JP2007089014A - Av data processing apparatus and method therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem that a data structure for achieving flexible classification becomes complicated though the more the number of contents recorded on a medium becomes, the more flexible classification method becomes necessary. <P>SOLUTION: A folder for group control can control grouping of several play lists and is controlled as a play list 400 which has an "attribute = group". Further, an identical group ID (a small group ID = 02000) is allocated to play lists belonging to the same group. Group attributes, group IDs, title names corresponding to the group IDs of the play lists are controlled by a group control file separately. Also, the play lists having the group attributes can be displayed separately from general play lists. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention provides AV data processing for facilitating later browsing and reproduction by a user performing grouping on a plurality of data streams such as moving images recorded on a medium (that is, a recording medium). The present invention relates to an apparatus and an AV data processing method.

  In recent years, the spread of digital devices (for example, optical disc recorders, camcorders, etc.) capable of writing and storing digital data as content in various media such as optical discs such as DVDs, magnetic discs such as hard discs, semiconductor memories and memory cards. It is out. Such content is, for example, video and audio shot by a broadcast program, a camcorder, or the like.

There has been proposed a method in which content recorded on such a medium (disc) is recorded after being recorded by a user as a group for organization (Patent Document 1).
JP-A-2005-135503

  In order to perform group management, the relationship between contents and groups and the hierarchical relationship between groups may be described and stored. However, to add hierarchical group management in a format that does not have a function for managing the hierarchical relationship between groups, it was necessary to add a complicated content management method.

  An object of the present invention is to realize hierarchical group management by adding a simple management method to a format that does not originally have a group management function. At the same time, an object is to realize grouping in which not only contents recorded by the user but also playlists created by the user are mixed.

  An AV data processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a writing unit that records a data stream including video or audio on a recording medium, a playlist recording unit that generates and records a playlist related to reproduction of the data stream, and the playlist. A group assigning unit that records the relationship information between playlists included in the same group, and the group assigning unit adds a group attribute to one playlist in the group. Features.

  This makes it possible to realize content group management without changing the conventional recording method and without increasing the additional data.

  According to the present invention, hierarchical group management can be realized by adding a simple management method to a format that does not originally have a group management function. At the same time, it is possible to realize a grouping in which not only contents recorded by the user but also playlists created by the user are mixed without changing the data structure of the playlist.

  Embodiments of the AV data processing apparatus of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an AV data processing apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

  During moving image recording, signals input from the video signal input unit 100 and the audio signal input unit 102 are respectively compressed by the video compression unit 101 and the audio compression unit 103 under the control of the recording control unit 161, and transported by the system encoding unit 104. A stream is created and written to the optical disc 140 via the recording unit 120 and the pickup 141. Here, the video compression unit 101, the audio compression unit 103, and the system encoding unit 104 are referred to as an MPEG encoder 170. For convenience of explanation, it is assumed that the removable optical disk 140 is a recording medium.

  The recording control unit 161 activates the continuous data area detection unit 160 to search for an empty area before recording of the transport dream is started. The continuous data area detection unit 160 refers to the logical block management information from the logical block management unit 163 and searches for a continuous free area using a space bitmap read out from the optical disc 140 in advance. Then, recording of the transport stream is started on the empty area detected as a result of the search. Then, until the transport stream is filled with the detected free area, the next free area is continuously searched for and the transport stream recording is continued. When writing of the transport stream is completed, UDF (Universal Disk Format) file management information is written, and writing of the transport stream file (* .m2ts file, that is, a file storing a moving image stream) is completed.

  Next, a stream management data file (* .clpi) corresponding to the transport stream that has been recorded is recorded. Next, a playlist file (* .mpls) corresponding to the transport stream that has been recorded is recorded one-on-one. Further, a thumbnail management file (menu.tidx) and a thumbnail data management file (menu.tdat) are recorded as corresponding thumbnail images. The playlist file specifies a specific reproduction range in the transport stream file. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the playback range is from the beginning to the end of the transport stream immediately after the moving image recording is completed.

