JP2008269713A - Content reproducing system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a content reproducing system improving speed and accuracy in search by using a jacket picture when searching for music. <P>SOLUTION: The content reproducing system displays a name list of artists on a list of jacket pictures of albums of the selected artist by using a recording medium for recording audio data of the music and jacket pictures of the albums storing the music when searching for the artists, and displays the name list of the albums on the jacket pictures of the selected albums when searching for the albums. Thereafter, only the list of jacket pictures of the albums or the jacket pictures of the albums can be displayed in response to the instruction by the user, and a list of the musical and the jacket pictures of the albums storing the music are displayed in a superimposed manner when searching the names of the music of the selected albums. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an audio player that searches and listens to songs by artist name or album name, and more particularly to a content playback apparatus that can be easily searched using a jacket photo.

  With the development of audio equipment in recent years, it has become possible to record a large amount of music on a hard disk, memory, etc. built in a small audio player, and carry it around to listen to a favorite music in a free place. In addition, for example, a vehicular audio player also has a built-in hard disk to record a large amount of music, or a CD that has been recorded by compressing audio data using MP3 or the like can be played back, and these data can be recorded on a memory card. It is also possible to insert songs and listen to songs with high-performance audio players.

  Furthermore, when a portable audio player that records a large amount of music as described above is brought into the vehicle and listened to the music, it is connected to the audio player provided in the vehicle so that the sound can be output, and is reproduced by the portable audio player. It is also possible to listen to the song from the speaker of the vehicle audio player. In addition, the vehicle audio player and the portable audio player are connected so that signals can be exchanged, and the portable audio player is operated by the vehicle audio player, and the audio data recorded in the portable audio player is transferred to the vehicle audio player. It can also be captured and played back and listened to through speakers in the car. Such a system is not limited to a vehicle audio player, but can be similarly applied to a home audio player.

  When listening to songs in the various audio players as described above, select a favorite artist from songs recorded in large quantities on the hard disk or memory, and then select a favorite album for a specific artist, and select any of them. To listen to the song. Therefore, these audio players have a song search function, and can perform, for example, artist search, album search, and song name search.

  At that time, for example, when performing an artist search, if the user operates the audio player to give an instruction to perform an artist search, the artist name recorded in the audio data is searched, and the recorded audio data A list of artist units arranged in ABC order or the like is created and displayed, and the user can select a desired artist from the list. The same applies when searching for an album for a specific artist.

  As described above, in recent audio players, a recording medium such as a hard disk capable of recording a large amount of data can be used. Therefore, in addition to the audio data, the music is recorded on such a recording medium. The album photo of the album that has been recorded is recorded, and the image display function of the audio player allows you to view the jacket photo of the album that contains the currently playing song while listening to the song. ing.

  Especially when you get audio data via the Internet, you can also get the jacket photo of the album that contains the song or the single jacket photo at the same time, so download such a song. Sometimes a jacket photo is also recorded in association with the song, so that the user can easily use it.

Patent Documents 1 and 2 disclose a technique in which audio data and image data such as a jacket photo are recorded in association with each other and the image data such as the jacket photo can be viewed during the reproduction of a song. Yes.
JP 2002-127273 A JP 2006-252734 A

  As described above, in recent audio players, it is possible to display a jacket photo, and since it is possible to easily obtain a jacket photo associated with a song, many audio players can listen to the song while listening to the song. Can be seen, and for the user, songs and images are stored in association with each other. Further, when the user purchases a CD or the like, the image of the jacket photo is strongly stored, and the song and the jacket photo of the album or the like in which the song is recorded are stored in association with each other. Note that there are various types of CDs and the like on which songs are recorded, such as singles and albums, and there are jacket photos of them, but these are abbreviated as “album jacket photos” for convenience of explanation.

  On the other hand, in the current audio player capable of displaying such a jacket photo, various methods can be used for searching for the music as described above. For example, a portable audio player, a vehicle audio player, In general home audio players, the display screen is small, and it is not possible to search the entire recorded song like a personal computer display screen, so it is usually possible to search only with a small display portion. .

