JP2006352180A - Video information recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a video recording apparatus capable of storing a program recorded on a HDD onto a DVD-RAM and a memory card in the unit of a prescribed capacity without the need for management information such as a marker. <P>SOLUTION: Since the program is divided in the unit of the recording capacity of the DVD-RAM in the MPEG 2 and in the unit of the recording capacity of the memory card in the MPEG 4 at video recording (S204), it is possible to dub the program onto object media by having only to carry out high speed copy of data without the need for marker information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  In the present invention, a program recorded on a large-capacity medium (HDD or the like) is moved or copied to a removable medium (DVD-RAM, memory card, etc.) having a smaller capacity and viewed on another device or the like. The present invention relates to a video information recording apparatus (DVD recorder) that can be used for various purposes.

  In recent years, DVD recorders are rapidly spreading as program recording devices. The DVD recorder is a recording device that can compress a program video by an MPEG2 (Moving Picture Coding Experts Group 2) system and record it on an optical disc medium such as a DVD-RAM. Also, in this DVD recorder, a model incorporating a hard disk drive (hereinafter referred to as HDD) is gaining popularity. In particular, users are increasingly using a method in which a program is first recorded on an HDD and then stored on a removable medium such as a DVD-RAM. Recently, a method of copying a program recorded on a DVD recorder to a memory card and viewing it on a corresponding playback device has been proposed. For example, it can be viewed on a mobile device such as a mobile phone by recording it on the HDD in the MPEG4 (Moving Picture Coding Experts Group 4) system and copying it to a memory card.

  At this time, a large-capacity program recorded on the HDD cannot be stored in a limited-capacity medium such as a DVD-RAM or a memory card, so it must be edited and saved on a plurality of DVD-RAMs or memory cards. is there.

Therefore, when a program is recorded on the HDD as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-109300, when the video data and management information for managing the video data are recorded on the HDD, the management information is stored in advance in the DVD-RAM medium. A method is disclosed in which marker information (entry point information) is automatically generated in units of recording capacity (4.7 GB) and stored in a DVD-RAM in units of the markers during dubbing.
JP 2003-109300 A

  However, the first problem of the conventional technique is that the marker information (entry point information) cannot be used for other purposes. For example, when marker information is created at the start point or end point of a scene such as a CM, it is unknown whether the marker information is information indicating a 4.7 GB break or information indicating the start / end points of a CM. For this reason, if data is saved in the DVD-RAM in units of markers as it is during dubbing, it cannot be correctly saved in units of 4.7 GB. In addition, there is a possibility that the user erases the marker information by mistake.

  The second problem of the conventional technique is that it cannot be used in the case of a recording format in which the marker information management mechanism itself does not exist. For example, in many cases of recording in the MPEG4 system, unlike a DVD-RAM recording format, one recorded video is managed in units of files, and marker information (entry point) such as the DVD-RAM recording format is used. Information) There is no management information file to manage. For this reason, it is difficult to add information indicating a capacity delimiter. However, it is technically possible to create a unique management information file and manage marker information. However, in the case of the MPEG4 system, it is difficult to partially duplicate or divide a video file with a marker as a mark, and a heavy burden is imposed on processing. For example, in the case of MPEG4 compressed video, when the ASF (Advanced System Format) method is used for the video and audio multiplexing method, in order to make the video information after the marker position into one ASF format file, It is necessary to update and rewrite various information in the file, such as rewriting header information, rewriting the time stamp in the packet, or rewriting index information provided by the ASF for the seek operation. Since this process is very complicated, there is a problem that a very large burden is imposed on the system and the processing speed during dubbing is reduced. Further, in the above-described prior art, when dubbing by re-encoding (conversion from MPEG2 to MPEG4, etc.) is performed, there is a problem that markers previously assigned in units of capacity are not useful.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a recording apparatus that can store a program recorded in an HDD in a certain capacity unit in a DVD-RAM or a memory card without requiring management information such as a marker.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention divides video information by a certain capacity unit equal to or less than the recording capacity of the second recording medium when recording the video information on the first recording medium built in the apparatus. Record. Alternatively, when one piece of video information is recorded simultaneously on the first recording medium built in the apparatus using both the first video compression method and the second video compression method, the first video compression method is The second recording medium is divided by a first capacity unit equal to or smaller than the recording capacity of the second recording medium, and the second video compression method is divided and recorded by a second capacity unit equal to or smaller than the recording capacity of the third recording medium. It is.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the present invention converts video information recorded by the first video compression method into the second video compression method, and applies it to the first recording medium built in the apparatus. When recording, the second video compression method is divided and recorded in a certain capacity unit equal to or less than the recording capacity of the second recording medium, and is recorded on the first recording medium by the second video compression method. The recorded video information is copied or moved to the second recording medium.

  The first effect of the present invention is that MPEG2 is divided by the recording capacity unit of the DVD-RAM and MPEG4 is divided by the recording capacity unit of the memory card at the time of recording. Dubbing to the target media is possible only with this.

  The second effect of the present invention is that when performing conversion dubbing from MPEG2 to MPEG4, recording is performed while being divided into HDDs, and then copied to the memory card. Processing can be performed, and dubbing can be executed even when the writing speed of the memory card is lower than the recording rate of MPEG4.

