JP2006332740A - Program recording and reproducing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a program recording and reproducing apparatus using a recording medium with a high capacity that improves the convenience for a user when the user desires to consecutively view a series program going to be broadcast at the same time every day or every week from many recorded programs, and the improved operability associated with erasure of programs whose viewing is finished. <P>SOLUTION: The program recording and reproducing apparatus includes: a program information management section (17) for retrieving recording information of a program belonging to the same series program as recorded programs and precedingly recorded; a program connection section (18) for generating program recording information resulting from connecting program recording information of a newly recorded program to the program recording information retrieved by the program information management section; and an erasure control section (19) for displaying a guide menu on which the user determines whether or not a reproduced program is to be erased when the user reproduces a recorded program and stops the reproduction on its way. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a program recording / playback apparatus, and more particularly to a program recording / playback apparatus that improves the convenience of program selection when playing back a recording of a large number of broadcast programs.

  In recent years, BS (Broadcast Satellite) broadcasting and CS (Communication Satellite) broadcasting have been added to the conventional television broadcasting, and the TV recording diversification function of the program recording / playback device is easy to use as TV programs have been diversified. Many ideas have been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  Patent Document 1 provides a means for automatically and reliably selecting a program that matches a keyword from a number of CS broadcast channels by inputting a keyword related to a program that the user wants to watch, and making a recording reservation easily and reliably. ing. Furthermore, means for continuously recording reservations for continuous programs broadcast at the same time every day or every week is also provided.

  On the other hand, as a program recording / reproducing apparatus, an apparatus capable of recording a large number of television programs by using a large-capacity hard disk as a recording medium has become widespread. One of the major differences from the conventional recording / playback apparatus using a video cassette in terms of the usability of a recording / playback apparatus using a hard disk is that a recorded program is recorded in a recording / playback apparatus using a hard disk. When storing and reproducing a large amount in the apparatus, the user performs an operation of selecting a program to be viewed from a list of stored programs displayed on the screen.

As an example of a recording / reproducing apparatus using a hard disk, a built-in hard disk with a capacity of 250 GB (gigabytes) can record 100 hours or more in the standard mode and 200 hours or more in the long-time mode. The number is huge, from tens to hundreds.
JP-A-11-187328

  As described above, in a program recording / reproducing apparatus using a large-capacity hard disk, in order to reproduce a recorded program, it is necessary to first call a stored program list and select a program to be reproduced from the list. However, when the number of recorded programs is several tens to several hundreds, it is difficult to find a specific program among them.

  In particular, when you want to continue watching a relatively short series of programs that are broadcast daily or weekly at the same time, you can call up the program list every time you finish watching one program. Since they are not displayed in order when they are recorded, it is often inconvenient to search for subsequent programs. In addition, when deleting a program that has been viewed, the entire program is normally deleted, but in the case of a long program, in order to secure a recording area as much as possible, even if you want to delete the program until you have finished watching it, There was inconvenience that could not be.

  As described above, in recent years, a lot of contrivances for improving the usability of the user have been proposed for the recording reservation. However, the convenience of the user when reproducing the recorded program is not so much. The patent document 1 also does not mention anything about improvement in operability during reproduction.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a conventional problem, and an object of the present invention is to record a large amount of recorded programs every day or every week at the same time in a program recording / playback apparatus using a large-capacity recording medium. It is an object of the present invention to provide a program recording / reproducing apparatus that improves the convenience for continuously watching a broadcasted continuous program and the operability for erasing a program that has been viewed.

The present invention has the following configurations (1) to (3) as means for solving the above-described problems. That is,
(1) Recording of a broadcast program and recording of program recording information including recording position information of the program are performed on a recording medium, and at the time of reproduction, the program recorded based on the program recording information is reproduced. In a program recording / playback apparatus,
Program information management means (17) for retrieving program record information previously recorded in the same continuous program as the recorded program;
Program recording means comprising program linking means (18) for creating program recording information obtained by linking the program recording information retrieved by the program information management means with the program recording information of the recorded program. Playback device.
(2) Recording of the broadcast program and recording of the program record information including the recording position information of the program are performed on a recording medium, and at the time of reproduction, the program recorded based on the program record information is reproduced. In a program recording / playback apparatus,
Program information management means (17) for retrieving program record information recorded in the past in the same continuous program as the recorded program;
Playlist creation means (20) for creating a playlist as a single program by linking the program record information searched by the program information management means and the program record information of the recorded program. A program recording / reproducing apparatus.
(3) Recording of the broadcast program and recording of the program record information including the recording position information of the program are performed on a recording medium, and at the time of reproduction, the program recorded based on the program record information is reproduced. In a program recording / playback apparatus,
When a program recorded on the recording medium is played back and stopped in the middle, a deletion control means (19) for displaying a guide screen as to whether or not to delete the program of the played portion is provided. Is a program recording / reproducing apparatus.

