JP2008160614A - Reproducing unit - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a reproducing unit capable of outputting a title menu image, which facilitates confirmation of contents belonging to a serial and contents not belonging to the serial, regarding contents for serials, such as a serial drama. <P>SOLUTION: When there is input relating to the setting of a thumbnail image regarding content under reproduction, the reproducing unit 1 sets a reproduction image at that time as the thumbnail image of the content. When there is content having a same main title as content for which a thumbnail image has been set at this time, in contents recorded in a recording medium 5, the same image is set as a thumbnail image also for the contents. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a playback apparatus for playing back content recorded on a recording medium such as a hard disk or a DVD.

  Conventionally, there has been a playback device that plays back content recorded on a recording medium such as a hard disk or a DVD. In general playback devices, titles that are displayed in a list in which content title names and thumbnail images of the content are associated with each other so that the user can easily check the content of each content recorded on the recording medium. A function for outputting a menu image is provided. This title menu image is displayed on the connected display device. This function allows the user to confirm the content to be reproduced from the content recorded on the recording medium. When reproducing the content recorded on the recording medium, the user confirms and designates the content to be reproduced by looking at the title menu image displayed on the display device. The reason for using the thumbnail image in the title menu image is to allow the user to easily confirm the contents. Therefore, it is desirable that the thumbnail image of each content recorded on the recording medium is an image that allows the user to easily confirm the content.

In addition, in order to allow the user to easily check the content of the content recorded on the recording medium, a configuration is provided in which video index data is created based on a playback image of the content and the video index data is played back. There is also an apparatus (see Patent Document 1) and an apparatus (see Patent Document 2) that is configured to display a list of a plurality of reproduced images of the content.
JP 2005-86344 A JP 2000-125243 A

  However, the conventional playback apparatus only sets thumbnail images for each content, and does not set thumbnail images for each content according to the relationship between the contents. For this reason, for a series of contents such as a series drama, it has been impossible to output a title menu image that allows easy confirmation of contents belonging to the series and contents not belonging to the series. In other words, there is a problem that it is difficult for the user to check the content recorded on the recording medium in the title menu image by series.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a playback device capable of outputting a title menu image that allows easy confirmation of content belonging to a series and content not belonging to a series of content such as a series drama. There is.

  The reproducing apparatus of the present invention has the following configuration in order to solve the above problems.

(1) Thumbnail image acquisition means for acquiring thumbnail images set for content recorded on a recording medium;
In a playback device, comprising: a title menu image output means for outputting a title menu image for causing a display device to display a list of title names of contents recorded on a recording medium together with the thumbnail images acquired by the thumbnail image acquisition means ,
If there is a predetermined symbol in the middle of the title name of the content recorded on the recording medium, title name recognition means for recognizing the main title and the subtitle before the predetermined symbol,
Thumbnail image setting means for setting a playback image specified at the time of playback of the content recorded on the recording medium as a thumbnail image of the content,
The thumbnail image setting means is a means for setting a thumbnail image set this time as a thumbnail image for each of other contents having the same main title when a thumbnail image is set for any content. .

  In this configuration, if the title name recognition means includes a predetermined symbol, for example, a hyphen (-), in the title name of the content recorded on the recording medium, the title before the hyphen is the main title, and Recognize it as a subtitle. The thumbnail image setting means sets the playback image specified at the time of playback of the content as the thumbnail image of the content. Further, when a thumbnail image is set for any content, the thumbnail image setting means sets the thumbnail image set this time as a thumbnail image for each of the other contents having the same main title as the content.

  For this reason, when the content of a series such as a series drama is recorded on a recording medium, a thumbnail image is set for any one of the contents if the main title is the same for a plurality of contents belonging to this series. The same thumbnail image can be set for other contents. Thereby, for each series, it is possible to output a title menu image that allows easy confirmation of contents belonging to the series and contents not belonging to the series. In the title menu image, the user can check the content recorded on the recording medium by series.

