JP2008123536A - Apparatus and method for reproducing contents - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a user to intuitively manage the music content data in accordance with a desired music on a desired disk if the music content data recorded on a plurality of disks is recorded on a hard disk. <P>SOLUTION: The music content data recorded on a plurality of compact disks is recorded on the hard disk.When reproducing the music content data, a display for indicating images 21A, 21B, 21C, ..., like showing alignment of thin-plate objects with a substantially square cross-section so that the images can generate an image for CD jackets as if a plurality of the CD jackets are standing in upright positions. When operating these images with a mouse, a position for the display of the images moves toward a right side or a left side. Thus, the desired music content data is retrieved and reproduced in a manner like looking through CD jackets on a shelf. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a reproducing apparatus and a reproducing method suitable for searching for a desired song in a recording medium reproducing apparatus for recording / reproducing music data recorded on a plurality of compact discs on a hard disk, for example. .

  With the spread of compact discs, the number of compact discs owned by users has also increased. As the number of compact discs owned by users increases, it becomes difficult to organize these discs, and it becomes difficult to search for a disc containing a desired song from a plurality of discs. .

  In addition, among songs recorded on a plurality of discs, there is a case where a song of a specific artist or a song of the same genre is continuously played. When a compact disc is played back by an ordinary compact disc player, when trying to play back songs recorded on a plurality of discs as described above, the discs must be replaced.

  If a CD player having a changer function capable of storing a plurality of discs and selecting and playing a desired disc out of the plurality of discs is used, it is not necessary to put in and out the disc. Even if it has a function, it takes time to replace the disk. Even a CD player having a changer function has a limit on the number of discs that can be stored.

  Therefore, an audio recording / reproducing apparatus that uses a hard disk as a recording medium for music data and records / reproduces a desired song on the hard disk is considered.

  That is, in recent years, the storage capacity of hard disks has increased dramatically, and it has become possible to record music data of a plurality of songs on the hard disk. The hard disk has a high access speed, and on the hard disk, the order of playback songs can be freely set. For this reason, when a hard disk is used as a recording medium for music data, songs recorded on a plurality of discs can be recorded, and the songs on the plurality of discs are sorted in order of title or artist. Can be organized. Also, since the hard disk has a fast access speed, the music selection time can be shortened.

  As described above, when a hard disk is used as a recording medium for music data, music data recorded on a plurality of disks can be recorded, and the music data recorded on the plurality of disks can be recorded in title order. It can be easily sorted and sorted in order of artist. However, the fact that a large amount of music data can be recorded means that it is difficult to search for desired music data unless the management of the music data is efficient and easy to understand.

  In the case of computer data, as a method for efficiently managing a large amount of data, management by a hierarchical structure has been conventionally performed well. Therefore, when recording music data on a hard disk, it is conceivable to manage the music data in a hierarchical structure. When music data is managed hierarchically, for example, it is classified by artist name as a major classification, classified by the artist's album at the level below each artist name, and further subordinate to the album at the level below it. The structure is such that it is classified by the name of the song. In this way, a desired song can be reproduced by following the artist name and album name.

  However, the memory of the user's music is ambiguous, and the song that the user wants to listen to is not necessarily determined. Accordingly, when managing music data, the conventional hierarchical management is not necessarily good. When managing data that evokes human emotions such as music data, a more natural management method that appeals to human intuition is desired, unlike when managing computer data.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a playback apparatus and a playback method capable of more intuitively managing a desired song on a desired disk when, for example, music data recorded on a plurality of disks is recorded on a hard disk. Is to provide.

The present invention relates to storage means for storing data and image data related to the data in association with each other,
Playback means for playing back data;
A plurality of images corresponding to a plurality of data are displayed on the display unit, and data corresponding to one image is displayed based on an operation input to the one image in which the corresponding image data is exposed among the plurality of displayed images. And a control unit that causes the playback unit to play back the playback device.
In the present invention, data and image data related to the data are associated with each other and stored in the storage means,
Display multiple images corresponding to multiple data,
A reproduction method is characterized in that the reproduction means reproduces data corresponding to one image based on an operation input to the one image from which the image data is exposed among the plurality of displayed images.