  According to the present invention, with the special configuration according to claim 1 or 2, the program recording / reproducing apparatus using a large-capacity recording medium continuously broadcasts a large number of recorded programs every day or every week at the same time. When you continue watching a program, you can call up the saved program list every time you finish watching one program, find the next program from a large number of lists, and eliminate the hassle of selecting it. Operability is possible. Further, according to the special configuration of the third aspect, since the program viewed halfway can be erased by a simple operation by following the guide screen, there is an effect that the recording medium can be used effectively.

Embodiments of a program recording / playback apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a program recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing IFO information connection operation, a table of IFO information, and FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing playlist connection. IFO information and playlist table, FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a partial erase operation of a program and a table of IFO information.

First, the configuration of the program recording / playback apparatus according to the present invention shown in FIG. 1 will be described.
An audio / video signal of a recorded program received by a tuner (not shown) is input to the recording circuit 11 where it is converted into a recording signal in a form suitable for recording on the recording medium 12.
The recording medium 12 is composed of a large-capacity hard disk, and internally includes a content recording unit 13 that records and reproduces programs and IFO information that records and reproduces program recording information (program information and information on program recording positions). The recording unit 14 is divided. The recording signal from the recording circuit 11 is recorded in the content recording unit 13. The audio / video recording signal recorded in the content recording unit 13 is read out during reproduction, decoded by the reproduction circuit 15 into the original audio / video signal, and supplied to an external display device (not shown) or the like.

On the other hand, the recorded program information unit 16 that has received timer reservation information or EPG information (Electronic Programming Guide) from the outside selects program information of a program to be recorded and supplies it to the program information management unit 17.
The program information management unit 17 manages the recording or reproduction of IFO information in the IFO information recording unit 14, and details of the operation of this part will be described later.
The program linking unit 18 is a part that processes the IFO information supplied from the program information management unit 17, and the erasure control unit 19 is a part that controls erasure of the program recorded in the content recording unit 13. Will also be described later.

  The playlist creation unit 20 is a part that receives the IFO information from the program information management unit 17 and creates a playlist. Normally, this is a part for creating a display signal by listing the order of programs to be reproduced via the CPU 21 by user input.

Next, a first embodiment of the program recording / playback apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The first embodiment is a characteristic embodiment when the program information management unit 17 records IFO information when the program to be recorded is a so-called continuous program that is broadcast every day or every week at the same time.
When the recording of the program is completed, if the recorded program is set to the timer recording reservation daily or weekly recording, the program information management unit 17 displays the IFO information previously recorded in the same continuous program as the recorded program. A search is performed from the IFO information recording unit 14. The retrieved IFO information recorded last time and the current IFO information are supplied to the program linking unit 18, and the program linking unit 18 links the two IFO information and edits them as if they were IFO information of one program. . Next, the program information management unit 17 updates and records this new IFO information.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operating state of the first embodiment.
In the figure, first, at the end of recording, the program information management unit 17 creates IFO information of the current recorded program (step S21).
Next, it is determined whether or not the recording is a daily or weekly recording setting by timer recording reservation (step S22).
In the case of YES, the IFO information of the previously recorded program and the current IFO information are edited and combined by the program connecting unit 18 so as to become one program (step S23).
Further, the IFO information is recorded and updated by attaching a marker to the coupling position on the IFO information (step S24).

  Tables A and B in the figure show the change state of the IFO information at this time. In this table, Title 2 and Title 3 in Table A are continuous programs, and each IFO information is originally independent. However, as shown in Table B, Title 3 is merged with Title 2 by the operation of this embodiment. This shows that the program is managed as if it were one program. The marker is marked for use when directly specifying the beginning of Title 3.

  According to the first embodiment described in detail above, since a program is reproduced based on the IFO information at the time of reproduction, when a continuous program is continuously viewed from a large amount of recorded programs, a single program is viewed as in the past. Each time the program is finished, the program list is called up, and the next program can be searched from a large number of lists and reproduced continuously without taking the trouble of selecting it.

  Next, a second embodiment of the program recording / playback apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the second embodiment, when the program to be recorded is a so-called continuous program that is broadcast every day or every week at the same time, the IFO information is recorded as before, and on the playlist that specifies the playback order of the program, A continuous program is combined in advance as one program.

This operation will be described with reference to FIG.
In the figure, first, at the end of recording, the program information management unit 17 creates IFO information of the current recorded program (step S31).
Next, it is determined whether or not the recording is a daily or weekly recording setting by timer recording reservation (step S32).
In the case of YES, the playlist creating unit 20 next edits the IFO information of the same program that has been recorded and remains without being deleted and the current IFO information and combined to form one program. (Step S33).
Further, the playlist is updated by attaching a marker to the combined position on the playlist (step S34).