(Embodiment 1)
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the video information recording apparatus of the present invention will be described by taking a DVD recorder as an example. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the entire system of a DVD recorder for showing the first embodiment of the present invention. The TV tuner 101 selects a selected channel with respect to the RF signal input from the antenna, and outputs an analog video / audio signal. The MPEG2 encoder 102 converts an analog video / audio signal into a digital signal, compresses (encodes) the video digital signal with the MPEG2 method, compresses the audio digital signal with the AC3 method, and program streams the compressed video data and audio data. It is a circuit that multiplexes by a method. The MPEG4 encoder 103 converts an analog video / audio signal to digital, compresses the video digital signal by the MPEG4 system, compresses the audio digital signal by the G.726 system, and compresses the compressed video data and audio data by the ASF system. A circuit for multiplexing. The MPEG2 / 4 decoder 105 separates and compresses a program stream in which MPEG2 video compression data is multiplexed and an ASF stream in which MPEG4 video compression data is multiplexed into video compression data and audio compression data, respectively. This is a circuit that decompresses (decodes) video data and audio data and outputs them as video digital signals and audio digital signals. The graphics circuit 108 synthesizes a video digital signal output from the MPEG2 / 4 decoder with a GUI (graphical user interface) screen serving as a user operation screen, converts it into an analog signal, and outputs it to the monitor. The audio circuit 109 converts the audio digital signal output from the MPEG2 / 4 decoder into an analog signal and outputs it to the speaker. Here, the decoding process of MPEG2 and the decoding process of MPEG4 can cope with the decoding of either input stream by switching the microcode loaded in the circuit of the MPEG2 / 4 decoder 105, respectively. The HDD / DVD control circuit 104 is a circuit for recording a program stream (MPEG2) or ASF stream (MPEG4) input from each encoder on an HDD or a DVD-RAM. The program stream is in a DVD-VR format (DVD video recording format). ), And the ASF stream is recorded in the ASF file format. When recording in the DVD-VR format, the program stream is recorded in a video file format called VRO. A management information file called IFO for managing the VRO file is also recorded.

  Further, the HDD / DVD control circuit 104 reads out DVD-VR format data and ASF file format data stored in the HDD or DVD-RAM, and outputs them as a program stream (MPEG2) or ASF stream (MPEG4). 4 Output to decoder. The memory card control circuit 106 copies or moves the ASF file stored in the HDD or DVD-RAM to the memory card via the HDD / DVD control circuit 104, or transfers the ASF file recorded on the memory card to the HDD. Or copy or move to DVD-RAM. It is also possible to read the ASF file recorded on the memory card and output the ASF stream to the MPEG2 / 4 decoder. The memory card control circuit can also record the ASF stream output from the MPEG4 encoder 103 on the memory card in the ASF file format. The CPU 107 executes software for controlling each block of the DVD recorder and operates the entire system.

  An operation when a program is recorded by the DVD recorder configured as described above will be described. In the first embodiment of the present invention, an example in which simultaneous recording of MPEG2 and MPEG4 is performed on the HDD 110 will be described. First, when a recording start instruction is given by a user operation, recording starts according to an instruction from the CPU 107. At this time, the signals of the TV tuner 101 are simultaneously compressed by the MPEG2 encoder 102 and the MPEG4 encoder 103 respectively by the MPEG2 system and the MPEG4 system, and are respectively supplied as a program stream and an ASF stream to the HDD via the HDD / DVD control circuit 104 to the VRO. Files and ASF files are recorded simultaneously. When the user gives an instruction to stop recording, the HDD / DVD control circuit 104 closes the VRO file and the ASF file in accordance with an instruction from the CPU 107, and then updates the IFO file to write management information in the DVD-VR format. Program recording by simultaneous recording of MPEG2 and MPEG4 can be performed by the operation as described above. Next, the operation for reproducing an MPEG2 or MPEG4 program recorded in the HDD will be described. First, a case where MPEG2 is reproduced will be described. The user instructs the reproduction of the MPEG2 program from the application through the GUI drawn by the graphics circuit 108. As a result, the CPU 107 first instructs the MPEG2 / 4 decoder 105 to switch the microcode of the MPEG2 / 4 decoder 105 to one that can decode the program stream (MPEG2), and the microcode is loaded into the MPEG2 / 4 decoder 105. The microcode can separate video compressed data (MPEG2) and audio compressed data (AC3) from a program stream, and can further decompress the compressed data to each. Next, the HDD / DVD control circuit 104 acquires the reading position of the VRO file storing the program to be reproduced from the IFO file recorded on the HDD, extracts the program stream from the VRO file, and MPEG2 / 4. By outputting to the decoder 105, an MPEG2 program can be reproduced. Next, a case where an MPEG4 program is reproduced will be described. With the GUI, the user instructs the reproduction of the MPEG4 program from the application. As a result, the CPU 107 gives an instruction to switch the microcode of the MPEG2 / 4 decoder 105 to one capable of decoding the ASF stream (MPEG4), and the microcode is loaded into the MPEG2 / 4 decoder 105. The microcode is capable of separating compressed video data (MPEG4) and compressed audio data (G.726) from the ASF stream, and further decompressing the compressed data to each. Next, the HDD / DVD control circuit 104 reads out the ASF file designated by the user from the plurality of ASF files recorded on the HDD, and outputs the ASF stream to the MPEG2 / 4 decoder 105, whereby the MPEG4 program is read. Can be played. In the DVD recorder system of the present invention, simultaneous recording of MPEG2 and MPEG4 is performed, but simultaneous playback of MPEG2 and MPEG4 is not performed. This is because if the same program is recorded with two different compression methods, it is considered that the user should be able to reproduce either one.

