JP2008016097A - Moving image recording/reproducing device and moving image recording/reproducing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To facilitate the selection of a desired scene from a large number of recorded scenes. <P>SOLUTION: This moving image recording/reproducing device is provided with a grouping means for grouping scenes according to the information of the scene, a menu screen information generation means for generating hierarchical menu screen information based on the scene group grouped by the grouping means, and a finalizing means for finalizing a recording medium. The finalizing means generates the hierarchical menu screen information to record it to the recording medium when the recording medium is finalized. When the recording medium is finalized, the scenes are grouped according to the information thereof, and hierarchical menu screen information is generated based on the grouped scene group and recorded to the recording medium. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a moving image recording / reproducing apparatus and a moving image recording / reproducing method, and more particularly to a technique suitable for use in making it possible to easily select a desired scene from a plurality of moving images.

  In recent years, optical discs have attracted attention as recording media for recording video data and audio data. The DVD-Video standard is adopted as one standard for optical disks. This DVD-Video standard is adopted as a medium for content products such as movies, and a disc compliant with the DVD-Video standard can be reproduced by a DVD-Video reproducing apparatus.

  On the other hand, an optical disk in which the use range of such an optical disk is expanded so that recording can be performed on the user side is also used. For example, a write-once DVD-R disc that can be recorded only once in the same area, a re-rewritable DVD-RW disc, and the like are known.

  In these DVD-R and DVD-RW, as long as there is a remaining capacity, the recorded content can be updated by additional writing or rewriting. However, in this updatable state, it does not comply with the DVD-Video standard, and is not suitable for playback on the above-described DVD-Video playback device. Therefore, it is necessary to write predetermined information so that the recording format in DVD-R and DVD-RW conforms to the DVD-Video standard. This is called finalization processing.

  In addition, video cameras that have been recorded on magnetic tape media are also highly convenient for users such as random accessibility, so devices for recording on optical disks such as the DVD-R and DVD-RW described above have been developed. ing.

In the DVD-Video standard, recorded video and audio data are managed in units of chapters or titles composed of one or more chapters. One title is composed of up to 99 chapters, and up to 99 titles can be recorded on one disc.
As described above, in a video camera that records video and audio on a DVD-R or DVD-RW, the time for one shooting from the start of recording to the end of recording is as short as several seconds to several tens of seconds. It is considered to record one scene as a chapter instead of a title. As described above, when the disc recorded by the video camera is finalized, a menu for selecting a chapter is displayed on the top menu (see Patent Document 1).

JP 2001-326910 A (FIG. 4)

  However, in video camera shooting, a single recording unit (chapter) from the start of recording to the end of recording is often as short as several tens of seconds. For this reason, when the finalized optical disc is played back by a DVD-Video playback device, if the conventional top menu as described above is displayed, the number of chapters becomes too large. As a result, there is a problem that it becomes very difficult for the user to select a desired scene (chapter).

  In view of the above-described problems, the present invention has an object to make it possible to easily select a desired scene from among a large number of recorded scenes.

  The moving image recording / playback apparatus of the present invention digitizes an image signal generated by shooting to generate image data, and records and manages the generated image data on a recording medium in a scene as one shooting unit. A moving image recording / reproducing apparatus, wherein grouping means for grouping the scenes according to the information of the scene, and generating hierarchical menu screen information based on the scene groups grouped by the grouping means Menu screen information generating means and finalizing means for executing finalization processing on the recording medium, and the finalizing means generates the hierarchical data generated by the menu screen generating means when finalizing the recording medium. Menu screen information is recorded on the recording medium.

  The moving image recording / playback method of the present invention digitizes an image signal generated by photographing to generate image data, and records and manages the generated image data on a recording medium in a scene as one photographing unit. A moving image recording / playback method, wherein the scenes are grouped according to the scene information, and hierarchical menu screen information is generated based on the scene groups grouped in the grouping step. A menu screen information generating step, and a finalizing step for executing a finalizing process on the recording medium. In the finalizing step, the hierarchy generated in the menu screen generating step when the recording medium is finalized. The typical menu screen information is recorded on the recording medium.

