JP2009177854A - Information output device and method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a copyright holder from having a disadvantage when RGB signals to be output to a display of a PC (Personal Computer) or the like in particular, are copied into a recording device. <P>SOLUTION: Depending on copy control information, digital RGB output is encrypted or output is stopped. Analog RGB output is subjected to quality limitation of resolution, or the like. A copy control signal is added to analog component or composite output. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a video information output device and a transmission device that output video information, and particularly restricts the output from the device or the recording of the output information on a recording medium with the authority of a copyright holder or the like. It relates to the one that handles the video information.

  In the field of television broadcasting, recording and playback devices, and packaged media such as movie software, digital broadcasting has begun, and consumer-use receivers, display devices, and digital recording / playback devices corresponding to this have been released. Has been. Package software for this device will appear in the near future. The advantage of digital broadcasting and digital recording devices is that there is no or very little quality degradation in the information transmission process and recording / reproduction process. However, there are problems in that many good quality copies of information are made around the place where the copyright holder does not know, and when the copy is repeated, profits are not returned to the copyright holder.

  U.S. Pat. US Pat. No. 5,896,454 discloses a method of attaching 2-bit copy control information to information. This is because the copyright owner and the creator of the information can select one of three methods: copy prohibition (Copy Never), copy authorization (Copy Free), and one-generation copy authorization (Copy One Generation). It controls the operation of the recording apparatus. The recording device does not perform the recording operation if the copy is prohibited, and performs the recording operation if the copy is authorized. If copying is permitted for only one generation, the recording apparatus rewrites this control information to information that disallows copying any more (No More Copies), and then performs a recording operation.

  The matter disclosed in the above prior art defines the operation on the recording apparatus side when the given information is supplied to the recording apparatus. However, there are further considerations when receiving from a receiving device or playing back from a playback device and outputting from the device to the outside.

  It goes without saying that the output operation to the outside of the device is necessary for supplying information to the display, but the possibility of being used for purposes other than display must also be considered. As long as it is output through the apparatus, it must be considered that the copy control information described above is not accompanied. However, even if it is accompanied, the apparatus on the receiving side does not always operate according to the copy control information. . It may be output as a digital signal, or it may be after conversion to analog. For example, in a current PC (Personal Computer), when receiving with a tuner board and outputting to a display via a graphic board, it outputs with an analog RGB signal and is not accompanied by copy control information.

  If these outputs are used for purposes other than display, there is a possibility that a copy of the output may be made, which is disadvantageous to the copyright holder. This is not mentioned in the above-mentioned known literature.

  In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus that outputs information to the outside without causing a disadvantage to the copyright holder.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the video information output device according to the present invention, an output circuit capable of outputting a video signal in a plurality of formats and a limitation on the video information to be output according to the format type It is characterized by having a control circuit.

  When the format of the video information to be output is digital RGB and the video information to be output is not copyright-protected, the control circuit can respond to the content of the control information detected from the input or reproduced video signal. To stop outputting video information.

  When the format of the video information to be output is analog RGB, the control circuit limits the quality of the video information to be output according to the content of the detected control information.

  When the format of the video information to be output is an analog component or an analog composite, the control circuit provides protection for copy restriction that makes it impossible to copy the video information according to the content of the detected control information. The signal is added to the video information or output in parallel with the video signal.

  In the video signal transmission apparatus for transmitting digital video information to an external output device according to the present invention, when the external output device outputs the digital video information to another device, the output video information is limited. And adding means for adding the control information to the digital video information and transmission means for transmitting the digital video information to which the control information is added. The control information is the video information output from the external output device. The control information indicates that different restrictions are given depending on the format type.

  As described above, the present invention has an effect that information output from the apparatus to the outside is used unintentionally, and the problem that disadvantages the copyright holder can be solved. When applied to a PC board, there is an effect that the output method cannot be protected by the replacement. It is also possible to independently limit the RGB signals.

  In addition, when switching the presence / absence of restriction, screen conversion can be suppressed by performing resolution conversion in which the number of horizontal and vertical pixels is halved while the horizontal synchronization period and the vertical synchronization period are substantially equal.