  Having described the overall configuration and operation, the recording operation by capacity division particularly related to the present invention will be described next. First, in Embodiment 1 of the present invention, MPEG2 and MPEG4 are simultaneously recorded on the HDD, the MPEG2 side is divided by a 4.3 GB unit capacity considering the capacity of the DVD-RAM, and the MPEG4 side is aware of the capacity of the memory card. It is assumed that the capacity is set according to the initial setting and then divided and recorded in units of the set capacity. As for MPEG2, 4.3GB with some remaining capacity is divided with respect to the single-sided capacity of 4.7GB for DVD-RAM in order to be able to save the MPEG2 program recorded on the HDD to DVD-RAM. It is a unit of capacity. On the other hand, for MPEG4, in order to be able to save the MPEG4 program recorded in the HDD to the memory card, the user is allowed to set the capacity of the memory card to be used on the GUI screen for initial setting. It is assumed that the data is divided in units of capacity set here. A more specific operation procedure will be described with reference to FIGS. First, FIG. 2 shows an operation procedure when recording an MPEG2 program while dividing it. First, when an instruction to start recording is given from the user, recording in MPEG2 on the HDD is started in S101. First, information for indicating that a new program is added to the IFO file is written. In the DVD-VR format, one recording unit (program) is called a program (hereinafter referred to as PG). That is, new PG information is added to the IFO, and the PG stream data (program stream) is added to the VRO file. Next, in S102, it is determined whether or not the capacity of the stream data being recorded has exceeded 4.3 GB. If it exceeds 4.3 GB, the process proceeds to S103. If it is within 4.3 GB, recording continues. In S107, the recording capacity is calculated for the PG currently being recorded. This is to calculate the recording capacity of stream data from the start of PG to the current recording position. If it is determined that the size is 4.3 GB or less in S102, recording is continued unless there is an instruction to stop recording in S108 from the user (shift to S102). On the other hand, if it exceeds 4.3 GB in S102, recording stop processing is once performed as internal processing in S103. In the recording stop process, management information is once written as one PG for the IFO file. The stream data on the VRO file is temporarily interrupted. In this process, it seems that the recording continues from the viewpoint of the user, but the PG is once divided by performing this internal process. That is, by stopping internal recording, the program is divided in the middle so that it is handled as one program on the HDD. With this process, one PG can be set to 4.3 GB or less. Next, in S104, since the recording is once stopped inside, the recording capacity calculation parameter is cleared (initialized) in order to calculate the capacity again from zero. In S105, it is checked whether or not the maximum number of recorded programs (maximum number of PGs) allowed by the system is exceeded at the time of internal stop. The maximum PG of MPEG2 in Embodiment 1 of the present invention is 250. If the number of PGs reaches 250 at the time of S103, the recording is ended completely. That is, even when viewed from the user, the recording is stopped. Conversely, if it has not reached 250 again, recording is resumed internally (S106). This internal resumption of recording seems only to the user to continue recording, but in reality, the program is once divided and the number of PGs is increased by one. Thus, unless the user instructs to stop the recording, the recording is performed while dividing the PG by a certain capacity (4.3 GB). If the number of PGs reaches 250, the recording is stopped. If the user instructs to stop recording, a recording end determination is made in S108, and the process proceeds to a recording end process in S109. In S109, the operation viewed from the user is set to the recording stop state, and processing such as saving the IFO file or the like to a nonvolatile memory or the like is performed to prevent data loss due to a power failure. FIG. 4 is an example of a recording image on the HDD of the MPEG2 program recorded according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In the IFO file, management information of each PG is written. The VRO file represents a state where the recorded program is divided into PG units. In the example of FIG. 4, one program is divided into four PGs and recorded. At this time, the recording capacity of each PG is 4.3 GB each, and for example, it is possible to copy the entire data of PG 1 as it is to a medium such as a DVD-RAM.

  Through the operation as described above, the recorded program can be recorded while being divided in a unit of a fixed capacity (4.3 GB), so that it is possible to record to a DVD-RAM medium or the like without using management information such as marker information. If only the PG containing the necessary part of the program to be viewed is selected during dubbing, it is possible to efficiently save the capacity of the DVD-RAM media.

  In the MPEG2 PG division, the program scene may be interrupted in the PG before and after the division in the normal division. For example, when the image is divided into PG1 and PG2, a scene for several frames to several seconds may be lost without being a continuous scene between the last scene of PG1 and the first scene of PG2. This is because in the internal recording stop process and the internal recording restart process, recording cannot be performed while the process is being performed. Therefore, although not shown in the HDD / DVD control circuit 104 of FIG. 1, when stream data is recorded on the HDD via a buffer, recording is performed so that the scenes are divided so that they overlap in the PG before and after the division. . FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a state where stream data is stored in the buffer. This buffer is for absorbing fluctuations in the transfer rate of the input stream data when the stream data is recorded on the HDD or DVD-RAM in real time. The state of the buffer memory when the division of PG1 has just been performed and recording of PG2 is about to start is shown. Here, since PG1 is divided in units of capacity, the recording is completed up to the capacity division position in FIG. Next, the recording of PG2 is started. As shown in FIG. 6, this includes the first packet of the MPEG2 program stream including the I frame and goes back to the previous (past) scene before the recording end of PG1. The recording is started from the part. Thereby, it is possible to record between the divided PG1 and PG2 without missing a scene of the program. The overlap between the end of PG1 and the beginning of PG2 is preferably 1 GOP or more, or about 1 to 2 seconds. That is, the overlap time of this scene may be equal to or longer than the time required for starting internal recording after internal recording is stopped. As described above, by dividing the start position of PG2 ahead of the end position of PG1 when dividing into PG1 and PG2, it is possible to record without missing a scene extending from PG1 to PG2.