  Therefore, in an audio player having a small display, for example, search is displayed as shown in FIG. That is, when searching for a specific song of a specific artist, for example, first, an artist search as shown in FIG. 6A is performed, and a specific artist portion is searched with another artist from the artist list as shown in the example of FIG. Select the desired artist by key operation or remote control operation and press the Enter key.

  As a result, a list of albums recorded for the determined artist as shown in FIG. 6B is displayed, and an album that seems to contain the desired music is selected and determined by the same method. As a result, a list of songs recorded in the album as shown in FIG. 6 (c) is displayed. When a desired song is selected and determined from the list, playback output of the song is started, and at the same time, as shown in FIG. 6 (d). A screen like this is displayed. In the example of FIG. 6D, the jacket photo of the album in which the song is recorded is displayed small, and other song information is displayed in various manners.

  In a conventional audio player, a search is performed as described above. Even when a jacket photo is recorded as content on the data recording medium of this audio player, the jacket photo is used for identifying a song. Although it is very important, the jacket photo is merely displayed when the song is played back, without being used when searching for the song.

  Therefore, in the present invention, in view of the fact that a normal user stores a jacket photo in which a song is recorded in association with the song, content playback is made possible so that the jacket photo can be used effectively when searching for a song. The main purpose is to provide a device.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the content playback apparatus according to the present invention has a recording medium that records audio data of a song and a jacket photo of an album that contains the song, and a song that is recorded on the recording medium. Search by album name, and create and output a list of search results, an album name list creation output unit, an album jacket photo output unit that outputs a jacket photo for the designated album, and at least the album name list creation output unit And a display processing unit for displaying the album jacket photo output by the album jacket photo output unit, wherein the display processing unit is one of the lists output by the list creation output unit When an album is designated, the album jacket photo of the designated album is changed to the album name list. Characterized in that it displayed over the door.

  Another content playback apparatus according to the present invention uses a recording medium that records audio data of a song and a jacket photo of an album in which the song is recorded, and a song that is recorded on the recording medium, by artist name. An artist name list creation output unit that searches and creates and outputs a list of search results, an album jacket photo list output unit that creates and outputs a list of album jacket photos of a plurality of albums for the designated artist, and at least the artist A display processing unit that displays the list created and output by the name list creation output unit and the album jacket photo list output by the album jacket photo list output unit, and the display processing unit includes the artist name list creation output unit Specify any artist in the list output by Rutoki, characterized in that it displayed over the jacket photograph list of albums of the artists shown finger on the artist name list.

  Another content reproduction apparatus according to the present invention is the content reproduction apparatus, wherein the display processing unit displays the album name list and the album jacket photo in an overlapping manner, or the artist name list and the album jacket photo list. Is displayed in an overlapping manner, at least only an album jacket photo or an album jacket photo list can be displayed according to a user instruction.

  Another content playback device according to the present invention is the content playback device, wherein when the display processing unit displays only the album jacket photo list, an arbitrary album jacket photo in the album jacket photo list is displayed according to a user instruction. By selecting, any album can be selected.

  Another content playback apparatus according to the present invention includes a song name list creation output unit that creates a list of songs recorded in the selected album in the content playback device, and a song name list output by the song name list creation output unit; A display processing unit for displaying the album jacket photo of the album in an overlapping manner is provided.

  Since the present invention is configured as described above, it is possible to quickly and accurately perform a search from an artist name or album name by effectively using a jacket photo when searching for a song.

