JP2010165429A - Disk reproducing apparatus and method of controlling reproducing of disk - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow execution of reproducing processing, based on the type of a disk loaded in an apparatus and a situation, even when the disk is unknown. <P>SOLUTION: When instructions to reproduce a disk are received, the type of the loaded disk is determined, and when the disk is a DVD, it is determined whether the recording format is DVD-Video or DVD-VR (Video Recording) (f01, f02, f04). When it is determined that the recording format is DVD-Video, operation menu information is acquired from the disk and is displayed, and the disk is reproduced in accordance with instructions selected from menu items by the user (f06, f0b). When it is determined that the recording format is DVD-VR, a thumbnail list of titles recorded is acquired from the disk and is displayed, and a title selected and designated by the user is read out and reproduced (f09). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a disc playback apparatus that plays back video and audio recorded on an optical disc, and more particularly to a disc playback control method that supports a playback operation for a user.

  As a video / audio playback system using an optical disk, a CD (Compact Disc) can be used to play audio, and a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk) has been developed for video playback. Since DVDs and CDs have the same optical disc size, DVD playback devices generally play back CDs as well.

  As for DVDs, DVD-Video standard playback discs first appear for video playback, followed by DVD-VR (Video Recording) standards, which are standards for recording and recording, and DVDs that support these standards. A recording / playback machine also appeared.

  Each of the two standards for recording this video has its characteristics. Conventionally, recording based on the same DVD-Video standard as a commercially available video DVD exclusively for reproduction has been used with better compatibility. However, the spread of digital broadcasting and the recording of copy-controlled programs used for the broadcasting can be recorded because of the DVD-VR standard, so that future playback devices will be able to reproduce both the DVD-Video standard and the DVD-VR standard. It seems to be general.

  The two DVD video recording standards have different operability because they have different original uses. In the case of the DVD-Video standard, a first play (hereinafter referred to as First_Play), which is determined to be performed first after inserting a disc, or a menu for selecting a title (for example, as shown in FIG. 8) is prepared. There are many cases. In general, when a recorded content is played back including a video / audio device other than a CD or DVD, it is executed by pressing a playback button. However, in VMGM (Video Manager Menu), which manages the entire disc with DVD-Video, if the user wants to display it intentionally, it is recommended to display it with a button operation called a top menu, not a playback button operation.

  On the other hand, the DVD-VR standard does not have a menu function, but instead a thumbnail that can be used for the menu screen when the playback device creates a menu (such as that shown in FIG. 9). Can be recorded, and a menu (for example, as shown in FIG. 10) using the information can be created. Of course, the device creation menu is not displayed with the play button, and other different operations are required.

  Furthermore, since information unique to the device can be recorded on the DVD, the recorder / player can create a menu based on that information.

  As described above, regarding the reproduction of the disc, an appropriate operation is not necessarily performed by one operation. For this reason, proper operation may not be possible unless the disc in the device is known. For example, in recent years, there is a digital recording / reproducing device using a hard disk drive (hereinafter referred to as HDD) and a DVD as a recording / reproducing device, and the user is inserted into the DVD drive during the operation of the HDD. You don't always know the disk. In such a situation, a user who does not understand the difference between the DVD-Video standard and the DVD-VR standard is confused about the desired operation when the menu displayed on the screen is different from the expected one. It will be instructed and will cause inconvenience in operation.

  Therefore, there is a demand for an operation system that allows a user unfamiliar with the operation to easily instruct reproduction appropriate for the disc inserted by one operation.

  Here, as a prior art, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-228707 discloses a camera technology that places more emphasis on recording functions than playback, but discs that cannot be recorded are discriminated and thumbnails are displayed based on alert display or management information. However, it does not provide playback methods according to various standards.

JP 2003-257021 A

  As described above, in the conventional disc reproducing apparatus, there is a case where an appropriate operation cannot be performed unless the disc in the device is known, which is inconvenient for a user who is not accustomed to the operation.

  Disclosure of the Invention The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and can reproduce a disc according to the type and the situation of the disc even when the disc in the device is unknown. An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and a disk playback control method.

  In order to achieve the above object, a disc reproducing apparatus according to the present invention discriminates the type of disc loaded when receiving the reproduction instruction means for instructing disc reproduction, and the disc is a DVD ( If the recording format is DVD-Video, and if the recording format is DVD-Video, the operation menu information is acquired from the disc. When the DVD-VR discriminates the recording format and the first reproduction control means for displaying the menu information and reproducing the disc in accordance with the user's menu item selection instruction, the title recorded from the disc is recorded. The thumbnail list is acquired and displayed, and the title selected by the user is read and played back. And a second reproduction control means.