  At this time, in each divided PG, the recording start date and time can be given the time when the recording was resumed. For example, it is assumed that the recording starts at 14:00 on July 7 and ends at 16:00, and the recording is divided from PG1 to PG4. At this time, the recording start time of PG1 is 14:00 on July 7, but the recording start time of PG2 is divided into, for example, 14:33 (more precisely, PG2 is recorded internally at 14:33) PG2 recording start time is 14:33 on July 7. Similarly, the management information is recorded in the IFO file at the recording time such that the recording start time of PG3 is 15:10 on July 7, and the recording start time of PG4 is 15:44 on July 7. Then, when reproducing these programs and displaying a list of programs, information on each PG is displayed for PG1 to PG4 as shown in FIG. At this time, when one program is divided into a plurality of PGs, the start time of each PG is displayed as the time at which each of the PGs is divided. Based on the above time, it is possible to select a PG including a time when it is thought that there is a scene to be viewed. Also, when these divided PGs are played back on the HDD, they are played back in order from the oldest of the divided times, so that even if the program is divided in units of capacity, it is as if one continuous It can also be played back as if it were a program. Note that it is recommended that information other than the time (for example, program title information) is given to the divided PGs at the time of division.

  Next, FIG. 3 shows an operation procedure when recording an MPEG4 program while dividing it. The first embodiment of the present invention describes a system that records MPEG2 and MPEG4 simultaneously. Therefore, in parallel with the operation of recording while dividing the MPEG2 program described in FIG. 2, the operation of recording while dividing the MPEG4 program described below based on FIG. 3 is executed. In FIG. 3, first, the memory card capacity is set in S201. This is performed by the user selecting a capacity on the initial setting screen. For example, there is an item “card capacity” on the initial setting screen, and candidates that can be set for the item are “8 MB”, “16 MB”, “32 MB”, “64 MB”, “128 MB”, “256 MB”, “256 MB”, “ 512 MB "or the like. If 128 MB is selected here, the setting capacity for division is, for example, 120000000 bytes. It is desirable that this value has a capacity that is slightly more than the above 128 MB.

  This is because the capacity display of the memory card is generally expressed as the capacity of the installed physical memory, but in reality, some of the physical memory is consumed inside the card to control the memory card. This is because an area that has not been opened to the user in advance exists as a secure area for copyright protection. In this way, by the initial setting, the user is allowed to select the capacity of the card and the capacity value to be divided is determined (S201). Next, when the user gives an instruction to start recording, in S202, recording is started on the HDD in MPEG2 and at the same time in MPEG4. The recording start operation of MPEG2 is as described in S101 of FIG.

  On the other hand, regarding the start of MPEG4 recording, in order to record as an ASF file, a file open process or the like is first performed, and then MPEG4 ASF stream data is recorded on the file. Next, in S203, it is determined whether or not the capacity of the stream data being recorded exceeds the value set above (120000000 bytes). If it exceeds 120000000 bytes, the process proceeds to S204. If it is less than 120000000 bytes, recording continues. In S208, the recording capacity is calculated for the file currently being recorded. This is to calculate the recording capacity of stream data from the start of the file to the current recording position. If it is determined in S203 that it is equal to or less than 120000000 bytes, if the MPEG2 recording is not particularly stopped in S209, the recording is continued (shift to S203).

  On the other hand, if it exceeds 120000000 bytes in S203, recording stop processing is once performed as internal processing in S204. In the recording stop process, the header information is updated for the ASF file that is currently being written, and index information necessary for seeking is added to the end of the file. The header information describes a description of recording management information such as recording start date / time and title information. The index information stores position information of packets including I frames necessary for random seek. The ASF file is closed by the internal recording stop process. As a result, the stream data is temporarily interrupted in units of files.

  In this process, the recording seems to be continued from the viewpoint of the user, but the file is once divided by performing this internal process. That is, by stopping internal recording, the program is divided in the middle so that it is handled as one program on the HDD. By this processing, one file can be made to be 12000000 bytes or less. Next, in S205, since the recording is once stopped inside, the recording capacity calculation parameter is cleared (initialized) in order to calculate the capacity again from zero. In S206, it is checked whether or not the maximum number (maximum number of files) of recorded programs allowed by the system is exceeded at the time of internal stop. The maximum number of MPEG4 files in Embodiment 1 of the present invention is set to 1000.

  If the number of files reaches 1000 at the time of S204, the recording is completely terminated. That is, even when viewed from the user, the recording is stopped. Conversely, if it has not reached 1000, recording is resumed internally (S207). Although this internal resumption of recording seems only to the user to continue recording, the program is actually divided once and the number of files is increased by one. By the way, the MPEG4 recording end condition is determined by whether or not MPEG2 recording ends as shown in S209. This means that when MPEG2 and MPEG4 are recorded simultaneously, if MPEG2 stops recording for some reason (excluding internal recording stop), MPEG4 stops recording unconditionally. Factors that cause MPEG2 recording to stop include a recording stop process by the user, and a stop due to the maximum number of MPEG2 PGs. In addition, when the capacity of the HDD is full or when recording exceeding the upper limit defined by DVD-VR is performed during MPEG2 recording (for example, when the number of cells becomes maximum), MPEG2 is also recorded. Recording of will stop. In short, when MPEG2 stops recording, MPEG4 also stops recording accordingly. As a result, it is impossible to record only MPEG4 without recording MPEG2.

  By performing such an operation, MPEG2 recording is executed first with priority. Therefore, even if MPEG4 recording cannot be performed, at least MPEG2 recording is executed. If only MPEG4 video recording is performed and MPEG2 video recording is not supported, the user will be very confused when and what cannot be recorded, which is often confusing to the user. There is a problem of end. Similarly, if MPEG2 cannot be recorded because MPEG2 cannot be recorded even though MPEG2 can be recorded, it becomes difficult for the user to understand why MPEG2 cannot be recorded. That is, when the MPEG2 recording is prioritized over MPEG4, the user can easily recognize that the recording is always performed with the MPEG2 priority. The reason why MPEG2 is given priority is that DVD recorders are generally based on MPEG2.

