JP2008167117A - Video recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a video recorder that improves convenience of a video recording reservation by mail by transmitting video recording reservation information to a portable terminal and notifying a user of a state of a video recording reservation. <P>SOLUTION: When receiving request mail for requesting a reply of the video recording reservation information through an NIC 112, an MPU 105 returns the video recording reservation information stored in a video recording reservation information table 111A in a format as shown in Figure 6 to a portable terminal 3 through the NIC 112. When the portable terminal 3 receives the mail as the result of this, the user looks at the display screen 31 of the portable terminal 3. Thus, the video recorder 1 transmits the video recording reservation information and residual capacity to the portable terminal 3 to notify the user of a state of a video recording reservation. Consequently, the user can recognize the state of a video recording reservation of the video recorder 1 from the video recording reservation information even from a place the user has gone to. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording apparatus that records a television program distributed from a broadcasting station on a medium based on recording reservation information related to a recording reservation of a TV program, and relates to a recording apparatus that communicates with a mobile terminal via a network via e-mail. is there.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a recording apparatus that records a television program distributed from a broadcasting station on a medium based on recording reservation information related to a recording reservation of a television program. Here, the medium is, for example, a hard disk, a DVD-R, or a DVD-RW optical disk. The recording device is, for example, a hard disk recorder or a DVD recorder.

  In this recording apparatus, the recording start date / time and the recording end date / time (hereinafter, when not distinguished, they are collectively referred to as a recording reservation time), a desired television program distribution channel, and the like as the recording reservation information. Set by the user from the attached remote control device. Then, in the recording device, the reserved desired television program is recorded on the medium at the recording reservation date and time.

Here, there is a case where the recording apparatus cannot be operated directly or by a remote controller due to reasons such as going out. For that case, a recording apparatus capable of making a recording reservation using E-mail has been proposed (see Patent Document 1). This recording apparatus has a communication function for communicating with a mobile phone by e-mail via the Internet. In this recording apparatus, a user creates an e-mail describing recording reservation information using a mobile phone. Then, the user transmits the created mail from the mobile phone to the recording device. When the mail is received, the recording apparatus determines whether or not the recording reservation is possible, and returns a mail in which the result is described by ○ or × to the mobile phone. For example, when the content of the received mail overlaps with the content that has already been reserved for recording, X is returned. Thereby, the user knows the result of the recording reservation.
JP 2005-318350 A

  However, in Patent Document 1, simply receiving the reservation result cannot allow the user to know the reason for the result, for example, the content of the mail overlaps with the content already reserved for recording. Therefore, in patent document 1, there existed a problem that it was difficult for a user to take the response | compatibility with the result. Therefore, the convenience of the recording reservation by e-mail was bad. As a result, the usage rate of the recording reservation by e-mail was bad.

  The present invention is intended to solve such a conventional problem, and a recording apparatus which improves the usability of recording reservation by e-mail by transmitting recording reservation information to a portable terminal to notify the user of the state of recording reservation. The purpose is to provide.

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

(1) storage means for storing recording reservation information related to recording reservation of a television program in advance;
Recording means for recording a television program distributed from a broadcasting station on a medium based on the recording reservation information stored in the storage means;
In a recording apparatus comprising: a communication unit that communicates with a mobile terminal via mail via a network;
When the communication means receives a request mail requesting a reply of the recording reservation information from the portable terminal, the communication means returns the recording reservation information stored in the storage means to the portable terminal.