  The present invention provides a recording medium that records the audio data of a song and the jacket photo of the album in which the song is recorded, in order to search for the song quickly and accurately by effectively using the jacket photo when searching for the song. Search for a song recorded on the recording medium by album name or artist name, create a list of search results and output it, and an artist name list creation output unit, and a jacket for the selected album An album jacket photo output unit or album jacket photo list output unit that outputs a photo or a jacket photo of the selected artist's album, and at least a list created or output by the album name list creation output unit or the artist name list creation output unit The output list and the album A display processing unit for displaying the album jacket photo or album jacket photo list output by the photo album output unit or the album jacket photo list output unit, wherein the display processing unit is included in the list output by the list creation output unit. When specifying any of the albums, when displaying the album jacket photo of the specified album overlaid on the album name list, or indicating any artist in the list output by the list creation output unit This is realized by displaying the album jacket photo list of the designated artist in an overlapping manner.

  FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a jacket photo use search processing unit 1 that performs a song search function using a jacket photo for an audio player equipped with the content reproduction apparatus of the present invention. Although the present invention will be described below with respect to an audio player, the function of displaying a jacket photo as one of the contents according to the present invention on the screen is used as a function of the audio player itself, for example, editing on a personal computer. Therefore, the present invention can be called a “content reproduction device” used for an audio player or the like. The jacket photo use search processing unit 1 shown in FIG. 1 is divided roughly into an artist search processing unit 2 that displays a list of artists and searches for a specific artist, and displays a list of albums for a specific artist and displays a specific album An album search processing unit 3 for selecting a song, and a song selection processing unit 4 for displaying a list of songs recorded in a specific album and selecting a specific song, and these processing units cooperate with each other. It is possible to operate. In addition, in the illustrated functional block diagram, in order to explain each search process in an easy-to-understand manner, an example in which each function unit is provided separately for each mode of the search process is shown. For example, the display processing units are combined into one, It can be configured in various ways.

  The artist name list creation output unit 5 in the artist search processing unit 2 creates and displays a list for each artist based on the song information data recorded on the data recording medium in response to an instruction input from the user for searching for each artist. To do. The artist selection unit 6 inputs an instruction of a user who selects a specific artist in the list, inputs a final determination instruction, and outputs these instructions to a function unit that requires the instruction of the user. Also, the album jacket photo list creation output unit 6 instructs the album search processing unit 3 to be described later for the artist instructed by the selection instruction output from the artist selection unit 6, and searches for the artist's album. Based on the result, the album photos in which album jacket photo data is recorded are collected, and a photo list is created and output.

  The display processing unit 8 inputs the artist name list output from the artist name list creation output unit 5 and the album jacket photo list as described above output from the album jacket photo list creation output unit 9, and according to the user's instruction, etc. Both lists are displayed in an overlapping manner, or only the album jacket photo list is displayed, or only the artist name list can be displayed as necessary. Display example 9 in the figure shows an example in which an artist name list and an album jacket photo list are displayed in an overlapping manner.

  In the album name list creation output unit 10 in the album search processing unit 3, for example, a specific artist is selected in the artist selection unit 6, and the determined signal is input, the album recorded for the artist is searched, and the album name is searched. Create a list of and output. Further, as described above, when an album search request for a specific artist is received from the album jacket photo list creation output unit 7, this is searched and output. Further, if necessary, an album name list for all the songs recorded on the data recording medium may be created and output in accordance with a user instruction. The album selection unit 11 inputs an instruction for selecting an album selected by the user in the album name list and inputs a final determination instruction, and outputs the signal to each function unit that requires the signal.

  The album jacket photo output unit 12 captures and outputs an album jacket photo for the specific album selected by the album selection unit 11. The display processing unit 13 inputs the album name list from the album name list creation output unit 10 and the album jacket photo from the album jacket photo output unit 12 as described above. The album jacket photo of the album is displayed in an overlapping manner, or only the album photo is displayed, or only the album name list can be displayed as necessary. In the display example 14 in the figure, an example is shown in which the album name list and the album jacket photo of the selected album are displayed in an overlapping manner.

  The song name list creation output unit 15 of the song name search processing unit 4 creates and outputs a list of song names recorded in the album for which the album selection unit 11 has finally decided and instructed. Further, if necessary, it is possible to display a list of all song names for a specific artist or to create and output a song name list of all songs recorded on a data recording medium according to a user instruction. Further, in the song selection unit 16, the selection instruction input and final determination instruction input of the song selected by the user in the song name list created by the song name list creation output unit 15 are performed, and each function requiring the signal is input. To the output.