  Thus, unless MPEG2 particularly stops recording, recording is performed while dividing the file in units of a fixed capacity (120000000 bytes). If the number of files reaches 1000, MPEG4 recording is stopped. If the MPEG2 recording is stopped, a recording end determination is made in S209, and the process proceeds to the MPEG4 recording end processing in S210. In S210, the operation viewed from the user is set to the recording stop state, and the directory information including the file list is backed up to a nonvolatile memory or the like in order to prevent data loss due to a power failure. FIG. 5 is an example of a recording image on the HDD of the MPEG4 program recorded according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Each file represents a state in which a recorded program is divided into file units. In the example of FIG. 5, one program is divided into four files and recorded. At this time, the recording capacity of each file is 120 MB (exactly 120000000 bytes), and for example, it is possible to copy the entire file 1 as it is to a 128 MB memory card.

  Through the operation as described above, the recorded program can be recorded while being divided by a predetermined capacity (for example, 120 MB) set in the initial setting, so that it is possible to transfer to the memory card without using management information such as marker information. If only files that contain the necessary part of the program you want to watch are selected during dubbing, it is possible to efficiently save the capacity of the memory card. If the MPEG4 program is not divided at the time of recording and a management file for managing unique marker information and the like is separately created for each capacity unit, and the conventional method is used to divide at the time of dubbing, the marker position and beyond Rewriting ASF header information, rewriting time stamps in packets in stream data, rewriting index information assigned for seek operation, etc. Occurs, and a very large burden is applied to the system (CPU), and the processing speed during dubbing is reduced.

  On the other hand, in the first embodiment, since the program is divided at the time of recording, processing such as rewriting of stream data does not occur. Therefore, it is only necessary to perform file copying as it is, so hardware transfer processing by simple DMA or the like is performed. By doing so, it is possible to perform copying at a very high speed.

  In the above MPEG4 file division, the program scene may be interrupted in the files before and after the normal division. For example, when the file 1 is divided into the file 1 and the file 2, a scene of several frames to several seconds may be lost without being a continuous scene between the last scene of the file 1 and the first scene of the file 2. . This is because in the internal recording stop process and the internal recording restart process, recording cannot be performed while the process is being performed. Therefore, in the same way as the MPEG2 PG division processing, when stream data is recorded on the HDD via a buffer, the data is divided and recorded so that the scenes overlap in the files before and after the division. As shown in FIG. 6, the recording start position of the file 2 includes the first packet of the MPEG4 ASF stream including the I frame and goes back to the previous (past) scene before the recording end position in the file 1. By making it a part, it is possible to record between the divided file 1 and file 2 without missing a program scene. The overlap between the last scene of file 1 and the top scene of file 2 is preferably 1 GOP or more, or about 1 to 2 seconds.

  That is, the overlap time of this scene may be equal to or longer than the time required for starting internal recording after internal recording is stopped. As described above, when the file 1 and the file 2 are divided, the start position of the file 2 is set ahead of the end position of the file 1 so that a scene extending from the file 1 to the file 2 can be recorded without being lost. It becomes possible.

  At this time, in each divided file, the recording start date and time can be given the time when the recording was resumed. For example, it is assumed that the recording starts at 14:00 on July 7 and ends at 16:00, and is divided into files 1 to 4 and recorded. At this time, the recording start time of file 1 is 17:00 on July 7, but the recording start time of file 2 is divided into, for example, 14:33 (exactly, the file is internally stored at 14:33). 2), the recording start time of file 2 is 14:33 on July 7. Similarly, the recording time is given to the header information of the ASF file so that the recording start time of file 3 is 15:10 on July 7 and the recording start time of file 4 is 15:44 on July 7. Then, when reproducing these programs and displaying a list of programs, information on the files 1 to 4 is displayed.

  It is recommended that information other than the time (for example, program title information), etc. at the time of division be given to the divided files. At this time, when one program is divided into a plurality of files, the start time of each file is displayed as the time at which each file is divided, so that the user wants to see which scene of the program. Based on the above time, it is possible to select a file including a time when there is a scene that the user wants to see.

  In addition, when these divided files are played back on the HDD, they are played back in order from the oldest of the divided times, so that even if the program is divided by capacity unit, it is as if one continuous It can also be played back as if it were a program.

  In S201 of FIG. 3, the example in which the capacity to be divided is set by the user selecting the card capacity according to the initial setting has been described. In addition, in the initial setting screen, the format of the memory card is also described. There is also a method of preparing the execution menu and executing the formatting to recognize the capacity of the card and set the capacity to be divided. For example, the memory card used by the user is first formatted on the initial setting screen on the DVD recorder of the present invention. At this time, the capacity immediately after the formatting of the memory card is recognized, and the capacity to be divided is obtained by subtracting a margin from the capacity. This eliminates the need for the user to select the capacity of the card to be used, and is advantageous in that the user operation is simplified. Another advantage is that the entire usable area of the card can be used without depending on the capacity variation of the memory card. In general, the capacity display of the memory card is generally described above, but it is represented by the capacity of the installed physical memory, but in reality, some of the physical memory controls the memory card. For this reason, there is an area that is consumed inside the card and an area that is not open to the user in advance as a secure area for copyright protection, so the capacity immediately after formatting depends on the card type, product number, and manufacturer. There is a problem that it is mixed, and it is not guaranteed that the capacity immediately after formatting will always exceed a certain value.

