JP2009239695A - Content playback apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To comfortably play back contents by constructing a scheme for extracting, storing and deleting caption information cooperatively with a recording/deleting operation of contents. <P>SOLUTION: A content recording section 13 records contents on a recording medium 20 together with time information to display the contents. A caption extraction section 14 extracts caption data from contents to be recorded or from contents recorded on an external recording medium. A caption storage section 15 stores the extracted caption data on the recording medium 20 together with time information to display the caption data as caption information. When a caption playback section 22 plays back the caption information from the recording medium 20, a caption cooperative playback section 23 causes a content playback section 21 to play back contents having time information matched with the time information of designated caption information by retrieving the contents from the recording medium 20. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an apparatus that reproduces content composed of video, audio, subtitle text, and the like, and more particularly to a content reproduction apparatus that suitably reproduces content using subtitle information.

  In recent years, by connecting a TV to the Internet, it has become possible to view TV programs and contents such as movies and music in conjunction with each other. In addition, the data broadcasting function of digital terrestrial broadcasting enables services using subtitles. For example, by using subtitles, it is possible to easily view content such as a TV program.

  As one of the functions using subtitles, Patent Document 1 displays a list of subtitle characters and their presentation time information in association with each other, and video data based on the presentation time information corresponding to the subtitle characters selected by the user. Is disclosed. Accordingly, it is stated that the user can quickly find a desired scene by using the displayed subtitle characters.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228561 has a description regarding accompanying information (such as resume information indicating a reproduction stop position) used for content reproduction. The accompanying information is recorded on the recording medium as a separate file from the content. When moving content recorded on a recording medium to an external device, the accompanying information is transmitted to the external device together with the content, and the recorded content and the accompanying information are deleted from the recording medium. Accordingly, it is stated that a function based on accompanying information such as a resume function can be used in a destination external device.

JP 2004-80476 A JP 2007-306394 A

  How to acquire and manage subtitle information is important in order to easily use the content playback function using subtitle information. In addition, if unnecessary caption information remains in the apparatus, it is a hindrance during content reproduction. Patent Documents 1 and 2 do not disclose how caption information is acquired from content.

  An object of the present invention is to construct a mechanism for extracting / saving / deleting subtitle information in conjunction with a content recording / deleting operation, and to realize a content reproducing apparatus that performs content reproduction comfortably.

  The present invention provides a content playback apparatus for playing back content including video data and subtitle data related to the video data from a recording medium, a content recording unit for recording the content on a recording medium together with time information for displaying the content, A subtitle extraction unit that extracts subtitle data, a subtitle storage unit that stores subtitle data as subtitle information together with time information for displaying the subtitle data, a content reproduction unit that reproduces content from the recording medium, and subtitle information from the recording medium And a subtitle-linked playback unit that causes the content playback unit to search for and play back content having time information that matches the time information of the designated subtitle information.

  Also, an external medium detection unit that detects that the recording medium is an external medium inserted into the apparatus from the outside is provided, and when the external medium detection unit detects the insertion of the external medium, the caption extraction unit records on the external medium. Subtitle data is extracted from the extracted content, and the subtitle storage unit stores the extracted subtitle data in an external medium.

  A subtitle search unit comprising: a content deletion unit that deletes content from the recording medium; a subtitle search unit that searches for subtitle information related to the content to be deleted; and a subtitle deletion unit that deletes the searched subtitle information from the recording medium. Refers to the content management information describing the storage location of the content and related caption information, and instructs the caption deletion unit to store the caption information to be deleted.

  According to the present invention, the usability of the content reproduction function using subtitle information is improved.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a content reproduction apparatus according to the present invention. The content playback apparatus is an apparatus that stores content such as video, audio, and data in a recording medium, plays back, and views the content. Here, a case of a television with a recording function will be described as an example, but other AV devices such as an HDD recorder, a DVD recorder, a portable information terminal, and a content player are also applicable. The target content is a moving image, a still image, audio, text, metadata, and the like, for example, a broadcast TV program, a moving image / still image content shot by a video camera or a digital camera, and the like.

