JP2011216167A - Recording and reproducing device, recording medium used for the same, recording and reproducing method, and recording and reproducing program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a recording and reproducing device which records a content on a recording medium in accordance with a grade of a user's request for viewing, and then reproduces the content recorded on the recording medium in accordance with the grade of the user's request for viewing.SOLUTION: The recording and reproducing device 1 is provided with a program recording section 301 which selectively obtains a program on the basis of liking information on the user's liking and records it on the recording medium 200, a reproduction-counting section 302 which counts the frequency of the user's reproduction of each content with respect to each program recorded on the recording medium 200, and an order information generation section 304 which determines the order of automatic reproduction for automatically reproducing each content recorded on the recording medium 200 at the frequency of the reproduction of each content recorded on the recording medium 200 as the reference of order determination, and generates order information expressing the order of the automatic reproduction of each content.

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording / reproducing apparatus for recording content such as video and audio on a recording medium and reproducing the content recorded on the recording medium, a recording medium detachable from the recording / reproducing apparatus, and a recording / reproducing method, The present invention relates to a recording / reproducing program.

  As a recording / reproducing apparatus for recording and reproducing content such as a TV program (television program), a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) recorder, a HDD (Hard Disk Drive) built-in DVD recorder, an HDD recorder, and the like can be given.

  In recent years, such recording / playback devices have been added with simplified recording using EPG (Electronic Program Guide), simultaneous recording function for multiple channels, automatic recording function for automatically selecting content from keywords, etc. Users have been provided with an environment where a large amount of content can be recorded and the desired content can be viewed freely.

  In such a recording / reproducing apparatus, a variety of contents such as contents that have been reserved and recorded automatically, contents that have already been viewed, and the like that have a high or low level of user viewing requests are stored. Become.

  Such a large amount of content is usually recorded and stored in a large-capacity HDD mounted on the recording / reproducing apparatus. However, there is a limit to the recording capacity of the HDD. For this reason, a recording medium such as a DVD that can be attached to and detached from the recording / reproducing apparatus is used to move the content recorded on the HDD and to secure a free capacity of the HDD. Is required.

  In this way, it is necessary to erase the content recorded on the HDD and secure the HDD free space. However, the content to be moved to the recording medium is extracted from a large amount of content, and the other content is erased. The series of editing operations to be performed is very time-consuming for the user.

  In particular, when moving content from an HDD to a recording medium, for example, if the content is a continuous drama program, a specific continuous drama program must be searched in time series from a large number of recorded TV programs. Such work is complicated for the user.

  Furthermore, for example, if the serial drama program is a thing of the past, the user can often only store ambiguous specific information that can identify the program, such as the title of the serial drama program, Editing operations as described above become increasingly complicated.

  Also, if the HDD's recording capacity fills up early, exceeding the user's expectations, find the necessary content from the content recorded on the HDD, move the content to the recording medium, and The user must finish the editing operation described above, which is to erase the contents of the HDD, from the HDD as soon as possible.

  This is because a TV program that the user may desire to record may be broadcast while the user performs such editing work.

  Therefore, it is highly expected to simplify such editing work as much as possible and improve the convenience for the user.

  By the way, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a recording device and a playback device that can automatically generate a playback procedure for a large amount of content recorded on a recording medium.

  In the recording device and the playback device disclosed in Patent Document 1, a playlist that defines the playback order is created from a recording medium that stores information such as images as a database, and a program is broadcast based on the playlist. Inserting telops and commercials is performed.

  This playlist is a list that defines the playback procedure, playback operation, playback environment, and the like of images and additional information stored in a recording medium.

  If the technology for automatically creating such a playlist can be used, when the content is transferred from the HDD of the recording / reproducing apparatus described above to the recording medium, the playlist of the content recorded on the HDD is previously stored. It can be created automatically.

  In this case, it is not necessary for the user to search for a content to be moved to a recording medium from a large amount of content, and it is expected that the convenience for the operator is greatly improved.

JP 2002-199330 A (released July 12, 2002)

  However, when the automatic playlist creation technique of the recording device and the playback device disclosed in Patent Document 1 is applied to a conventional recording / playback device as it is, the degree of viewing request of the user in the playlist creation process There was a problem that was not reflected at all.

  A variety of contents such as TV programs are provided from many providers, and it is common to select and record content that suits the user's preference from among them. Then, the user tends to repeatedly select and view more interesting content from the recorded content.

  For this reason, as described above, in a series of editing operations in which content to be moved to a recording medium is extracted from content recorded in the HDD and other content is deleted, the user, for example, You want to leave content on your recording medium that suits your tastes and that you have watched or want to watch repeatedly.

  Therefore, when extracting content to be moved to a recording medium from a large amount of content recorded on the HDD, the content is moved from the HDD unless the user's viewing request level such as the user's preference and the number of times of viewing is taken into consideration. The recorded media is not attractive to users.

  Furthermore, even if the content recorded on the recording medium is automatically reproduced based on the playlist, the content may naturally be reproduced in the order according to the degree of the user's request for viewing. No.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to record content on a recording medium in accordance with the degree of viewing request of the user, and to view the content recorded on the recording medium by the user. To provide a recording / reproducing apparatus and a recording medium used therefor, a recording / reproducing method, and a recording / reproducing program that can be reproduced according to a required level.

  In order to achieve the above object, a recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention is a recording medium that is selectively acquired from a plurality of contents on the basis of preference information related to user preferences, and is detachable from the own apparatus. A content recording unit for recording in a content recording area, and for each content recorded on the recording medium by the content recording unit, a reproduction counting unit for counting the number of times the user has reproduced the content from the recording medium; The number recording unit for recording the number of reproductions of each content counted by the reproduction counting unit in the number recording area of the recording medium, and the number of reproductions of each content recorded on the recording medium by the number recording unit in order As a determination criterion, an automatic reproduction order for automatically reproducing each content recorded on the recording medium is determined, and each content is It comprises an information generation unit for generating order information representing the dynamic reproduction order, and the order recording unit for recording the order information generated by the information generating unit in the order recording area of the recording medium. Here, the “recording / reproducing apparatus” means a recording / reproducing apparatus.

  In the above recording / reproducing apparatus, the content recording unit selects content that matches the user's preference from among a large number of contents based on the user's preference information, and records it on a recording medium that can be attached to and detached from the recording / reproducing apparatus.

  For this reason, the content selected by the content recording unit matches the user's preference, and the content that the user is likely to play back in the future is recorded on the recording medium.

  That is, the content is recorded on the recording medium in accordance with the degree of the user's viewing request.

  In addition, while recording the content that matches the user's preference, the playback counting unit counts the number of times each content is played by the user for each content recorded on the recording medium, The number of reproductions is recorded on a recording medium. The information generation unit generates an automatic reproduction order, which is an order for automatically reproducing the content recorded on the recording medium, based on the number of times of reproduction of each content recorded on the recording medium. The order recording unit records order information indicating the automatic reproduction order on a recording medium.

  For this reason, if the content recorded on the recording medium is automatically reproduced in accordance with such an automatic reproduction order, the recording medium is in accordance with the reproduction order that is close to the reproduction order of the content that the user will most likely reproduce in the future. The content recorded in can be reproduced.

  That is, the content recorded on the recording medium can be reproduced according to the degree of the user's viewing request.

  In addition to the number of reproductions, the information generation unit preferably uses the preference information as the order determination criterion.

  In this case, the information generation unit can generate the order information based on the information related to the user's preference even when each content recorded on the recording medium is not reproduced by the user.

  Note that the information generation unit may use information about the user's preference when generating the order information even when each content recorded on the recording medium is reproduced by the user. In this case, the information generation unit generates the order information based on the number of reproductions of each content and information related to the user's preference.

