JP2008146768A - Control apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a user to easily recognize the timing for exchange of components of AV equipment, such as an image sound recording and reproducing device and an image sound reproducing device. <P>SOLUTION: A television receiver (TV11) for controlling a plurality of the AV equipment, such as (a BD recorder/player 12, a D-VHS recorder/player 13, and a HDD recorder/player 14) monitors the recording state or reproducing state of each recorder/player by using a protocol pursuant to IEEE1394 standards, clocks the operation time existing in a recording state or reproducing state, and holds and manages the accumulation time of the use state of each recorder/player. Then, when the accumulation time of the use state of each recorder/player exceeds the prescribed set value, for example, maintenance is urged and a message announcing that the accumulation time of the use state of the recorder/player exceeds the prescribed set value is displayed on the display screen. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a control device conforming to the IEEE 1394 standard for controlling a controlled device connected via an IEEE 1394 interface.

  Conventionally, there are image / audio recording / reproducing apparatuses capable of recording and reproducing image / audio information (audio information and video information) and image / audio information reproduction capable of only reproducing image / audio information. These video / audio recording / playback devices and video / audio playback devices have parts with a life (part replacement time) of several thousand hours including video heads, and require regular maintenance and parts replacement. .

  AV (Audio-Visual) equipment such as an image / audio recording / reproducing apparatus and an image / audio reproducing apparatus does not simply have a part replacement time as time elapses. The time for replacement depends on the use environment. It will be decided. That is, the maintenance frequency and timing of AV equipment vary greatly depending on the frequency of use. In the case of predicting the maintenance time, it is necessary for the user to measure the use time by himself / herself or to check the necessity of the maintenance by checking the parts in the home appliance. On the other hand, some commercial equipment is equipped with a time integration meter for each device. By checking the value of this time integration meter as needed, the total time of use (recording status or playback status) can be ascertained. There are also things that can be done.

Patent Document 1 below discloses an AV system in which a plurality of AV devices are connected via an IEEE 1394 interface. In this AV system, the television receiver functions as a controller, manages the media loading status, media content, content recording address, free space, etc. of each AV device (target), and stores such information according to the user's instructions. It is configured to be displayed on the display screen of the television receiver.
JP-A-9-120666 (FIGS. 1 and 8)

  However, according to the prior art, it is difficult for a general user to measure the accumulated time of the usage state every time the AV device is used, and to accumulate and record the accumulated time. Therefore, a general user cannot grasp the maintenance time such as the parts replacement time, and the proper maintenance time is lost. As a result, a failure or failure occurs in the recording / playback function of the AV device. obtain.

  Further, when a time integrating meter is provided in each AV device, there is a problem that the user needs to check the value of the time integrating meter as needed. Further, since it is necessary to provide a time integration meter for each AV device, there is a problem that the cost of each AV device is directly increased. Moreover, in the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, it is possible to acquire and display the current state of each AV device according to the user's request, but the controller measures the time, and each target There is no disclosure or suggestion regarding the management of maintenance periods.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the present invention provides a control device that allows a user to easily grasp the replacement time of AV equipment such as an image / audio recording / reproducing device or an image / audio reproducing device in a normal use environment. The purpose is to provide.

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a digital interface conforming to the IEEE 1394 standard,
An apparatus for performing at least one of a recording operation and a reproducing operation connected via one or more digital interfaces using a protocol compliant with the IEEE 1394 standard is identified as a connection apparatus, and the connection apparatus includes: An operation state determination means for determining, for each of the connected devices, a recording / reproduction state in which at least one of a recording operation and a reproduction operation is being performed;
The time when the operation state determination means determines the recording / reproduction state for each connected device is accumulated from the time when the connection device first performs at least one of the recording operation and the reproduction operation, and the accumulated time. A cumulative time calculation means for storing as a cumulative time;
Detecting means for detecting, for each connection device, whether or not the accumulated time exceeds a predetermined time set in advance for each connection device;
When the detection means detects that the accumulated time of any of the connection devices exceeds the predetermined time, information indicating that the accumulated time of the detected connection device exceeds the predetermined time Information output means for outputting,
A control device is provided.