  Therefore, by formatting a memory card, the maximum usable capacity of the memory card can be obtained. Therefore, by setting the capacity to be divided based on the capacity value immediately after formatting, the capacity of the memory card to be used is maximized. Limited use is possible.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment of the present invention, MPEG2 is divided by the recording capacity unit of the DVD-RAM and MPEG4 is divided by the recording capacity unit of the memory card at the time of recording. Dubbing to a target medium is possible only by high-speed copying. That is, MPEG2 can be divided by a capacity that can be copied to a DVD-RAM for storage, and MPEG4 can be divided by a capacity that can be copied to a memory card so that it can be taken out by a portable device. Also, since the scenes before and after the division are recorded redundantly, the scene is not missed. In addition, since the divided program is given a time at the time of division, it is possible to immediately find out which divided portion corresponds to the scene required by the user.

  By reproducing the divided programs in the order of the divided times, it is possible to reproduce the programs as if they were one continuous program. As a result, a dubbing operation to a target medium can be easily performed without an editing operation. Further, since the recording is performed on the HDD while being divided at the time of recording, the user can take out the divided capacity. For example, the file 1 (or PG1) is taken out on the first day, and the file 2 (or PG2) is taken on the second day. ) Can be used. In the first embodiment of the present invention, copying (dubbing) to a DVD-RAM or a memory card may be movement. “Move” means that data is transferred to the destination, but the source data is deleted. Further, in the first embodiment of the present invention, the example in which the means for starting the recording is performed by an instruction from the user has been described. However, it is a matter of course that the recording may be performed by reserved recording.

(Embodiment 2)
Embodiment 2 of the video information recording apparatus of the present invention will be described below. A configuration diagram of the entire system of the DVD recorder for showing the second embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 1 similarly to the first embodiment. The description of the function of each part is the same as in the first embodiment, and will not be repeated. In the second embodiment, a description will be given of a form in which a program recorded in MPEG2 in advance is converted into MPEG4 by re-encoding and dubbed to a memory card. At this time, it is assumed that the re-encoded MPEG4 stream is first divided and stored in the HDD and then dubbed (copied) to the memory card. The operation at the time of dubbing from MPEG2 to MPEG4 with the configuration of FIG. 1 will be described. First, it is assumed that an MPEG2 program has already been stored in the HDD 110. This operation has already been described in the first embodiment. Therefore, first, the user selects an MPEG2 program to be dubbed by the GUI drawn by the graphics circuit 108. As a result, the CPU 107 first instructs the MPEG2 / 4 decoder 105 to switch the microcode of the MPEG2 / 4 decoder 105 to one that can decode the program stream (MPEG2), and the microcode is loaded into the MPEG2 / 4 decoder 105.

  Next, the HDD / DVD control circuit 104 acquires the reading position of the VRO file storing the program to be reproduced from the IFO file recorded on the HDD, extracts the program stream from the VRO file, and MPEG2 / 4. Output to the decoder 105. The digital video data and digital audio data expanded by the MPEG2 / 4 decoder are input to the MPEG4 encoder 103. The MPEG4 encoder 103 compresses the input digital video signal by the MPEG4 method, and converts the digital audio signal to G.264. The data is compressed using the 726 method, multiplexed in the ASF format, and output to the HDD / DVD control circuit 104. The HDD / DVD control circuit 104 records the input ASF stream on the HDD 110 in the ASF file format. At this time, the ASF file is divided by a certain capacity unit. Of the one or more ASF files recorded in the HDD 110 in this way, the first recorded ASF file (first file) is copied to the memory card via the memory card control circuit 106.

  The operation according to the system configuration has been described above. Next, the dubbing operation by capacity division particularly relevant to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. First, in S301, the memory card capacity is set. As described in the first embodiment, this is performed by the user selecting a capacity on the initial setting screen. For example, there is an item “card capacity” on the initial setting screen, and candidates that can be set for the item are “8 MB”, “16 MB”, “32 MB”, “64 MB”, “128 MB”, “256 MB”, “256 MB”, “ 512 MB "or the like. If 128 MB is selected here, the setting capacity for division is, for example, 120000000 bytes. In S301 of FIG. 7, as in the first embodiment, the memory card format execution menu is prepared on the initial setting screen, and the format is executed to recognize the capacity of the card, and the capacity to be divided. A way to do this is also conceivable. Alternatively, a card may be inserted before dubbing, the available capacity of the card is detected, and the capacity may be divided. For example, if the free space of the inserted card is 120 MB, the capacity to be divided can be set to 119 MB with some margins removed. When the capacity to be divided is determined in S301 as described above, actual dubbing is started in S302. At this point, it is assumed that the user has already selected an MPEG2 program to be dubbed. When the user instructs to start dubbing, in S302, preparation for starting recording on the HDD by MPEG4 is first performed.

  Next, by starting the reproduction of MPEG2, the recording of MPEG4 is also started, and the reproduced video of MPEG2 is compressed again by MPEG4, and recording in the HDD in the ASF file format is started. Next, in S303, it is determined whether or not the capacity of the stream data being recorded exceeds the value set above (120000000 bytes). If it exceeds 120000000 bytes, the process proceeds to S304. If it is less than 120000000 bytes, MPEG4 recording is continued. In S308, the recording capacity is calculated for the file currently being recorded. This is to calculate the recording capacity of stream data from the start of the file to the current recording position. If it is determined in S303 that it is 120000000 bytes or less, recording is continued if the reproduction of MPEG2 is not stopped in S309 (the process proceeds to S303). On the other hand, if it exceeds 120000000 bytes in S303, recording stop processing is once performed as internal processing in S304. In the recording stop process, the header information is updated for the ASF file that is currently being written, and index information necessary for seeking is added to the end of the file. The ASF file is closed by the internal recording stop process. As a result, the stream data is temporarily interrupted in units of files. In this process, it seems that recording (dubbing) is continued from the viewpoint of the user, but the file is once divided by performing this internal process. By this processing, one file can be made to be 12000000 bytes or less. Next, in S305, since the recording is once stopped inside, the recording capacity calculation parameter is cleared (initialized) in order to calculate the capacity again from zero. In S306, it is checked whether or not the maximum number of recorded programs (maximum number of files) allowed by the system is exceeded at the time of internal stop. The maximum number of MPEG4 files in Embodiment 2 of the present invention is set to 1000. If the number of files reaches 1000 at the time of S304, MPEG4 recording is completely terminated (MPEG2 playback is also stopped). That is, dubbing is stopped even when viewed from the user. On the other hand, if it has not reached 1000, recording is resumed internally (S307). This internal resumption of recording seems only to the user to continue recording (dubbing), but in reality, the program is once divided and the number of files is increased by one.