  A detection unit that detects the order information from the order recording area of the recording medium when the ordered recording medium in which the order information is recorded in advance is loaded, and is detected by the detection unit; It is preferable that each content recorded in the content recording area of the recording medium is automatically reproduced according to the automatic reproduction order represented by the order information.

  In this case, if the order information is recorded in advance when the recording medium is loaded, the detecting unit detects the order information.

  The recording / reproducing apparatus automatically reproduces the content recorded on the recording medium in accordance with the automatic reproduction order represented by such order information.

  By doing so, it is possible to reproduce the content recorded on the recording medium in accordance with the reproduction order close to the reproduction order of the content that the user will most likely reproduce in the future. That is, the content recorded on the recording medium can be reproduced according to the degree of the user's viewing request.

  Based on the order information, at least a part of the plurality of contents recorded in the content recording area of the recording medium is selected, and specific information for uniquely identifying each part of the contents is acquired from the recording medium. Information included in the recording medium so that the user can visually recognize the character string indicating the specific information acquired by the specific information acquisition unit and the specific information acquisition unit from the surface of the recording medium. It is preferable to further include a specific information recording unit that records in an information recording layer that can only be read.

  In this case, even if the user can only memorize the specific information that can identify the content recorded on the recording medium, the specific information of the content that the user will most likely reproduce will be displayed. Thus, it can be made visible from the surface of the recording medium.

  Therefore, by visually recognizing such specific information, the user can easily find the desired content from the content recorded on the recording medium even if his / her memory is ambiguous.

  A recording medium according to the present invention is a recording medium that is detachable from the recording / reproducing apparatus, and the recording medium includes two or more information recording layers, and information in each information recording layer is reproduced. The content recording area, the number-of-times recording area, and the sequential recording area are provided in any one of the two or more information recording layers.

  In the above recording medium, the content recorded by the content recording unit of the recording / reproducing apparatus, the number of reproductions of each content recorded by the number recording unit, and the order information recorded by the order recording unit are recorded on the recording medium. Become.

  For this reason, it is not necessary for the recording / reproducing apparatus to previously provide a recording medium for recording such contents, the number of times of reproduction, and order information, and the manufacturing cost of the recording / reproducing apparatus can be reduced.

  In addition, since the content and the order information are recorded on the recording medium, a recording medium on which the content and the order information are recorded can be manufactured without the user's hand. Therefore, the user's trouble can be saved.

  The information generation unit, when generating the order information, reads the order information generation algorithm recorded in advance in the order information generation algorithm recording area of the recording medium, and based on the order determination criterion according to the order information generation algorithm The automatic reproduction order is determined, and the order information generation algorithm recording area is preferably provided in any one of the two or more information recording layers.

  In this case, the recording / reproducing apparatus can generate order information using an order information generation algorithm recorded in advance on the recording medium.

  For this reason, the order information generation algorithm can be appropriately updated from the recording medium, and an algorithm suitable for creating the order information of the contents to be recorded on each recording medium can be used.

  The content recording unit reads a preference information generation algorithm pre-recorded in a preference information generation algorithm recording area of the recording medium, and the user preference information based on input information from the user according to the preference information generation algorithm Preferably, the preference information generation algorithm recording area is provided in one of the two or more information recording layers.

  In this case, the recording / reproducing apparatus can generate information related to the user's preference using a preference information generation algorithm recorded in advance on the recording medium.

  Therefore, the preference information generation algorithm can be appropriately updated from the recording medium, and an algorithm suitable for selecting the content to be recorded on each recording medium can be used.

  At least one of the two or more information recording layers is a first information recording layer that can only read information, and at least of the remaining information recording layers different from the first information recording layer One layer is a second information recording layer in which information can be rewritten or information can be additionally recorded, and the content recording area, the number recording area, and the sequential recording area are the second information recording layer. It is preferable that the order information generation algorithm recording area and the preference information generation algorithm recording area are provided in the first information recording layer.

  In this case, the content, the number of times of reproduction, and the order information can be rewritten and additionally written by recording them in the second information recording layer.

  Moreover, by re-recording the order information generation algorithm and the preference information generation algorithm in the first information recording layer in advance, their rewriting by a third party is prevented.

  The recording / reproducing method according to the present invention includes a content recording step of selectively acquiring from a plurality of contents based on preference information relating to user preferences and recording the content in a content recording area of a recording medium, and the content recording step. A reproduction counting step for counting the number of times the user has reproduced each content from the recording medium with respect to each content recorded on the recording medium, and the number of reproductions of each content counted in the reproduction counting step The number of times recorded in the number of times recording area of the recording medium, and the number of times of reproduction of each content recorded on the recording medium in the number of times recording step as an order determination criterion, Information generation for determining an automatic reproduction order for automatically reproducing content and generating order information representing the automatic reproduction order of each content And a step, the order recording step for recording the order information generated by said information generation step sequentially recording area of the recording medium.

  In the recording / reproducing method, the same effects as those of the recording / reproducing apparatus can be obtained.

  The recording / reproducing apparatus may be realized by a computer. In this case, a recording / reproducing program for realizing the recording / reproducing by the computer by causing the computer to operate as each unit is also within the scope of the present invention. enter.

  As described above, the recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention selectively acquires from a plurality of contents based on the preference information related to the user's preference, and stores it in the content recording area of the recording medium that is detachable from the own apparatus. A content recording unit for recording, a reproduction counting unit for counting the number of times the user has reproduced each content from the recording medium with respect to each content recorded on the recording medium by the content recording unit, and the reproduction counting unit The number of recording times recorded in the number recording area of the recording medium, and the number of times the content recorded on the recording medium by the number recording unit is used as an order determination criterion. An automatic reproduction order for automatically reproducing each content recorded on the recording medium is determined, and the automatic reproduction order of each content is displayed. It comprises an information generation unit that generates to order information, and order recording unit for recording the order information generated by the information generating unit in the order recording area of the recording medium.

  Therefore, it is possible to provide a recording / reproducing apparatus capable of recording content on a recording medium in accordance with the degree of user's viewing request and reproducing the content recorded on the recording medium in accordance with the degree of user's viewing request. There is an effect that can be done.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the recording / reproducing control part of the recording / reproducing apparatus concerning one Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows schematic structure of the recording medium which can be attached or detached to said recording / reproducing apparatus. It is the top view seen from the surface side of said recording medium. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of said recording / reproducing apparatus. It is a figure which shows the structure of the recording / reproducing execution part of said recording / reproducing apparatus. It is a flowchart for demonstrating operation | movement of said recording / reproducing apparatus. It is a flowchart for demonstrating operation | movement of said recording / reproducing apparatus. It is a flowchart for demonstrating operation | movement of said recording / reproducing apparatus. It is the top view seen from the surface side of said recording medium. It is a flowchart for demonstrating operation | movement of the specific information recording part of said recording / reproducing control part.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

(recoding media)
First, a recording medium used in the recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described. As this recording medium, an optical information recording medium having a multilayer structure having up to two information recording layers can be used in DVD, BD (Blu-ray Disc; registered trademark), or the like. This optical information recording medium is an information rewritable information recording layer (hereinafter referred to as “RE (REwritable) layer”), an information recording layer in which various contents are recorded in advance, and can only be reproduced. And a read-only information recording layer (hereinafter referred to as a “ROM (Read Only Memory) layer”), which is a recording medium with an improved recording capacity. In addition to the RE layer and the ROM layer, an additional information recording layer (hereinafter referred to as an R (Recordable) layer) may be provided.

  Hereinafter, a specific example of a recording medium used in the recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a recording medium 200 used in the recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the recording medium 200 includes a light transmitting layer 10, a first information recording layer 20, an intermediate layer 30, and a second information recording layer 40 in order from the reproduction light incident surface side. The structure is laminated on the substrate 50.