In this configuration, the medium is, for example, an optical disk such as a hard disk, DVD-R, or DVD-RW. The recording device is, for example, a hard disk recorder or a DVD recorder. The mobile terminal is, for example, a mobile phone. Also, the recording reservation information is, for example, the total number of recording reservations, the recording start date / time of the TV program reserved for recording, or the distribution channel of the TV program reserved for recording.
In this configuration, it is assumed that the user wants to know the recording reservation status of the recording device when he / she is away from home and sends a request mail requesting a return of recording reservation information from the portable terminal to the recording device. The user creates this request mail on the portable terminal when sending the mail.
When the request mail is received from the portable terminal, the communication means returns the recording reservation information stored in the storage means to the portable terminal. When the mobile terminal receives the mail, the user looks at the display screen of the mobile terminal.
In this way, the recording device transmits the recording reservation information to the mobile terminal to notify the user of the status of the recording reservation. Thereby, the user can know the recording reservation status of the recording apparatus from the recording reservation information even when the user is away from home.
As described above, usability (usability) of recording reservation by e-mail can be improved.

(2) The storage means stores in advance authentication information for identifying an appropriate user,
The communication means includes
When the request mail is received from the mobile terminal, authentication for the user who transmitted the request mail is performed based on the authentication information,
Only when it is confirmed that the user is an appropriate user, the recording reservation information stored in the storage means is returned to the portable terminal.

In this configuration, the authentication information is, for example, appropriate user biometric information (such as a fingerprint) and a password.
In this configuration, when the user who transmitted the request mail is not an appropriate user, the communication unit prohibits the reply of the recording reservation information.
Thereby, it is possible to prevent the recording reservation information from being illegally removed by a malicious third party. Accordingly, it is possible to further improve the usability of the recording reservation by e-mail.

(3) The communication means includes:
Having a monitoring function of monitoring the remaining capacity of the media;
The remaining capacity of the medium is returned together with the recording reservation information.

In this configuration, the recording device transmits the recording reservation information to the mobile terminal to notify the user of the recording reservation status and the remaining capacity of the media. As a result, the user immediately knows that the recording should be stopped when the remaining capacity of the medium is small.
Accordingly, it is possible to further improve the usability of the recording reservation by e-mail.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to improve the usability of recording reservation by e-mail.

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

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The recording device 1 records the input data on a predetermined medium, reproduces the data already recorded in response to the reproduction instruction, and records the data in the recording / reproduction unit 104 based on the recording reservation information. And a microcomputer (MPU, ie, main control device) 105 that controls the reproduction from the recording / reproducing unit 104 and the operation of each unit described below.

The recording / reproducing unit 104 includes, for example, an optical disc drive 104A that records and reproduces TV programs and the like on an optical disc 100 manufactured in conformity with the DVD (Digital Versatile Disk) standard, and a built-in HD (hard disc). An HDD (hard optical disk drive) 104B for recording and a data processor 104C are provided.
The optical disc 100 is a recordable optical disc such as a recordable DVD-R or a rewritable DVD-RAM.

The data processor 104 </ b> C supplies the recording data output from the encoder unit 103 to the optical disc drive 104 </ b> A according to the control of the MPU 105, fetches the reproduction signal of the optical disc 100 from the optical disc drive 104 </ b> A, and supplies it to the decoder unit 106.
In addition, the data processor 104C supplies the recording data output from the encoder unit 103 to the HDD 104B and supplies a reproduction signal from the HDD 104B to the decoder unit under the control of the MPU 105.

  Furthermore, the data processor 104C rewrites the management data recorded on the optical disc 100 or the HDD 104B and deletes the recorded data according to the control of the MPU 105.

The AV input terminal 101 inputs a video signal, an audio signal or the like to be recorded from the outside of the apparatus body 1 and outputs it to the connected encoder unit 103.
The tuner 102 is connected to an antenna (not shown) that receives a television broadcast signal distributed from an information distributor such as a broadcaster. Then, tuner 102 extracts the TV broadcast signal of the selected channel from the TV broadcast signal received by the antenna, and outputs it to encoder section 103. The television broadcast signal is a signal compressed by MPEG2, for example.

  The encoder unit 103 encodes and compresses the video signal and audio signal input from the AV input terminal 101 and the tuner 102, and outputs the compressed data to the data processor 104C as recording data.