1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an entire system to which the present invention is applied. The block diagram which shows the structural example of information provision stations 1, such as a broadcasting station in FIG. The block diagram which shows the structural example of the receiver 3 in FIG. The block diagram which shows an example of a structure of the decoding output circuit to which this invention is applied. The table | surface for demonstrating the output information in this invention. The block diagram which shows an example of the structure of the decoding output circuit and display part to which this invention is applied. The block diagram which shows an example of a structure of PC to which this invention is applied. The block diagram which shows an example of a structure of the graphic board to which this invention is applied. The figure which shows an example of a structure of the control information signal in this invention. The schematic diagram which shows the method of this invention which converts the scanning line number 1080i into 540P.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings as necessary.
The present invention particularly relates to an information output device and a transmission device, and an object thereof is to eliminate certain disadvantages for the copyright holder by providing certain restrictions. Although the embodiment is particularly shown in FIGS. 4 to 8, the whole system to which the present invention is applied will be described before the description.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of an embodiment of the entire system used in the present invention, and shows an example in which information is transmitted / received by broadcast and recorded / reproduced. This includes devices to which the present invention is applied. Reference numeral 1 is an information providing station such as a broadcasting station, 2 is a relay station, 3 is a receiving device, 4 is a first recording / reproducing device, 5 is a display, and 6 is a second recording / reproducing device. Here, when recording a broadcast or the like, it can be recorded on at least one of the first recording / reproducing apparatus 4 and the second recording / reproducing apparatus 6 in accordance with the copy control information attached thereto. The first recording / reproducing apparatus 4 is described here as being based on a digital recording system built in the receiving apparatus 3. As the recording medium, for example, a hard disk that cannot be removed can be used. A video disc, video tape, or the like that can be removed may be used, but a recording / reproducing device built in the receiving device is often used when information is stored for a relatively short period of time, and therefore may not be removable. Here, the second recording / reproducing apparatus 6 will be described as being externally attached to the receiving apparatus 3. In addition to the hard disk, removable media such as a magnetic tape and an optical disk may be used as the recording medium. It should be noted that the present invention can be applied even if either or both of the first recording / reproducing apparatus 4 and the second recording / reproducing apparatus 6 do not exist.

  An information providing station 1 such as a broadcasting station transmits a signal radio wave modulated by information via a relay station 2 such as a broadcasting satellite. In addition, transmission by cable, transmission by telephone line, transmission by terrestrial broadcasting, or the like may be used. As will be described later, this signal radio wave received by the receiving device 3 on the receiving side is demodulated into an information signal, and then to the first recording / reproducing device 4 and the second recording / reproducing device 6 as necessary. It is recorded as a signal suitable for recording. Also, it is sent to the display 5. Here, the user can directly view the information content. The information reproduced by the first recording / reproducing apparatus 4 and the second recording / reproducing apparatus 6 is given to the display 5 via the receiving apparatus 3 and the information such as the original video / audio is viewed.

  There are various types of information to be transmitted. For example, even in the case of television broadcasting, when there are a large number of scanning lines, HD (High Definition) broadcasting exceeding 1000 lines and SD (Standard Definition) broadcasting of about 500 lines. and so on. Therefore, on the receiving side, a plurality of broadcasting systems are supported if necessary. Further, control information indicating which broadcasting system is used may be transmitted by adding to the information in the same manner as the previous copy control information.

  The receiving apparatus 3 is not intended only for an apparatus called STB (Set Top Box) specialized for broadcast reception. A PC having a tuner board or a graphic board may be used. In this case, the first recording / reproducing apparatus 4 corresponds to the hard disk drive and its peripheral circuits. As will be described later, the receiving device 3 itself may include a display unit corresponding to the display 5.

  When information is provided as a removable recording medium in which information is recorded in advance, for example, package software, the reproduction operation and the like in the second recording / reproducing apparatus 6 to which the information is attached is performed. In this case, the information providing station 1 and the relay station 2 are excluded, but the present invention can also be applied.

  Information exchange between devices is often performed in a digital signal format. For example, the receiving device 3 and the display 5 may be connected in an analog signal format. It may be connected with component signals or composite signals of luminance and two color differences, or may be connected with RGB signals like a PC.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the information providing station 1 such as a broadcasting station in the above system. Reference numeral 11 denotes a source generation unit, 12 denotes an encoding circuit that performs compression by the MPEG method, 13 denotes a scramble circuit, 14 denotes a modulation circuit, 15 denotes a transmission antenna, 16 denotes a management information addition circuit, and 17 denotes an input terminal.

  Information such as video and audio generated by the source generation unit 11 including a camera and a recording / reproducing device is compressed by the encoding circuit 12 so that it can be transmitted in a smaller occupied band. If necessary, the scramble circuit 13 performs transmission encryption so that only a specific viewer can view. After being modulated by the modulation circuit 14 so as to be a signal suitable for transmission, the signal is emitted from the transmission antenna 15 as a radio wave toward the relay station 2 such as a broadcasting satellite. At this time, the management information adding circuit 16 adds the above-described copy control information, information indicating the broadcasting system, and the like. Further, although omitted from FIG. 1 above, for example, request information is input from the input terminal 17 via a telephone line or the like. This is utilized in a system for determining information to be transmitted in response to a viewer's request such as video on demand.