  The album jacket photo output unit 17 outputs an album jacket photo for the currently selected album. This function is substantially the same function as that of the album jacket photo output unit 12 in the album search processing unit 3. Therefore, here, the album jacket photo is output by the processing of the album jacket photo output unit 12 of the album search processing unit 3. You may do it. The display processing unit 18 inputs the song name list from the song name list creation output unit 15 and the album jacket photo from the album jacket photo output unit 17 or 12 as described above, and the song name list and album jacket photo according to the user's instruction or the like. For the song selected by the user, the song name, song information and the jacket photo of the song are displayed in an appropriate arrangement, and only the album photo of the selected song or the song title is selected as necessary. Only the song information may be displayed.

  For example, the album search process is performed according to the operation flow shown in FIG. 2 and the artist search process is performed according to the operation flow shown in FIG. It is possible to perform search processing that effectively uses the jacket photo according to the present invention. In many cases, an album search for a specific artist is performed in the album search, but the album search for performing the most basic processing of the present invention will be described first, and then this album search will be performed later. The artist search will be described.

  In the example of the album search process shown in FIG. 2, the user first inputs an album search instruction (step S1), and then displays an album name list and a jacket photo of a specific album on the back (step S2). These processes are performed by the respective functional units of the album search processing unit 3 in FIG. 1, and finally the display processing unit 13 performs an album name list, an album jacket photo, and the like as shown in FIG. Are displayed in layers.

  The album jacket photo to be displayed here is the first when the album name list is displayed for the first time, the first album on the display list set in advance is selected, or this list is displayed before and the user actually A specific album such as the selected album is selected, and an album jacket photo is displayed for the album. By performing such a display during album search, it is easy to determine whether or not the album contains the desired song by looking at the album jacket photos that many users strongly remember. Will be able to.

  Next, the user performs an operation of instructing to select an arbitrary album (step S3), and thereafter, the jacket photo of the selected instructed album is displayed on the back of the album name list. In this case, the previous display is for an album set in advance, but here the user performs this while viewing the list display screen by key operation or the like.

  Thereafter, in the example of FIG. 2, it is determined whether or not to display the center of the jacket photo (step S5). When it is selected to display the center of the jacket photo, in step S13, for example, FIG. The output is centered on the album jacket photo as shown in. In this display, the name of the displayed album may be displayed as shown, or only the album photo may be displayed. At the time of determination in this step, it can be set to display the album jacket photo center when the user operates the “display” key, for example.

  After that, it is determined whether or not the user has instructed to return to the original display (step S14), and the album jacket photo centered display is used to confirm the clear display of the album jacket photo. For example, an instruction to return to the original screen can be given by operating the “return” key or the like. At that time, the process returns to step S2 and a specific name is displayed on the back of the album name list as shown in FIG. Display album cover photo. The specific album at this time can be an album when the jacket photo is displayed at the center.

  If there is no instruction to return to the original display in step S14, it is determined whether or not the selection of the album displaying the jacket photo has been made (step S15), and if the selection decision is not made, the process returns to step S14. Then, it is determined again whether or not the user has given an instruction to return to the original display. Thereafter, these operations are repeated, and an operation to return to the original display is performed or an operation for selecting and determining the album is performed in step S15. Wait for. When it is determined in step S15 that selection of the album displaying the album jacket photo has been made, the operation of step S7 as described later is performed.

  If it is determined in step S5 that the jacket photo center is not displayed, it is determined whether or not the selected album has been selected (step S6). That is, the album name selected by the user is confirmed by a frame display or a color display for the album name as shown in FIG. 4A, and the jacket photo of the selected album is seen as the background. By confirming this, when it is decided to select this album, it is possible to determine that the selection of the album instructed for selection in this step has been made by operating the “decision” key or the like.