  The program of the present invention digitizes an image signal generated by shooting to generate image data, and records and manages the generated image data in a recording medium in a scene which is a single shooting unit. A program for causing a computer to execute a method, wherein a grouping step of grouping the scenes according to the information of the scene, and hierarchical menu screen information based on the scene groups grouped in the grouping step A menu screen information generating step to generate, and a finalizing step for executing a finalizing process on the recording medium. In the finalizing step, the finalizing process is performed when the recording medium is finalized. The hierarchical menu screen information is stored in the recording medium. Characterized in that to execute a moving image recording and reproducing method for recording to a computer.

According to the present invention, when finalizing a recording medium, the scenes are grouped according to scene information, and hierarchical menu screen information is created based on the grouped scene groups to record the recording medium. Therefore, it is possible to provide a moving image recording / reproducing apparatus capable of easily selecting a desired scene from a large number of recording scenes recorded on the recording medium.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a large number of recordings recorded on the recording medium can be performed even when the recording medium recorded by the moving image recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention is reproduced by another reproducing apparatus. A desired scene can be easily selected from the scenes.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a moving image recording / playback apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 1, the moving image recording / playback apparatus according to the present embodiment includes an imaging unit 101 including a camera unit such as a lens and a CCD, an encoding unit 102, and a recording unit 103. Is recorded on the recording medium 104.

  Further, it has playback system circuits such as a playback unit 105, a decoding unit 106, and a display unit 107 so that moving image data recorded on the recording medium 104 can be played back and displayed on the display unit 107. ing.

  Further, a menu generation system circuit such as a scene information acquisition unit 108, a grouping unit 109, and a menu generation unit 110 that acquire a predetermined scene from the image data reproduced by the reproduction unit 105 is configured.

  In addition, the moving image recording / reproducing apparatus of the present embodiment includes an operation unit 111, and a recording operation and a reproduction operation are performed according to information input when a user provided on the operation unit 111 operates an operation key. It is configured as follows. Further, in the moving image recording / reproducing apparatus of the present embodiment, the operation of each component is controlled by the control circuit 100.

  In other words, the control circuit 100 controls the operation of the entire apparatus, and controls the operation of the entire apparatus according to instructions from the user as required from the operation unit including the operation unit 111. .

Next, the operation of the moving image recording / playback apparatus performed during recording will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
As described above, the imaging unit 101 includes an imaging device (CCD) or the like, and generates and outputs a moving image signal corresponding to the captured subject image (step S71). The encoding unit 102 encodes the moving image signal output from the imaging unit 101 in accordance with the MPEG format (step S72).

  Here, an outline of the operation of the encoding unit 102 will be described. The input video is divided into a plurality of blocks and encoded for each block. When performing the encoding process, motion compensation is not performed if the picture type of the frame to be encoded is an I picture, and in the case of a P picture, a motion vector with a past frame is obtained, and the corresponding portion of the past frame is determined. The difference between the pixel values is calculated and motion compensation is performed.

  In addition, when the picture type of the frame to be encoded is a B picture, motion vectors between a past frame and a future frame are obtained, and motion compensation is performed as in the case of the P picture. The data is subjected to direct transform (DCT), then quantized (Q) with a quantization coefficient calculated for code amount control, variable length coding (VLC), and encoded data is output.

  The recording unit 103 converts the encoded image signal output from the encoding unit 102 into a recording signal, and records data on the recording medium 104. In the video camera of this embodiment, one recording unit from the start of recording by user operation to the end of recording is managed as a chapter. Recording information such as the shooting date and time and recording mode of the chapter is recorded on the recording medium 104 in association with the chapter image data (step S73).

Next, the operation during reproduction will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
The scene information acquisition unit 108 acquires the recording information of all the chapters recorded on the recording medium from the recording medium 104 via the reproduction unit 105 (step S81). The record information of all the chapters acquired here is input to the grouping unit 109.

  The grouping unit 109 according to the present embodiment checks the recording date and time of all input chapters and determines a hierarchy for grouping. For example, if all chapters have the same recording year, it is determined that the “year” hierarchical group is unnecessary. Alternatively, if the recording years of all the chapters are not the same, it is determined that a “year” hierarchical group is generated.