  The decoder unit 106 decodes and expands the reproduction signal output from the recording / reproducing unit 104. Connected to the decoder unit 106 is an AV output terminal 107 for supplying a reproduction signal decoded by the decoder unit 106 to a reproduction device such as a television.

A timer microcomputer 109 is connected to the MPU 105.
The timer microcomputer 109 has a timer circuit (clock unit) 109A used for time management of the recording apparatus 1. The timer microcomputer 109 is connected to an operation unit 110 that receives an operation (instruction) from a user.

  Further, the MPU 105 stores the recording reservation information or the display unit 108 that displays the operation state of the apparatus 1, the NIC (network interface card) 112 connected to the network 5 via the cable 113, and a control program. The memory 111 is connected.

The memory 111 is, for example, an EEPROM. The memory 111 stores a recording reservation information table 111A.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the contents stored in the recording reservation information table 111A of the recording apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. The recording reservation information table 111A is a table that stores recording reservation information related to recording reservations for television programs in advance. In the recording reservation information table 111A, as recording reservation information, information such as recording start / end times regarding recorded TV programs acquired from management information, the total number of recording reservations, and recording start date / time / end date / time (hereinafter, Both are collectively referred to as a recording reservation time), and a distribution channel (recording reservation channel) of a desired television program is stored.

  In the memory 111, browser software and mail software widely used in the network are installed in advance. The network 5 is specifically the Internet connected by a telephone line or a CATV line.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the MPU 105 records, reproduces, and deletes data with respect to the optical disc 100 in accordance with a control program stored in the memory 111, a recording operation corresponding to the recording reservation information input via the operation unit 110, and a display unit The display operation using the control unit 108 is controlled.

The MPU 105 acquires management information of the optical disc 100 or hard disk from the optical disc drive 104A or HDD 104B. Then, the MPU 105 monitors the remaining capacity of the HDD 104B and the optical disc 100 set in the optical disc drive 104A from the acquired management information.
Then, the MPU 105 records the remaining capacity of the media in the recording reservation information table 111A together with the recording reservation information (see FIG. 2). Further, the MPU 105 calculates the total number of recording reservations from the recording reservation information. Then, the MPU 105 records the total number of recording reservations as recording reservation information in the recording reservation information table 111A (see FIG. 2).

  The timer microcomputer 109 manages the recording reservation information set by the user while monitoring the timer circuit (clock unit) 109A and the recording reservation information table 111A, and instructs the MPU 105 to start recording when the recording start time is reached. When the recording end time is reached, a recording end instruction is output to the MPU 105. That is, the timer microcomputer 109 outputs an instruction to the MPU 105 based on the recording reservation information in the recording reservation information table 111A. Upon receiving this instruction, the MPU 105 tunes the tuner 102 based on the recording reservation information and records the television program on the medium.

  The operation unit 110 has a plurality of operation keys that accept operations from the user. By these key operations, the user performs recording, playback, input of recording reservation information, change of recording reservation information, and the like. The operation unit 110 includes a data receiving unit 110A that accepts a control signal transmitted from a remote controller (remote control terminal) (not shown). This control signal is transmitted to the MPU 105 via the operation unit 110.

  In the standby state, power is supplied only to the timer microcomputer 109, the MPU 105, the memory 111, and the NIC 112.

  Here, the MPU 105 and the NIC 112 correspond to “communication means” of the present invention. The HDD 104B, the optical disc 100, and the temporary recording unit correspond to the “media” of the present invention. The optical disk drive 104A and the HDD 104B correspond to the “recording unit” of the present invention. The memory 111 corresponds to the “storage unit” of the present invention.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a system in which a user-owned portable terminal and a recording apparatus communicate by mail or the like via a network in the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, the recording device 1 and the portable terminal 3 are connected to a mail server 2 installed on a network 5. The mail is e-mail, for example.

  The mobile terminal 3 is an existing communication device such as a mobile phone, a PC (Personal Computer), a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), or a PHS (Personal Handy-phone System). The portable terminal 3 includes a display screen 31 that displays screens as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 described later, and an operation unit 32 that receives user operations.