  The present invention has the above-described configuration, and has an effect that the user can easily grasp the time for replacing the parts of the image / audio recording / reproducing apparatus and the image / audio reproducing apparatus in a normal use environment. In particular, there is an effect that it is possible to prevent the user from losing the time to replace important parts and causing trouble or failure in the recording / reproducing function of the image / audio recording / reproducing apparatus or the image / audio reproducing apparatus. Have.

  Hereinafter, first and second embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

<First Embodiment>
First, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 shows an image / audio recording / reproducing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a Blu-ray disc that uses a television receiver (hereinafter referred to as TV) 11 and a Blu-ray (registered trademark) disc (BD: Blu-ray Disc) as a recording / reproducing medium. Recorder / player (hereinafter referred to as BD recorder / player) 12, D-VHS recorder / player 13 using D-VHS (Data Video Home System) as a recording medium, HD hard disk drive recorder using a hard disk as a recording medium A player (hereinafter referred to as HDD recorder / player) 14 is configured.

  In FIG. 1, a TV 11 and a BD recorder / player 12 are connected by an IEEE 1394 interface 15, and a TV 11 and a D-VHS recorder / player 13 are connected by an IEEE 1394 interface 16, and the D-VHS recorder / player 13 is connected. The HDD recorder / player 14 is connected by an IEEE 1394 interface 17. Here, the TV 11 functions as a control device (controller), and the BD recorder / player 12, the D-VHS recorder / player 13, and the HDD recorder / player 14 function as controlled devices (targets).

  Further, here, the BD recorder / player 12, the D-VHS recorder / player 13, and the HDD recorder / player 14 each record / reproduce MPEG2-TS (transport stream) including video / audio information on each medium. However, it may have only one function of recording and reproduction (that is, a function as a recorder or a function as a player).

  The BD recorder / player 12, the D-VHS recorder / player 13, and the HDD recorder / player 14 have a function of transmitting and receiving MPEG2-TS to and from each other via the IEEE 1394 interfaces 15, 16, and 17, respectively. The reproduced MPEG2-TS is transmitted by isochronous transmission to an MPEG2 decoder (not shown) mounted on the TV 11, and the TV 11 decodes the received stream into video and audio and displays it.

  Each device has a built-in configuration ROM (not shown) that stores device category information and device-specific IDs, and can be read from the configuration ROMs of other devices via the IEEE1394 interfaces 15, 16, and 17. The device category information and device individual ID can be read out.

  In addition, each device can mutually grasp the operation state by transmitting and receiving commands defined in the AVC protocol via the IEEE 1394 interfaces 15, 16, and 17. Note that AV equipment having the IEEE 1394 interfaces 15, 16, and 17 is required to implement the AVC protocol (or AVC command set) according to the standard. Also, device category information, device individual IDs, commands for grasping the operation state, and the like are performed by asynchronous transmission and can be transmitted at any time during connection.

  As described above, the microcomputer (not shown) built in the TV 11 recognizes each device (BD recorder / player 12, D-VHS recorder / player 13, HDD recorder / player) by individually recognizing the device and recognizing the operation state. 14) can be specified to be in a recording state or a reproduction state, and a period during which each device is in a recording state or a reproduction state can be measured using a clock (not shown) built in the TV 11. . Further, the value of the length of the period in which each device is in the recording state or the reproduction state (time value measured by the clock built in the TV 11) is stored in or read out from the nonvolatile memory (not shown) built in the TV 11. It is also possible. Each function based on the above-mentioned IEEE 1394 standard is already an indispensable function in recent television receivers with a built-in digital broadcast tuner.

  Next, an example of the operation in the first embodiment of the present invention will be described. 3 and 4 illustrate an example of processing performed by the microcomputer of the control device (TV 11) of the audio / video recording / playback system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 3, the TV 11 starts / ends the device management process illustrated in FIG. 4 for each device as an interrupt process at regular time intervals (steps S <b> 301 to S <b> 30 </ b> N). In FIG. 3, “N” is the number of controlled devices. That is, for example, the interval of interruption processing (interruption time) is 1 second, and the TV 11 starts interruption processing every second, and each controlled device (BD recorder / player 12, D-VHS recorder / player 13, HDD recorder) / A device management process related to the player 14) (the process shown in FIG. 4) is executed.

  In the above description, as an example, the interruption time of the device management process related to each device is set to 1 second, but an arbitrary time can be set. For example, when presenting the recording / playback time of the device to the user, it is easy to understand that it is notified in units of “time” as shown in FIGS. 2 and 6 to be described later. It is desirable that the interrupt time can be arbitrarily set up to an upper limit of about 1 hour.