  The disc playback control method according to the present invention discriminates the type of a loaded disc when receiving a disc playback instruction, and when the disc is a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), the recording format is DVD. -Video or DVD-VR (Video Recording) is discriminated. If the recording format is DVD-Video, the operation menu information is obtained from the disc and the menu information is displayed, and the user selects a menu item. A configuration in which the disc is reproduced according to an instruction, and when the recording format is determined to be DVD-VR, a thumbnail list of titles recorded from the disc is acquired and displayed, and the title selected by the user is read and reproduced. And

  In other words, the present invention is a video / audio disc playback device that allows a user to select video to be played back in list display or thumbnail display with a single operation, performs processing in accordance with disc processing instructions, Based on the disc type, format, and original information, playback or playback is performed based on the information that is displayed, or if playback completion information is displayed before that Present the selection function.

  The list display displays information (number, name, etc.) related to video / audio, and if there is a thumbnail, it can also be displayed.

  If there is a playback function other than the disc, the disc drive is switched before the processing.

  According to the present invention, there is provided a disc playback apparatus and a disc playback control method capable of executing playback processing according to the type and status of a disc even from a situation in which the disc in the device is unknown. be able to.

1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment when the present invention is applied to a digital recording / playback apparatus using an HDD and a DVD as recording media. The figure which shows an example of the operation GUI of the said embodiment. The main flowchart of the GUI control process of the said embodiment. The figure which shows an example of the alert display of the said embodiment. The figure which shows the other example of GUI for operation of the said embodiment. The figure which shows GUI which makes a user set the priority process setting at the time of reproducing | regenerating DVD of the said embodiment. The flowchart which shows the flow of an additional process required when there exists reproduction | regeneration functions other than DVD with the structure of the apparatus of FIG. The figure which shows an example of the menu for selecting a title in the disc of DVD-Video specification. The figure which shows an example in the case of displaying the recorded content by list | wrist in disk reproduction | regeneration of DVD-VR specification. The figure which shows an example in the case of displaying the list | wrist of a recording content as a thumbnail in the DVD-VR disc reproduction | regeneration.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment when the present invention is applied to a digital recording / reproducing apparatus using HDD and DVD as recording media. In FIG. 1, the recording / playback apparatus 1 has a tuner 2 and also has a video input terminal 31 and an audio input terminal 32 for recording a signal from an external device or the like. The input signal enters the signal processor 4 through the input circuit 3 as well as the tuner signal. The signal processor 4 performs various signal processing on the input signal. For example, an operation signal from a remote controller (hereinafter referred to as a remote controller) operated by a user is received by a remote control light receiving unit 71, and an operation signal demodulated by the remote control signal light receiving circuit 7 is a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 41 of the signal processor 1. The CPU 41 controls necessary processing according to the operation content.

  On the other hand, a video / audio signal or the like input to the signal processor 1 is digitized by an analog-digital converter (ADC) 42 and converted into a signal such as MPEG2 by an encoder 43. These signals are recorded on the recording / reproducing medium 5 via the interface 44, or conversely, received from the recording / reproducing medium 5. In addition to DVD, the DVD drive of the recording / reproducing medium 5 can also play CDs.

  The decoder 45 returns the MPEG2 signal to an ordinary digital signal. A GUI (graphic interface) is necessary for the user to operate various functions, and each GUI screen is generated by the graphic processing unit 46.

  The video encoder 47 combines the video signal and the graphic-processed signal as necessary to generate an output video signal. A digital-to-analog converter (DAC) 48 generates an audio signal. These signals are output from the video output terminal 61 and the audio output terminal 62 to the television receiver (display device) 8 through the output circuit 6.

  The EPG processing unit 49 executes processing related to an electronic program guide (EPG). The EPG data is stored in the HDD 51, and the data can be used to reserve a program in the graphic processing unit 46 using the data. Display the table.

  The LAN terminal 91 can acquire video / audio data from an external server via the Internet, and can be recorded on the recording / reproducing medium 5 or directly output.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the operation GUI according to the present invention. Although the button “Watch DVD” is provided on the GUI so that it can be seen that the DVD drive is played back, of course, a dedicated button may be placed on the remote control.

  FIG. 3 shows a main flowchart of the GUI control processing according to the present invention. This process is executed by operating a button on the remote controller, and shows processing in a situation where a DVD drive is currently selected. The playback target here is a video disc and a music CD that conform to both the Video and VR standards of DVD. If there are other playback targets, the judgment is further increased.