  The content reproduction apparatus (television) 1 separates the received signal into each content of video / audio / character data, as an original television function, an antenna 10 that receives a broadcast wave, a tuner 11 that selects a desired program, and the like. It has a DEMUX unit 12. In addition, the display unit 25 includes a display unit 25 that displays video, a speaker 26 that outputs audio, an OSD unit 24 that displays character data superimposed on the display unit 25, and an input unit 40 that receives user input. The content recording unit 13 records each content of video / audio / character data on the recording medium 20, and the content reproduction unit 21 reproduces the content from the recording medium 20. Here, the recording medium 20 can be used not only in a non-removable form built in the television but also in a removable form used by being mounted from the outside. For example, a hard disk, an optical disk, a flash memory such as an SD card, and iVDR (removable hard disk) can be used.

  Furthermore, the external medium detection unit 17 detects that an external recording medium is inserted into the apparatus 1 as the recording medium 20, and the content acquisition unit 16 acquires content from the inserted external recording medium. The caption extraction unit 14 extracts caption information from the content acquired by the DEMUX unit 12 or the content acquisition unit 16, and the caption storage unit 15 stores the extracted caption information in the recording medium 20. As a result, the content and the caption information extracted from the content are stored in the recording medium 20.

  The subtitle playback unit 22 plays back the subtitle information stored in the recording medium 20 and outputs the subtitle information to the OSD unit 24. The subtitle-linked reproduction unit 23 controls the content reproduction unit 21 in accordance with the reproduction of the subtitle information, and reproduces the content part corresponding to the subtitles in an interlocked manner.

  In addition, the content deletion unit 31 deletes the designated content from the content stored in the recording medium 20. The subtitle search unit 32 searches for subtitle information related to the content to be deleted, and the subtitle deletion unit 33 deletes the corresponding subtitle information from the recording medium 40.

  The control unit 41 controls the operations of recording, playing back, and deleting the content and subtitles described above according to operations from the input unit 40. That is, when content is recorded or when a recording medium is inserted, subtitle information is extracted and stored from the content, and when the content is played back, the content is played back in conjunction with the subtitle, and when the content is deleted, the content is deleted. It has a function of deleting subtitle information.

  Next, content and subtitle information to be recorded on the recording medium 20 will be described.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a data structure of content. (A) shows the entire content 100, (b) shows the video content 110, (c) shows the audio content 120, and (d) shows the subtitle content 130.

  The content 100 of (a) is stored in the recording medium 20 in units of programs, for example. The content 100 includes video content 110 that is a set of video data, audio content 120 that is a set of audio data, and subtitle content 130 that is a set of subtitle data.

  The video content 110 in (b) is composed of a plurality of video data 111, for example, in scene units. The video data 111 includes time information 112 and a video signal 113 of the scene. The video signal 113 is a set of video frames displayed as a still image by being output as an array on the display unit 25, or a video that can be viewed as a moving image by sequentially displaying the still image as time passes. Signal. This is, for example, data in a format such as MPEG, AVI, or FLV, but other data formats may be used as long as they can be viewed as video. The time information 112 is a numerical value (time stamp) indicating at what timing the video signal 113 is output to the display unit 25 in the flow of real time. Time information such as hour / minute / second or the first video frame is displayed. It is relative time information such as how many counts after.

  The audio content 120 of (c) is composed of a plurality of audio data 121 for each scene. The audio data 121 includes time information 122 and an audio signal 123. The audio signal 123 is a signal to be output to the speaker 26, so that a human can view it as audio. The time information 122 represents the timing at which the audio signal 123 is output to the speaker 26.

  The subtitle content 130 in (d) is composed of a plurality of subtitle data 131 for each scene. The caption data 131 includes time information 132 and caption text information 133. The caption data 131 is a description of the video signal 113 and the audio signal 123 described above in the form of text. For example, the user can view the story indicated by the video signal 113 as text. The time information 132 represents the timing at which the caption text information 133 is output to the OSD unit 24. More specifically, it includes information such as the start time, end time, and display time length of the caption text.