(2) thumbnail image acquisition means for acquiring a thumbnail image set for the content recorded on the recording medium;
In a playback device, comprising: a title menu image output means for outputting a title menu image for causing a display device to display a list of title names of contents recorded on a recording medium together with the thumbnail images acquired by the thumbnail image acquisition means ,
If there is a predetermined symbol in the middle of the title name of the content recorded on the recording medium, title name recognition means for recognizing the main title and the subtitle before the predetermined symbol,
Thumbnail image setting means for setting a playback image specified at the time of playback of the content recorded on the recording medium as a thumbnail image of the content,
When the thumbnail image setting means sets a thumbnail image for any content, the thumbnail image of the content for which the reproduction time is set for the current thumbnail image is set for each of the content and the other content having the same main title. In this configuration, when the thumbnail image setting means sets a thumbnail image for any content, the main title is the same as the main title. For each of the other contents, it differs from the above (1) in that a playback image whose playback time is the same as the playback time of the thumbnail image in the content set with the current thumbnail image is set as the thumbnail image. In the case of a continuous drama or the like, the timing at which an image indicating the title name and the number of episodes is displayed from the start of the content is the same. Also, this image is almost the same image. Therefore, when the contents of a series such as a series drama are recorded on a recording medium, the main title is kept the same for a plurality of contents belonging to this series, and the title name or number of episodes of any one of the contents is set. By simply performing an operation of setting an image indicating whether or not there is a thumbnail image, almost the same thumbnail image can be set for other contents. Thereby, for each series, it is possible to output a title menu image that allows easy confirmation of contents belonging to the series and contents not belonging to the series.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to output a title menu image that allows easy confirmation of content belonging to a series and content not belonging to a series of content such as a series drama.

  Hereinafter, a playback apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of the main part of a playback apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The playback apparatus 1 of this embodiment includes a control unit 2, an input unit 3, a recording / playback unit 4, a recording medium 5, an output unit 6, and an operation unit 7. The control unit 2 controls the operation of each part of the main body. The input unit 3 receives an input of content from the outside and outputs the content. The input unit 3 is illustrated via, for example, a tuner that extracts and outputs a TV broadcast signal of a selected channel from a TV broadcast signal received by an antenna (not shown), or the Internet. It is a communication unit that downloads and outputs content from a server that does not exist. The recording / reproducing unit 4 processes the content data output from the input unit 3 and records (records) the content on the recording medium 5. The recording medium 5 is, for example, a hard disk or an optical disk such as a DVD. The recording / playback unit 4 also has a playback function of reading content data recorded on the recording medium 5 and outputting the content data to the output unit 6. The recording / reproducing unit 4 has a function of performing an encoding process for encoding content data to be recorded on the recording medium 5 and a decoding process for decoding content data read from the recording medium 5. The recording / playback unit 4 outputs the decoded content data. The output unit 6 processes the data of the content input from the recording / playback unit 4 and generates and outputs a video signal and an audio signal of the content. The output unit 6 is connected to a display device 11 that displays video and a speaker 12 that transmits audio. The display device 11 displays a video based on the video signal input from the output unit 6. The speaker 12 sends out sound based on the sound signal input from the output unit 6. The operation unit 7 includes an operation key for a user to perform an input operation and a remote control reception unit that receives a control signal transmitted from a remote controller (not shown).

  The recording medium 5 is provided with a management information recording area for recording the management information for each recorded content. The content management information includes the title name, recording date and time, thumbnail image, address indicating the recording position of the content body, and the like.

  In the playback device 1 of this embodiment, the user can set a title name and a thumbnail image for the content recorded on the recording medium 5. The control unit 2 manages each content recorded on the recording medium 5 based on the management information recorded in the management information recording area of the recording medium 5. If the title name includes a hyphen (-) (corresponding to a predetermined symbol in the present invention), the control unit 2 recognizes that the main title is before this hyphen and the subtitle is after it. .

  When the title name includes a plurality of hyphens, the control unit 2 recognizes that the main title is before the first hyphen and the subtitle is after the first hyphen.