  In FIG. 3, discrimination between three types of reproducible discs in steps f01, f02, and f04 and situations in which they cannot be replayed (for example, a disc that is not video / audio, a new recording disc that has not yet been recorded, or no disc) I do.

  First, in step f01, a reproducible disc is determined. If not, an alert is displayed in step f08. For example, when there is no recording on the recording disc yet, there is no alert to be displayed as shown in FIG.

  Next, in step f02, it is determined whether the target disc is a DVD-VR standard disc among the reproducible discs. Since this disc has information necessary for the device to create a menu, a menu such as a list is created using this information in step f09. For example, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, a list type menu including the title number and title name is created.

  Since various information can be recorded on a DVD, in the case of a recorder, additional information necessary for menu creation can be uniquely added to a DVD-Video. If it is used, it is possible to have a function that allows a device to create a menu even on a DVD-Video without a menu. Step f03 is a process for determining this, and DVD-Video without a menu (for example, a disc used for recording and a disc scheduled to be recorded) is also recorded in step f09 in the same manner as the DVD-VR disc. To make it easier to select what to play.

  In step f04, DVD-Video and CD are discriminated.

  DVD-Video has a function called First_Play that must be executed once at the first opportunity such as when a disc is inserted, and this function is almost present in commercially available DVD-Video. In the case of a playback-only machine, this operation works before the playback operation. However, in the HDD & DVD recorder / player of this configuration, this operation is not always executed when a disk is inserted (for example, a disk is inserted during HDD playback). May come the first opportunity. Therefore, if First_Play exists and is not executed, First_Play is executed in step f0a. First_Play may be executed after the second time, but in general, the display of the logo of the production company may be included. In this case, it may take time to reproduce the main part, which may be disadvantageous for the user. Therefore, if it is executed, the execution process of First_Play is not performed.

  Most of the commercially available DVD-Videos have VMGM (generally displayed by the top menu button), and are usually made so that the disc producer can select what to play properly. Use is generally the most appropriate means. In step f06, if there is VMGM, the process of displaying in step f0b is performed.

  For a DVD-Video that does not have VMGM and does not execute First_Play, and a CD that does not have a function equivalent to VMGM or First_Play, in step f07, depending on the presence or absence of information when playback was previously stopped, the continuous playback of step f0c (previous time) (Reproduction from the point of stop) or reproduction from the beginning of step f0d.

  The above is to automatically provide an appropriate operation in accordance with the type of disc and the recording method for performing playback or selection for playback of the DVD.

  This indicates a necessary process and does not necessarily have to be in this order.

  FIG. 5 shows a processing example in another order. The same reference numerals are assigned to the same processes as those in FIG. 3, and the determination process in step f07 is just between the processes in steps f01 and f02.

  As for the operation, FIG. 3 makes it easy to select what is to be reproduced by displaying the menu, whereas FIG. 5 gives priority to reproducing the continuation of what was stopped on the way.

  This process is more appropriate for users who do not have time, often stop playing during the title playback, and play the next continuation. On the other hand, if the user who sees the title almost to the end stops watching it at the end, and tries to play another one next time, it is only annoying to play the next one, and the menu display is better .

  As described above, the appropriate processing order differs depending on the user, so a function for selecting whether to prioritize menu display or continuous playback during DVD playback is provided as in the GUI shown in FIG. Let the user select and set. If the processing is performed according to the setting, the individual processing of the flow is the same, and therefore, more appropriate processing can be easily provided to the user.

  FIG. 7 shows a flow of additional processing necessary when the apparatus configuration of FIG. 1 has a playback function other than DVD. If there is a playback function other than a DVD like this configuration, it will be difficult to tell what disc is in the disc while it is being operated or played back, and processing appropriate to the disc will be required. Become. In particular, in the case of a recording / playback apparatus using an HDD and a DVD, generally, the recording and playback by the HDD are mainly operations. For this reason, the HDD is often selected over the DVD, and it is considered that the user does not often perform the DVD playback operation, and some users are not accustomed to playback by switching from the HDD to the DVD. For this reason, it is necessary to add media switching in one operation in addition to the disk playback process. That is, if the DVD is not selected so that it can be played back in step f11, the process shown in FIG. 3 or 5 is performed after the DVD is selected in step f12.

  In this configuration, switching between HDD and DVD is taken as an example, but switching is also possible for playback of a memory card instead of HDD, VOD (Video On Demand) that downloads and plays content from a server on the Internet via LAN. Conceivable.