  In practice, a plurality of information is often multiplexed in one radio wave by a method such as time division or spread spectrum. Although not shown in FIG. 2 for simplicity, in this case, there are a plurality of systems of the source generation unit 11 and the encoding circuit 12, and a multiplex for multiplexing a plurality of information between the encoding circuit 12 and the scramble circuit 13. A circuit is placed.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the receiving device 3 in the system of FIG. Reference numeral 301 denotes an RF / IF conversion circuit, 302 a demodulation circuit, 303 an error correction circuit, 304 a descrambling circuit for canceling the transmission encryption applied to the signal, 305 a first demultiplexing circuit, and 306 an input / output terminal 307 is a second demultiplexing circuit, 308 is a decoding output circuit, 309A, 309D and 310 are output terminals, 311 is a control circuit for controlling the entire receiving apparatus 3, 312 is an information management circuit, 313 is a command input circuit Reference numeral 314 denotes an input terminal. Reference numeral 4 denotes a first recording / reproducing apparatus, which is incorporated in the receiving apparatus 3 as described in FIG. In the figure, the solid line indicates the flow of main information such as video and audio, and the dotted line indicates the flow of control signal information between the components.

  First, the flow of information such as video and audio indicated by solid lines will be described with respect to the components 301 to 310. For example, radio waves from a relay station such as a broadcasting satellite are input to the RF / IF conversion circuit 301. Here, the radio wave in the RF band is frequency-converted to an IF band (Intermediate Frequency) and becomes a signal in a certain band that does not depend on the reception channel, and the modulation operation performed for transmission by the demodulation circuit 302 is demodulated. Further, after an error in the code generated during transmission is detected and corrected by the error correction circuit 303, the descrambling circuit 304 releases the transmission cipher. Thereafter, the data is sent to the first and second demultiplexing circuits 305 and 307. As described above, particularly in the case of digital broadcasting, a plurality of pieces of information are often multiplexed on one channel by a method such as time division or spread spectrum. The demultiplexing circuit separates only desired information from this. The reason why the two demultiplex circuits are provided is not only to enable so-called back program recording but also to remove information not worth recording in the first demultiplex circuit 305. In other words, additional information such as weather forecasts, program broadcast schedules, etc. is often included in the information, which is good to see at the time of broadcasting, but it is not worth recording and seeing at a later date. It can also be removed.

  The output of the first demultiplexing circuit 305 is given to the first recording / reproducing apparatus 4. The signal is also given to the input / output terminal 306 and exchanges signals with the second recording / reproducing apparatus 6 connected thereto. The input / output terminal 306 is a bidirectional terminal, and exchanges information to be recorded / reproduced with the second recording / reproducing apparatus 6 as digital data, for example. In general, connection according to the IEEE 1394 standard is often used.

  In the first recording / reproducing apparatus 4 and the second recording / reproducing apparatus 6, when there is an operation instruction to record information, the copy control information attached to the given information is Copy Never or No More Copies. Indicates that no recording is performed. If it is Copy One Generation, record this after rewriting it as No More Copies. If it is Copy Free, record directly. In addition to this, it is possible to record and move information that is No More Copies on the condition that the information that is Copy Never is temporarily recorded and the original information source is made unreproducible with a restriction on the period of reproduction. May be permitted.

  The second demultiplexing circuit 307 includes information sent from the descrambling circuit 304, information reproduced by the first recording / reproducing device 4, or a second recording / reproducing device from the input / output terminal 306. The information reproduced in step 6 is connected, and information to be viewed is selected, and desired information is further separated. In the next decoding output circuit 308, the data compression of the moving image performed before the transmission is decoded, and further subjected to processing as will be described later with reference to FIG. 4, and then via the output terminals 309A, 309D, 310. Sent to external devices in multiple formats. As will be described later, there may be a case where one output terminal is sufficient, but here, the case of three output terminals is shown. The output terminal 309A is an analog RGB signal, 309D is a digital RGB signal, 310 is an analog component signal composed of luminance and two-color difference signals, or a composite signal output terminal. In the present invention, all three terminals are not essential, and only one or two of them may be used. Only one terminal may be selected, and any one of the above three may be selected and output. Here, it is assumed that there are three terminals, and the case where any one of them is output to an external device will be mainly described. However, the present invention is not limited to this.