  The recording device 1 and the portable terminal 3 transmit and receive mail to and from each other through a communication system as shown in FIG. For example, the mobile terminal 3 creates a mail describing the recording reservation information. A mail from the user is transmitted to the mail server 2 by the portable terminal 3. This mail is stored in a mail box provided in the mail server 2. The recording apparatus 1 receives mail from the mail server 2 and determines a specific code string in the mail text as recording reservation information. The recording device 1 determines whether or not recording reservation is possible, and returns an email in which the result is described by ○ or × to the portable terminal 3. For example, when the content of the received mail overlaps with the content that has already been reserved for recording, X is returned. Thereby, the user knows the result of the recording reservation. If the recording reservation is possible, the recording apparatus 1 stores the recording reservation information in the recording reservation information table 111A (see FIG. 2).

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation performed by the MPU of the recording apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a format of an email transmitted from the user-owned portable terminal to the recording apparatus 1. The operation of FIG. 4 is an operation when the recording apparatus 1 receives an email. In FIG. 4, it is assumed that the user wants to know the recording reservation status of the recording device 1 on the go, and sends a request mail requesting a return of recording reservation information from the portable terminal 3 to the recording device 1. Yes. The user creates this request mail on the display screen 31 of the portable terminal 3 at the time of mail transmission. As shown in FIG. 5, the request mail is divided into an area 31A in which a destination, a sender, and a subject are described, and an area 31B corresponding to the text of the mail. Here, a password for authentication performed in S2, which will be described later, is described in the subject of the area 31A. This password is also entered by the user when sending mail.

  When the mail is received via the NIC 112, the MPU 105 determines whether or not the mail is a request mail for requesting a return of the recording reservation information (S1). The reason for providing this determination is to prevent the recording reservation information from being returned to the sender of the spam mail.

  If it is not a request mail, the MPU 105 performs other corresponding processing.

  On the other hand, if it is a request mail, the MPU 105 authenticates the user who transmitted the request mail based on authentication information for identifying an appropriate user (S2). In order to perform this authentication, the authentication information is stored in the memory 111 in advance. The authentication information is, for example, appropriate user biometric information (such as a fingerprint) and a password.

  The MPU 105 determines whether the user who transmitted the request mail is an appropriate user (S3). This determination is performed, for example, by collating the password stored in advance in the memory 111 with the password described in the subject of the area 31A of the display screen 31.

  When the MPU 105 confirms that the user who transmitted the request mail is an appropriate user, the MPU 105 returns the recording reservation information and the remaining capacity stored in the recording reservation information table 111A to the portable terminal 3 via the NIC 112 (S4). This process is terminated. The recording apparatus 1 returns the recording reservation information and the remaining capacity to the portable terminal 3 in a format as shown in FIG. When the mobile terminal 3 receives the mail, the user looks at the display screen 31 of the mobile terminal 3.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a format of an email transmitted from the recording apparatus 1 to a user-owned mobile terminal. In this way, the recording apparatus 1 transmits the recording reservation information and the remaining capacity to the mobile terminal 3 to notify the user of the recording reservation status.

Thereby, the user can know the recording reservation status of the recording apparatus 1 from the recording reservation information even when the user is away from home. In addition, when the remaining capacity of the DVD 100 is small and the remaining capacity of the HDD 104B is sufficient (see FIG. 6) and the recording destination is designated as the DVD 100, the user receives the recording reservation information. Thus, it can be readily understood that the recording destination should be changed to the HDD 104B.
From the above, it is possible to improve the usability of recording reservation by e-mail.
In this embodiment, the recording reservation information and the remaining capacity are transmitted in S4. However, in the implementation, only the recording reservation information may be used.

  On the other hand, when the MPU 105 confirms that the user who transmitted the request mail is not an appropriate user, the MPU 105 returns a mail indicating that the authentication result is NG to the portable terminal 3 (S5), and ends this process. That is, in S5, reply of recording reservation information is prohibited.