  By the way, the recording end condition of MPEG4 is determined by whether or not the playback of MPEG2 is ended as shown in S309. In this way, unless MPEG2 playback is finished, recording is performed while dividing the file in units of a fixed capacity (120000000 bytes). If the number of files reaches 1000, MPEG4 recording is stopped (MPEG2 playback is also stopped). If the reproduction of MPEG2 is completed, the dubbing completion determination is performed in S309, and the process proceeds to the MPEG4 recording end process in S310. In S310, the operation viewed from the user is set to the dubbing end state, and the MPEG4 recording ends. Directory information including a file list is backed up to a non-volatile memory to prevent data loss due to a power failure. Next, the file recorded first in the MPEG4 program divided on the HDD in S311 is copied to the memory card. FIG. 5 is an example of a recording image on the HDD of an MPEG4 program converted from MPEG2 to MPEG4 according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. Each file represents a state in which a recorded program is divided into file units. In the example of FIG. 5, one program is divided into four files and recorded. At this time, the recording capacity of each file is 120 MB (exactly 120000000 bytes), and file 1 is copied to the memory card. The file 1 may be moved instead of being copied. The remaining files 2 to 4 may be deleted by the user's hand unless the user particularly needs them, or may be automatically deleted.

  In the above MPEG4 file division, the program scene may be interrupted in the files before and after the normal division. For example, when the file 1 is divided into the file 1 and the file 2, a scene of several frames to several seconds may be lost without being a continuous scene between the last scene of the file 1 and the first scene of the file 2. . This is because in the internal recording stop process and the internal recording restart process, recording cannot be performed while the process is being performed. Therefore, in the same manner as in the first embodiment, when stream data is recorded on the HDD via a buffer, the data is divided and recorded so that the scenes overlap in the files before and after the division. As a result, when the file 1 and the file 2 are divided, the start position of the file 2 is set ahead of the end position of the file 1, so that the scene extending from the file 1 to the file 2 can be recorded without being lost. Become.

  At this time, in each divided file, the recording start date and time can be given the time when the recording was resumed. For example, it is assumed that the recording starts at 14:00 on July 7 and ends at 16:00, and is divided into files 1 to 4 and recorded. At this time, the recording start time of file 1 is 17:00 on July 7, but the recording start time of file 2 is divided into, for example, 14:33 (exactly, the file is internally stored at 14:33). 2), the recording start time of file 2 is 14:33 on July 7. Similarly, the recording time is given to the header information of the ASF file so that the recording start time of file 3 is 15:10 on July 7 and the recording start time of file 4 is 15:44 on July 7. Then, when reproducing these programs and displaying a list of programs, information on the files 1 to 4 is displayed.

  It is recommended that information other than the time (for example, program title information), etc. at the time of division be given to the divided files. At this time, when one program is divided into a plurality of files, the start time of each file is displayed as the time at which each file was divided, so that the user can determine which scene of the program was dubbed. The above time can be used for confirmation. In addition, when these divided files are played back on the HDD, they are played back in order from the oldest of the divided times, so that even if the program is divided by capacity unit, it is as if one continuous It can also be played back as if it were a program. Further, in the second embodiment of the present invention, an example in which only the first divided file is copied to the memory card when conversion dubbing from MPEG2 to MPEG4 has been described, but the first and second memory cards are copied. File 1, file 2, and file 3 may be copied by exchanging them as the third sheet. Alternatively, file 2 and subsequent files may be copied to the first card. In this case, the number of files to be copied to which number of cards is determined by the user's specification.

  In the case of dubbing by re-encoding from MPEG2 to MPEG4 as in the second embodiment of the present invention, the effect of copying to a memory card after recording once divided into HDDs will be described. In general, when re-encoding dubbing is performed, a method of directly recording on a dubbing destination medium (such as a memory card) is known. However, there are two problems in this method, for example, when MPEG2 programs are re-encoded to MPEG4 and dubbed to a memory card. One is that since the compression method based on MPEG4 is very efficient, the actually recorded capacity may differ greatly from the MPEG4 recording capacity that is initially predicted. For example, assuming that there is a recording mode in which the maximum recording rate of MPEG4 is 1 Mbps and the average recording rate is 768 Kbps, the recording time for consuming the memory card 128 MB is calculated to be about 16 minutes at worst and about 21 minutes on average. . When the original program to be normally dubbed is longer than the above time, a dubbing cannot be started by displaying a warning before dubbing is started.