  Next, control signals indicated by dotted lines will be described. The control circuit 311 exchanges control signals with the components 305, 307, and 308 from the above 301, and controls the entire receiving apparatus 3 to perform a desired operation. The information management circuit 312 supplies management data when the control circuit 311 performs control in response to a request. For example, reception contract information is managed here. When the user designates a channel to be viewed, this designation is input from the input terminal 314 and sent to the control circuit 311 via the command input circuit 313. The control circuit 311 requests the reception contract information from the information management circuit 312. When it is determined that there is a contract with the channel designated by the user, a control signal is sent to each of the above-described components, and a control operation such as instructing a reception operation of the corresponding channel is performed.

  When the first recording / reproducing device 4 is built in the receiving device 3, a recording / reproducing operation is performed in accordance with a user instruction input from the input terminal 314. For this reason, the output of the command input circuit 313 is supplied. This control signal may be supplied from the control circuit 311.

  Next, a method for outputting information, which is the center of the present invention, will be described with reference to FIG. These are circuit block diagrams showing an embodiment of the present invention, and show the internal configuration of the decode output circuit 308 of FIG. 30801 is an input terminal, 30802 is a decoding circuit, 30803 is a control detection circuit, 30804 is an up-conversion circuit, 30805 is a down-conversion circuit, 30806 is a switch, 30807 is a resolution limiting circuit, 30808 is an RGB conversion circuit, 30809 is an APS (Analogue Protection) System) additional circuit, 30810 is an information protection circuit. Reference numerals 309A, 309D, and 310 denote output terminals, which are also shown in FIG.

  The output from the second demultiplexing circuit 307 in FIG. 3 is given to the input terminal 30801 in FIG. In this case, the data compression of the moving image performed before transmission by the decoding circuit 30802 is decoded and expanded. The output is given to one terminal of the switch 30806 (hereinafter referred to as A terminal), the up-conversion circuit 30804, and the down-conversion circuit 30805. The output of the up-conversion circuit 30804 is given to the B terminal of the switch 30806, and the output of the down-conversion circuit 30805 is given to the C terminal of the switch 30806.

  On the other hand, the output of the previous decoding circuit 30802 is also given to the control detection circuit 30803, where each control information including the copy control information and the control information indicating the broadcasting system is detected, and the result is Connection of the switch 30806 is determined. Here, as shown in the drawing, the control detection circuit 30803 is shown to be uniquely provided in the decode output circuit 308. However, for example, the control circuit 311 in FIG. Also good. The connection of the switch 30806 will be described later.

  The output of the switch 30806 is converted into an RGB signal by the RGB conversion circuit 30808, given to the output terminal 309D via the information protection circuit 30810, and output to an external device as a digital RGB signal. The output of the RGB conversion circuit 30808 is further given to the resolution limiting circuit 30807, and if necessary, the horizontal resolution is limited according to the control signal, converted into an analog signal, and given to the output terminal 309A. Output as an RGB signal to an external device. Further, the output of the previous switch 30806 is added with a signal as described later by an APS adding circuit 30809 as necessary, converted into an analog signal and given to the output terminal 310, and is externally output as an analog component signal or composite signal. Output to the device.

  A method for switching the operations of the switch 30806, the resolution limiting circuit 30807, the APS addition circuit 30809, and the information protection circuit 30810 according to the control signal will be described below.

  In one embodiment of the present invention, when information is output from the apparatus to the outside in a plurality of formats, this is diverted for purposes other than display on the display and does not give a disadvantage to the copyright holder. The digital information to be output is protected by encrypting it according to the control information added according to the control information. In addition, if the operation according to the control information is not performed, a restriction is imposed so that this information is not output to the outside as necessary.

  In addition, the quality, the number of pixels, the resolution, and the like of the information by analog RGB to be output are changed to limit the quality. HD information has many scanning lines and horizontal pixels, and can reproduce high-quality images. At the same time, if it is used for a purpose other than the intended purpose, for example, a copy or the like can be used to ensure a certain quality, which causes a disadvantage for the copyright holder. On the other hand, if the quality is lower than the conventional SD method, such a problem is unlikely to occur. As one guideline, if it is 520,000 pixels or less per frame, there is no problem if the number of effective scanning lines is 480 and the number of horizontal pixels is about 720 to 960, for example. Therefore, it is preferable that the quality is limited to protect the information as necessary and output from the apparatus to the outside. Further, control information for instructing whether or not to limit the output RGB signals is given by the management information adding circuit 16 in FIG. 2 together with the copy control information and information indicating the broadcasting system, etc. It may be detected by the control detection circuit 30803, and it may be determined whether or not to limit the quality. Whether or not to limit the quality may be determined by a combination with other control information such as copy control information.

  Further, the present invention is characterized in that a signal is added to information output from analog components or composites to limit the recording operation in an external analog recording apparatus.