  FIG. 4 shows details of the device management processing performed in steps S301 to S30N of FIG. In FIG. 4, a device (target device) to be subjected to device management processing is selected, and processing for the selected device is performed.

  In FIG. 4, first, the state of the target device of the device management process is detected by AVC protocol transmission, and it is determined whether it is in a recording state or a reproduction state (step S401). If the target device is not in the recording state or the reproduction state, the device management process ends. On the other hand, when the target device is in the recording state or the playback state, the integrated value indicating the total of the recording state or the playback state of the target device is read from the non-volatile memory mounted by itself (step S402). Counting up of the time for measuring the recording state or reproduction state period of the target device is started (step S403). Note that whether or not the target device has been stopped is also monitored (step S404), and the time count in step S403 is continued until the target device is stopped. When the target device is stopped, the time count value in step S403 is added to the integrated value read in step S402 (step S405). The addition result becomes a new integrated value of the target device.

  Next, the new integrated value generated in step S405 is compared with a predetermined set value (step S406). In the comparison process in step S406, if the new integrated value exceeds a predetermined set value, for example, as shown in FIG. 2, the fact that the new integrated value has exceeded the predetermined set value is displayed on the TV. It is displayed on the John screen (step S407).

  FIG. 2 shows an example of the television screen 201 of the control device (TV 11) of the audio / video recording / playback system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 shows “D-VHS # 1” when the recording / reproduction time in the D-VHS recorder / player 13 (D-VHS # 1) exceeds a predetermined set value (2000 hours in FIG. 2). The recording / playback time has exceeded 2000 hours. We recommend maintenance such as head replacement. The message 202 is displayed on the television screen 201. The message 202 shown in FIG. 2 includes information that alerts the user to maintenance in addition to the recording / reproduction time (elapsed time when the recording process or the reproduction process was performed). Although the message is displayed in the lower part of the television screen 201 by subtitles, the content and display mode of the message 202 are not particularly limited and can be arbitrarily set.

  Then, regardless of whether or not the new integrated value exceeds a predetermined set value, the addition result obtained in step S405 is written and stored as a new integrated value, for example, in a nonvolatile memory (step S410). ). If it is notified in step S407 that the new integrated value (that is, the recording / playback time) has exceeded a predetermined set value, the user accumulates after the user performs maintenance on the target device, for example. The user can input to clear the time information (ie, the integrated value) (step S408), and when the user inputs a clear request for the integrated value, the integrated value in the nonvolatile memory is cleared ( For example, the integrated value may be returned to the initial value (step S409).

  Note that the set time for each device (that is, the predetermined set value referred to in the comparison process in step S406) may be set in advance when the product is shipped, or may be set by the user himself. In addition, a general maintenance interval value for the device may be determined in advance as a set time for each device category. For example, if the category of the device is a VTR (Video Tape Recorder), the recording / playback time can be set by setting a general head life of 3000 hours as a predetermined set value in the microcomputer program. When the head life is exceeded, a message for alerting the user can be notified.

<Second Embodiment>
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. The system configuration in the second embodiment of the present invention is the same as that shown in FIG. 1, and the second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

  In the second embodiment of the present invention, as in the first embodiment of the present invention described above, the control device (TV 11) controls each controlled device (BD recorder / player 12, D-VHS recorder / player 13). , Device management processing is performed on the HDD recorder / player 14). Hereinafter, details of device management processing performed by the TV 11 for each device will be described with reference to FIG.

  The flowchart of FIG. 5 illustrates an example of device management processing for each device performed by the control device of the audio / video recording / playback system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In steps S501 to S505 in FIG. 5, as in steps S401 to S405 in FIG. 4, the time during which the target device is in the recording state or the reproduction state is measured, and the total recording / reproduction time (the integrated value and the count value) is measured. A new integrated value generated by the integration is obtained.

  Next, the new integrated value generated in step S505 is compared with a value obtained by multiplying a predetermined set value by M (M is a positive integer) (step S506). The value of M is stored and managed in a nonvolatile memory (not shown) together with the integrated value for each target device. In the comparison process of step S506, when the new integrated value exceeds a predetermined set value × M, the new integrated value exceeds the predetermined set value × M, for example, as shown in FIG. Is displayed on the television screen (step S507). At the same time, when the new integrated value exceeds a predetermined set value × M, the value of M is incremented by one and stored in the nonvolatile memory (not shown) of the TV 11.

