the volume data VOL including the volume level and change time indicating the history of volume operation is stored in the RAM 12, and then processed in step SE3. To return.
When the screen setting operation is performed, the determination result in step SE4 is “YES”, and the process proceeds to step SE10. After the screen setting information indicating the history of the screen setting operation and the screen setting data DSD including the change time are stored in the RAM 12, the step Return the process to SE3.

When the fast reverse operation is performed, the determination result in step SE5 becomes “YES”, and the process proceeds to step SE11 to stop the fast forward, and the value of the fast forward time counter at that time, that is, the feed time is stored in the RAM 12. Thereby, fast-forward data FWD composed of the fast-forward start time and the feed time is formed. Thereafter, a fast-forward process (described later) shown in FIG. 14 is executed.
When the reproduction operation is performed, the determination result of step SE6 is “YES”, and the process proceeds to step SE12. In step SE12, fast-forwarding is stopped and the value of the fast-forwarding time counter at that time, that is, the feeding time is stored in the RAM 12. Thereby, fast-forward data FWD composed of the fast-forward start time and the feed time is formed. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step SD2 of the reproduction process illustrated in FIG.

When the reproduction stop operation is performed, the determination result in step SE7 is “YES”, and the process proceeds to step SE13. In step SE13, the fast-forwarding is stopped, the value of the fast-forwarding time counter at that time is stored in the RAM 12, and the fast-forwarding data FWD is formed. Then, the end code is stored in the RAM 12 following the fast-forwarding data FWD, and the process is finished. .
When the reproduction is completed, the determination result in step SE8 is “YES”, and the process proceeds to step SE13. As in the case of the reproduction stop, the value of the fast-forward time counter (feed time) and the end code when the fast-forward is stopped are displayed. Store in the RAM 12 to finish this process.

<Operation of fast reverse processing>
When the fast return process is executed, the control unit 11 proceeds to step SF1 illustrated in FIG. 14 and stores the fast return start time in the RAM 12. Next, in step SF2, the fast reverse time counter is reset. The fast return time counter is counted by timer interrupt processing (not shown). Subsequently, in steps SF3 to SF8, it is determined whether or not a user operation (volume change, screen setting, fast forward, playback, playback stop) performed during the fast reverse period and playback end. If these operations cannot be performed and the reproduction is not completed, each determination result is “NO”, and steps SF3 to SF8 are repeated.

When the volume change operation is performed, the determination result in step SF3 is “YES”, and the process proceeds to step SF9, where the volume data VOL including the volume level and change time indicating the history of volume operation is stored in the RAM 12, and then processed in step SF3. To return.
When the screen setting operation is performed, the determination result in step SF4 is “YES”, and the process proceeds to step SF10. After the screen setting information DSD indicating the history of the screen setting operation and the change time is stored in the RAM 12, the step Return the process to SF3.

When the fast-forward operation is performed, the determination result in step SF5 is “YES”, and the process proceeds to step SF11. In step SF11, the fast return is stopped, and the value of the fast return time counter at that time, that is, the return time is stored in the RAM 12. As a result, the fast return data FRD including the fast return start time and the return time is formed. Thereafter, the fast-forward process shown in FIG. 13 is executed.
When the reproduction operation is performed, the determination result in step SF6 is “YES”, and the process proceeds to step SF12. In step SF12, the fast return is stopped, and the value of the fast return time counter at that time, that is, the return time is stored in the RAM 12. As a result, the fast return data FRD including the fast return start time and the return time is formed. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step SD2 of the reproduction process illustrated in FIG.

When the reproduction stop operation is performed, the determination result in step SF7 is “YES”, and the process proceeds to step SF13. In step SF13, the fast-return is stopped, the value of the fast-rewind time counter at that time is stored in the RAM 12, and the fast-return data FRD composed of the fast-restore start time and the return time stored earlier is formed. Following the return data FRD, an end code is stored in the RAM 12 and the process is terminated.
When the reproduction ends, the determination result in step SF8 becomes “YES”, and the process proceeds to step SF13, and the value of the fast reverse time counter (return time) and the end code when the fast reverse is stopped are stored in the RAM 12 as in the case of the reproduction stop. To store the data and finish the process.