  First, a case where digital RGB information from the output terminal 309D is output to an external device will be described. With this output information, if the above-described copy control information is added and the output destination device is a device that operates in accordance with the copy control information, there is no need to limit the quality as described above. A method of knowing what device the output destination device is is not described in detail here, but means called device authentication is used. This is to know a partner device by exchanging a key signal between both devices. Although the signal flow is not shown, control information is output from the control circuit 311 to the control detection circuit 30803 in accordance with the authentication result, and the switch 30806 and the like are controlled. If authentication is established and the output destination is the above-described device, the switch 30806 sends the information of the A terminal to the RGB conversion circuit 30808, which is supplied to the output terminal 309D via the information protection circuit 30810. When the information is SD information, it may be required to convert the information so that it looks like HD information. In this case, the switch 30806 may send information on the B terminal to the RGB conversion circuit 30808 and output the information via the up-conversion circuit 30804.

  In the information protection circuit 30810, an operation for protecting output information is performed as necessary. For example, it is scrambled using a device-specific number that uses information, a user identification number, and the like. In this way, the risk of unintended use of the output information is further reduced. If the detected copy control information is Copy Free, the operation may be switched in accordance with a control signal from the control detection circuit 30803, such as not scrambled otherwise, and scrambled in order to enhance protection.

  Next, a description will be given of a case where the output destination device is a device that does not operate in response to the copy control information while the copy control information is added, or when the copy control information is not added. In this case, if the detected copy control information is Copy Free, the information is output, but if it is not, the output of the information protection circuit 30810 is stopped and no information is given to the output terminal 309D. Copy Free originally means that the producer does not strongly claim rights, so there is no problem even if it is output, but in other cases there is a problem with rights, so output in a form where copy control information does not work Do not do. As a result, output information from the apparatus is prevented from being used for purposes other than creation of a duplicate.

  Next, a case where analog RGB information from the output terminal 309A is output to an external device will be described. Here, information with certain quality restrictions is output as necessary. That is, if the copy control information is Copy Never, Copy One Generation, No More Copies, the switch 30806 sends the information of the C terminal to the RGB conversion circuit 30808, the number of scanning lines is reduced by the down-conversion circuit 30805, and the resolution limit Information in which the number of horizontal pixels is reduced by the circuit 30807 and becomes about 520,000 pixels or less per frame is supplied to the output terminal 309A. For example, this is not high-quality information such as HD information, and therefore there is an effect that even if the information output to the outside is used for a purpose, there is no disadvantage to the copyright holder. If the SD information is originally of this quality, this quality restriction may not be required. If the copy control information is Copy Free, the switch 30806 sends the information of the A terminal to the RGB conversion circuit 30808, and the resolution limiting circuit 30807 is directed to the output terminal 309A without limiting the resolution according to the instruction of the control detection circuit 30803. Output information.

  Further, a case where analog component or composite information from the output terminal 310 is output to an external device will be described. Here, a signal having a copy restriction function is added to the analog information signal as necessary. The switch 30806 sends information on the A terminal and the B terminal to the APS addition circuit 30809 as in the above example. Here, according to the instruction of the control detection circuit 30803, if the copy control information is Copy Never, Copy One Generation, No More Copies, a signal for this copy restriction is added, and if it is Copy Free, it is not added. In addition, information is output from the output terminal 310. The signal for copy restriction includes, for example, a signal called CGMS-A (Copy Generation Management System Analogue) or APS (Analogue Protection System). The former is a signal to which the same four types of designations as the copy control information described so far are added as they are, or sent in parallel. The latter is a pulse signal added in order to cause the recording circuit to malfunction, for example, during the blanking period of video, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-288582. By doing so, there is an effect of preventing the duplication of information with rights problems.

  In addition to the copy control information, when outputting from the apparatus to the outside, it is conceivable to send control information indicating whether or not to perform encryption or quality restriction for protecting the above information (EPN; Encryption) Called Plus Non-assertion). Even when this is instructed to perform encryption or quality restriction, the same treatment as described above, including the operations of the resolution restriction circuit 30807, the APS addition circuit 30809, and the information protection circuit 30810, may be performed.

  Further, it is conceivable to send control information for instructing whether or not to restrict the RGB signal to the information. Since RGB signals are frequently used on a PC as described above, there is a risk of image processing and the like. For this reason, there is a need for control information for managing RGB signals. When an instruction is given to limit the RGB signal, for example, the following control is performed. The digital RGB information is output, for example, after being encrypted if it is an environment where the copy control information functions, but is not output unless it is a functioning environment. Analog RGB information is output with quality restrictions. When there is no instruction to restrict, it is output without performing encryption and quality restriction. In addition, when the copy control information indicates Copy Free even when instructed to restrict, the operation may be determined in combination with other control information such as output without encryption and quality restriction. .