  Similarly, for “month” and “day”, it is determined whether each hierarchical group is unnecessary or necessary in the same manner as the “year” hierarchical group. Then, a hierarchy is formed only by the hierarchy groups determined to require a hierarchy group, and all chapters are applied to the hierarchy. If the chapters recorded on the recording medium 104 are as shown in FIG. 2A, the hierarchy is formed as shown in FIG. 2B (step S82). The formed hierarchy is input to the display unit 107 and displayed on the display unit 107 including a display device such as an LCD (step S83). A display example of the LCD is shown in FIG.

  FIG. 3A shows a selection screen for a “year” hierarchy, in which “2004” surrounded by a frame is selected. FIG. 3B is a selection screen for the “month” hierarchy after selecting “2004”. Here, “2004/5” is selected. FIG. 3C is a selection screen for the “day” hierarchy, and “2004/5/6” is selected here. FIG. 3D is a chapter selection screen, and the chapter selected here is reproduced. The user selects a desired chapter (step S84) and reproduces it (step S85) by selecting a hierarchical group while viewing the display on the LCD.

  When the user selects and changes the grouping method by operating the operation keys provided on the operation unit 111, the grouping unit 109 executes the grouping again by the selected grouping method, and displays the display unit 107. The result of regrouping can be output.

  For example, in the grouping method as shown in FIG. 2B, the “day” hierarchy of 2005 does not exist, but it is determined whether only the highest hierarchy is necessary, and the hierarchy below it is unconditional. There is a method to generate. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a hierarchical configuration when the chapters are classified in this way. Moreover, when the time interval between chapters is short, you may handle those chapters collectively as one chapter (FIG.3 (e)). Further, as shown in FIG. 5, grouping may be performed in the recording mode.

  When a chapter is selected by the user, the control circuit 100 acquires an address where the selected chapter is recorded. Then, the control circuit 100 controls the reproducing unit 105 to reproduce the image data of the selected chapter, and the reproduced image data is input to the decoding unit 106 and decoded, and then the display unit 107. Is displayed.

  When finalization processing is selected by a user operation, the menu generation unit 110 inputs chapter grouping information recorded on the recording medium, grouped by the grouping unit 109 described in the operation at the time of reproduction. The user can select a grouping method generated at the time of finalization. When the grouping method for chapter selection at the time of reproduction is different from the grouping method generated at the time of finalization, the grouping unit 109 performs regrouping in the same way as the description of the operation at the time of reproduction.

  If the grouping is not yet completed when the user issues a finalize instruction, the grouping is executed from the playback of the chapter recording information from the recording medium 104, as in the description of the playback operation. I do. The menu generation unit 110 generates hierarchically selectable menu screen information similar to the user interface for selecting chapters during playback according to the input grouping information, and outputs the menu screen information to the recording unit 103. The recording unit 103 records the menu screen on the recording medium 104 and then performs finalization processing.

Next, the finalizing process will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 6 is a schematic view of the optical disk cut out in the radial direction, in which user data is an area in which video data is recorded. As shown in FIG. 6B, the finalizing process is executed by recording predetermined data in a lead-in area on the inner circumference side of user data and a lead-out area on the outer circumference side of user data.

  However, the lead-out area must be more than a predetermined number of tracks from the inner periphery to the outer periphery side of the optical disc. For this reason, when the number of tracks on which user data has been recorded is less than the predetermined number of tracks, dummy data is recorded so that the lead-out area is recorded on the outer peripheral side of a predetermined track or more (FIG. 6C). .

Next, an example of a finalizing process procedure for the recording medium 104 on which image data is recorded by the moving image recording / reproducing apparatus of the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
As shown in FIG. 9, when the process is started, it is determined in the first step S91 whether or not an instruction for finalizing processing has been issued by the user. If the result of this determination is that there is no instruction for finalization processing by the user, the process stands by.

