JP2006178564A - Content retrieval method and system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a content retrieval method and system capable of easily and rapidly retrieving/sorting a desired content from an external storage or the like through LAN in a digital audio player or the like. <P>SOLUTION: For content retrieval, a "retrieval from disk information" mode 17 is provided in addition to a general "retrieval by character string" mode 16. When the "retrieval from disk information" mode 17 is selected, disk information of CD, DVD or the like inserted to a loading part 21 of a main body 20 is transmitted to a CD/DVD database 34 via a router 31 and a WWW 33. Information related to the disk or disk information is acquired, and content retrieval in an external storage 32 is performed based on the acquired disk information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a content search method and system, and more particularly to a method and system for searching and sorting content stored in a storage device such as an HDD (hard disk).

  With the advancement of digital technology and network technology (or communication technology), various contents such as music, video and text information are stored in an external storage with a large storage capacity such as HDD (hard disk), and the user searches for the desired content. Can be played.

  Although it is very difficult to quickly search for a desired content from a large-capacity recording medium, a technique for automatically acquiring a search key and performing a search using this key has also been proposed.

  The prior art in such technical fields is disclosed in several technical documents. A video-related information search method and apparatus that display a WWW browser in cooperation on a TV screen so that a desired WWW can be displayed by a WWW search engine has been disclosed (for example, see Patent Document 1). According to this prior art, it is possible to search a Web page using a character received from a broadcast as a key.

JP-A-11-177899 (paragraph numbers [0012] to [0018], FIG. 2)

  FIG. 4 shows a system configuration diagram of a general content or information search system. The content search system 40 includes a search device main body (for example, an audio player, hereinafter simply referred to as a device) 50, a router 61, and an external storage 62. The apparatus 50 includes a loading unit 51, a recording medium (hereinafter referred to as DISC) 52 such as a CD and a DVD, a head unit 53 for reading / writing information from / to the DISC 52, a system control unit 54, an interface (I / F) unit 55, and a LAN module. 56 is included.

  Next, the operation of the content search system 40 will be briefly described. The user of the content search system 40 inputs characters (for example, “Schubert Serenade”) of the content to be searched from the I / F unit 55 in order to search for the desired content. The character input by the user is input from the I / F unit 55 to the system control unit 54 as a character string. On the other hand, a content list is sent from the external storage 62 to the system control unit 54 via the router 61 and the LAN module 56 of the apparatus 50.

  The system control unit 54 collates the character string and the content list, and outputs the search result to the user via the I / F unit 55 (for example, it is displayed on a display unit (not shown) and output visually or by a printer). To print out). The user selects a desired content (for example, “Schubert's Serenade” performed by a specific player) based on the search result, and this content is mounted on the loading unit 51 inside the apparatus 50. The data is recorded on the DISC 52 by the head unit 53 and reproduced. As described above, the content search system 40 can search, acquire, and reproduce the content stored in the external storage 62 via the LAN (that is, via the router 61 and the LAN module 56). .

  In the prior art, when searching and / or sorting content stored in an external storage, a user generally inputs characters as described above. However, there has been a problem that it takes time for the character input search.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems of the prior art, and a main object of the present invention is to provide a content search method and system capable of eliminating or greatly reducing such problems.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the content search method and system according to the present invention employ the following characteristic configuration.

(1) In a content search method for searching for information responding to the content of a recording medium in a playable state via a network, searching for a storage medium stored in the storage based on the search result, and outputting it.
A content search method, comprising: obtaining disc information via a network; searching for content in the external storage using the obtained disc information as a key; and outputting the search result.
(2) In a content search method for searching for information responding to content of a recording medium in a reproducible state via a network, searching for a storage medium stored in a storage based on the search result, and outputting it.
The content search enables the user to select one of a “search by character string” mode for searching by character input and a “search from disc information” mode for searching based on disc information acquired from a disc in a playback state. retrieval method.
(3) Before the content search, it is determined whether or not the disc is loaded in the device in advance, and when the disc is loaded, the search in the “search from disc information” mode can be executed. The content search method according to (1) or (2) above.
(4) A disc playback unit on which a disc for recording content information is mounted, a system control unit for controlling the overall operation, an interface unit for interfacing with the operation unit, and a network module for connecting to the network are stored in the storage. In a content search system that searches for content,
The network module is connected to a disk database via the WWW, acquires disk information via the disk database, and searches for content stored in the storage based on the acquired disk information.

  According to the content search method and system of the present invention, the following remarkable practical effects can be obtained. That is, according to the present invention, since a mode for searching from disk information is provided, disk information is obtained (downloaded) from a disk (eg, CD / DVD) database without inputting a long character string, and based on this information. It is possible to search the contents of the external storage easily and quickly.

  Hereinafter, the configuration and operation of a preferred embodiment of a content search method and system according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  First, FIG. 1 shows search / sort mode selection keys displayed on the display unit of the content search system according to the present invention. In the present invention, by providing such a selection key, in particular, a “search from disc information” key, it is possible to easily and quickly search and sort without performing a character input search like the conventional “search by character string” key. To.

  That is, on the display unit 15 of the content search system of the present invention, a “search by character string” key 16 and a “search from disc information” key 17 are displayed at the time of search / sorting. Either 17 can be selected by touching with a finger or the like. When the “search by character string” key 16 is selected, content can be searched by inputting characters, as in the prior art. On the other hand, when a “search from disc” key 17 is selected, information on a disc (CD, DVD, etc.) loaded in a loading unit of a search device, for example, an audio player, is transmitted to a CD database (DB) or DVD database. Get information about. Then, the contents in the external storage are searched from various character information (tag information etc.) acquired from these databases.