  In the above description, the case where information is output to the outside from any one of the three output terminals according to the device connected to the outside has been described as an example. This shows that the current PC graphic board has only one output. Of course, the present invention can also be applied to a case where a plurality of outputs are performed.

An example of output information obtained from the output terminals 309A, 309D, and 310 in FIG. 4 by the above operation is shown in FIG.
On the output terminal 309D side which is a digital RGB output, when copy control information functions, including control information for instructing EPN and control information for instructing restrictions on RGB signals, such as encryption, etc. Information is output in the restricted state. In the case of Copy Free, there is no need to limit. If the copy control information does not function, if it is Copy Free, the information may be output without this restriction, but otherwise it is not output.

  On the other hand, on the output terminal 309A side that is an analog RGB output, in the case of Copy Free, information is output without quality restriction, but in other cases, the number of scanning lines, horizontal resolution, etc. are restricted. Thus, information in which the number of pixels is limited to 520,000 pixels or less is output. On the output terminal 310 side, which is an analog component or composite output, information is output without restriction in the case of Copy Free. In other cases, a copy control signal such as CGMS-A or APS is output. Output with addition.

  Next, a case where the receiving device 3 in FIG. 2 has a display unit corresponding to the function of the display 5 will be described. An embodiment of the decode output circuit 308 in this case is shown in the circuit block diagram of FIG. Reference numeral 7 denotes a display unit built in the receiving device 3. That is, the output of the decoding circuit 30802 is given to the display unit 7. If necessary, this and the output of the up-conversion circuit 30804 may be switched and given. Since this connection is made inside the receiving apparatus 3, it is not necessary to apply the quality restriction as described above. On the other hand, the output from the output terminals 309A, 309B, 310 is called a monitor output, but it is supplied to the outside of the apparatus, and thus the above-described restriction is performed. In this case, the receiving device 3 can be called a receiving / display device with a recording or storage function, but of course, the first recording / reproducing device 4 does not exist and can be applied to a case where a recording function is not incorporated.

  Still another embodiment of the present invention will be described. In FIG. 1, it has been described that the receiving device 3 may be a PC having a tuner board and a graphic board. This case will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG.

  In FIG. 7, 8 is a PC, 801 is an input terminal, 802 is a tuner board, 803 is a graphic board, 804 is a CPU board, 80401 is a CPU (Microcomputer), 80402 is flash memory, 80403 is RAM (Random Access Memory), 80404 is An interface circuit, 805 is an input terminal, 806 hard disk drive, and 807 is an output terminal.

  The first recording / reproducing apparatus 4 in FIGS. 1 and 3 corresponds to the hard disk drive 806 in FIG. 7 and its peripheral circuits. Also, the components 301 to 307 in FIG. 3 are on the tuner board 802, and 308 to 310 are on the graphic board 803. Of these, each or any one of the output terminals 309A, 309D, 310 corresponds to the output terminal 807. The control circuit 311 corresponds to the CPU 80401, and the information management circuit 312 corresponds to the readable / writable flash memory 80402. In addition to this, RAM 80403 is also provided as an external memory of the CPU. The command input circuit 313 and the input terminal 314 correspond to an interface circuit 80404 such as a mouse and a keyboard and an input terminal 805 thereof. Therefore, the present invention can also be applied to graphic output of a PC. This example will be described with reference to the circuit block diagram of FIG.

  FIG. 8 corresponds to FIG. 4 described above, and an input / output terminal 30811 and an authentication circuit 30813 are added, and the function of the previous control detection circuit 30803 is assumed to be performed by the control circuit 311 of FIG. The difference is that the result is given from the input terminal 30812. Furthermore, the control from the input terminal 30812 is not necessarily limited to hardware such as a control signal, and software control may be used. Each component in FIG. 8 is on the graphic board 803 in FIG. 7 as described above. If the decoding circuit 30802 is placed on the tuner board 802 in the same manner as the components 301 to 307 in FIG. 3 by changing the cut end, the broken lines in the figure serve as cut ends of both boards.

  These operations will be described with reference to FIG. Prior to outputting information from the output terminals 309A, 309D, or 310, the control circuit 311 in FIG. 3 first sends an authentication key for authenticating the board to the authentication circuit 30813 via the input / output terminal 30811. The authentication circuit 30813 sends the authentication key back to the control circuit 311 if this authentication key matches a predetermined one. The key to send back does not have to be the same as the received key, but of course what is sent is predetermined. If the key received by the control circuit 311 is a predetermined key, this graphic board can be authenticated as a board performing an expected operation. If the key is different and nothing is sent back, authentication fails. Expected operations include the encryption of information to be output, the quality restriction, the addition of a copy restriction signal, and the like described above with reference to FIGS.