  As described above, the video content 110, the audio content 120, and the subtitle content 130 are output to the display unit 25, the speaker 26, and the OSD unit 24 at the timing described in the time information 112, 122, and 132, respectively. The content can be viewed normally.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a data configuration of caption information 200 extracted from content.
The subtitle information 200 is a copy of the subtitle content 130 extracted from the content 100. Therefore, the configuration is the same as that of the subtitle content 130 of FIG. 2D, and includes subtitle data 201, time information 202, subtitle text information 203, and the like. The caption text information 203 represents the video signal 113 and the audio signal 123 in the form of text, and the time information 202 represents the timing at which the caption text information 203 is output to the OSD unit 24. The caption information 200 is recorded in a region different from the content 100 (caption content 130) on the recording medium 20.

  In this embodiment, the content 100 (video data 111 and audio data 121) is reproduced by the content reproduction unit 21, and the subtitle information 200 (subtitle data 201) is reproduced independently by the subtitle reproduction unit 22. Then, by selecting a desired scene from the caption text information 203 displayed by the reproduction of the caption data 201, the scenes of the content 100 whose time information 202, 112, and 122 match each other (video / audio data 111, 121) Search for and play. That is, it is possible to reproduce the content related to the caption information. Note that the subtitle information 200 is not a complete copy of the subtitle content 130, but may be information obtained by appropriately converting the text content, format, etc. in order to suitably execute the linked playback function.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, content management information 300 that associates the content 100 with the extracted caption information 200 is used.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a data configuration of the content management information 300.
The content management information 300 includes a plurality of management data 301 in units of content 100 (for example, programs). The management data 301 includes a content identifier 302 and a caption information identifier 303. The content identifier 302 is information indicating where in the recording medium 20 a certain content 100 is stored, and the caption information identifier 303 is stored in which location in the recording medium 20 the caption information 200 extracted from the content is stored. It is information indicating whether or not For example, directory information or folder path information is used as the location information in the recording medium 20.

  With this management data 301, the subtitle search unit 32 can know which content 100 is associated with which subtitle information 200. That is, when the content deletion unit 31 deletes a certain content 100, the subtitle deletion unit 33 knows which subtitle information 200 should be deleted.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display screen during subtitle-linked playback.
The display screen 500 of the display unit 25 includes a video display area 501 and at least one subtitle display area 502 according to the screen setting of the OSD unit 24. The video display area 501 displays the video signal 113 included in the video data 111 of the content 100 reproduced by the content reproduction unit 21. The video display area 501 may be a plurality of video display areas. The caption display area 502 displays the caption text information 203 included in the caption data 201 of the caption information 200 reproduced by the caption reproduction unit 22. At this time, the video displayed in the video display area 501 is, for example, a content representative screen (a screen such as a head scene). The subtitles displayed in the subtitle display area 502 are displayed for a plurality of scenes in order from the top of the content. Subtitles to be displayed can be scrolled to display the next scene with a scroll key 503.

  The user selects one desired subtitle from among the displayed subtitles using a cursor or the like. The subtitle-linked playback unit 23 reads the time information 202 attached to the selected subtitle text information 203 and notifies the content playback unit 21 of the time information. The content playback unit 21 searches the recording medium 20 for playback of video data 111, audio data 121, or caption data 131 having the same time information as the notified time information. Then, the reproduced content is displayed in the video display area 501 and output from the speaker 26, so that the video / audio related to the subtitle selected by the user can be viewed.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing various processing operations in the content reproduction apparatus of this embodiment. Here, the extraction and storage of subtitles and the deletion of subtitles are mainly shown. Further, not only an internal medium (non-removable) as a recording medium but also an external medium (removable) in which caption information is not stored can be supported.

  The user's operation instruction is acquired from the input unit 40 (S601), and the recording medium 20 on which the content is reproduced, stored, or deleted is selected according to the instruction (S602).