  Further, at the time of reproduction, when the user selects content to be reproduced, the management of the data stream corresponding to the content is read from the management file via the reproduction unit 121 under the control of the reproduction control unit 162, and the management file The transport stream is further read out by referring to the address information described in (1). The transport stream is separated into a video signal and an audio signal by the system decoding unit 114 and output to the video display unit 110 and the audio output unit 112 via the video expansion unit 111 and the audio expansion unit 113, respectively. Here, the code unit 114, the video decompression unit 111, and the audio decompression unit 113 are assumed to be an MPEG decoder 171 in the system.

  Also, the edit control unit 164 activates the recording unit 120 and the playback unit 121 to instruct transport stream and transport stream management data when the user instructs partial deletion of the recorded content. The editing process is controlled by reading or writing after correction. Further, when the user instructs to delete the recorded content, the corresponding transport stream, stream management data file, playlist file, and corresponding thumbnail image are deleted. Furthermore, the index file in which the playlist file to be executed is registered is also corrected.

  Further, the editing control unit 164 can generate a play list that cuts out and plays back a favorite section of the recorded moving image file and records it on the optical disc 140. In addition, a playlist for reproducing a plurality of favorite sections as a group can be generated and recorded on the optical disc 140.

  The group recording / playback unit 165 records a specific clip or playlist as one group on the optical disc 140 as specified by the user. In addition, the hierarchical relationship between the group and the clips and playlists that constitute the group can be displayed so that the user can recognize them during reproduction. As a display method, a liquid crystal display monitor screen provided in the apparatus or an image display apparatus connected thereto may be shown to the user by a graphic display.

  In the present embodiment, the recording unit 120, the reproduction unit 121, the continuous data area detection unit 160, the recording control unit 161, the reproduction control unit 162, the logical block management unit 163, the edit recording unit 164, and the group recording described above. The playback unit 165 is a system control unit 180.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a file structure on the optical disc 140 in the AV data processing apparatus of the first embodiment. In the figure, a BDMV directory is created under the ROOT directory, and various files are recorded under the BDMV directory.

  index. A list of movie objects to be played back is recorded in the bdmv file. One movie object is composed of a set of playlists. MovieObject. In the bdmv file, a list of playlists that make up the movie object is recorded for each movie object. index. Movie objects that are not registered in the bdmv file are not played back.

  A Java (registered trademark) program (titleMenu.jar), a thumbnail management file (menu.tidx), and a thumbnail data file (menu.tdat) for displaying a title menu are recorded under the Menu directory. In the thumbnail data file, a representative still image (thumbnail) is stored in JPEG code format for each moving picture stream. The thumbnail management file stores information on the correspondence between the moving image stream and the representative still image (the moving image stream file name and the recording destination address in the thumbnail data file of the representative still image). The Java (registered trademark) program for displaying the title menu draws the title menu using the representative still image in the thumbnail data file, and starts playback of the video stream selected by the user. After that, the title menu is drawn again according to the description of the Java (registered trademark) program, reproduction of a different moving picture stream, and the like.

  The PLAYLIST directory stores playlist files (* .mpls) that correspond one-to-one with the moving image stream. The STREAM directory stores a moving image stream (* .m2ts). A management data file (* .clpi) corresponding to a moving image stream is stored in the CLIPINF directory. The moving image stream is stored in the transport stream code format.

  A group management file GroupMgr is recorded in the Group directory. This GroupMgr file is recorded / added when a clip is recorded / edited and when a group is recorded / edited. It is also referred to when displaying a group to the user.

  It is assumed that the optical disk 140 is formatted with the UDF file system. At this time, it is assumed that a logical block which is a management unit of a free area and an allocation unit of an area is 2 kbytes.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of the hierarchical relationship when the user operates the AV data processing apparatus to instruct grouping. Here, a case in which a total of three clips 301 and two playlists 302 and 303 are instructed as one group folder 300 is shown.

  FIG. 4 shows a method of recording the grouping information of FIG. 3 using a group management file. The group folder 300 is expressed and recorded as a playlist 400. In the play list 400, reproduction of one clip 301 is registered. The playlists 302 and 303 are recorded as “general” playlists as attributes and the small group ID = 02000 in the group management file. In addition, it is recorded in the management file that the playlist 400 is a “group” management playlist as an attribute and that the large group ID = 03000.