  If the authentication is successful, the control circuit 311 continues to request and notify the authentication circuit 30813 of the type of information to be output. The type of information indicates whether digital RGB output to which control information is added, digital RGB output to which control information is not added, analog RGB output, analog component, or composite output. If necessary, it is confirmed whether the information can be protected by the information protection circuit 30810, whether the resolution can be limited by the resolution limiting circuit 30807, or whether the signal can be added by the APS adding circuit 30809.

  In response to this, the control circuit 311 controls the operation as follows. When the control information such as copy control information is added to the digital RGB output, for example, the copy free information is output as it is, while the other information is encrypted to protect the information. When control information is not added, information other than Copy Free information is not output. Analog RGB output is output with copy free information as it is, and other information with quality limited to about 520,000 pixels or less by reducing the number of scanning lines and horizontal resolution. For analog component or composite output, Copy Free information is output as it is, and other information is output with a copy restriction signal such as CGMS-A or APS added.

If authentication is not established, information other than copy free information is not output, whether digital or analog.
In addition, when control information for instructing output restriction of EPN and RGB signals is added, information other than Copy Free may be used.

  By doing so, it is possible to prevent information output from the graphic board from being used unintended. Moreover, in the PC, the board is designed so that the user can arbitrarily replace it, but even if it is replaced, there is no risk that these output methods will not be protected.

  As another method, a case will be described in which the authentication circuit 30813 does not have an authentication function but has only a function of notifying the type of information to be output. At this time, the control circuit 311 controls the operation as follows.

First, when you know the type of information, if the digital RGB output is added with control information such as copy control information, the Copy Free information remains the same, and other information is used to protect the information. Encrypt and output. When control information is not added, information other than Copy Free information is not output. For analog RGB output, Copy Free information is output as it is, and other information is output with quality limited to about 520,000 pixels or less, for example. For analog component or composite output, Copy Free information is output as it is, and other information is output with a copy restriction signal such as CGMS-A or APS added.
If the type of information is not known, it is recognized as a non-standard board and no information other than Copy Free information is output, whether digital or analog.

  In addition, when control information for instructing output restriction of EPN and RGB signals is added, information other than Copy Free may be used. In this case, since an authentication key is not used, security is less than in the previous example, but in general, this is often sufficient.

  Note that the apparatus of the present invention does not have to have all the information output functions of digital RGB, analog RGB, analog component, or composite. For example, even when there is only an output function of analog RGB, it is applicable to the output and is within the scope of the present invention.

  In the above description, when output from the output terminal of the apparatus is not performed, character information indicating that no output is performed may be output instead of outputting nothing to the display unit. Of course, the character information may be output only for the originally specified time and then deleted. For this purpose, an OSD (On Screen Display) circuit is further provided, which is controlled by the control circuit 311 and outputs character information.

The control information sent together with the digital video information will be described. FIG. 9 shows an example of the configuration of the control information signal in the present invention.
The type 101 indicates attribute information such as whether the information is sold, rented, self-made, or broadcast.

  The copy control 102 indicates whether or not the information can be recorded on the medium. The copyright owner such as the creator of information selects and decides one of Copy Never (copy prohibited), Copy One Generation (copy authorization for only one generation), and Copy Free (copy authorization). In broadcasting, it is often given by the management information adding circuit 16 shown in FIG. When Copy One Generation is indicated at the time of recording, in principle, it is rewritten as No More Copies (copied once with Copy One Generation, copy prohibited beyond this) and recorded. If the information software is provided on a recording medium, the right holder records it at the time of creation. That is, since there are a total of four states such as Copy Never, Copy One Generation, No More Copies, and Copy Free, transmission can be performed with 2-bit information. Copy Never is (1, 1), Copy One Generation is (1, 0), No More Copies is (0, 1), Copy free is (0, 0), and so on.

  The APS 103 is copy control information for the analog recording apparatus. Using this, the recording operation in the analog recording apparatus can be controlled separately from the copy control information.

  RGB 104 indicates whether or not to limit the RGB output information. When this is performed, “1” is set, and when it is not performed, “0” is set.

  The time 105 is, for example, the current time at the time of broadcasting given by the management information adding circuit 16 of FIG. This is used when there is a limit to the time that can be viewed.