  First, it is determined whether or not the recording medium is an external medium (S603). If an external medium has been inserted, it is determined whether content including subtitle data is stored on the recording medium (S604). When content including subtitle data is stored, subtitle information 200 is extracted from the content 100. Specifically, the subtitle data 131 (time information 132 and subtitle text information 133) included in the subtitle content 130 is copied and stored as subtitle data 201 (time information 202 and subtitle text information 203) on the recording medium (S605). ).

  Next, a storage location such as a folder path in which the content 100 is stored is acquired and registered in the recording medium as the content identifier 302 of the content management information 300 (S606). Also, a storage location such as a folder path in which the caption information 200 is stored is acquired and registered in the caption information identifier 303 of the content management information 300 (S607). As a result, the inserted external recording medium can be operated using the caption information in the same manner as the internal medium. Then, the process returns to S601.

  If the recording medium is an internal medium in S603, it is determined whether or not the user has instructed playback (S608). If reproduction is instructed, the content 100 is acquired from the recording medium 20 (S609), and the content reproduction processing 700 is performed (S610). This operation reproduces the content in conjunction with the designated subtitle, and will be described later with reference to FIG.

  When the user instructs recording in S601 (S611), the tuner unit 11 and the DEMUX unit 12 are operated to acquire the content 100, and the content 100 is recorded on the recording medium 20 (S612). In parallel with the recording of the content in S612, extraction and storage of caption information, registration of the content identifier in S606, and registration of the caption information identifier in S607 are executed as in S605. By extracting the caption information in parallel with the content recording, the extraction work can be speeded up. Note that, after the recording of the content in S612 is completed, the recorded content may be read and the caption information in S605 may be extracted.

  If the user has instructed to delete the content in S601 (S613), the corresponding content 100 is deleted from the recording medium 20 in accordance with the identifier of the content 100 designated to be deleted by the input unit 40 (S614). Next, the content management information 300 is referred to, and the caption information identifier 303 corresponding to the identifier 302 of the deleted content 100 is acquired (S615). Then, the storage destination caption information 200 described by the caption information identifier 303 is deleted from the recording medium 20.

  With the above operation, it is possible to realize a function of extracting and storing subtitle information when inserting an external medium and recording content, and a function of simultaneously deleting subtitle information when deleting content.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the reproducing operation in this embodiment.

  The caption reproduction unit 22 reads the caption information 200 from the recording medium 20 and acquires the caption data 201 for each scene (S701). The subtitle text information 203 in the subtitle data is displayed as a list in the subtitle display area 502 of the display screen 500 (S702). When the user selects a desired subtitle from the displayed subtitle text (S703), time information 202 associated with the selected subtitle text is acquired (S704). This is called “display time”.

  The content reproduction unit 21 reads the video content 110 from the storage medium 20, and sequentially acquires the video data 111 for each scene one by one (S705). The time information 112 of each video data 111 is compared with the display time 202 (S706). If the times coincide, the video signal 113 corresponding to the time information 112 is acquired and displayed in the video display area 501 (S707). If the times do not match, the process proceeds to S708.

  Next, the audio content 120 is read, and the audio data 121 for each scene is acquired one by one in order (S708). The time information 122 of each audio data 121 is compared with the display time 202 (S709). If the times match, the audio signal 123 corresponding to the time information 122 is acquired and output to the speaker 26 (S710). If the times do not match, the process proceeds to S711.

  Next, the subtitle content 130 is read, and the subtitle data 131 for each scene is acquired one by one in order (S711). The time information 132 of each caption data 131 is compared with the display time 202 (S712). If the times match, the caption text information 133 corresponding to the time information 132 is acquired and output to the OSD unit 24. The OSD unit 24 superimposes the subtitle text information 133 on the video display area 501 (S713). Then, the process returns to S703 and waits for the user to select the next subtitle.