  As described above, under the normal process of reproducing the recorded data RD of the recorded program for the first time, if the user performs various operations to set the viewing environment of his / her preference during the reproduction, the operation unit 10 responds to these operations. Based on the generated operation command, the control unit 11 generates operation information and temporarily stores it in the RAM 12. Then, when the first playback of the recorded data RD is completed, the control unit 11 instructs the hard disk device 16 to read the operation information temporarily stored in the RAM 12 and record it in association with the corresponding recorded data RD. Thereby, when the recorded data RD is reproduced for the first time, operation information representing a history of a series of operations performed by the user to set his / her favorite viewing environment is added to the recorded data RD.

(5) Operation of Playback 2 Control Process Next, the operation of the playback 2 control process for controlling the playback operation of the recorded data RD of the recorded program to which the operation information is given will be described with reference to FIG. When this process is executed through step SB8 (see FIG. 9) of the main routine described above, the control unit 11 advances the process to step SG1 shown in FIG. 15, and prior to reproducing the recorded data RD, the hard disk device 16 A reproduction table RT (see FIG. 4) and a control table CT are created on the basis of the operation information read by and stored in the RAM 12.

  Next, in step SG2, the time counter is reset. The time counter is counted by timer interrupt processing (not shown). Subsequently, in step SG3, the hard disk device 16 is instructed to start reproduction of the recorded data RD. In steps SG4 to SG7, execution of processing corresponding to events registered in the reproduction table RT and the control table CT is instructed until the reproduction is completed.

  That is, when the event time indicating the execution timing of the screen setting change registered in the control table CT coincides with the time count value and reaches the screen setting change time, the determination result in step SG4 becomes “YES”, and step SG8. Proceed to In step SG8, a screen setting signal corresponding to the corresponding screen setting change event in the control table CT is generated and sent to the video / audio output unit 18. Thus, the video / audio output unit 18 changes the screen setting of the monitor 20 by generating a screen control signal for controlling the brightness, contrast, and image quality in accordance with the screen setting signal output from the control unit 11.

  When the event time indicating the execution timing of the volume change registered in the control table CT coincides with the time count value and reaches the volume change time, the determination result in step SG5 becomes “YES”, and the process proceeds to step SG9. In step SG9, a volume control signal corresponding to the corresponding volume setting change event in the control table CT is generated and sent to the video / audio output unit 18. Accordingly, the video / audio output unit 18 outputs an audio signal whose level is controlled according to the volume control signal to the monitor 20.

  When the event time indicating the fast-forward (or fast-reverse) execution timing registered in the reproduction table RT matches the time count value and reaches the fast-forward event (or fast-rewind event), the determination result in step SG6 is It becomes "YES" and progresses to step SG10. In step SG10, the hard disk device 16 is instructed to skip when the fast forward event (or fast reverse event) is completed. As a result, the hard disk device 16 skips the portion of the recording data RD that has been fast-forwarded (or fast-reverse) during the initial playback in accordance with the skip instruction from the control unit 11 and starts playback from the fast-forward (or fast-reverse) destination.

  As described above, in the reproduction 2 control process, the operation information given to the recording data RD is read prior to the reproduction of the recording data RD, and the reproduction table RT and the control table CT created based on the read operation information are referred to. Thus, the playback volume and screen settings are changed, the fast-forwarded part (or fast-rewinded part) is skipped during the initial playback, and playback starts from the fast-forward destination (or fast-rewind destination). This makes it possible to automatically set a viewing environment when viewing the recorded program again.