  As a result of the determination in step S91, if an instruction to finalize is given, the process proceeds to step S92, and the chapters recorded on the recording medium 104 grouped by the grouping unit 109 described in the operation at the time of reproduction are grouped. Grouping information is displayed on the display unit 107. This makes it possible to select a grouping method to be generated at the time of finalization.

  Next, in step S93, it is determined whether or not the grouping method selected by the user is the same as the grouping method for chapter selection at the time of reproduction. As a result of the determination, if the grouping method for chapter selection at the time of reproduction is different from the grouping method generated at the time of finalization, the process proceeds to step S94 where the grouping unit 109 performs regrouping. This regrouping process is performed in the same manner as described above for the reproduction operation.

  When the regrouping process ends, the process proceeds to step S95. If the grouping method for chapter selection at the time of reproduction is the same as the grouping method generated at the time of finalization as a result of the determination at step S93, the process jumps to step S94 and proceeds directly to step S95.

In step S95, menu selection unit 110 generates menu screen information that can be selected hierarchically.
Next, the process proceeds to step S96, and the hierarchically selectable menu screen information generated in step S95 is recorded on the recording medium 104 by the recording unit 103.
Next, in step S97, the recording unit 103 records the menu screen information on the recording medium 104, and then writes information for conforming to the DVD-Video standard to perform finalization processing.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, when the recording medium 104 recorded by the moving image recording / playback apparatus is finalized, the menu screen information that can be selected hierarchically is recorded on the recording medium 104 by the recording unit 103. I made it. As a result, even when the recording medium 104 recorded by the moving image recording / reproducing apparatus of the present embodiment is reproduced by the DVD-Video reproducing apparatus, as in the case of reproducing by the moving image recording / reproducing apparatus of the present embodiment, the hierarchical Chapter selection can be performed.

(Other embodiments according to the present invention)
Each means constituting the moving image recording / reproducing apparatus and each step of the moving image recording / reproducing method in the embodiment of the present invention described above can be realized by operating a program stored in a RAM or ROM of a computer. This program and a computer-readable recording medium recording the program are included in the present invention.

  In addition, the present invention can be implemented as, for example, a system, apparatus, method, program, storage medium, or the like. Specifically, the present invention may be applied to a system including a plurality of devices. The present invention may be applied to an apparatus composed of a single device.

  In the present invention, a software program (in the embodiment, a program corresponding to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 7 to 9) that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is directly or remotely supplied to the system or apparatus. In addition, this includes a case where the system or the computer of the apparatus is also achieved by reading and executing the supplied program code.

  Accordingly, since the functions of the present invention are implemented by computer, the program code installed in the computer also implements the present invention. In other words, the present invention includes a computer program itself for realizing the functional processing of the present invention.

  In that case, as long as it has the function of a program, it may be in the form of object code, a program executed by an interpreter, script data supplied to the OS, or the like.

  Examples of the recording medium for supplying the program include a floppy (registered trademark) disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, MO, CD-ROM, CD-R, and CD-RW. In addition, there are magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM, DVD (DVD-ROM, DVD-R), and the like.

  As another program supply method, a browser on a client computer is used to connect to an Internet home page. The computer program itself of the present invention or a compressed file including an automatic installation function can be downloaded from the homepage by downloading it to a recording medium such as a hard disk.

  It can also be realized by dividing the program code constituting the program of the present invention into a plurality of files and downloading each file from a different homepage. That is, a WWW server that allows a plurality of users to download a program file for realizing the functional processing of the present invention on a computer is also included in the present invention.

  In addition, the program of the present invention is encrypted, stored in a storage medium such as a CD-ROM, distributed to users, and key information for decryption is downloaded from a homepage via the Internet to users who have cleared predetermined conditions. Let It is also possible to execute the encrypted program by using the downloaded key information and install the program on a computer.

  Further, the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the computer executing the read program. In addition, based on the instructions of the program, an OS or the like running on the computer performs part or all of the actual processing, and the functions of the above-described embodiments can also be realized by the processing.