  Music data recorded on a plurality of compact discs is recorded on the hard disk. When playing back the music data on this hard disk, the cross-section was almost square and the objects on the thin plate were placed side by side so that it would look like a CD with multiple CD jackets standing in a rack. An image display like this appears. When this image is manipulated with the mouse, the position where the display turns gradually moves to the right or left.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to search and reproduce desired music data in the same manner as when searching for a CD jacket in a rack.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an example of an audio system to which the present invention is applied. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an audio control device. The audio control apparatus 1 includes a compact disk drive 38 for reproducing a compact disk or a CD-ROM, and a hard disk drive 36 capable of recording music data. The audio control device 1 further includes a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM.

  A keyboard 2 and a mouse 3 are connected to the audio control apparatus 1 as input devices. As the mouse 3, a mouse having a right button 3A and a left button 3B is used. A display 4 is connected to the audio control device 1. Input to the audio control device 1 can be performed by operating an icon displayed on the display 4 with the mouse 3. Furthermore, an image scanner 8 can be attached to the audio control device 1. The image scanner 8 can be used, for example, to capture an image of a CD jacket.

  Reference numeral 5 denotes an audio amplifier. The audio amplifier 5 amplifies an audio signal from an audio source. The output of the audio amplifier 5 is supplied to the speakers 7A and 7B. In this system, an FM broadcast signal from the FM tuner 6, a compact disc playback signal or a hard disc playback signal from the audio control device 1 is input as an audio source. In addition to these, the audio system can include an MD player, a CD player, a VTR, a video disc player, and the like.

  FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the audio control apparatus 1. In FIG. 2, the CPU 31 controls the overall operation. The CPU 31 leads to the bus 32. A ROM 33 and a RAM 34 are connected to the bus 32. A hard disk drive 36 is connected to the bus 32 via an interface 35 and a compact disk drive 38 is connected via an interface 37. In addition, the image scanner 8 is connected to the bus 32 via the interface 39. Further, input devices such as a keyboard 2 and a mouse 3 and a display 4 are connected to the bus 32. Music data is input / output via the audio interface 43.

  When the music data recorded on the compact disk is recorded on the hard disk, the music data is reproduced from the compact disk mounted on the compact disk drive 38 under the control of the CPU 31. This music data is processed under the control of the CPU 31, transferred via the bus 32, and recorded by the hard disk drive 36.

  Note that if a compact disk drive with high-speed access is used, music data recorded on the compact disk can be recorded on the hard disk at a speed higher than the actual playback time of the disk. Also, when music data recorded on a compact disc is recorded on a hard disk, the music data may be compressed.

  When reproducing music data recorded on the hard disk, the music data is reproduced from the hard disk drive 36 under the control of the CPU 31. This music data is processed under the control of the CPU 31 and transferred to the audio interface 43 via the bus 32. Then, an audio signal is sent to the outside via the audio interface 43.

  As described above, the audio control apparatus 1 is provided with the hard disk drive 36, and the music data of the compact disk mounted on the compact disk drive 38 can be recorded on the hard disk drive 36.

  FIG. 3 shows a process when the hard disk drive 36 records a compact disk loaded in the compact disk drive 38. In FIG. 3, it is first determined whether or not a command for recording the music data of the compact disc on the hard disk has been input (step ST1). When a command for recording the music data of the compact disc on the hard disk is input, a process of recording the music data of the compact disc mounted on the compact disc drive 38 with the hard disc drive 36 is performed (step ST2).

  It is determined whether or not the process of recording the compact disk mounted on the compact disk drive 38 with the hard disk 36 has been completed (step ST3), and when the recording process is completed, an accompanying information relating to the recorded music data such as album title, artist, song name, etc. It is determined whether information has been input (step ST4).

  For example, the keyboard 2 is used to input accompanying information about recorded music data, such as album titles, artists, and song titles. Further, when the accompanying information of the disc is recorded on the compact disc as in the CD text, the accompanying information of the disc can be used as it is.

  When the accompanying information related to the recorded music data is input, the accompanying information related to the recorded music data is stored (step ST5). Then, it is determined whether or not jacket image data has been input (step ST6).

  As the jacket image data, for example, an image of a jacket of a compact disk can be input by the image scanner 8. Alternatively, a jacket image may be created by a computer and this image may be used as jacket data. Furthermore, image data prepared in advance may be used as image data for the jacket.