  Next, the operation of the playback apparatus 1 of this embodiment will be described. The playback device 1 of this embodiment executes a recording process for recording content input to the input unit 3 on the recording medium 5, a playback process for playing back content recorded on the recording medium 5, and the like. Since this recording process is the same as that of a known apparatus, it will be briefly described here. The content to be recorded on the recording medium 5 is input to the input unit 3. For example, content broadcast by digital television broadcasting or content downloaded from a server connected to the Internet is input to the input unit 3. The playback apparatus 1 inputs content data input to the input unit 3 to the recording / playback unit 4. The recording / reproducing unit 4 processes the input data and records the processed data on the recording medium 5. The recording / playback unit 4 performs processing for converting the input content data into data in a format corresponding to the recording format. Further, when the content is recorded on the recording medium 5, the playback device 1 records management information related to the content in the management information recording area.

  Further, the user can change the title name of the content recorded on the recording medium 5 by performing an input operation related to the change of the title name with the operation unit 7 or the remote controller. That is, by using this function, the user can change the title name of the content of a series such as a series drama to a title name having the same main title but different subtitles.

  The playback device 1 also has a function of outputting a title menu image that allows the user to confirm the content of each content recorded on the recording medium. The title menu image is displayed on the display device 11. The title menu image is an image that is displayed in a list in which the title name of each content recorded in the recording medium 5 is associated with the thumbnail image of the content. The number of contents displayed on one screen may be one or plural. When the title menu image covers a plurality of screens, the playback device 1 switches the page of the title menu image displayed on the display device 11 when an operation related to page switching is performed with the operation unit 7 or the remote controller. The user uses the title menu image when selecting the content to be reproduced from the content recorded on the recording medium 5.

  Also, the playback device 1 of this embodiment can change the setting of the thumbnail image of the content when the content is played back. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the playback process of the playback apparatus of this embodiment. When reproducing the content recorded on the recording medium 5, the reproducing device 1 waits for input to the main body (s1). The user can input to the main body by operating the operation unit 7 or the remote controller. If the input to the main body is an input related to setting of a thumbnail image, the playback device 1 sets the playback image at that time as a thumbnail image for the content being played back (s2, s3). In s3, rewriting is performed to update the thumbnail image for the content being reproduced, which is recorded in the management information recording area of the recording medium 5, to the thumbnail image set this time.

  Further, the playback device 1 determines whether or not the content having the thumbnail image set in s3, that is, the content being played back, and the content having the same main title are recorded on the recording medium 5 (s4). If the content having the same main title is recorded on the recording medium 5, the playback device 1 also uses the thumbnail image recorded in the management information recording area of the recording medium 5 for the content having the same main title, Rewriting to update the thumbnail image set this time is performed (s5), and the process returns to s1. As a result, content whose main title is the same as the content being reproduced becomes the same thumbnail image. For example, when the title name of the content being played back is “XXX-AA”, the title names are “XXX-BB”, “XXX-CC”, “XXX” on the recording medium 5. -AA ”content is recorded, for the content whose title names are“ XXX-BB ”and“ XXX-CC ”, a thumbnail image is displayed and the current title name is“ XXX-AA ”. ”Is updated to the thumbnail image set for the content, and the thumbnail image is not updated for the content whose title name is“ xxx-AA ”. If the content whose main title is the same as the content set with the thumbnail image in s3 is not recorded on the recording medium 5, the playback device 1 returns to s1.

  Further, when there is an input relating to the stop of playback, the playback device 1 stops the playback processing being executed and ends this processing (s6, s7). If there is an input other than the above, for example, an input related to pause or fast-forwarding, processing (other processing) corresponding to the input is executed (s8), and the process returns to s1.