  FIG. 5 shows a playlist attribute management table recorded by the group management file. In the playlist attribute management table, a playlist ID (identifier), an attribute, a title, a small group ID, and a large group ID are recorded for each playlist.

  When the user sets the playlist 01000 and the playlist 01001 corresponding to the clip 01000 and the clip 01001 as a group with a title of athletic meet, the playlist attribute management table is recorded as the attributes and small group IDs shown in FIG. Further, when a group titled “Travel” or a group titled “Ski” is generated, playlists 02001 and 02002 having group attributes as shown in FIG. 5 are registered.

  Also, in FIG. 5, by assigning a large group ID (in the example, 03000) to each playlist, the user can register the athletic meet group, the travel group, and the ski group as one folder group, a 2000 group. .

  With the above configuration, hierarchical group management can be realized by adding a simple management method to media in a format that does not originally have a group management function. At the same time, it is possible to realize grouping in which not only contents recorded by the user but also playlists created by the user are mixed.

  At this time, since it is not necessary to change the data structure of the playlist file at all, even in an AV data processing apparatus that supports only the existing format, reproduction processing other than group management can be performed as usual.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the “attribute = group” playlist 400 shown in FIG. 4 is displayed to the user as the clip 301 and the group folder 300 for handling the playlists 302 and 302 as one group. can do. Prior to the introduction of the group management file, only clips could be grouped in the playlist, and a plurality of playlists could not be displayed to the user as one group. The characteristics are greatly improved.

  It should be noted that the playlist having the attribute “group” is played back as MovieObject. It may be registered in the bdmv file. Furthermore, this MovieObject is not directly played back, so that the index. You may make it not refer from a bdmv file.

  In the playlist attribute management table of FIG. 5, the attribute of the playlist is either general or group, but “attribute = group” is subdivided into “attribute = large group” and “attribute = small group”. It can be divided like that. Furthermore, the group attributes may be further divided into “group 1” and “group 2” using numbers and the like. However, in this case, as a management item of the playlist management table, it goes without saying that it is necessary to manage the inclusion relationship between the detailed group and the playlist, similarly to the large group ID and the small group ID.

  In the embodiment, the group management method based on the group ID is shown. However, for example, the playlist attribute management according to the present embodiment and the FAT file system folder (directory) management method may be combined and managed. .

  In the embodiment, the medium for storing the data stream or the like is a removable optical disk. However, it is not necessary to be a removable medium, but a non-removable medium, for example, an HDD built in the AV data processing apparatus. There may be.

  In the embodiments, the storage medium is an optical disk. However, the present invention is not particularly limited to this, and may be a semiconductor memory such as a memory card, flash memory, FeRAM, or MRAM. In this case, a memory interface may be provided instead of the VIP. The optical disk may be an optical disk or hard disk such as DVD-RAM, MO, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD + RW, DVD + R, CD-R, CD-RW, BD-RE, BD-R, HD-DVD, etc. good. In the case of a hard disk, a magnetic head may be provided instead of the pickup.

  Although the UDF file system has been described in the embodiment, different file systems may be used as long as they have the same configuration or function.

  Each functional block in FIG. 1 is typically realized as a chip of an integrated circuit (Large Scale Integrated Circuit; LSI). These may be individually made into one chip, or may be made into one chip so as to include a part or all of them. For example, in FIG. 1, the MPEG encoder unit 170 and the system control unit 180 are shown as separate functional blocks. These may be mounted as separate semiconductor chips, or may be realized by physically the same chip. Further, the functions of the system control unit 180, the MPEG encoder 170, and the MPEG decoder 171 may be integrated and realized as one chip circuit. However, for example, only a memory that stores data to be encoded or decoded may be excluded from integration targets.

  The system control unit 180 can be realized as software executed using computer resources. Furthermore, the functions described in the present specification can be realized by executing a computer program stored in a program ROM or the like.

  The above-mentioned “LSI” may be referred to as an IC, a system LSI, a super LSI, or an ultra LSI depending on the degree of integration. The method of circuit integration is not limited to LSI, and may be realized by a dedicated circuit or a general-purpose processor. An FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) that can be programmed after manufacturing the LSI or a reconfigurable processor that can reconfigure the connection and setting of circuit cells inside the LSI may be used.