  When the jacket image data is input, the jacket data is stored (step ST7).

  Through the processing as described above, the music data recorded on the compact disc mounted on the compact disc drive 38 is recorded on the hard disc 36 of the audio control device 1 together with the accompanying information of the disc and the image data of the jacket. .

  Of course, in addition to the music data recorded on the compact disk mounted in the compact disk drive 38, the music data received by the FM tuner 6 and the communication are sent to the hard disk 36 of the audio control device 1 by communication. Other music data such as recorded music data can be recorded. In this case as well, as in the case of the music data of the compact disc described above, it can be stored together with accompanying information about the music data and image data of the jacket.

  Thus, the hard disk drive 36 of the audio control device 1 can record a large amount of music data recorded on a plurality of compact discs. In a system to which the present invention is applied so that such a large amount of music data can be managed more naturally, appealing to human intuition, the image of the CD jacket is displayed on the display 4 and the bag is also in the rack. The desired music data can be searched in the same way as when searching for a CD jacket.

  That is, FIG. 4 shows a display on the display 4 when music data recorded on the hard disk drive 36 is played back. When playing back music data recorded on the hard disk drive 36, as shown in FIG. 4, the display 4 is provided with images 21A, 21B, 21C,. A side-by-side image appears. In addition, a mouse pointer 22 and a speed display 23 are displayed on the display 4.

  These cross-sections are approximately square and the images 21A, 21B, 21C,... On the thin plate imitate the image in the form of a CD jacket. Hereinafter, the images 21A, 21B, 21C,... Of the object are referred to as CD jacket display.

  Search indexes 25A, 25B, 25C,... Such as album titles and artist names are displayed on the sides of the CD jacket displays 21A, 21B, 21C,. In addition, a search menu 24 is displayed on the display 4. Using this search menu 24, sorting can be performed in order of album title name or artist name.

  Thus, the display 4 displays an image as if a plurality of CD jackets are arranged in a rack. Then, the user can search for desired music data and play it as when searching for a CD jacket in the rack.

  That is, when searching for desired data from the music data recorded on the hard disk drive 36, the user first searches for information 25A, 25B on the side of the CD jacket display 21A, 21B, 21C,. , 25C, ... Search for the album that contains the song you want to hear. Since the CD jacket displays 21A, 21B, 21C,... Can be sorted in the order of artist or song name, the user can display the CD jacket displays 21A, 21B, 21C,.・ You can search the neighborhood of immediately.

  When the CD jacket display 21A, 21B, 21C,... Corresponding to the album containing the song that he wants to hear is retrieved, the mouse pointer 22 is displayed on the CD jacket display 21A, 21B, 21C,. And click the left button 3B of the mouse 3.

  When the left button 3B of the mouse 3 is clicked, as shown in FIG. 5, the mouse 3 is clicked on the rack display in which CD jacket displays 21A, 21B, 21C,. The image appears as if the jacket surface of the CD jacket display at the position where the mouse 3 was clicked is exposed.

  Here, when the right button 3A or the left button 3B of the mouse 3 is kept pressed, the CD jacket display 21A, 21B, 21C,... The CD jacket display where the jacket surface is exposed sequentially moves to the right or left sequentially. That is, when the right button 3A or the left button 3B of the mouse 3 is continuously pressed, the CD jacket display 21A, 21B, 21C,. The position where the dullness moves in order.

  In addition, when the position where the CD jacket display 21A, 21B, 21C,... Will increase. The speed at which the CD jacket displays 21A, 21B, 21C,...

  As described above, when the right button or the left button of the mouse 3 is continuously pressed, the display position of the CD jacket display 21A, 21B, 21C,. Then, the positions of the CD jacket displays 21A, 21B, 21C,... Where the jacket surface is exposed are sequentially moved to the right or left. When the jacket surface of the CD jacket display 21A, 21B, 21C,... Is exposed, it can be seen from the information on the jacket surface whether or not it corresponds to the album containing the song that the user wants to hear.