  Therefore, according to the playback device 1 of this embodiment, when content of a series such as a series drama is recorded on the recording medium 5, it is only necessary to keep the same main title for a plurality of contents belonging to this series. By simply setting a thumbnail image for any one of the contents, the same thumbnail image can be set for the other contents. Thereby, for each series, it is possible to output a title menu image that allows easy confirmation of contents belonging to the series and contents not belonging to the series. In the title menu image, the user can check the content recorded on the recording medium by series.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described. The playback apparatus 1 of this embodiment also has the configuration shown in FIG. Also, the playback device 1 of this embodiment can change the setting of the thumbnail image of the content when the content is played back. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the playback process of the playback apparatus of this embodiment. In FIG. 3, the same step number (s *) is assigned to the same process as the process shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the playback device 1 of this embodiment is a process in which s5 of the playback device 1 of the above embodiment is replaced with s11 and s12. The playback device 1 detects the playback time of the thumbnail image set for the content being played back in s3 (s11). The reproduction time here is the time from the beginning of the content being reproduced until the thumbnail image set this time is reproduced. For each content with the same main title, the playback device 1 sets the playback time image detected in s11 in the content as a thumbnail image (s12). For example, when the title name of the content being played back is “XXX-AA”, the title names are “XXX-BB”, “XXX-CC”, “XXX” on the recording medium 5. -AA "content is recorded,
For the content whose title name is “XXX-BB”, the image of the reproduction time detected in s11 in this content is updated to a thumbnail image,
For the content whose title is “XXX-CC”, the image of the reproduction time detected in s11 in this content is updated to a thumbnail image,
For the content whose title name is “xxx-AA”, the thumbnail image is not updated.

  In the case of a continuous drama or the like, the timing at which an image indicating the title name and the number of episodes is displayed from the start of the content is the same. Also, this image is almost the same image. Therefore, when the content of a series such as a series drama is recorded on a recording medium, the main title is kept the same for a plurality of contents belonging to this series, and the title name or number of episodes of any one content By simply performing an operation of setting an image indicating whether or not there is a thumbnail image, almost the same thumbnail image can be set for other contents. Thereby, for each series, it is possible to output a title menu image that allows easy confirmation of contents belonging to the series and contents not belonging to the series. Therefore, the user can check the content recorded on the recording medium in the title menu image by series.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the principal part of the reproducing | regenerating apparatus which is embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the reproduction | regeneration operation | movement of the reproducing | regenerating apparatus which is embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the reproduction | regeneration operation | movement of the reproducing | regenerating apparatus which is another embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1-Reproducing device 2-Control unit 3-Input unit 4-Recording / reproducing unit 5-Recording medium 6-Output unit 7-Operation unit

Claims (2)

Thumbnail image acquisition means for acquiring a thumbnail image set for the content recorded on the recording medium;
In a playback device, comprising: a title menu image output means for outputting a title menu image for causing a display device to display a list of title names of contents recorded on a recording medium together with the thumbnail images acquired by the thumbnail image acquisition means ,
If there is a predetermined symbol in the middle of the title name of the content recorded on the recording medium, title name recognition means for recognizing the main title and the subtitle before the predetermined symbol,
Thumbnail image setting means for setting a playback image specified at the time of playback of the content recorded on the recording medium as a thumbnail image of the content,
The thumbnail image setting means is a means for setting a thumbnail image set this time as a thumbnail image for each of other contents having the same main title when a thumbnail image is set for any content. , Playback device. Thumbnail image acquisition means for acquiring a thumbnail image set for the content recorded on the recording medium;
In a playback device, comprising: a title menu image output means for outputting a title menu image for causing a display device to display a list of title names of contents recorded on a recording medium together with the thumbnail images acquired by the thumbnail image acquisition means ,
If there is a predetermined symbol in the middle of the title name of the content recorded on the recording medium, title name recognition means for recognizing the main title and the subtitle before the predetermined symbol,
Thumbnail image setting means for setting a playback image specified at the time of playback of the content recorded on the recording medium as a thumbnail image of the content,
When the thumbnail image setting means sets a thumbnail image for any content, the thumbnail image of the content for which the reproduction time is set for the current thumbnail image is set for each of the content and the other content having the same main title. A playback device, which is means for setting a playback image having the same playback time as a thumbnail image.

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