  If it is determined in step S6 that the selected album has not been selected, the process returns to step S3 to perform an instruction to select an arbitrary album, and thereafter the above operation is repeated. If it is determined in step S6 that the selection of the selected album has been made, the process proceeds to step S7 when the album is selected in the operation of step S15. In the example of FIG. 2, the selection is determined in step S6. With respect to the selected album or the album selected and determined in step S15, it is determined whether or not the songs in the album are to be reproduced in the preset order.

  That is, it is not necessary for the user to select and listen to a specific song for the album. When the user wants to listen to the entire song of the album, the user is instructed to play the song without instructing the song. It is possible to select playback from the preset first tune or playback at random (step S12). If it is determined in step S7 that the songs in the selected album are not played in the preset order, a song name list of the selected album is created and displayed (step S8), and at the same time, the album names are displayed on the back of the song name list. Display the jacket photo. In that case, for example, a display as shown in FIG.

  With such a display, the user can easily know what album the user is currently selecting by looking at the jacket photo, and selects an arbitrary reproduction song in such a manner (step S10). Thereafter, including the time when playback selection is performed in the order set in advance in step S12, for example, as shown in FIG. 4 (d), the song information and the jacket photo for the selected song are displayed (step S11). The selected song is played back (step S16).

  On the other hand, when a user searches for a song and narrows down the artist name and tries to select a song to be played back, for example, a desired operation can be performed by performing processing according to the operation flow of FIG. it can. In the example of artist search processing shown in FIG. 3, an artist search instruction is first input by the user (step S21), and then an artist name list and a jacket photo list of a specific artist are displayed on the back of the artist name list (step S22). These processes are performed by the respective functional units of the artist search processing unit 2 of FIG. 1, and finally the display processing unit 8 performs an artist name list and album jacket photo list as shown in FIG. 5A, for example. Is displayed.

  The album jacket photo list to be displayed first here is, when displaying the artist name list for the first time, select the first artist on the preset display list, or display this list before and the user can A specific artist such as the artist actually selected and determined is selected, and a list of album jacket photos for the artist is displayed. By performing such display during artist search, it is possible to easily determine whether the artist is the desired artist by looking at the album jacket photo list that many users strongly remember. become.

  Next, the user performs an operation of instructing selection of an arbitrary artist (step S23), and then the jacket photo list of the artist instructed to select is displayed on the back of the artist name list (step S24). In this case, the previous display is for a preset artist, but here, the user performs this while viewing the list display screen by a key operation or the like.

  Thereafter, in the example of FIG. 3, it is determined whether or not the jacket photo center display is performed (step S25). When the display of the jacket photo center display is selected, in step S26, for example, FIG. The display output is centered on the album jacket photo list as shown in. In this display, only the album photo list may be displayed as shown, or the artist name of the displayed album photo list can be displayed. At the time of determination in this step, for example, when the user operates the “display” key or the like, it can be set to display the album jacket photo list center.

  After that, it is determined whether or not the user has instructed to return to the original display (step S27), and the album jacket photo list is displayed at the center to check the clear display of the album jacket photo. When, for example, an instruction to return to the original screen is made by operating the “return” key or the like, the process returns to step S22 and the artist name list and a specific artist on the back of the artist name list as shown in FIG. Display jacket photo. The specific artist at this time can be the artist when the album jacket photo is displayed at the center.

  If no instruction to return to the original display is made in step S27, in the example shown in the figure, it is determined whether or not to select an album based on the displayed album jacket photo list (step S28), and the selection operation is performed. If not, the process returns to step S27 to determine again whether or not the user has given an instruction to return to the original display. Thereafter, these operations are repeated, and an operation to return to the original display is performed. Wait for an instruction to select an album based on the photo list.