  While viewing the information on the jacket surface, the user presses the right button 3A or the left button 3B of the mouse 3 to select the CD jacket display 21A, 21B, 21C,... Corresponding to the album containing the song to be heard. . When the CD jacket display 21A, 21B, 21C,... Corresponding to the album containing the song to be heard is found, the mouse pointer 22 is moved to the jacket surface of the CD jacket display as shown in FIG. Double-click the left button 3B of the mouse 3.

  When the left button 3B of the mouse 3 is double-clicked, the music data recorded corresponding to the CD jacket display is read from the hard disk drive 36 and the music data is reproduced.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the processing at this time. In FIG. 6, a rack display such that CD jacket displays 21A, 21B, 21C,... Are arranged side by side is displayed on the display 4 (step ST11). Then, it is determined whether or not the mouse pointer 22 is moved above the CD jacket displays 21A, 21B, 21C,... (Step ST12).

  When the mouse 3 is clicked on the CD jacket displays 21A, 21B, 21C,..., The CD jacket displays 21A, 21B, 21C,... At the position of the mouse pointer 22 are exposed (step ST13).

  The mouse pointer 22 is moved over the exposed CD jacket displays 21A, 21B, 21C,... And it is determined whether or not the mouse 3 is double-clicked (step ST14). If not double-clicked, it is determined whether the right button 3A or the left button 3B of the mouse 3 is pressed (step ST25).

  If the right button 3A of the mouse 3 is pressed, the rack display position where the CD jacket displays 21A, 21B, 21C,... Are placed side by side is sequentially moved to the right (step ST16). ). Then, the speed at which the position where the CD jacket displays 21A, 21B, 21C,... Are moved is increased (step ST17). It is determined whether or not the right button 3A of the mouse 3 is kept pressed (step ST18), and if the right button of the mouse 3 is kept pressed, the process returns to step ST16 to display the CD jacket display 21A, 21B, 21C,.・ The position of the display that is displayed side by side is moved to the right sequentially. At this time, the speed at which the position where the CD jacket displays 21A, 21B, 21C,.

  In step ST15, if the left button 3B of the mouse 3 is pressed, the rack display position where the CD jacket displays 21A, 21B, 21C,. (Step ST19). Then, the speed at which the position where the CD jacket displays 21A, 21B, 21C,... Are moved is increased (step ST20). It is determined whether or not the left button 3B of the mouse 3 is kept pressed (step ST21). If the left button 3B of the mouse 3 is kept pressed, the process returns to step ST19, and the CD jacket display 21A, 21B, 21C,.・ ・ The position where the display is turned up like standing side by side is moved to the left sequentially. At this time, the speed at which the position where the CD jacket displays 21A, 21B, 21C,.

  When the right button 3A or the left button 3B of the mouse 3 is released in step 18 or step ST21, the CD jacket display 21A, 21B, 21C,... At that position is exposed (step ST23). Then, the process returns to step ST14.

  Here, in step ST14, it is determined whether or not the mouse pointer 22 has been moved over the exposed CD jacket displays 21A, 21B, 21C,... If it is determined that the exposed CD jacket display 21A, 21B, 21C,... Is double-clicked, the music data of the song corresponding to the CD jacket display 21A, 21B, 21C,. Read (step ST23).

1 is a perspective view of an example of an audio recording / reproducing system to which the present invention can be applied. 1 is a block diagram of an example of an audio control apparatus to which the present invention can be applied. It is a flowchart used for description of an example of the audio control apparatus which can apply this invention. It is a perspective view used for description of the display at the time of search in an example of an audio control device to which the present invention can be applied. It is a perspective view used for description of the display at the time of search in an example of an audio control device to which the present invention can be applied. It is a perspective view used for description of the display at the time of search in an example of an audio control device to which the present invention can be applied. It is a perspective view used for description of the display at the time of search in an example of an audio control device to which the present invention can be applied. It is a flowchart used for the description at the time of the search in an example of the audio control apparatus which can apply this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Audio control apparatus 3 ... Mouse 4 ... Display 21A, 21B, 21C ... CD jacket display 22 ... Mouse keyboard 36 ... Hard disk drive 38 ... Compact disk drive

Claims (34)