(6) Operation of Playback 3 Control Process Next, the operation of the playback 3 control process will be described with reference to FIGS. When this process is executed via step SB9 (see FIG. 9) of the main routine described above, control unit 11 advances the process to step SH1 shown in FIG. In step SH1, the operation total data relating to the recording data RD of the recorded program to be reproduced is searched from the operation total data downloaded from the server 200. In the following step SH2, the presence or absence of the corresponding operation total data is determined. If there is no corresponding operation total data, the determination result is “NO”, and the process proceeds to step SH3, where “no operation total data” is displayed on the monitor 20 to notify the user to complete this processing.

  On the other hand, if there is corresponding operation total data, the determination result in step SH2 is “YES”, and the process proceeds to step SH4. In step SH4, a threshold value is determined based on the maximum value of the weight value W in the operation total data. This threshold value refers to a value for setting the feed level early. In the present embodiment, 90% of the maximum value of the weight value W is set as a “level 1” threshold value that most of the operation target users perform fast-forward operation, and 50% of the maximum value of the weight value W is set as the operation total. The threshold is set to “level 2” at which half of the target users perform fast-forward operation. In addition, a weight value W = 1 indicating that one of the operation totaling target users has performed a fast-forward operation is set as a threshold of “level 3”.

  Next, in step SH5, a reproduction table RT is created for fast-forwarding the time interval of the weight value W equal to or greater than the corresponding threshold value from the operation total data for each of the levels 1 to 3 set in step SH4. The playback time for each level is calculated with reference to the table RT. Subsequently, in step SH6, an operation screen for designating a fast-forward level is displayed on the monitor 20, and a fast-forward level selected in accordance with the user operation on the screen is set.

  The operation screen is a screen that displays the reproduction time for each of the levels 1 to 3 calculated in step SH5, and an example thereof is shown in FIG. The example shown in FIG. 17 shows a state in which “level 2” is selected and set on the operation screen. In step SH7, the hard disk device 16 is instructed to reproduce the recorded program (recorded data RD) according to the reproduction table RT at the level set in step SH6.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the server 200 totals operation information for each recorded program from the recording / playback apparatus 100 of each user via the Internet NT, and a period in which each user operation period overlaps, and the period The operation total data representing the weight value W corresponding to the number (frequency) of duplicate users is generated for each recorded program.
In the recording / playback apparatus 100 that has downloaded operation total data for each recorded program from the server 200, when the recorded data RD of an unviewed recorded program is played back in the normal playback mode, the operation total data of that recorded program has already been downloaded. For example, if a fast-forward operation is performed during playback, a position (position on the playback time axis) that the user is expected to fast-forward is predicted with reference to the operation total data, and “jumping” (fast-forward playback) is made to that position. Thus, it is possible to eliminate the troublesome operation of performing “jumping” operation every time a redundant part appears during playback / viewing, and it is possible to automatically set a viewing environment for playback / viewing a recorded program.

  In addition, when the recording / playback apparatus 100 that has downloaded the operation total data for each recorded program from the server 200 plays the recorded data RD of the unviewed recorded program in the playback 3 mode, the operation total data of the recorded program has already been downloaded. Then, when the fast-forwarding operation of other users is classified into a plurality of levels from the operation total data, and the level reflecting the fast-forwarding operation by a large number of users is selected from among them, for example, the position ( Since it is automatically “flicked” (fast-forward playback) up to a position on the playback time axis, it is possible to automatically set a viewing environment when the recorded program is played back and viewed.

  In the above-described embodiment, the operation information uploaded from the recording / playback apparatus 100 of each user to the server 200 is totaled by the server 200 for each recorded program, and the operation information is recorded for each user's recording / playback apparatus 100. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, the recording / playback apparatuses 100 connected to the Internet exchange each other's operation information using a well-known file exchange function and collect operation information of other users. It is also possible to create a mode in which the operation total data is generated by totaling them.