  The translucent layer 10 is formed using, for example, an ultraviolet curable resin having a thickness of 75 μm. The material of the light transmissive layer 10 may be any material having a high transmittance at the wavelength of the reproduction light. That is, the translucent layer 10 may be formed using, for example, a polycarbonate film and a transparent adhesive.

  Further, a hard coat for surface protection may be provided on the surface of the light transmissive layer 10.

  Furthermore, the thickness of the translucent layer 10 may be changed according to the optical system of the recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present embodiment, in which the recording medium 200 is attached / detached. Specifically, the translucent layer 10 may be, for example, a 0.6 mm polycarbonate substrate.

  The first information recording layer 20 is a ROM layer, and is formed using, for example, aluminum nitride having a thickness of 15 nm whose refractive index is adjusted by a nitrogen flow rate during film formation.

  The thickness and material of the first information recording layer 20 are not limited to this. For example, the reflectance value of the first information recording layer 20 at a reproduction light wavelength is larger than 0.4% and 2.2%. The following is acceptable.

  That is, the first information recording layer 20 has translucency at the reproduction light wavelength, and the reflectance value thereof is the reproduction light when reproducing the second information recording layer 40 (hereinafter referred to as “second”). ”Is a value that makes it impossible to pull in the focus, and the reproduction light when reproducing the first information recording layer 20 (hereinafter referred to as“ first reproduction light ”) is focused. Any value that can be pulled in may be used. Specifically, the first information recording layer 20 may be made of, for example, silicon nitride, aluminum nitride, or a dielectric mainly composed of silicon nitride in addition to the aluminum nitride. You may have.

  The second reproduction light is applied to the recording medium 200 when reproducing the second information recording layer 40. The first reproduction light has higher intensity than the second reproduction light, and the first reproduction light When the information recording layer 20 is reproduced, the recording medium 200 is irradiated.

  The intermediate layer 30 is made of, for example, a transparent ultraviolet curable resin having a thickness of 25 μm. The material of the intermediate layer 30 is not limited to this, and any material having a high transmittance at the wavelength of the reproduction light may be used.

  Further, the thickness of the intermediate layer 30 is not limited to this, and the intermediate information layer 30 can be separated from the first information recording layer 20 and the second information recording layer 40 so that the interlayer crosstalk does not cause a problem. It ’s fine. Interlayer crosstalk refers to noise from information recording layers other than the information recording layer being reproduced.

  Further, the intermediate layer 30 may have a multilayer structure. Further, prepits (not shown) made of unevenness corresponding to information recorded as shapes on the first information recording layer 20 are provided on the surface of the intermediate layer 30 on the first information recording layer 20 side. .

The second information recording layer 40 is an RE layer and is formed of, for example, seven thin films. This seven-layer thin film includes, in order from the reproduction light incident side, a first protective film 41 (for example, ZnS—SiO _{2 having} a thickness of 35 nm) and a second protective film 42 (for example, ZrO having a thickness of 5 nm). , A recording layer 43 (for example, GeTe—Sb ₂ Te ₃ with a thickness of 10 nm), a third protective film 44 (for example, ZrO with a thickness of 5 nm), and a fourth protective film 45 (for example, with a thickness of 35 nm) ZnS—SiO ₂ ), a fifth protective film 46 (for example, ZrO having a thickness of 5 nm), and a reflective film 47 (for example, APC (AgPdCu) having a thickness of 20 nm) are stacked on the substrate 50. have. The material, thickness, and number of layers of the second information recording layer 40 are not limited to this, and any material that functions as an RE layer may be used.

  For the substrate 50, for example, polycarbonate having a thickness of 1.1 mm can be used. The material and the thickness of the substrate 50 are not limited to this, and it is sufficient that the groove is provided on the surface and has a predetermined strength that can be used as the substrate.

  Specifically, for example, a polyolefin resin or a metal may be used for the substrate 50. Further, the substrate 50 is not limited to a single layer and may have a multilayer structure.

  On the surface of the substrate 50, in addition to the grooves, prepits made of unevenness corresponding to information recorded as shapes on the second information recording layer 40 may be provided. In this case, the area where the pre-pits of the second information recording layer 40 are provided is an area where only information can be read. That is, the second information recording layer 40 may include a RE area and a ROM area.

  FIG. 3 is a plan view seen from the surface side of the recording medium 200 of FIG. The recording medium 200 has identification information unique to the recording medium 200 from the viewpoint of copyright protection and the like. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the recording medium 200 is provided with a bar-code management information area 170. This management information area 170 includes BCA (Burst Cutting Area) and PIC (Permanent Information & Control data).

  In particular, the BCA is obtained by recording identification information (ID) indicating the structure of the recording medium 200, an encryption key, and a decryption key in a barcode form after the recording medium 200 is manufactured. For example, light transmission that forms a non-rewritable barcode by condensing and irradiating a high-intensity laser beam or the like to evaporate the first information recording layer 20 or the second information recording layer 40 of the recording medium 200 itself. Reflectivity that causes a non-rewritable alteration in the type BCA, the first information recording layer 20, the second information recording layer 40 itself, or the substrate 50 around them, and reads the change in the amount of reflected light in the altered region There is a control type BCA.

  Specific examples of the identification information include the type of information recording layer (ROM layer, RE layer, R layer) of the recording medium 200, the size of the recording medium 200, the version of the recording medium 200 (related to speed, etc.), and the recording medium 200. The standard conditions for recording / reproducing data, the polarity of the servo, the polarity of the recording mark, the number unique to the recording medium 200, etc. can be exemplified, but the recording order and arrangement method of these identification information in the BCA may be arbitrary. These recording orders are usually determined by standards and the like.

  The recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present embodiment executes an automatic editing process described later on such a recording medium 200. In the recording medium 200, an identifier indicating that the recording medium 200 is a recording medium capable of executing this automatic editing process is recorded in the BCA described above. The automatic editing process is executed on the recording medium 200 recorded in the above.

(Recording and playback device)
Next, the recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described. The recording / playback apparatus according to the present embodiment records content such as a DVD recorder, a BD recorder, an HDD recorder, a personal computer with a built-in recording medium such as an HDD or a flash memory, a TV, a mobile phone, and a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant). The present invention can be applied to any device that reproduces.

  In short, any device can be used as long as the recording medium 200 as described above can be attached and detached and the automatic editing process described below can be performed when the recording medium 200 is loaded. Also good.

  Further, in the present embodiment, a TV program is described as an example of content recorded on the recording medium 200. However, a radio broadcast program, a broadcast program such as a movie, audio information, video image, and game software, and distribution are described. Information and data created by the user can also be recorded as content. It is not necessarily limited to TV programs.

  In the following, a case where there is one user will be described as an example, but the present invention may be a case where there are a plurality of users. In this case, for example, each user is given an identification number that can uniquely identify each user, and when each user uses the recording / reproducing apparatus, the identification number is given to the recording / reproducing apparatus, and each user is You should make it recognize. By doing so, the recording / reproducing apparatus can perform each operation described later for each user.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, the recording operation of the recording / playback apparatus is described as recording in order to describe the content as a TV program. However, the recording operation is not limited as long as it corresponds to the content to be recorded. It is not limited to recording. For example, in the case of voice information, the recording operation is recording.

  Moreover, although it demonstrates below using the example of the reservation process using the information contained in electronic program guides, such as EPG (Electronic Program Guide) information which is the program information of a broadcast program, it does not necessarily restrict to this, Processing based on guidance information regarding the name or content of information to be recorded can also be applied to the present invention.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the recording / reproducing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the recording / reproducing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes a recording / reproducing execution unit 2, a recording / reproducing control unit 3, an instruction input unit 4, and an image display unit 5.