Storage means for storing data and image data related to the data in association with each other;
Playback means for playing back data;
A plurality of images corresponding to a plurality of the data are displayed on a display unit, and the one image is supported based on an operation input for the one image in which the corresponding image data is exposed among the plurality of displayed images. And a control means for causing the playback means to play back the data to be played back. 2. The reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the storage unit stores accompanying information related to the data together with the data. The playback apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the accompanying information includes any one of an album title, an artist, and a song title. 3. The playback apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the control unit causes the display unit to display accompanying information of data corresponding to each of the plurality of images. The reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the operation input for the exposed image data is a double click. The control unit displays a plurality of search items on the display unit, sorts the plurality of images based on one search item selected based on an operation input to the operation unit, and displays the images on the display unit. The reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: 7. The playback apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the search items are an album title, an artist, and a song title. The control means includes the first image in the first display form among the plurality of images, and the image other than the one image in the second display form having a display area smaller than the first display form. The display device according to claim 1, wherein the display unit displays the image on the display unit. The control means converts exposed image data from image data of data corresponding to the one image to data corresponding to the other image based on an operation input for another image different from the one image. The playback apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display device is changed to image data and displayed on the display unit. 2. The image data to be exposed is sequentially changed to image data corresponding to an adjacent image based on a predetermined operation input to the operation means, and displayed on the display unit. Playback device. 11. The playback apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the control unit performs display control based on a duration of the predetermined operation input so that an image change rate at which image data is exposed is sequentially increased. The control means stores audio data recorded on a disc as data in the storage means, and displays a plurality of jacket image data corresponding to the recorded audio data on a display unit. Item 4. The playback device according to Item 1. 13. The reproducing apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the control means stores the audio data recorded on the disk in the storage means at a high speed. 13. The reproducing apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the control means compresses audio data recorded on the disk and stores the compressed audio data in the storage means. 13. The reproducing apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the control means further records audio data sent by communication. 15. The playback apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the control means further records audio data received by the FM tuner. 3. The reproducing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the control means displays accompanying information of data respectively corresponding to the plurality of images on a side surface of the plurality of images. Storing the data and the image data related to the data in the storage means in association with each other;
Displaying a plurality of images corresponding to a plurality of the data;
A reproduction method comprising causing reproduction means to reproduce data corresponding to the one image based on an operation input to the one image from which the image data is exposed among the plurality of displayed images. 19. The reproducing method according to claim 18, wherein the storage unit stores accompanying information related to the data together with the data. The reproduction method according to claim 19, wherein the accompanying information includes any one of an album title, an artist, and a song title.   20. The reproducing method according to claim 19, wherein accompanying information of data corresponding to each of the plurality of images is displayed on the display unit. 19. The reproducing method according to claim 18, wherein the operation input for the exposed image data is a double click. 19. A plurality of search items are displayed on the display unit, and the plurality of images are sorted and displayed on the display unit based on one search item selected based on the operation input. The playback method described. The reproduction method according to claim 23, wherein the search items are an album title, an artist, and a song title. Among the plurality of images, the one image is displayed in the first display form, and the image other than the one image is displayed in the second display form having a display area smaller than the first display form. 19. The reproducing method according to claim 18, wherein the reproducing method is displayed. Based on an operation input to another image different from the one image, the exposed image data is changed from the image data corresponding to the one image to the image data corresponding to the other plate. 19. The reproduction method according to claim 18, wherein the display unit displays the image on the display unit. 19. The reproduction method according to claim 18, wherein the image data to be exposed is sequentially changed to image data corresponding to an adjacent image and displayed on the display unit based on the predetermined operation input. 28. The reproduction method according to claim 27, wherein the change rate of the exposed image data is sequentially increased and controlled based on the duration of the predetermined operation input. 19. The reproducing method according to claim 18, wherein audio data recorded on a disc is stored as data in the storage means, and a plurality of images corresponding to the recorded audio data are displayed on a display unit. 30. A reproducing method according to claim 29, wherein audio data recorded on a disk is stored in said storage means at high speed. 30. A reproducing method according to claim 29, wherein the audio data recorded on the disk is compressed and stored in the storage means. 30. The reproducing method according to claim 29, further comprising recording audio data sent by communication. 32. The reproducing method according to claim 31, further comprising recording audio data received by the FM tuner. The reproducing method according to claim 19, wherein accompanying information of data corresponding to each of the plurality of images is displayed on a side surface of the plurality of images.

Images