  Further, in this embodiment, the operation total data obtained by collecting operation information related to the fast-forward operation from each user and totaled is described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and each operation related to the fast reverse operation, the screen setting operation, and the volume operation is described. Of course, it is also possible to automatically set the viewing environment using operation total data that collects information and totals it to reflect the operation trends of many users.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of one Embodiment by this invention. 3 is a diagram illustrating a data structure of a recording medium M included in the hard disk device 16. FIG. It is a figure which shows the structure of operation information. It is a figure which shows the structure of the reproduction | regeneration table RT. It is a figure for demonstrating the content of operation total data. It is a figure for demonstrating the content of operation total data. It is a figure which shows an example of operation total data. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of the server process which the server 200 performs. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation of a main routine executed by the control unit 11 of the recording / reproducing apparatus 100. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of a normal reproduction | regeneration control process. It is a figure for demonstrating the content of an end point search. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of reproduction | regeneration processing. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of a fast-forward process. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of a quick return process. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of reproduction | regeneration 2 control processing. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the reproduction | regeneration 3 control processing. It is a figure which shows an example of an operation screen.

Explanation of symbols

10 operation unit 10a remote controller 11 control unit 12 RAM
13 ROM
14 tuner 15 encoder 16 hard disk device 17 decoder 18 video / audio output unit 19 communication unit 20 monitor 100 recording / reproducing device 200 server 201 communication unit 202 control unit 203 storage unit

Claims (4)

Operation information representing user operations when playing a recorded program is collected from a plurality of users and aggregated for each recorded program, and corresponds to a time interval in which the period of each user operation overlaps and the number of users overlapped in that time interval. Operation total data generating means for generating operation total data representing a weight value for each recorded program;
Search means for searching for operation total data of a recorded program to be reproduced for the first time from among operation total data for each recorded program generated by the operation total data generation means in response to a fast-forward operation performed at the time of first playback of the recorded program; ,
Reproduction control means for predicting a fast-forward end point that is equal to or less than the weight value of the time interval including the fast-forward start time and decreases in the weight value from the operation total data retrieved by the search means, and to play the fast-forward to the fast-forward end point And a recording / reproducing apparatus. Operation information representing user operations when playing a recorded program is collected from a plurality of users and aggregated for each recorded program, and corresponds to a time interval in which the period of each user operation overlaps and the number of users overlapped in that time interval. Operation total data generating means for generating operation total data representing a weight value for each recorded program;
Search means for searching for operation total data of a recorded program to be reproduced for the first time from among operation total data for each recorded program generated by the operation total data generation means at the time of first playback of the recorded program;
A setting means for setting the fast-forward level;
Replay control means for extracting a time interval equal to or greater than the weight value corresponding to the fast-forward level set by the setting means from the operation total data searched by the search means, and for playing back the extracted time interval fast-forwarding. And a recording / reproducing apparatus. Operation information representing user operations when playing a recorded program is collected from a plurality of users and aggregated for each recorded program, and corresponds to a time interval in which the period of each user operation overlaps and the number of users overlapped in that time interval. Operation total data generation processing for generating operation total data representing a weight value for each recorded program;
A search process for retrieving operation total data of a recorded program to be reproduced for the first time from among operation total data for each recorded program generated in the operation total data generation process in response to a fast-forward operation performed at the time of first playback of the recorded program; ,
Reproduction control for predicting a fast-forward end point that is equal to or less than the weight value of the time interval including the fast-forward start time and decreases in the weight value from the operation total data retrieved in the search process, and that plays the fast-forward to the fast-forward end point A recording / reproduction processing program characterized in that the processing is executed by a computer. Operation information representing user operations when playing a recorded program is collected from a plurality of users and aggregated for each recorded program, and corresponds to a time interval in which the period of each user operation overlaps and the number of users overlapped in that time interval. Operation total data generation processing for generating operation total data representing a weight value for each recorded program;
A search process for searching for operation total data of a recorded program to be played for the first time from among operation total data for each recorded program generated in the operation total data generation process at the time of the first playback of the recorded program;
A setting process to set the fast-forward level,
A reproduction control process for extracting a time interval equal to or greater than a weight value corresponding to the fast-forward level set in the setting process from the operation total data searched in the search process, and playing back the extracted time interval in a fast-forward manner. And a recording / playback processing program.

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