  Next, FIG. 2 is a system configuration diagram showing the overall configuration of a preferred embodiment of the content search system according to the present invention. The content search system 10 includes, for example, an apparatus 20 that is an audio player (recording / playback apparatus), a router 31, an external storage 32, a WWW (World Wide Web) 33, and a CD / DVD database (DB) 34.

  Here, the apparatus 20 includes a loading unit (disc reproducing unit) 21, a disc (recording medium) 22, a head unit 23, a system control unit 24, an interface (I / F) unit 25, and a LAN module 26. The device 20 is connected from a LAN (network) module 26 to an external storage 32 via a router 31. The router 31 is connected to the DB 34 via the WWW 33. That is, the apparatus 20 can access the external storage 32 and the DB 34.

  The user of the device 20 inputs the search mode to the system control unit 24 via the I / F unit 25 by operating the operation keys 16 and 17 of the display unit 15 shown in FIG. In addition, the disk ID is input from the loading unit 21 to the system control unit 24. This disk ID is sent to the DB 34 via the LAN module 26, the router 31 and the WWW 33. The router 31 receives content information from the external storage 32 and disk information from the DB 34 via the WWW 33 to the LAN module 26. These disc information and content list are sent from the LAN module 26 to the system control unit 24. Finally, the system control unit 24 searches the content list in the external storage 32 based on the acquired disc information, lists the corresponding content, and the search result is displayed via the I / F unit 25 (display unit). To) is output. The user performs necessary processing based on the search result. If the disc information is a music disc, it includes the artist name, album name, song name, composer name, arranger name, release date, etc. If the disc information is a movie disc, the director name, actor name, etc. , Music manager name, movie, title name, etc. Therefore, various contents related to the information are listed.

  Next, the content search operation of the content search system 10 according to the present invention shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, it is determined whether or not there is a disk 22 in the drive or loading unit 21 of the apparatus 20 (whether it is mounted) (step S1). Next, the user selects a search method and outputs it to the I / F unit 25 (step S2). It is determined whether or not the search method selected by the user is “search from disk” (step S3). Here, the selection of the search method is preferably performed by the user touching the mode selection keys 16 and 17 displayed on the display unit 15 of the main body 20 with a finger or the like, as described above with reference to FIG. Of course, it may be selected by a method other than this method.

  When the search mode selection is “search from disk” mode 17 (step S3: Yes), the disk information is acquired from the DB 34, that is, downloaded (step S4). Then, a search for content in the external storage 32, that is, a content search is started from the acquired disc information character string (for example, tag information) (step S5). Finally, the search result is output via the I / F unit 25 (step S6), and the process ends. When there is no disk in the drive (step S1: No) or when the user does not select the “search from disk information” mode 17 (step S3: No), another mode, for example, “search by character string” is selected. Search in mode 16.

  The configuration and operation of the preferred embodiment of the content search method and system according to the present invention have been described above. According to the present invention, by providing a “search from disk” mode, it is possible to expect a desired content to be easily and quickly searched by searching for a desired content without inputting a character string. In particular, the present invention is suitable for application when a full keyboard such as a PC (personal computer) is not provided and the operation unit is compact like an audio player.

  The preferred embodiments of the content search method and system according to the present invention have been described in detail above. However, such an example is merely an example of the present invention and does not limit the present invention. Those skilled in the art will readily understand that various modifications can be made according to the specific application without departing from the gist of the present invention. In particular, it goes without saying that the external storage 32 may be built in the apparatus 20. Also, a plurality of storage media (disks) may be stored in the storage and searched for.

It is a figure explaining the search mode selection key of the display part of the content search system by this invention. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing an overall configuration of a content search system according to the present invention. It is a flowchart explaining operation | movement of the content search system shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a general content search system.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Content search system 15 Display part 16 Search mode key 17 with character string Search mode key 20 from disk information Device 21 Loading part (drive)
22 disc (recording medium)
23 Head unit 24 System control unit 25 I / F unit 26 LAN (network) module 31 Router 32 External storage 33 WWW
34 CD / DVD database (DB)

Claims (4)

In a content search method for searching for information corresponding to content of a recording medium in a reproducible state via a network, searching for a storage medium stored in a storage based on the search result, and outputting the same.
A content search method comprising: obtaining information on a disc via a network; searching for content in the external storage using the obtained disc information as a key; and outputting the search result. . In a content search method for searching for information responding to content of a recording medium in a reproducible state via a network, searching for a storage medium stored in a storage based on the search result, and outputting it.
In the content search, the user can select either “search by character string” mode for searching by inputting characters or “search from disc information” mode for searching based on disc information acquired from a disc in a playback state. Content search method characterized by the above.   In the content search, it is determined whether or not the disc is loaded in the device in advance, and when the disc is loaded, the search in the “search from disc information” mode can be executed. The content search method according to claim 1 or 2. Search for content stored in storage with a disc playback unit equipped with a disc for recording content information, a system control unit that controls the overall operation, an interface unit that interfaces with the operation unit, and a network module that connects to the network In the content search system that
The network module is connected to a disk database via the WWW, acquires disk information via the disk database, and searches content stored in the storage based on the acquired disk information. Content search system.

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