  The recording / playback execution unit 2 records content on a recording medium 200 that can be attached to and detached from the recording / playback apparatus 1 and plays back the content recorded on the recording medium 200.

  The recording / playback control unit 3 controls recording of content on the recording medium 200 and playback of content from the recording medium 200 by the recording / playback execution unit 2. In addition, the recording / playback control unit 3 acquires a large amount of content provided by a large number of content providers.

  The instruction input unit 4 accepts various instruction inputs from the user. For example, a keyboard, a numeric keypad, etc. can be used.

  The image display unit 5 displays content and the like reproduced from the recording medium 200 by the recording / playback execution unit 2. For example, an image display device such as a liquid crystal display can be used.

(Recording / playback execution unit)
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the configuration of the recording / playback execution unit 2.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the disk drive motor 101 of the recording / playback execution unit 2 rotates the disk-shaped recording medium 200 at a predetermined speed. The disk drive motor 101 is controlled by a motor control circuit 109. Reading of information from the recording medium 200 that is rotationally driven in this way is performed by the optical pickup 102.

  The optical pickup 102 is configured to move in the radial direction of the recording medium 200 by the driving force of the feed motor 111. The feed motor 111 is controlled by a feed motor control circuit 108. Further, the feed motor 111 is configured such that the rotational speed thereof is detected by the speed detector 112. Then, the speed detector 112 supplies the detected result as a speed signal to the feed motor control circuit 108.

  The optical pickup 102 includes an objective lens 102a. The objective lens 102a is supported so as to be movable in a focusing direction (optical axis direction) and a tracking direction (radial direction of the recording medium 200). The objective lens 102a is controlled in position in the focus direction by supplying the focus control signal generated by the focus control circuit 105 to the focus drive coil 102c. Similarly, the position of the objective lens 102a in the tracking direction is controlled by supplying the tracking control signal generated by the tracking control circuit 108 to the tracking drive coil 102b.

  Further, the laser control circuit 103 drives the semiconductor laser oscillator 102f in the optical pickup 102 and generates laser light from the semiconductor laser oscillator 102f. The light amount detector 102 g detects the light amount of the laser light generated by the semiconductor laser oscillator 102 f and feeds back the detection result to the laser control circuit 103. With this configuration, the laser control circuit 103 can control the amount of laser light generated by the semiconductor laser oscillator 102f to be constant.

  The laser light generated by the semiconductor laser oscillator 102f passes through the collimator lens 102e, is bent at a right angle by the half prism 102d, and then is formed on any information recording layer of the recording medium 200 by the objective lens 102a. It will be focused on. One of the information recording layers of the recording medium 200 is either the first information recording layer 20 or the second information recording layer 40 shown in FIG.

  Reflected light from the recording medium 200 travels backward through the objective lens 102a and travels straight through the half prism 102d, and then is received by the photoelectric converter 102j via the condenser lens 102h and the cylindrical lens 102i. The photoelectric converter 102j includes four photodetectors 102j1 to 102j4 that generate an electrical signal corresponding to the amount of received light. In the case of this photoelectric converter 102j, the alignment direction of the photodetectors 102j1 and 102j2 and the alignment direction of the photodetectors 102j3 and 102j4 correspond to the tracking direction of the recording medium 200. Similarly, the alignment direction of the photodetectors 102j1 and 102j4 and the alignment direction of the photodetectors 102j2 and 102j3 correspond to the tangential direction of the recording medium 200.

  The electrical signal output from the photodetector 102j1 is supplied to one end of the adder circuits 113a and 113d via the amplifier circuit 114a, and the electrical signal output from the photodetector 102j2 is added to the adder circuits 113b and 113c via the amplifier circuit 114b. Are supplied to one end of each. The electrical signal output from the photodetector 102j3 is supplied to the other ends of the adder circuits 113a and 113c via the amplifier circuit 114c, and the electrical signal output from the photodetector 102j4 is added to the adder circuit 113b via the amplifier circuit 114d. -It is supplied to the other end of 113d.

  The output signal of the adder circuit 113 a is supplied to the inverting input terminal − of the differential amplifier circuit 104, and the output signal of the adder circuit 113 b is supplied to the non-inverting input terminal + of the differential amplifier circuit 104. The differential amplifier circuit 104 generates a focus error signal by calculating the difference between the output signals of the adder circuits 113 a and 113 b and supplies the focus error signal to the focus control circuit 105. The focus control circuit 105 generates a focus control signal to be applied to the focus drive coil 102c so that the input focus error signal becomes 0 level, and focus servo is performed on the objective lens 102a.

  At the time of reproducing the recording medium 200, the recording / reproducing execution unit 2 first causes the semiconductor laser oscillator 102f in the optical pickup 102 to generate reproducing light corresponding to the single-layer optical information recording medium.

  Next, the condensing position of the laser beam by the objective lens 102a is moved upward from the initial position to the driving upper limit position in FIG. Then, the recording / reproducing execution unit 2 recognizes the number of information recording layers of the recording medium 200 by counting the number of times the focus error signal exceeds a predetermined reference voltage.

  Thereafter, the recording / reproducing execution unit 2 changes the reproducing light power determined based on the number of information recording layers of the recording medium 200. Then, the recording / reproducing execution unit 2 moves the condensing position of the laser beam by the objective lens 102a from the driving upper limit position downward to the initial position in FIG. 2 with the changed reproducing light power. At that time, the gain of the amplifier included in the focus control circuit 105 or the like is changed so that the voltage value of the focus error signal detected from the information recording layer first subjected to the focus search process becomes an appropriate value.

  For example, when the focus search process is performed on the second information recording layer 40, the recording / playback execution unit 2 counts the number of times the focus error signal exceeds the reference voltage, and after the second time, The focus servo is turned on when the level becomes 0 (the center level of the focus servo operation). Thus, the focus search process for the second information recording layer 40 in the recording / playback execution unit 2 is completed.

  Further, for example, when a layer jump is performed from the first information recording layer 20 to the second information recording layer 40, the recording / reproducing execution unit 2 temporarily turns off the focus servo, and the second information recording layer 20 performs the second jump from the first information recording layer 20 to the second information recording layer 40. The focal position of the laser beam by the objective lens 102a is sequentially moved to the information recording layer 40.

  Then, the recording / reproducing execution unit 2 counts the number of times that the focus error signal output from the differential amplifier circuit 104 exceeds the reference voltage, and after the first time, the recording / playback execution unit 2 first becomes 0 level (focus servo operation When the center level is reached, the focus servo is turned on. As a result, the layer jump process ends.

  Further, when these focus search processes are performed, the phase difference detection circuit 107 has a phase difference between the sum of the output signals of the photodetectors 102j1 and 102j4 of the photoelectric converter 102j and the sum of the output signals of the photodetectors 102j2 and 102j3. To detect.

  The phase difference detection circuit 107 supplies the detection result to the tracking control circuit 106 as a tracking error signal.

  The tracking control circuit 106 generates a tracking control signal to be applied to the tracking drive coil 102b based on the input tracking error signal, and applies tracking servo to the objective lens 102a.

  The recording / reproducing execution unit 2 reproduces the recording medium 200 while the tracking servo is being performed. The electrical signals output from the adder circuits 113c and 113d are summed by the adder circuit 113e and converted into a digital signal by the data reproduction circuit 110.

  The laser control circuit 103, the focus control circuit 105, the tracking control circuit 108, the motor control circuit 109, and the data reproduction circuit 110 of the recording / playback execution unit 2 are controlled by the control unit 115. The control unit 115 stores information related to recording / reproduction of the recording medium 200 loaded in the recording / reproduction execution unit 2. The control unit 115 controls each circuit described above according to this information.