  With the above operation, it is possible to realize a function of reproducing and displaying video / audio content in conjunction with subtitle text selected by the user. Note that the reproduction and display of the subtitle content 130 after S711 has already been read and displayed as the subtitle information 200 in S701 and S702, and may be omitted.

  In this embodiment, caption information is automatically extracted and stored when an external medium is inserted and when content is recorded, so that the caption-linked playback function can be smoothly executed regardless of the type of recording medium. In addition, when deleting content from the recording medium, the corresponding subtitle information is also surely deleted, so there is no possibility that only subtitle information remains and obstructs subtitle-linked playback.

  Next, another embodiment of the content reproduction apparatus according to the present invention will be described. In this embodiment, the caption text information is efficiently displayed on the display screen 500 in the caption display step (S702 and S713 in FIG. 7).

  FIG. 8 shows a flowchart of subtitle display according to the present embodiment. The OSD unit 24 obtains the caption text information 133, 203 from the caption data 131, 201, and obtains the length of the caption text (S801). The length of the caption text is compared with the length of the caption display area 502 of the display screen 500 in FIG. 5 (S802). When the length of the caption text exceeds the length of the caption display area, the display position of the caption text is controlled to be shifted left and right (ticker display control) (S803). When the length of the caption text is within the length of the caption display area, the display position is fixed. Then, the OSD unit 24 displays the received caption text information 133 and 203 at an appropriate display position according to the length (S804).

  By displaying subtitle text while shifting (ticker display) in this way, even long text can be efficiently displayed in a form that is easy for the user to read. Note that a ticker display unit may be provided separately from the OSD unit 24 in order to control the display position of the subtitle text to be shifted.

  FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the content reproduction apparatus according to the present invention. When subtitle-linked playback is executed, the user often selects and views only the main part of the content. In view of this, the apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment adds a function of inserting and displaying commercial information (CM information) in the gap between caption texts when displaying captions. The CM information to be inserted is obtained from the external server 2 via the network 3.

  The configuration of the content reproduction apparatus 1 of the present embodiment adds the following. The communication unit 51 is connected to the network 3 such as the Internet. The caption acquisition unit 52 acquires caption information from the server 2 via the communication unit 51. The CM acquisition unit 54 acquires subtitle information as commercial data via the communication unit 51. The gap detection unit 53 analyzes the caption content of the recording medium 20 and detects the gap between the captions. The CM insertion unit 55 inserts a CM in the gap between captions.

FIG. 10 shows a flowchart of CM information insertion in this embodiment.
The content is reproduced from the recording medium 20, and the audio signal 123 of the audio data 121 is acquired (S901). The audio signal 123 is analyzed to determine whether or not the stereo audio has changed to monaural audio (S902). If it is changed to monaural sound, it is determined that the part being reproduced is the main part of the content, and the process proceeds to S903. If the stereo sound remains, it is determined that the part being reproduced is a CM part, and no CM is inserted.

  Next, a plurality of pieces of content caption data 131 are acquired (S903), and their time information 132 is acquired (S904). The gap detection unit 53 determines whether there is a sufficient time gap between the adjacent time information 132 (S905). Here, the sufficient gap is the time required to display one CM text. If there is not enough space, the process ends.

  If there is a sufficient gap, the communication unit 51 is connected to the network 3 (S906). Then, the CM obtaining unit 54 obtains CM information having the same data structure as the caption text information 133 from the server 3 (S907). The CM insertion unit 55 adds time information 132 corresponding to the time of the gap to the acquired CM information (S908). Thus, the acquired CM information is converted into data having the same structure as the original caption data 131. The CM insertion unit 55 inserts the CM information at a position where there is a gap between the caption data 130 (S909). The caption reproduction unit 22 outputs the inserted CM information to the OSD unit 24 according to the time information 132, thereby displaying the CM information text inserted in the gap between the caption texts on the display unit 25.

  When the inserted CM information is stored in a recording medium, the CM information received by the communication unit 51 is converted into a predetermined data structure by the subtitle acquisition unit 52 and sent to the subtitle storage unit 15 to be recorded on the recording medium. That's fine.