  Furthermore, if integrated circuit technology that replaces LSI appears as a result of progress in semiconductor technology or other derived technology, functional blocks may be integrated using this technology. For example, integration may be performed as a so-called bioelement using biotechnology.

  In the embodiment, the data stream is assumed to be a transport stream to which an arrival time stamp (Arrival Time Stamp) is added for each transport packet. However, a program stream, a PES stream, a QuickTime stream, an MP4 stream, an AVI stream, and an ASF are used. Other bit streams such as a stream and a Motion JPEG stream may be used.

  In the embodiment, the video is an MPEG-2 video stream as an example, but may be an MPEG-4 video stream or an MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) stream. The audio may also be a linear PCM audio stream, an AC-3 stream, or the like. Further, multimedia information other than video and audio (graphics information, character information, etc.) may be included.

  In the embodiment, one transport stream can be stored in one data stream file. However, a plurality of transport streams may be configured as one data stream file.

  In the embodiment, the Java (registered trademark) program for drawing the title menu is recorded when the optical disc is inserted, but may be the time when the formatting of the optical disc is completed. Further, it may be a time point specified by a user operation.

  In the embodiment, the video compression code of the moving picture stream is not particularly limited as long as it can be reproduced by the player, such as MPEG-2 video, MPEG-4 AVC, MPEG-4 visual, VC-1, or the like.

  In the embodiment, the optical disk manages files using the UDF file system. The version of the UDF file system may be any of 1.5, 2.0, 2.01, 2.5, and 2.6.

  In the embodiment, a disk having a format that does not originally have a group management function is assumed. However, it may be implemented as a group management method in a new format.

  The AV data processing apparatus and the AV data processing method according to the present invention are hierarchical in that a simple management file is added to a disk having a format that does not have a group management function, without changing the data structure of the file. Realizing simple group management makes it useful as a device for recording and reproducing various contents such as movies and recorders.

1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an AV data processing apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. Conceptual diagram showing a file structure on the optical disc in the AV data processing apparatus Schematic diagram showing an example of grouping in the AV data processing apparatus Schematic diagram showing a data structure related to grouping in the AV data processing apparatus Conceptual diagram showing a playlist attribute table in the AV data processing apparatus

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Video signal input part 101 Video compression part 102 Audio signal input part 103 Audio compression part 104 System encoding part 110 Video display part 111 Video expansion part 112 Audio output part 113 Audio expansion part 114 System decoding part 120 Recording part 121 Playback part 140 Optical disk 141 Pickup 160 Continuous Data Area Detection Unit 161 Recording Control Unit 162 Playback Control Unit 163 Logical Block Management Unit 164 Editing Control Unit 165 Group Recording / Playback Unit 170 MPEG Encoder 171 MPEG Decoder 180 System Control Unit

Claims (4)

A writing unit for recording a data stream including video or audio on a recording medium;
A playlist recording unit for generating and recording a playlist related to reproduction of the data stream;
Grouping the playlists, and having a group allocation unit that records the relationship information between playlists included in the same group,
The AV data processing apparatus, wherein the group allocating unit adds a group attribute to one playlist in the group. Recording a data stream containing video or audio on a recording medium;
Generating and recording a playlist for playback of the data stream;
And grouping the playlists, and recording relationship information between playlists included in the same group,
The AV data processing method characterized in that the group assignment step adds a group attribute to one playlist in the group. Recording a data stream containing video or audio on a recording medium;
Generating and recording a playlist for playback of the data stream;
And grouping the playlists, and recording relationship information between playlists included in the same group,
The AV data processing program characterized in that the group assigning step adds a group attribute to one playlist in the group. A writing unit for recording a data stream including video or audio on a recording medium;
A playlist recording unit for generating and recording a playlist related to reproduction of the data stream;
Grouping the playlists, and having a group allocation unit that records the relationship information between playlists included in the same group,
The AV data processing LSI, wherein the group assigning unit adds a group attribute to one playlist in the group.

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