  Further, the program read from the recording medium is written in a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer. Thereafter, the CPU of the function expansion board or function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing based on the instructions of the program, and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a moving image recording / reproducing device according to a first embodiment of this invention. FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the 1st grouping method of a chapter. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of a chapter selection screen. It is a figure for demonstrating the 2nd grouping method of a chapter. It is a figure for demonstrating the 3rd grouping method of a chapter. It is a figure for demonstrating the content of the finalize process. It is a flowchart explaining an example of the procedure of a recording process. It is a flowchart explaining an example of the procedure of reproduction | regeneration processing. It is a flowchart explaining an example of the procedure of finalize processing.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Control circuit 101 Image pick-up part 102 Encoding part 103 Recording part 104 Recording medium 105 Playback part 106 Decoding part 107 Display part 108 Scene information acquisition part 109 Grouping part 110 Menu generation part 111 Operation part

Claims (16)

A moving image recording / reproducing apparatus that digitizes an image signal generated by shooting to generate image data, records the generated image data in a recording medium as a single shooting unit, and manages the recording medium,
Grouping means for grouping the scenes according to the information of the scenes;
Menu screen information generating means for generating hierarchical menu screen information based on the scene groups grouped by the grouping means;
Finalizing means for executing a finalizing process on the recording medium,
The moving image recording / reproducing apparatus characterized in that the finalizing means records the hierarchical menu screen information generated by the menu screen generating means on the recording medium when finalizing the recording medium.   The grouping means is configured to be able to perform the grouping by a plurality of grouping methods, and selects and groups one grouping method from the plurality of grouping methods. The moving image recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1.   3. The moving image recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the grouping unit performs grouping according to a recording time of a scene recorded on the recording medium.   3. The moving image recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the grouping unit performs grouping according to a recording time of a scene recorded on the recording medium.   3. The moving image recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the grouping unit groups each scene recorded on the recording medium in accordance with a time interval from a previous scene.   3. The moving image recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the grouping unit performs grouping according to a recording mode of a scene recorded on the recording medium.   The moving image recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the finalizing unit performs a process for enabling reproduction compatibility with a reproducing apparatus of a DVD-Video standard. A moving image recording / reproducing method for digitizing an image signal generated by shooting to generate image data, and recording and managing the generated image data in a recording medium in a scene that is a single shooting unit,
A grouping step of grouping the scenes according to the scene information;
A menu screen information generating step for generating hierarchical menu screen information based on the scene groups grouped in the grouping step;
A finalizing step for performing a finalizing process on the recording medium,
In the finalizing step, when the recording medium is finalized, the hierarchical menu screen information generated in the menu screen generating step is recorded on the recording medium.   In the grouping step, the grouping can be performed by a plurality of grouping methods, and one grouping method is selected from the plurality of grouping methods and grouped. 9. The moving image recording / reproducing method according to claim 8, wherein   10. The moving image recording / reproducing method according to claim 9, wherein in the grouping step, grouping is performed according to a recording time of a scene recorded on the recording medium.   10. The moving image recording / reproducing method according to claim 9, wherein in the grouping step, grouping is performed according to a recording time of a scene recorded on the recording medium.   10. The moving image recording / reproducing method according to claim 9, wherein, in the grouping step, each scene recorded on the recording medium is grouped according to a time interval with a previous scene.   10. The moving image recording / reproducing method according to claim 9, wherein in the grouping step, grouping is performed according to a recording mode of a scene recorded on the recording medium.   14. The moving image recording / reproducing method according to any one of claims 8 to 13, wherein in the finalizing step, processing for enabling reproduction compatibility with a reproducing apparatus of a DVD-Video standard is performed. An image signal generated by shooting is digitized to generate image data, and the computer executes a moving image recording / playback method for recording and managing the generated image data in a recording medium in a scene which is a single shooting unit. A program,
A grouping step of grouping the scenes according to the scene information;
A menu screen information generating step for generating hierarchical menu screen information based on the scene groups grouped in the grouping step;
A finalizing step for performing a finalizing process on the recording medium,
In the finalizing step, when finalizing the recording medium, the computer executes a moving image recording / reproducing method for recording the hierarchical menu screen information generated in the menu screen generating step on the recording medium. A program characterized by   A computer-readable recording medium on which the program according to claim 15 is recorded.

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