  If it is determined in step S28 that an album is selected from the album jacket photo list, an arbitrary album is selected from the jacket photo list of the displayed album. That is, in this example, when the album jacket photo list is displayed as shown in FIG. 5B, an operation for designating an arbitrary album jacket photo by a key operation or the like is possible, and the album jacket photo designated finally is displayed. The corresponding album can be selected and determined. Therefore, when such a function is not provided, an instruction to return to the original display is given in step S27. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S7 in FIG. 2, and it is determined whether or not the songs of the album instructed to be selected are reproduced in the preset order, and the operation is performed.

  If it is determined in step S25 that the center of the jacket photo is not displayed, it is determined whether or not the selection-designated artist has been selected (step S31). That is, the user confirms the selected artist name by displaying the frame for the artist name as shown in FIG. 5A or changing the color, and the album jacket photo list of the selected artist appears as the background. If it is decided to select this artist, it can be determined that the selection of the artist instructed for selection in this step has been made by operating the “decision” key or the like. it can.

  If it is determined in step S31 that the selection instruction for the selected artist has not been instructed, the process returns to step S23 to perform an operation for instructing selection of an arbitrary artist, and thereafter the above operation is repeated. If it is determined in step S31 that the selected artist has been selected, the album name list of the selected artist and the jacket photo of the specific album are displayed on the back of the album name list, and the subsequent step S3 in FIG. Then, an arbitrary album selection and an arbitrary music selection operation are performed as in the album search process, and the same operation as described above is performed.

It is a functional block diagram of the Example of this invention. It is an operation | movement flowchart which performs the album search process of the Example. It is an operation | movement flowchart which performs the artist search process of the Example. It is a figure which shows the example of a display at the time of the album search of the Example. It is a figure which shows the example of a display at the time of the artist search of the Example. It is a figure which shows the example of a display at the time of the conventional artist, album, and music search.

Explanation of symbols

1 Jacket photo use search processing section
2 Artist search processing section 3 Album search processing section 4 Song name search processing section 5 Artist name list creation output section 6 Artist selection section 7 Album jacket photo list creation output section 8 Display processing section 9 Display example 10 Album name list creation output section 11 Album Selection unit 12 Album jacket photo output unit 13 Display processing unit 14 Display example 15 Song name list creation output unit 16 Song selection unit 17 Album jacket photo output unit 18 Display processing unit 19 Display example

Claims (5)

A recording medium that records the audio data of the song and the jacket photo of the album in which the song is recorded;
Searching for songs recorded on the recording medium by album name, creating and outputting a list of search results, and an album name list creation output unit;
An album jacket photo output unit for outputting a jacket photo of the designated album;
A display processing unit that displays at least the list created and output by the album name list creation output unit and the album jacket photo output by the album jacket photo output unit;
The display processing unit, when indicating any album in the list output by the list creation output unit, displays an album jacket photo of the specified album superimposed on the album name list Playback device. A recording medium that records the audio data of the song and the jacket photo of the album in which the song is recorded;
An artist name list creation output unit that searches for a song recorded on the recording medium by an artist name, creates a list of search results, and outputs the list,
An album jacket photo list output section for creating and outputting a list of album jacket photos of a plurality of albums for the designated artist;
A display processing unit that displays at least the list created and output by the artist name list creation output unit and the album jacket photo list output by the album jacket photo list output unit;
When the display processing unit indicates one of the artists in the list output by the artist name list creation output unit, the display processing unit displays the jacket photo list of the album of the specified artist superimposed on the artist name list. A content playback apparatus.   The display processing unit displays at least the album jacket according to a user instruction when the album name list and the album jacket photo are displayed in an overlapping manner, or when the artist name list and the album jacket photo list are displayed in an overlapping manner. 3. The content reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein only the photo or album jacket photo list can be displayed.   When the display processing unit displays only the album jacket photo list, an arbitrary album can be selected by selecting an arbitrary album jacket photo in the album jacket photo list according to a user instruction. The content reproduction apparatus according to claim 3. A song name list creation output section for creating a list of songs recorded in the selected album;
2. The content reproduction apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a display processing unit that displays the song name list output by the song name list creation output unit and the album jacket photo of the album in an overlapping manner.

Images