  The broadcast system 106 indicates a broadcast system used by the information, such as HD information (HD; High Definition) and SD information (SD; Standard Definition).

The EPN 107 instructs whether or not to protect the above information.
In addition to this, it is conceivable to add various control information, but many of those shown in FIG. 9 are the most important in the present invention.

  Next, a method for limiting the quality of output information by limiting the number of scanning lines, horizontal resolution, and the like will be described. When the control information is changed in the middle of broadcasting, the format of the analog RGB signal output to the display device or the like changes, and for example, the period of the synchronization signal suddenly changes. The display device automatically detects this and switches the scanning method. However, the display device normally switches after repeatedly confirming the detection over several fields so as not to be affected by interference noise or the like. For this reason, the screen may be disturbed when switching is performed, and there is a problem that it is troublesome when switching frequently.

  For this reason, the above-described quality limitation is performed by conversion that substantially halves the number of scanning lines and the number of horizontal pixels, and this problem can be solved if the period of the synchronization signal is not substantially changed even if the scanning method is changed. This will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing a method of converting an HD signal of the interlace scanning 1080 system (1080i) into an SD signal of the progressive scanning 540 system (540P). ) Indicates an even field scan line.

In order to convert the scanning lines A and B in the odd field by the 1080i system into the scanning lines M by the 540P system,
M = (3A + B) / 4
Are weighted and averaged. Similarly,
M ′ = (3B + C) / 4
N = (3C + D) / 4
And Similarly for even fields,
T ′ = (G + 3H) / 4
U = (H + 3I) / 4
And The horizontal resolution may be limited by averaging two adjacent pixels.

  The signal obtained in this way is an SD signal having 540 scanning lines, but the period of the horizontal and vertical synchronization signals has hardly changed from the stage of the HD signal before the restriction. Disturbances can be eliminated without problems.

  Further, there is a method in which the scanning method is kept at 1080i, an average is obtained by weighting as necessary every two pixels in the horizontal direction and in the vertical direction every four pixels, and the same content is given to these four pixels.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Information providing station 16 such as a broadcasting station ... Management information giving circuit 2 ... Relay station 3 ... Receiving device 308 ... Decoding output circuit 311... Control circuit 30803 .. Control detection circuit 30805 .. Down-conversion circuit 30806. Authentication circuit 4... First recording / reproducing apparatus 5... Display 6... Second recording / reproducing apparatus 7. ..PC
802 ... Tuner board 803 ... Graphic board 804 ... CPU board 80401 ... CPU
80402 ·· Flash memory 80403 · · RAM
80404 .. Interface circuit 806... Hard disk drive

Claims (10)

A video information output device for outputting input digital video information or digital video information reproduced from a storage medium,
An output circuit capable of outputting video signals in a plurality of formats;
A video information output device comprising a control circuit for limiting video information to be output according to a format type.   2. The video information output apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control circuit gives the restriction when the video information to be output is in a format of a type that is not copyright-protected.   3. The video information output apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the control circuit performs the restriction when the format of video information to be output is digital RGB.   3. The video information output apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the control circuit performs the restriction when the format of video information to be output is analog RGB.   The control circuit detects at least one type of control information from the input digital video information or digital video information reproduced from a storage medium, and gives the restriction according to the content of the control information. The video information output device according to claim 1.   When the format of the video information to be output is digital RGB and the video information to be output is not copyright-protected, the control circuit outputs the video information according to the content of the detected control information. The video information output device according to claim 5, wherein the video information output device is stopped.   6. The control circuit according to claim 5, wherein when the format of the video information to be output is analog RGB, the control circuit limits the quality of the video information to be output according to the content of the detected control information. Video information output device.   When the format of the video information to be output is an analog component composed of a luminance signal and two color difference signals, the control circuit is an analog composite in which the luminance signal is multiplexed with a subcarrier that is orthogonally modulated with the two color difference signals. In this case, according to the content of the detected control information, a copy restriction protection signal that makes it impossible to copy the video information is added to the video information, or is output in parallel with the video signal. The video information output device according to claim 5. A video signal transmission device for transmitting digital video information to an external output device,
When the external output device outputs the digital video information to another device, additional means for adding control information for limiting the video information to be output to the digital video information,
Transmission means for transmitting digital video information to which the control information is added;
The video information transmission device according to claim 1, wherein the control information is control information indicating that different restrictions are given according to a format type of video information output from the external output device.   2. The resolution conversion according to claim 1, wherein as the restriction given to the video information, resolution conversion is performed so that a horizontal synchronization period and a vertical synchronization period of the video information are substantially unchanged, and a horizontal pixel number and a vertical pixel number are substantially halved. Video information output device.

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