  Tables A and B in the figure show the IFO information and the playlist at this time. In this table, Title 2 and Title 3 in Table A are continuous programs, and since each IFO information is originally independent, the playlist is also separate. However, as shown in Table B by the operation of this embodiment, 2 and Title 3 are merged, indicating that it is managed as Playlist 1 as if it were one program. The marker is marked for use when directly playing back the beginning of Title 3.

According to the second embodiment described in detail above, since a program is reproduced based on a playlist at the time of reproduction, when the continuous program is selected, the past recordings that have not been viewed yet are recorded continuously. It can be played.
As a result, when watching a series of programs continuously from a large number of recorded programs, it is time-consuming to call up the program list every time one program is finished and search for and select the next program from the large list. It will be possible to play continuously without spending.

  It should be noted that the combination of continuous programs by playlist is different from the combination of the first embodiment and does not record the combined IFO information in the IFO information recording unit 14, but records it as a normal single program. For this reason, since the recorded program can exist independently for each program as in the case of the normal recording, it is possible in the second embodiment to obtain the use of storing the program and the convenience of viewing at the same time.

  Next, an embodiment of the present invention relating to erasing a recorded program will be described with reference to FIG. The present embodiment relates to a function of erasing a portion that has been viewed so far when the recorded program is long and cannot be fully viewed at once, and is reproduced in several times.

In the figure, after the reproduction of the program is started, the user stops halfway (step S41). This stop position is assumed to be a position marked with * in the IFO information shown in Table A of FIG.
Then, a guide screen saying “Do you want to delete the part you have finished watching?” Is displayed on the display screen (step S42). The guide screen is displayed under the control of the erasing control unit 19 shown in FIG.
Viewing this guide display, the user selects either “Yes” or “No” (step S43). When “Yes” is selected, the portion of the program that has been reproduced so far is deleted and IFO information is updated and recorded under the control of the erasure control unit 19 (step S44).
As shown in Table B, the updated IFO information is obtained by deleting the position information above the * mark in Table A. By updating the IFO information, when the program is reproduced again, the continuation from the stop position can be reproduced.

  As described above in detail, in the embodiment of the present invention relating to program erasure, an easy-to-understand guide screen is displayed in accordance with the user's operation, so that partial erasure of the program can be easily performed. As a result, the recording area of the recording medium 12 is restored, and more programs can be recorded.

  In the configuration of the program recording / playback apparatus according to the present invention shown in FIG. 1, the recording medium 12 has been described as a large-capacity hard disk. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, a rewritable optical disk or a large-capacity hard disk is used. Even a semiconductor memory can be implemented.

It is a block diagram which shows one Example of the program recording / reproducing apparatus which concerns on this invention. 5 is a flowchart showing a connection operation of IFO information and a table of IFO information. It is the flowchart which showed the coupling | bonding of a playlist, IFO information, and the table | surface of a playlist. 5 is a flowchart showing a partial erasing operation of a program and a table of IFO information.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Recording circuit 12 ... Recording medium 13 ... Content recording part 14 ... IFO information recording part 15 ... Reproduction circuit 16 ... Recorded program information part 17 ... Program information management part 18 ... Program connection part 19 ... Erase control part 20 ... Create playlist Unit 21 ... CPU

Claims (3)

Recording of the broadcast program and recording of the program recording information including the recording position information of the program are performed each time on the recording medium as a set, and at the time of reproduction, the program recorded based on the program recording information is recorded. In a program recording / playback apparatus that plays a specific time from within,
Program information management means for searching for program record information previously recorded on the recording medium in the same continuous program that is broadcast every time as the program recorded on the recording medium;
Program linking means for creating program record information by linking program record information of the program recorded on the recording medium to the program record information searched by the program information management means;
A program recording / reproducing apparatus comprising: Program recording / reproduction in which recording of a broadcast program and recording of program recording information including recording position information of the program is performed on a recording medium, and at the time of reproduction, the program recorded based on the program recording information is reproduced. In the device
Program information management means for searching for program record information recorded in the past in the same continuous program as the recorded program;
A playlist creation means for creating a playlist as a single program by connecting the program record information searched by the program information management means and the program record information of the recorded program;
A program recording / reproducing apparatus comprising: Program recording / reproduction in which recording of a broadcast program and recording of program recording information including recording position information of the program is performed on a recording medium, and at the time of reproduction, the program recorded based on the program recording information is reproduced. In the device
A program comprising deletion control means for displaying a guide screen as to whether or not to delete the reproduced program when the program recorded on the recording medium is reproduced and stopped in the middle. Recording / playback device.

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