  Thus, in the recording / reproducing execution unit 2, the objective lens 120a of the optical pickup 102 that reads information from each of the first information recording layer 20 and the second information recording layer 40 of the recording medium 200 is as described above. In addition, it is controlled by the focus servo and tracking servo. The focus servo is a control (control in the vertical direction of the recording medium 200) that keeps the distance between the objective lens 120a and the recording medium 200 constant and keeps the focus of the laser light. On the other hand, control (control in the radial direction of the recording medium 200) for causing the objective lens 120a to follow the target track against track fluctuation caused by eccentricity of the recording medium 200 is called tracking servo.

  Further, at the time of recording on the recording medium 200, the objective lens 120a is controlled by the focus servo and tracking servo as described above, as in the case of reproduction of the recording medium 200. Then, the control unit 115 sets the recording light power via the laser control circuit 103 and irradiates the second information recording layer 40 of the recording medium 200 with the recording light from the optical pickup 102. By doing so, information is recorded on the track of the second information recording layer 40.

(Recording / playback control unit)
As described above, the recording / playback control unit 3 controls recording of content on the recording medium 200 and playback of content from the recording medium 200 by the recording / playback execution unit 2. Hereinafter, recording of content on the recording medium 200 by the recording / playback execution unit 2 is simply referred to as recording of content on the recording medium 200, and playback of content from the recording medium 200 by the recording / playback execution unit 2 is simply recorded. This is called reproduction from the medium 200.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the recording / playback control unit 3.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the recording / reproducing control unit 3 includes a program recording unit (content recording unit) 301, a reproduction counting unit (reproduction counting unit, number recording unit) 302, a capacity calculation unit 303, and an order information generation unit. (Information generation unit, order recording unit) 304, specific information recording unit 305, and detection unit 306 are provided.

  The program recording unit 301 acquires a preference information generation algorithm recorded in advance in the first information recording layer 20 of the recording medium 200, and generates preference information related to the user's preference according to the preference information generation algorithm. The recording medium 200 includes a preference information generation algorithm recording area in which the preference information generation algorithm is recorded in the first information recording layer 20.

  Specifically, when the program recording unit 301 acquires the preference information generation algorithm from the recording medium 200, various questions for generating information related to the user's preference in the image display unit 5, for example, according to the preference information generation algorithm. Etc. are displayed. The program recording unit 301 performs various statistical processes on the input information for the question and the like input from the user from the instruction input unit 4 according to the above-described preference information generation algorithm, and generates information related to the user's preference.

  Then, the program recording unit 301 selects a program that matches the user's preference from a plurality of programs based on the information regarding the user's preference generated in this way, and the second information of the recording medium 200 is selected. Recording is performed on the recording layer 40. The recording medium 200 has a program recording area in which the program selected by the program recording unit 301 is recorded in the second information recording layer 40.

  The program recorded in the program recording area of the recording medium 200 by the program recording unit 301 matches the user's preference, and when the program is recorded on the recording medium 200 according to the degree of the user's viewing request. I can say that.

  The reproduction counting unit 302 acquires a program reproduction request from the user input from the instruction input unit 4. The program reproduction request is for the user to request the recording / reproducing apparatus 1 to reproduce the program after the program is recorded on the recording medium 200 for each of the programs recorded on the recording medium 200. is there.

  The reproduction counting unit 302 acquires such a program reproduction request, and counts how many times the program corresponding to the program reproduction request is reproduced after being recorded on the recording medium 200.

  Then, the reproduction counting unit 302 records the number of reproductions of each program recorded on the recording medium 200 counted in this way on the second information recording layer 40 of the recording medium 200. Each time the reproduction counting unit 302 acquires the program reproduction request described above, the reproduction counting unit 302 updates the number of reproductions of the program to the recording medium 200. In the recording medium 200, the second information recording layer 40 is provided with a number recording area in which the number of reproductions of the program recorded on the recording medium 200 counted by the reproduction counting unit 302 is recorded.

  The capacity calculation unit 303 calculates the remaining recording capacity of the program recording area of the second information recording layer 40 of the recording medium 200. The capacity calculation unit 303 calculates the remaining recording capacity of the program recording area every time recording of one program ends, and determines whether or not the calculation result is equal to or less than a predetermined lower limit value. This predetermined lower limit is, for example, a lower limit that the remaining storage capacity is one hour. Of course, the lower limit value is not limited to such a value, and can be set as appropriate by the user.

  When the capacity calculation unit 303 determines that the remaining recording capacity of the program recording area is equal to or lower than the lower limit value, the capacity calculation unit 303 outputs the determination result to the program recording unit 301. The program recording unit 301 ends the recording of the program on the recording medium 200 based on the determination result. At that time, the program recording unit 301 outputs to the image display unit 5 that the remaining recording capacity of the program recording area of the second information recording layer 40 of the recording medium 200 has become the lower limit value or less, and You may make it alert | report to this effect.

  Then, for example, the user can recognize that the remaining storage capacity of the program recording area of the second information recording layer 40 of the recording medium 200 will be zero in another hour, for example. The recording medium 200 can be replaced.

  For this reason, it is possible to avoid a program recording failure due to an insufficient remaining recording capacity in the program recording area of the recording medium 200.

  Although not shown, for example, by providing the recording / playback execution unit 2 with a configuration that enables mounting of two recording media 200, the user can replace the recording media 200 as described above. It is not necessary to perform That is, the capacity calculation unit 303 notifies the recording / playback execution unit 2 that the remaining recording capacity of the program recording area of the recording medium 200 is equal to or lower than the lower limit, and the recording / playback execution unit 2 that has received the notification notifies the recording medium 200. It is sufficient to automatically perform the replacement.

  In this case, the remaining recording capacity of the program recording area of the first recording medium 200 out of the two recording media 200 loaded first is equal to or lower than the lower limit value, and the second recording medium 200 is moved to the second recording medium 200. After the recording of the program starts, the user needs to replace the first recording medium 200 with a new recording medium 200.

  Further, as described above, when the capacity calculation unit 303 determines that the remaining recording capacity of the program recording area of the second information recording layer 40 of the recording medium 200 is equal to or lower than the lower limit value, the determination result is displayed as order information. Also output to the generation unit 304.

  The order information generation unit 304 receives the above determination result from the capacity calculation unit 303 and recognizes that the program recording on the recording medium 200 by the program recording unit 301 has ended. Then, the order information generation unit 304 acquires an order information generation algorithm recorded in advance on the first information recording layer 20 of the recording medium 200, and automatically records a program recorded on the recording medium 200 according to the order information generation algorithm. Order information representing the playback order is generated. At the time of generation, the order information generation unit 304 acquires the number of times each program has been reproduced from the number recording area of the second information recording layer 40 of the recording medium 200, and the number of times the program has been reproduced is determined by the above-described order information generation algorithm. Various statistical processes are performed according to the above, and the above-described order information is generated.

  The recording medium 200 includes an order information generation algorithm recording area in which the order information generation algorithm is recorded on the first information recording layer 20.

  This order information is information representing an automatic reproduction order for automatically reproducing each program recorded on the recording medium 200. As described above, the automatic reproduction order represented by this order information is generated based on the number of reproductions of each program, and can be said to be a reproduction order according to the degree of user's viewing request.

  Specifically, the order information generation unit 304 performs the above-described various statistical processes, for example, sets the automatic reproduction order of a large number of programs recorded in the program recording area of the recording medium 200 to the number of times each program is reproduced. It can be in order of most. This is because it is considered that the program is likely to be reproduced in the future as the number of times of reproduction by the user increases.