  FIG. 6 shows an example of the television screen 601 of the control device (TV 11) of the audio / video recording / playback system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 shows “D-VHS” when the recording / reproduction time in the D-VHS recorder / player 13 (D-VHS # 1) exceeds M times a predetermined set value (500 hours in FIG. 6). # 1 recording / playback time exceeded 500 hours. The message 602 is displayed on the television screen 601. At this time, the content and display mode of the message 602 displayed on the television screen 601 are not particularly limited and can be arbitrarily set.

  Then, regardless of whether or not the new integrated value exceeds a predetermined set value, the addition result obtained in step S505 is written and stored as a new integrated value, for example, in a nonvolatile memory (step S510). ). If it is notified in step S507 that the new integrated value (that is, the recording / playback time) has exceeded M times the predetermined set value, the user uses the device after performing maintenance on the target device, for example. The user can input an operation to clear the accumulated time information (that is, the integrated value) (step S508), and when the user inputs a clear request for the integrated value, the integrated value in the nonvolatile memory is input. And the value of M may be cleared (for example, the integrated value and the value of M are returned to the initial values) (step S509).

  Also in the second embodiment of the present invention, the set time for each device (that is, the predetermined set value referred in the comparison process in step S506) may be determined in advance at the time of shipment of the product. The user may be able to set himself / herself. Further, the set time may be determined in advance for each category of the device according to the length of the lifetime of the device. For example, 50 hours may be set as the set time for a VTR with a short life, and 500 hours may be set as the set time for a Blu-ray recorder with a long life. As a result, as compared with the first embodiment of the present invention, the fact that a certain recording / reproducing time has elapsed is notified every time a certain recording / reproducing time has elapsed, so that the user is not given a sudden impression. It is possible to notify the status of the device to the user, and the user can perform maintenance by predicting the lifetime of the consumable parts of each device.

  Note that either one of the functions according to the first and second embodiments of the present invention may be mounted on the control device, or both may be mounted. Further, when the user first connects the IEEE 1394 interface, for example, when installing a television receiver or installing an audio / video recorder / player device, the user can select which function to use. Good.

  The present invention has an effect of allowing a user to easily grasp the time for replacing an AV device such as an image / audio recording / reproducing apparatus or an image / audio reproducing apparatus, and is connected via an IEEE 1394 interface. The present invention can be applied to technologies related to AV equipment networks.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the apparatus management system of the recording / reproducing or reproducing | regenerating apparatus of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the display screen of the control apparatus of the audiovisual recording / reproducing system in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the interruption process performed with the control apparatus of the audiovisual recording / reproducing system in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the apparatus management process with respect to each apparatus performed with the control apparatus of the audiovisual recording / reproducing system in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the apparatus management process with respect to each apparatus performed with the control apparatus of the audiovisual recording / reproducing system in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the display screen of the control apparatus of the audiovisual recording / reproducing system in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

11 TV (television receiver, control device)
12 BD recorder / player (controlled device)
13 D-VHS recorder / player (controlled device)
14 HDD recorder / player (controlled device)
15, 16, 17 IEEE 1394 interface 201, 601 Display screen 202, 602 Message

Claims (1)

A digital interface conforming to the IEEE 1394 standard;
An apparatus for performing at least one of a recording operation and a reproducing operation connected via one or more digital interfaces using a protocol compliant with the IEEE 1394 standard is identified as a connection apparatus, and the connection apparatus includes: An operation state determination means for determining, for each of the connected devices, a recording / reproduction state in which at least one of a recording operation and a reproduction operation is being performed;
The time when the operation state determination means determines the recording / reproduction state for each connected device is accumulated from the time when the connection device first performs at least one of the recording operation and the reproduction operation, and the accumulated time. A cumulative time calculation means for storing as a cumulative time;
Detecting means for detecting, for each connection device, whether or not the accumulated time exceeds a predetermined time set in advance for each connection device;
When the detection means detects that the accumulated time of any of the connection devices exceeds the predetermined time, information indicating that the accumulated time of the detected connection device exceeds the predetermined time Information output means for outputting,
Control device having.

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