JP2012039223A - Video recording system, video recorder, control device, and video recording control method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a video recording system in which a user can efficiently use plural recorders having various functions.SOLUTION: A video recording system 1A in which recorders 100#A-100#E are connected to a network 10 collects information indicating whether each of the recorders 100#A-100#E has respective plural functions which the recorders can have, and manages a function database constructed by using the collected information. The video recording system 1A refers to the function database and selects a recorder having a designated function from the recorders 100#A-100#E, when at least a function to be applied to a program content targeted for recording is designated by a user operation. The video recording system 1A controls the selected recorder to record the program content targeted for recording.

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording system, a recorder, a control device, and a recording control method using a network.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, recorders that record broadcast program content are widely used. Such a recorder generally includes a receiving unit (so-called tuner) that receives broadcast program content and a storage unit (for example, HDD (Hard Disk Drive)) that stores the received program content. Is.

  In addition, network compatible recorders capable of communicating via a network have been put into practical use. In order to effectively utilize the free storage capacity of a network-compatible recorder, a recording system has been proposed in which a plurality of recorders are connected to a network and each recorder can use the storage unit of another recorder (patent) Reference 1).

  In the recording system described in Patent Document 1, each recorder includes a function database for storing the free capacity of the storage unit of another recorder. If the free storage capacity of the self-recording device is insufficient when recording in a certain recording device, the recording device refers to the function database and refers to another recording device having sufficient free storage capacity. Make a recording.

JP 2004-158969 A

  By the way, in recent years, recorders have become more sophisticated, and the functions possessed by recorders are also diversifying. For example, a recorder has a function of writing to a specific type of storage medium (for example, BD (Blu-ray Disc) or DVD (Digital Versatile Disc)), a network distribution function of recorded program content, and program content to be recorded. Of these, one or more advanced functions may be possessed.

  For this reason, in a situation where multiple recorders are connected to the network, the user selects which recorder possesses the desired function after understanding which recorder possesses what function. It is difficult to record. Here, the recording system described in Patent Document 1 does not assume an advanced recorder, and there is a problem that it is difficult for a user to use a plurality of recorders having various functions.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a recording system, a recorder, a control device, and a recording control method that allow a user to use a plurality of recorders having various functions.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention has the following features. First, the recording system according to the present invention is characterized by a recording system (recording system 1A or 1B) in which a plurality of recorders (recorders 100 # A to 100 # E) are connected to a network (network 10). For each of the plurality of recorders, an information collection unit (information collection unit 123) that collects function information indicating the presence or absence of each of a plurality of functions that the recorder can have, and the function information collected by the information collection unit A database management unit (database management unit 124) that manages the function database configured by using the plurality of recorders when at least one function to be applied to the program content to be recorded is designated by a user operation. A recorder selection unit (recorder selection unit 126) for selecting any one of the recorders selected by the recorder selection unit A recording control unit (recording control unit 127) that controls to record the program content to be recorded, and the recorder selection unit refers to the function database and designates the specified one of the plurality of recorders The gist is to select a recorder having all of the functions.

  According to such a feature, the recorder selection unit refers to the function database configured using information indicating the presence or absence of each of the plurality of functions that the recorder can have, and the plurality of recorders connected to the network. The recorder having all the functions designated by the user operation is selected. The recording control unit controls the recording unit selected by the recording unit selection unit to record the program content to be recorded.

  Thereby, the user can record the program content to be recorded on the recorder having the desired function by designating the desired function. Therefore, the user can use a plurality of recorders having various functions without knowing which recorder has what functions.

  Another feature of the recording system according to the present invention is that in the recording system according to the above feature, the plurality of functions are a writing function to a specific type of storage medium, a network distribution function of recorded program content, and recording. The gist is to include at least one of the program content compression functions.

  According to another aspect of the recording system of the present invention, in the recording system according to the above aspect, control is performed to perform a screen display for prompting a user to specify at least one function to be applied to the program content to be recorded. The gist is to further include a display control unit (display control unit 125).

  Another feature of the recording system according to the present invention is that in the recording system according to the above feature, the information collection unit further collects free capacity information indicating free storage capacity from each of the plurality of recorders, and the database management The unit further manages a free space database configured using the free space information collected by the information collecting unit, and the recorder selection unit includes a plurality of recorders having all of the designated functions. The gist is to select the recorder having the largest available storage capacity from among a plurality of recorders having all of the designated functions by referring to the available capacity database.

  The recorder according to the present invention is characterized in that in a recording system (recording system 1A) in which a plurality of recorders (recorders 100 # A to 100 # E) are connected to a network (network 10), the plurality of recorders An information collecting unit (collector 100 # A, for example) that collects function information indicating the presence / absence of each of a plurality of functions that the recorder can have for each of the plurality of recorders. An information collection unit 123), a database management unit (database management unit 124) for managing a function database configured using the function information collected by the information collection unit, and at least to be applied to program content to be recorded Recorder selection unit (recorder selection unit 126) that selects one of the plurality of recorders when one function is designated by a user operation A recording control unit (recording control unit 127) for controlling the recording unit selected by the recording unit selection unit to record the program content to be recorded, and the recording unit selection unit includes the function The gist is to select a recorder having all of the designated functions from among the plurality of recorders with reference to a database.