  On the other hand, the order information generation unit 304 may set the automatic playback order of a large number of programs recorded in the program recording area of the recording medium 200 in the order of decreasing the number of playback times of each program. This is because the smaller the number of times of playback by the user, the more likely that the program will be played back by the user in the future.

  Further, for example, when there are continuous drama programs in the program recorded on the recording medium 200, the user should want to reproduce the continuous drama programs in the order of the continuous drama programs. The order information may be generated in consideration of the commonality of such programs. Such program commonality may be defined in advance in the order information generation algorithm.

  In short, it is only necessary that the above-described order information is generated based on the number of times of reproduction of each program recorded on the recording medium 200 and the automatic reproduction order can be set in accordance with the degree of the user's request for viewing.

  Further, the order information generation unit 304 may acquire information related to user preferences from the program recording unit 301 when generating the order information described above. For example, there may be a case where the remaining recording capacity of the program recording area of the recording medium 200 is equal to or lower than the lower limit value without each program recorded on the recording medium 200 being reproduced by the user. In this case, the order information generation unit 304 can generate the above-described order information based on information about user preferences acquired from the program recording unit 301.

  Of course, the order information generation unit 304 may acquire the information related to the user's preference even when each program recorded on the recording medium 200 is reproduced by the user. In this case, the order information generation unit 304 may generate the order information on the basis of the number of times each program is played and information related to the user's preference.

  The order information generation unit 304 records the order information generated in this way on the second information recording layer 40 of the recording medium 200. The recording medium 200 has an order recording area in which order information is recorded on the second information recording layer 40.

  Further, when the order information generation unit 304 generates the order information, the order information generation unit 304 notifies the specific information recording unit 305 that the order information has been generated.

  When the specific information recording unit 305 receives a notification from the order information generating unit 304 that the order information has been generated, the specific information recording unit 305 displays the order information recorded in the order recording area of the second information recording layer 40 of the recording medium 200. get. Then, the specific information recording unit 305 identifies, from the surface of the recording medium 200, specific information that uniquely identifies the program among the programs recorded on the recording medium 200 based on the automatic reproduction order represented by the order information. Select a program that should be visible to the user.

  Specifically, the specific information recording unit 305 selects, for example, a program that is higher in the automatic reproduction order, that is, a program having a higher degree of user viewing request. Such a program is a program that the user will most likely reproduce in the future among the programs recorded on the recording medium 200. Therefore, if the user can make specific information for uniquely identifying such a program, such as the title of the program, visible to the user from the surface of the recording medium 200, the user can record the information on the recording medium 200. You can easily find the program that is.

  When the specific information recording unit 305 selects a program that allows the user to visually recognize the specific information from the surface of the recording medium 200 as described above, the specific information recording unit 305 acquires the specific information of the program from the recording medium 200.

  The specific information recording unit 305 records the specific information acquired in this way on the surface of the recording medium 200 so that the user can visually recognize the specific information.

  The detection unit 306 detects the order information from the recording medium 200 in which the order information as described above is already recorded in the order recording area of the second information recording layer 40. The detection unit 306 causes the image display unit 5 to display the automatic reproduction order represented by the order information detected from the recording medium 200.

  When the instruction input unit 4 makes a program playback request from the user, the detection unit 306 requests the recording / playback execution unit 2 to play a program corresponding to the program playback request. On the other hand, when there is no program reproduction request from the instruction input unit 4 by the user, the detection unit 306 requests the recording / reproduction execution unit 2 to reproduce a program according to the automatic reproduction order indicated by the order information detected from the recording medium 200. To do.

(Operation of recording / playback device)
Next, the operation of the recording / reproducing apparatus 1 will be described. 6 to 8 are flowcharts for explaining the operation of the recording / reproducing apparatus 1.

  In FIG. 6, first, the recording medium 200 is loaded into the recording / playback execution unit 2 of the recording / playback apparatus 1 (step S101).

  Next, the recording / playback execution unit 2 plays back the BCA and PIC included in the management information area 170 of the recording medium 200 shown in FIG. 3 (step S102).

  Next, if the recording / playback execution unit 2 cannot detect the identifier indicating that the BCA and PIC played back in step S102 described above can execute the automatic editing process (NO in step S103), the recording / playback unit 2 performs the recording / playback. The operation of the device 1 is finished. The recording / reproducing apparatus 1 may be a recording / reproducing apparatus for a normal recording medium.

  On the other hand, if the recording / playback execution unit 2 can detect the identifier (YES in step S103), the recording / playback execution unit 2 and the recording / playback control unit 3 sequentially record the second information recording layer 40 of the recording medium 200. The area is reproduced (step S104).

  Next, if the order information is not recorded in the order recording area of the second information recording layer 40 of the recording medium 200 (step S105 NO), the recording / reproducing execution unit 2 and the recording / reproducing control unit 3 generate the order information. (Step S106).

  On the other hand, if the order information is recorded in the order recording area of the second information recording layer 40 of the recording medium 200 (YES in step S105), the recording / reproducing execution unit 2 and the recording / reproducing control unit 3 automatically reproduce the recording medium 200. (Step S107).

  Hereinafter, the generation of the order information in step S106 will be described first, and then the automatic reproduction of the recording medium 200 in step S107 will be described.

  In FIG. 7, the program recording unit 301 of the recording / playback execution unit 2 and the recording / playback control unit 3 acquires the preference information generation algorithm from the preference information generation algorithm recording region of the first information recording layer 20 of the recording medium 200 (step S201). In step S201, the program recording unit 301 may record the preference information generation algorithm acquired in this manner in, for example, a temporary recording unit (not shown) provided in the recording / reproducing apparatus 1.

  Next, in accordance with the preference information generation algorithm, the program recording unit 301 displays various questions and the like for generating information related to user preferences on the image display unit 5 (step S202). In step S <b> 202, the user inputs his / her answer to the question displayed on the image display unit 5 using the instruction input unit 4.

  Next, the program recording unit 301 performs various statistical processing on the input information from the user input from the instruction input unit 4 with respect to the question and the like according to the above preference information generation algorithm, and generates information on the user's preference. (Step S203).

  Next, the program recording unit 301 selects a program that matches the user's preference from among a plurality of programs based on the information regarding the user's preference generated in step S <b> 203, and stores the second program on the recording medium 200. Recording to the program recording area of the information recording layer 40 is started (step S204).

  In this step S204, for example, the recording / playback control unit 3 acquires TV program information such as EPG, and matches the user's preference from the TV program information based on the information related to the user's preference described above. What is necessary is just to produce | generate the recording program for selecting a program and recording those programs. Each time recording of these programs ends, the capacity calculation unit 303 of the recording / playback control unit 3 calculates the remaining recording capacity of the program recording area of the second information recording layer 40 of the recording medium 200.

  This step S204 is repeated until it is determined in step S206, which will be described later, that the capacity calculation unit 303 determines that the remaining recording capacity of the program recording area of the second information recording layer 40 of the recording medium 200 is equal to or lower than the lower limit value.

  Next, the reproduction counting unit 302 acquires a program reproduction request from the user input from the instruction input unit 4. The reproduction counting unit 302 acquires such a program reproduction request, and counts how many times the program corresponding to the program reproduction request has been recorded after being recorded on the recording medium 200 (step S205).

  In step S <b> 205, the reproduction counting unit 302 records the number of reproductions of each program recorded on the recording medium 200 thus counted in the second information recording layer 40 of the recording medium 200. Each time the reproduction counting unit 302 acquires the program reproduction request described above, the reproduction counting unit 302 updates the number of reproductions of the program to the recording medium 200.

  This step S205 is repeated until the capacity calculation unit 303 determines in step S206, which will be described later, that the remaining recording capacity of the program recording area of the second information recording layer 40 of the recording medium 200 is equal to or lower than the lower limit value.