  This is to prevent the user from becoming very inconvenient if the dubbing fails. However, in the case of programs that do not move easily in reality, it is often the case that 30 minutes or more can be recorded for the worst 16 minutes. On the contrary, as a result of the user dubbing the 16-minute MPEG2 program by re-encoding, there may be a case where the remaining amount of the memory card may exceed 2/3 even though the MPEG4 program is recorded on the memory card. To do. Although it is actually possible to record in a memory card, it is too unreasonable not to allow dubbing to be performed because the user is concerned about insufficient capacity. Therefore, once recording is performed while dividing the data into the HDD as in the first embodiment of the present invention, the result of the compression is divided depending on the capacity that enters the memory card. A dubbing process with high usage efficiency can be performed. The second problem with the method of recording directly on the card is that the writing speed of the memory card is generally slower than the reading speed, so that writing may fail if the recording rate of MPEG4 is high. . This problem is also recorded once in the HDD and then copied to the memory card. Even if the writing speed to the memory card is lower than the MPEG4 recording rate, the reading speed from the card is higher than the MPEG4 recording rate. Can be played.

  As described above, according to the second embodiment of the present invention, when conversion dubbing from MPEG2 to MPEG4 is performed, recording is performed while being divided into HDDs and then copied to the memory card. High dubbing processing can be performed, and dubbing can be executed even when the writing speed of the memory card is lower than the recording rate of MPEG4.

  In the second embodiment of the present invention, the dubbing source MPEG2 program is on the HDD, but the dubbing MPEG2 program may be on the DVD-RAM. Also in this case, when converting from MPEG2 to MPEG4, the data is once divided into HDDs and then copied to a memory card.

  In the second embodiment of the present invention, an example of dubbing for converting an MPEG2 program into an MPEG4 program has been described. However, re-encoding from MPEG2 to MPEG2 or re-encoding from MPEG4 to MPEG4 is performed in the same manner. The same effect can be obtained.

  In the video information recording apparatus (DVD recorder) according to the present invention, MPEG2 is divided by the recording capacity unit of the DVD-RAM and MPEG4 is divided by the recording capacity unit of the memory card at the time of recording. When copying a program recorded on a removable medium (DVD-RAM, memory card, etc.) with a smaller capacity, it can be dubbed to the target medium only by high-speed copying of each data without the need for marker information. It can be used for viewing on other devices.

The figure which shows the system configuration | structure of the DVD recorder of Embodiment 1 and Embodiment 2 of this invention Flowchart showing the recording operation of MPEG2 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The flowchart which shows the recording operation | movement of MPEG4 of Embodiment 1 of this invention. Explanatory drawing which shows the divided | segmented program of MPEG2 of Embodiment 1 of this invention Explanatory drawing which shows the division | segmentation program of MPEG4 of Embodiment 1 of this invention Explanatory drawing which shows the division | segmentation position in Embodiment 1 and 2 of this invention The flowchart which shows the dubbing operation | movement of Embodiment 2 of this invention. Explanatory drawing which shows the list display screen for reproducing | regenerating the divided | segmented program of Embodiment 1 of this invention

Explanation of symbols

101 TV tuner 102 MPEG2 encoder 103 MPEG4 encoder 104 HDD / DVD control circuit 105 MPEG2 / 4 decoder 106 Memory card control circuit 107 CPU
108 Graphics circuit 109 Audio circuit 110 HDD
111 DVD-RAM drive

Claims (16)

A video information recording apparatus for recording video information on a first recording medium built in the apparatus, wherein the video information is divided and recorded in a certain capacity unit equal to or less than the recording capacity of the second recording medium. A video information recording device. 2. The video information recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the constant capacity unit is a capacity unit set in advance by initial setting. 2. The video information recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first recording medium is a hard disk and the second recording medium is an optical disk. 2. The video information recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first recording medium is a hard disk, and the second recording medium is a memory card. A video information recording apparatus for simultaneously recording one piece of video information on a first recording medium built in the apparatus using both the first video compression method and the second video compression method, The video compression method is divided by a first capacity unit equal to or smaller than the recording capacity of the second recording medium, and the second video compression method is divided by a second capacity unit equal to or smaller than the recording capacity of the third recording medium. A video information recording apparatus characterized by recording. 6. The video information recording apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the second capacity unit is a capacity unit set in advance by initial setting. 6. The video information recording apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the first recording medium is a hard disk, the second recording medium is an optical disk, and the third recording medium is a memory card. A video information recording apparatus for simultaneously recording one piece of video information on a first recording medium built in the apparatus using both the first video compression method and the second video compression method, A video information recording apparatus characterized in that, when recording by the video compression method is ended, the recording is also ended by the second video compression method. 9. The video information recording apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the second video compression method divides and records in units of capacity set by initial setting in advance. A video information recording apparatus for converting video information recorded by a first video compression system into a second video compression system and recording the video information on a first recording medium built in the apparatus, In the video compression method, recording is performed by dividing into a predetermined capacity unit equal to or less than the recording capacity of the second recording medium, and the video information recorded by the second video compression method on the first recording medium is stored in the second recording medium. A video information recording apparatus which is duplicated or moved to a recording medium. 11. The video information recording apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the constant capacity unit is a capacity unit set in advance by initial setting. 11. The video information recording apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the first recording medium is a hard disk and the second recording medium is an optical disk. 11. The video information recording apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the first recording medium is a hard disk, and the second recording medium is a memory card. 11. The video according to claim 5, 8 or 10, wherein the first video compression method is a video compression method compliant with the MPEG2 standard, and the second video compression method is a video compression method compliant with the MPEG4 standard. Information recording device. When dividing and recording in a certain capacity unit, the recording start position of the video information after the division is started from the portion before the division position so that the video information before and after the division is overlapped. 11. The video information recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the video information recording apparatus is a video information recording apparatus. 11. The video information recording apparatus according to claim 1, 5, 8 or 10, wherein the recording start date and time of the divided video information is used as time information at the time of division when the divided recording is performed in a predetermined capacity unit. .

Images