Thereby, it is possible to prevent the recording reservation information from being illegally removed by a malicious third party. Accordingly, it is possible to further improve the usability of the recording reservation by e-mail.
In this embodiment, authentication is performed in S2 and S3, but authentication may be omitted in the implementation.

  Moreover, the following modifications can be employed in the embodiment of the present invention.

  The display screen 31 of the portable terminal 3 is smaller than a television screen (20 inches or the like). Therefore, the following three methods are introduced.

  First, as shown in FIG. 6 described above, a line feed is added for each reserved television program.

  Next, the font size of the recording reservation information returned in S4 is made larger than the font size shown in FIG. For example, if the font size in FIG. 6 is “12”, it is set to “16”.

  Finally, in S4, only the recording reservation information on the reception date when the request mail is received is returned. For example, if the reception date is April 7, only the “observation of birds” (see FIG. 2), which is the recording reservation information for April 7, is returned. The MPU 105 knows the reception date by checking the timer microcomputer 109.

  As described above, the recording reservation information can be easily viewed on the display screen 31 of the mobile terminal 3. Accordingly, it is possible to further improve the usability of the recording reservation by e-mail.

The block diagram which shows the structure of the video recording apparatus which is embodiment of this invention Storage contents of recording reservation information table 111A of the recording apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention 1 is a diagram showing a system in which a user-owned mobile terminal and a recording apparatus communicate by mail or the like via a network in an embodiment of the present invention. The flowchart which shows the operation | movement which MPU of the video recording apparatus which is embodiment of this invention performs. The figure which shows an example of the format of the mail which a user-owned portable terminal transmits to the recording device 1 The figure which shows an example of the format of the mail which the recording device 1 transmits to a user-owned portable terminal

Explanation of symbols

1-Recording device 2-Mail server 3-Mobile terminal 5-Network 31-Display screen 31A-Region 31B-Region 32-Operation unit 100-Optical disc 101-AV input terminal 102-Tuner 103-Encoder unit 104-Recording / playback unit 104A Optical disk drive 104B-HDD
104C-data processor 105-MPU
106-decoder unit 107-AV output terminal 108-display unit 109-timer microcomputer 110A-data receiving unit 110-operation unit 111-memory 111A-recording reservation information table 112-NIC
113-Cable

Claims (4)

Storage means for storing in advance recording reservation information relating to recording reservation of a TV program and authentication information for identifying an appropriate user;
Recording means for recording a television program distributed from a broadcasting station on a medium based on the recording reservation information stored in the storage means, and having a monitoring function for monitoring the remaining capacity of the medium; ,
In a recording apparatus comprising: a communication unit that communicates with a mobile terminal via mail via a network;
The communication means includes
When a request mail requesting a reply of the recording reservation information is received from the portable terminal, authentication for the user who transmitted the request mail is performed based on the authentication information,
Only when it is confirmed that the user is an appropriate user, the recording apparatus that returns the recording reservation information stored in the storage unit and the remaining capacity of the medium to the portable terminal. Storage means for pre-recording recording reservation information relating to recording reservation of a TV program;
Recording means for recording a television program distributed from a broadcasting station on a medium based on the recording reservation information stored in the storage means;
In a recording apparatus comprising: a communication unit that communicates with a mobile terminal via mail via a network;
When the communication unit receives a request mail requesting a reply of the recording reservation information from the portable terminal, the communication unit returns the recording reservation information stored in the storage unit to the portable terminal. The storage means stores in advance authentication information for identifying an appropriate user,
The communication means includes
When the request mail is received from the mobile terminal, authentication for the user who transmitted the request mail is performed based on the authentication information,
The recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the recording reservation information stored in the storage unit is returned to the portable terminal only when the user is confirmed to be an appropriate user. The communication means includes
Having a monitoring function of monitoring the remaining capacity of the media;
4. The recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the remaining capacity of the medium is returned together with the recording reservation information.

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