  As described above, according to the digital recording / playback apparatus having the above-described configuration, it is possible to automatically select an appropriate process from a plurality of playback or playback selection means for a plurality of types of discs. Thus, the user can easily operate without worrying about the disk.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment as it is, and can be embodied by modifying the constituent elements without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage. In addition, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of components disclosed in the embodiment. For example, some configurations may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiment. Furthermore, constituent elements over different embodiment examples may be appropriately combined.

   DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Recording / reproducing apparatus, 2 ... Tuner, 31 ... Video input terminal, 32 ... Audio input terminal, 3 ... Input circuit, 4 ... Signal processor, 41 ... CPU, 42 ... Analog-digital converter (ADC), 43 ... Encoder, 44 ... Interface, 45 ... Decoder, 46 ... Graphic processing unit, 47 ... Video encoder, 48 ... Digital-analog converter (DAC), 49 ... EPG processing unit, 5 ... Recording / reproducing medium, 51 ... HDD, 52 ... DVD, 6 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS ... Output circuit, 61 ... Video output terminal, 62 ... Audio output terminal, 71 ... Remote control light-receiving part, 7 ... Remote control signal light-receiving circuit, 8 ... Television receiver (display device), 91 ... LAN terminal.

Claims (12)

Playback instruction means for instructing disc playback;
When the playback instruction is received, the type of the loaded disc is discriminated. When the disc is a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), it is discriminated whether the recording format is DVD-Video or DVD-VR (Video Recording). Discrimination means;
When the recording format is determined to be DVD-Video, a first playback control unit that acquires operation menu information from the disc, displays the menu information, and plays the disc according to a user's menu item selection instruction;
When the recording format is discriminated as DVD-VR, a second playback control means is provided for acquiring and displaying a thumbnail list of titles recorded from the disc, and reading and playing back the title selected by the user. A disc player characterized by the above.   The first reproduction control means, when the disc has information to be presented at the time of the first reproduction, if the reproduction instruction is the first reproduction of the disc, the information is reproduced first. 2. The disk reproducing apparatus according to 1.   The first reproduction control means determines whether or not reproduction end operation information has been obtained during the previous reproduction of the disc. If reproduction end operation information is obtained, the first reproduction control means starts from the continuation of the end point. 2. The disk reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein reproduction is started.   4. The disc playback apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the first playback control means causes the user to select in advance whether to give priority to the display of the menu information or the subsequent playback. The discriminating means further includes a CD (Compact Disc) as the disc discriminating type,
When the disc is determined, it is determined whether or not playback end operation information was obtained at the previous playback of the disc, and when playback end operation information is obtained, playback is started from the end point, 2. The disc reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a third reproduction control means for starting reproduction from the beginning when it is not obtained. When the disc playback device includes a playback mechanism for a recording medium other than the disc,
And a disc drive switching control unit that judges whether or not disc drive playback is possible when the playback instruction unit is instructed to play a disc, and switches to a disc playback enabled state if playback is impossible. The disk reproducing apparatus according to claim 1. When the disc playback instruction is received, the type of the disc loaded is determined,
When the disc is a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), it is discriminated whether the recording format is DVD-Video or DVD-VR (Video Recording),
If the recording format is determined to be DVD-Video, operation menu information is acquired from the disc, the menu information is displayed, and the disc is played according to a user's menu item selection instruction.
When the recording format is discriminated as DVD-VR, a list of titles recorded from the disc is obtained and displayed, and a title selected by the user is read and played back.   8. The disc playback control method according to claim 7, wherein when the disc includes information to be presented at the time of first playback, if the playback instruction is the first playback of the disc, the information is played back first.   It is determined whether or not playback end operation information is obtained midway during the previous playback of the disc, and when playback end operation information is obtained, playback is started from the continuation of the end point. 8. The disk reproduction control method according to claim 7.   10. The disc playback control method according to claim 9, wherein a user selects in advance whether to give priority to display of the menu information or the subsequent playback. CD (Compact Disc) is included as the disc discrimination type,
When it is determined that the disc is a CD, it is determined whether or not playback end operation information was obtained during the previous playback of the disc. If playback end operation information is obtained, playback is started from the end of the disc. 8. The disc playback control method according to claim 7, wherein if not obtained, playback is started from the beginning. When equipped with a playback mechanism for a recording medium other than the disk,
8. The disc playback control method according to claim 7, wherein when a disc playback instruction is given, it is determined whether or not disc drive playback is possible, and if playback is not possible, switching to a disc playback enabled state is controlled.

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