  With the CM insertion of this embodiment, CM information can be presented as subtitles even when the user is watching a broadcast program by subtitle-linked playback. The CM information can be acquired from a wide range via a network. Here, the CM information to be inserted is not related to the content content, but it is also possible to search for and insert a CM related to the content keyword or the like. In that case, it can be expected that the effect of CM insertion is further enhanced.

The block diagram which shows one Example of the content reproduction apparatus by this invention. The figure which shows the data structure of the content 100. FIG. The figure which shows the data structure of the caption information 200. FIG. The figure which shows the data structure of the content management information 300. FIG. The figure which shows an example of the display screen at the time of subtitle-linked reproduction. The flowchart which shows the various processing operation | movement in a present Example. The flowchart which shows the reproduction | regeneration operation | movement in a present Example. The flowchart of a caption display by a present Example. The block diagram which shows the other Example of the content reproduction apparatus by this invention. The flowchart of insertion of CM information in a present Example.

Explanation of symbols

1 ... content playback device,
2 ... server,
3 ... Network,
13 ... content recording part,
14 ... Subtitle extraction unit,
15 ... Subtitle storage section,
16 ... Content acquisition unit,
17 ... External medium detection unit,
20. Recording medium,
21 ... Content playback unit,
22 ... Subtitle playback section,
23. Subtitle-linked playback unit,
24 ... OSD part,
25 ... display section,
26 ... Speaker,
31 ... Content deletion section,
32 ... Subtitle search part,
33 ... Subtitle deletion section,
40 ... input section,
41. Control unit,
51 ... communication section,
52 ... Subtitle acquisition department,
53. Gap detection unit,
54 ... CM acquisition department,
55 ... CM insertion part,
100 ... content,
110 ... Video content,
120 ... audio content,
130 ... Subtitle content,
200 ... Subtitle information,
300: Content management information.

Claims (6)

In a content playback apparatus for playing back content including video data and subtitle data related to the video data from a recording medium,
A content recording unit for recording the content on the recording medium together with time information for displaying the content;
A caption extraction unit for extracting the caption data from the content;
A caption storage unit that stores the caption data in the recording medium as caption information together with time information for displaying the caption data;
A content playback unit for playing back the content from the recording medium;
A subtitle reproduction unit for reproducing the subtitle information from the recording medium;
A content playback apparatus, comprising: a subtitle-linked playback unit that causes the content playback unit to search and play back content having time information that matches time information of designated subtitle information. The content playback apparatus according to claim 1,
An external medium detection unit for detecting that the recording medium is an external medium inserted into the apparatus from the outside;
When the external medium detection unit detects insertion of an external medium, the subtitle extraction unit extracts subtitle data from the content recorded on the external medium,
The content reproduction device, wherein the caption storage unit stores the extracted caption data in the external medium. The content reproduction apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
A content deletion unit for deleting content from the recording medium;
A subtitle search unit for searching for subtitle information related to the content to be deleted;
A subtitle deletion unit that deletes the searched subtitle information from the recording medium,
The subtitle search unit refers to content management information describing a storage location of content and related subtitle information, and instructs the subtitle deletion unit to store the subtitle information to be deleted Playback device. The content playback apparatus according to claim 1,
A display unit having a video display area for displaying video data reproduced from the recording medium and a plurality of subtitle display areas for displaying a plurality of reproduced subtitle data;
A content playback apparatus, wherein when one caption data is selected from the caption data displayed in the caption display area, the corresponding video data is played back by the caption linked playback section and displayed in the video display area. The content playback apparatus according to claim 4, wherein
A content reproduction apparatus comprising: displaying the reproduced subtitle data while moving within the subtitle display area of the display unit. The content playback apparatus according to claim 1,
A commercial acquisition unit for acquiring commercial information consisting of caption data from outside the device;
A gap detection unit that analyzes time information of the reproduced content and detects a time gap that does not display subtitle data;
And a commercial insertion unit for inserting the obtained commercial information into the detected gap.

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