  Next, the capacity calculation unit 303 determines that the remaining recording capacity of the program recording area of the second information recording layer 40 of the recording medium 200 has become the lower limit value or less. Then, the determination result is output to the program recording unit 301. The program recording unit 301 ends the recording of the program on the recording medium 200 based on the determination result (step S206).

  In step S206, the program recording unit 301 outputs to the image display unit 5 that the remaining recording capacity of the program recording area of the second information recording layer 40 of the recording medium 200 has become the lower limit or less, and uses it. You may make it alert | report to that. Then, for example, the user can recognize that the remaining storage capacity of the program recording area of the second information recording layer 40 of the recording medium 200 will be zero in another hour, for example. The recording medium 200 can be replaced. For this reason, it is possible to avoid a program recording failure due to an insufficient remaining recording capacity in the program recording area of the recording medium 200.

  Next, when the order information generation unit 304 receives the above determination result from the capacity calculation unit 303 and recognizes that the recording of the program on the recording medium 200 by the program recording unit 301 is completed, the first information on the recording medium 200 is displayed. An order information generation algorithm recorded in advance in the information recording layer 20 is acquired (step S207). In step S207, the order information generation unit 304 may record the order information generation algorithm acquired in this way, for example, in a temporary recording unit (not shown) provided in the recording / reproducing apparatus 1.

  Next, the order information generation unit 304 generates order information indicating the automatic reproduction order of programs recorded on the recording medium 200 in accordance with the order information generation algorithm (step S208).

  In step S208, the order information generation unit 304 acquires the number of times each program has been reproduced from the number of times recording area of the second information recording layer 40 of the recording medium 200, and the number of times the program has been reproduced is generated as described above in the order information generation. Various statistical processes are performed according to the algorithm to generate the above order information. Then, the order information generation unit 304 records the order information generated in this way on the second information recording layer 40 of the recording medium 200.

  Next, when the specific information recording unit 305 receives notification from the order information generating unit 304 that the order information has been generated, it is recorded in the order recording area of the second information recording layer 40 of the recording medium 200. Get order information. Then, the specific information recording unit 305 identifies, from the surface of the recording medium 200, specific information that uniquely identifies the program among the programs recorded on the recording medium 200 based on the automatic reproduction order represented by the order information. Select a program that should be visible to the user. When the specific information recording unit 305 selects a program that allows the user to visually recognize the specific information from the surface of the recording medium 200 as described above, the specific information recording unit 305 acquires the specific information of the program from the recording medium 200. The specific information recording unit 305 records the specific information acquired in this way on the surface of the recording medium 200 so that the user can visually recognize the specific information (step S209). FIG. 9 shows the surface of a recording medium 200 on which such specific information is recorded.

  Next, the automatic reproduction of the recording medium 200 in the above step S107 will be described.

  In FIG. 8, the detecting unit 306 first detects the order information from the recording medium 200 in which the order information is already recorded in the order recording area of the second information recording layer 40 (step S301).

  In step S301, the detection unit 306 causes the image display unit 5 to display the automatic reproduction order represented by the order information detected from the recording medium 200.

  Then, when there is no program playback request from the instruction input unit 4 by the user (NO in step S302), the detection unit 306 performs playback of the program according to the automatic playback order represented by the order information detected from the recording medium 200. Request is made to the unit 2 (step S303).

  On the other hand, when there is a program reproduction request from the instruction input unit 4 by the user (YES in step S302), the detection unit 306 requests the recording / reproduction execution unit 2 to reproduce the program corresponding to the program reproduction request (step S302). S304).

(Specific information recording part)
Next, the operation of the specific information recording unit 305 will be specifically described. FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the specific information recording unit 305.

  In FIG. 10, first, the specific information recording unit 305 of the recording / reproducing execution unit 2 and the recording / reproducing control unit 3 reproduces the initial address of a predetermined position of the first information recording layer 20 of the recording medium 200, and at the time of the reproduction The initial position of the optical pickup 102 in the radial direction of the recording medium 200 is recorded (step S401).

  In step S401, the specific information recording unit 305 records the above initial position in, for example, a temporary recording unit (not shown) provided in the recording / reproducing apparatus 1.

  Next, the recording / playback execution unit 2 and the specific information recording unit 305 of the recording / playback control unit 3 measure the time from when the initial address can be played back to immediately after the index signal calculation of the disk drive motor 101. Based on the calculation result and the rotational speed of the disk drive motor 101, the initial angle between the initial position and the index is calculated (step S402).

  In step S402, the specific information recording unit 305 records the initial angle in, for example, a temporary recording unit (not shown) provided in the recording / reproducing apparatus 1.

  Next, the recording / playback execution unit 2 and the specific information recording unit 305 of the recording / playback control unit 3 move the optical pickup 102 to a secondary position in the radial direction that is a predetermined distance away from the initial position (step S403). ).

  Next, the specific information recording unit 305 of the recording / reproducing execution unit 2 and the recording / reproducing control unit 3 reproduces the address of the position rotated by the initial angle from the position where the optical pickup 102 has moved in step S403. A third position in the radial direction of the recording medium 200 of the optical pickup 102 at the time of reproduction is recorded (step S404).

  Next, the specific information recording unit 305 of the recording / reproducing execution unit 2 and the recording / reproducing control unit 3 has the third position of the optical pickup 102 on the inner peripheral side in the radial direction of the recording medium 200 from the second position. If there is (YES in step S405), the process returns to step S403. On the other hand, if the third position of the optical pickup 102 is on the outer peripheral side in the radial direction of the recording medium 200 from the second position (NO in step S405), the process proceeds to step S406 described below.

  Next, the specific information recording unit 305 of the recording / reproducing execution unit 2 and the recording / reproducing control unit 3 creates an address map of the first information recording layer 20 of the recording medium 200 based on the above initial position and initial angle. (Step S406). In step S406, the recording / playback execution unit 2 and the specific information recording unit 305 of the recording / playback control unit 3 complement the addresses between the initial position and the tertiary position rotated by the initial angle, and the address map described above. Create

  Next, the specific information recording unit 305 of the recording / playback execution unit 2 and the recording / playback control unit 3 irradiates the recording light for recording the specific information on the first information recording layer 20 of the recording medium 200. Is determined (step S407).

  In step S407, the specific information recording unit 305 determines the irradiation address based on the specific information of the program selected by the specific information recording unit 305 and the address map created in step S406. Further, the specific information recording unit 305 records the irradiation address in a temporary recording unit (not shown) provided in the recording / reproducing apparatus 1, for example.

  Next, the recording / playback execution unit 2 and the specific information recording unit 305 of the recording / playback control unit 3 move the optical pickup 102 to the initial position. Then, the laser control circuit 103 drives the semiconductor laser oscillator 102f in the optical pickup 102, generates laser light from the semiconductor laser oscillator 102f, and irradiates the recording medium 200 with the recording light (step S408).

  In this step S408, by irradiating the recording medium 200 with such recording light, the reflectance at the irradiation position is reduced, and by doing so, the specific information is transmitted from the surface of the recording medium 200 to the user. Is recorded so as to be visible.

  Next, if there is an irradiation address to which the recording light is to be irradiated next (YES in step S409), the recording / playback execution unit 2 and the specific information recording unit 305 of the recording / playback control unit 3 return to step S408 described above. On the other hand, if there is no irradiation address to which the recording light should be irradiated next (NO in step S409), the operation of the specific information recording unit 305 ends.

  Finally, the recording / reproducing control unit 3 may be configured by hardware logic, or may be realized by software using a CPU as follows.

  That is, the recording / playback control unit 3 includes a central processing unit (CPU) that executes instructions of a control program that realizes each function, a read only memory (ROM) that stores the program, and a random access memory (RAM) that expands the program. ), A storage device (recording medium) such as a memory for storing the program and various data. An object of the present invention is a recording medium in which a program code (execution format program, intermediate code program, source program) of a control program of the recording / playback control unit 3 which is software for realizing the functions described above is recorded in a computer-readable manner. Can also be achieved by reading the program code recorded on the recording medium and executing it by the computer (or CPU or MPU).

  Examples of the recording medium include a tape system such as a magnetic tape and a cassette tape, a magnetic disk such as a floppy (registered trademark) disk / hard disk, and a compact disk-ROM / MO / MD / digital video disk / compact disk-R. A disk system including an optical disk, a card system such as an IC card (including a memory card) / optical card, or a semiconductor memory system such as a mask ROM / EPROM / EEPROM / flash ROM can be used.

  Further, the recording / reproducing control unit 3 may be configured to be connectable to a communication network, and the program code may be supplied via the communication network. The communication network is not particularly limited. For example, the Internet, intranet, extranet, LAN, ISDN, VAN, CATV communication network, virtual private network, telephone line network, mobile communication network, satellite communication. A net or the like is available. Further, the transmission medium constituting the communication network is not particularly limited. For example, even in the case of wired such as IEEE 1394, USB, power line carrier, cable TV line, telephone line, ADSL line, etc., infrared rays such as IrDA and remote control, Bluetooth ( (Registered trademark), 802.11 wireless, HDR, mobile phone network, satellite line, terrestrial digital network, and the like can also be used. The present invention can also be realized in the form of a computer data signal embedded in a carrier wave in which the program code is embodied by electronic transmission.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the claims, and the technical means disclosed in different embodiments can be appropriately combined. Such embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

  The present invention can also be expressed as follows. That is, the optical information recording medium according to the present invention is an optical information recording medium on which information is recorded by irradiating light, and a content recording area in which content is recorded and the number of times the recorded content is reproduced. Are recorded for each content, and an automatic reproduction order information recording region for recording reproduction order information for automatically reproducing the content determined using information recorded in the reproduction number recording region.

  It is preferable that an automatic selection program for automatically selecting content recorded in the content recording area is recorded.

  It is preferable to have an information recording layer that can only be reproduced and an information rewriting layer that can rewrite information, and that the automatic selection program is recorded on the information recording layer that can only be reproduced.

  The recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention is an optical information recording medium recording / reproducing apparatus for recording / reproducing information using the optical information recording medium, and reproduces the content recorded on the optical information recording medium, and then reproduces the content. Means for recording the number of times of reproduction for each reproduced content in the number of times recording area, and means for recording the reproduction order information in the automatic reproduction order information recording area based on the information recorded in the number of reproduction times recording area Have

  A recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention is a reproducing apparatus for reproducing information using the optical information recording medium, wherein the content recorded in the content recording area is recorded in the automatic reproduction order information recording area. Means for automatically reproducing in order according to the reproduction order information.

  The recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention is an optical information recording medium recording / reproducing apparatus for recording / reproducing information using the above-described optical information recording medium, wherein the reproduction is performed when the free capacity of the rewrite layer reaches a predetermined value. Means for recording information selected from the number recording area and the information recorded in the reproduction number recording area on the reproduction-only layer in a display state that can be confirmed on the visual level.

  As described above, the recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention and the recording medium used therefor record and automatically reproduce the content according to the degree of the viewing request of the user without requiring the user to perform complicated work. Make it possible. Therefore, the present invention can be suitably used in an industrial field related to a recording / reproducing apparatus having a built-in HDD or other recording medium.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Recording / reproducing apparatus 2 Recording / reproducing execution part 3 Recording / reproducing control part 4 Instruction input part 5 Image display part 20 1st information recording layer 40 2nd information recording layer 200 Recording medium 301 Program recording part (content recording part)
302 reproduction counting unit (reproduction counting unit, number of times recording unit)
303 Capacity calculation unit 304 Order information generation unit (information generation unit, order recording unit)
305 Specific information recording unit (specific information recording unit, specific information acquisition unit)
306 Detector

Claims (10)

A content recording unit that selectively acquires from a plurality of contents on the basis of preference information related to the user's preference and records it in a content recording area of a recording medium that is detachable from the device;
A reproduction counting unit that counts the number of times a user has reproduced each content from the recording medium with respect to each content recorded on the recording medium by the content recording unit;
A number-of-times recording unit that records the number of reproductions of each content counted by the reproduction counting unit in a number-of-times recording area of the recording medium;
Using the number of reproductions of each content recorded on the recording medium by the number recording unit as an order determination criterion, determining an automatic reproduction order for automatically reproducing each content recorded on the recording medium, An information generation unit for generating order information representing the automatic reproduction order of each content;
A recording / reproducing apparatus comprising: an order recording unit that records the order information generated by the information generation unit in an order recording area of the recording medium.   The recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information generation unit further uses the preference information as the order determination criterion in addition to the number of reproductions. A detection unit that detects the order information from the order recording area of the recording medium when the ordered recording medium in which the order information is recorded in advance is loaded;
3. The content recorded in the content recording area of the recording medium is automatically played back according to the automatic playback order represented by the order information detected by the detection unit. Recording and playback device. Based on the order information, at least a part of the plurality of contents recorded in the content recording area of the recording medium is selected, and specific information for uniquely identifying each part of the contents is acquired from the recording medium. A specific information acquisition unit;
Information that can only be read from the information contained in the recording medium so that the user can visually recognize the character string indicating the specific information acquired by the specific information acquisition unit from the surface of the recording medium. The recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a specific information recording unit that records in the recording layer. A recording medium detachable from the recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1,
The recording medium includes two or more information recording layers, and the information of each information recording layer can be read by reproduction light,
The recording medium, wherein the content recording area, the frequency recording area, and the sequential recording area are provided in any one of the two or more information recording layers. The information generation unit, when generating the order information, reads the order information generation algorithm recorded in advance in the order information generation algorithm recording area of the recording medium, and based on the order determination criterion according to the order information generation algorithm The automatic playback order has been determined,
The recording medium according to claim 5, wherein the order information generation algorithm recording area is provided in any one of the two or more information recording layers. The content recording unit reads a preference information generation algorithm pre-recorded in a preference information generation algorithm recording area of the recording medium, and the user preference information based on input information from the user according to the preference information generation algorithm Is generated,
The recording medium according to claim 6, wherein the preference information generation algorithm recording area is provided in any one of the two or more information recording layers. At least one of the two or more information recording layers is a first information recording layer that can only read information, and at least of the remaining information recording layers different from the first information recording layer One layer is a second information recording layer that can rewrite information or only record additional information,
The content recording area, the number-of-times recording area, and the order recording area are provided in the first information recording layer,
The recording medium according to claim 7, wherein the order information generation algorithm recording area and the preference information generation algorithm recording area are provided in the second information recording layer. A content recording step of selectively acquiring from a plurality of contents based on the preference information on the user's preference and recording the content in a content recording area of the recording medium;
A reproduction counting step of counting the number of times the user has reproduced each content from the recording medium with respect to each content recorded on the recording medium in the content recording step;
A number of times recording step of recording the number of times of reproduction of each content counted in the reproduction counting step in the number of times recording area of the recording medium;
Using the number of reproduction times of each content recorded on the recording medium in the number of times recording step as an order determination criterion, an automatic reproduction order for automatically reproducing each content recorded on the recording medium is determined, An information generation step of generating order information representing the automatic reproduction order of the contents;
A recording / reproducing method comprising: an order recording step of recording the order information generated in the information generation step in an order recording area of the recording medium.   The recording / reproducing program for operating a computer as each part in the recording / reproducing apparatus of any one of Claims 1-4.

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