  The control device according to the present invention is characterized in that, in a recording system (recording system 1B) in which a plurality of recorders (recorders 100 # A to 100 # E) are connected to a network (network 10), the plurality of recorders are arranged. An information collecting unit (information collecting unit 123) that is a controllable control device (control device 200) and collects function information indicating the presence or absence of each of a plurality of functions that the recorder can have for each of the plurality of recorders. A database management unit (database management unit 124) that manages a function database configured using the function information collected by the information collection unit, and at least one function to be applied to program content to be recorded is a user. A recorder selection unit (recorder selection unit 126) for selecting one of the plurality of recorders when designated by an operation; A recording control unit (recording control unit 127) that controls the recording device selected by the screen selection unit to record the program content to be recorded, and the recording unit selection unit stores the function database; The gist is to select a recorder having all of the designated functions from among the plurality of recorders.

  The recording control method according to the present invention is characterized in that in a recording system in which a plurality of recorders are connected to a network, the recording control method controls the plurality of recorders. A step of collecting function information indicating the presence or absence of each of a plurality of functions that can be held by the device (for example, steps S130 and S140), and a step of managing a function database configured using the function information collected in the collecting step (For example, step S150), when at least one function to be applied to the program content to be recorded is specified by a user operation, selecting one of the plurality of recorders (for example, step S170), The program content to be recorded is recorded on the recorder selected in the selecting step. A step of controlling (for example, steps S180 and S190), and in the step of selecting, referring to the function database, a recorder having all of the designated functions is selected from the plurality of recorders. This is the gist.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a recording system, a recorder, a control device, and a recording control method that allow a user to use a plurality of recorders having various functions.

1 is an overall schematic configuration diagram of a recording system according to a first embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the hardware constitutions of the video recorder which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the software structure of the video recorder which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the structural example of a function database. It is an operation | movement sequence diagram which shows the whole schematic operation | movement of the video recording system which concerns on 1st Embodiment. 6A shows a configuration example of the device search message, and FIG. 6B shows a configuration example of the device response message. FIG. 7A shows a configuration example of the device information request message, and FIG. 7B shows a configuration example of the device information response message. It is an operation | movement flowchart which shows the detail of recorder selection operation | movement. It is a figure which shows the example of a screen display in recorder selection operation | movement. FIG. 10A shows the pattern of the designation result by the user, and FIG. 10B shows the recorder corresponding to each pattern. It is a whole schematic block diagram of the video recording system which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is an operation | movement sequence diagram which shows the whole schematic operation | movement of the video recording system which concerns on 2nd Embodiment.

  A first embodiment, a second embodiment, and other embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the drawings in the following embodiments, the same or similar parts are denoted by the same or similar reference numerals.

(1) First Embodiment In the first embodiment, (1.1) Overview of the recording system, (1.2) Configuration of the recorder, (1.3) Operation of the recording system, (1.4) First A description will be given in the order of the effects of the embodiment.

(1.1) Overview of Recording System FIG. 1 is an overall schematic configuration diagram of a recording system 1A according to the first embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the recording system 1 </ b> A includes recorders 100 #A to 100 #E connected to a network 10.

  The network 10 is assumed to be a LAN (Local Area Network), but may be a WAN (Wide Area Network). Each of the recorders 100 #A to 100 #E is a network-compatible recorder that can communicate via the network 10. In the following, when the recorders 100 # A to 100 # E are not particularly distinguished, the individual recorders are simply referred to as “recorders 100”.

  The recorder 100 is configured to record broadcast program content. The broadcast is assumed to be broadcast by radio waves, but may be broadcast using a network such as the Internet. The program content includes video data and audio data.

  The recorder 100 has a BD or DVD writing function (hereinafter abbreviated as “BD / DVD writing function” as appropriate) and a network distribution function of recorded program content (hereinafter abbreviated as “network distribution function” as appropriate). And one or two or more advanced functions of the transcoding function of program content to be recorded (hereinafter abbreviated as “transcoding function” as appropriate).

(1.2) Configuration of Recorder Next, the configuration of the recorder 100 according to the first embodiment will be described in the order of (1.2.1) hardware configuration and (1.2.2) software configuration.

(1.2.1) Hardware Configuration FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of the recorder 100 according to the first embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the recorder 100 according to the first embodiment includes an internal bus 101, a tuner unit 110, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 120, a flash memory 131, a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) 132, an HDD 140, a user. It has an interface (I / F) 150, a network I / F 160, a device I / F 170, a video processing unit 180, and a BD / DVD drive 190. However, in the first embodiment, it is assumed that only the recorders 100 # C and 100 # E among the recorders 100 # A to 100 # E have the BD / DVD drive 190 (BD / DVD writing function).

  The tuner unit 110, CPU 120, flash memory 131, DRAM 132, HDD 140, user I / F 150, network I / F 160, device I / F 170, video processing unit 180, and BD / DVD drive 190 are mutually connected via the internal bus 101. Electrically connected.

  The internal bus 101 is an electric power transmitted / received by the tuner unit 110, CPU 120, flash memory 131, DRAM 132, HDD 140, user I / F 150, network I / F 160, device I / F 170, video processing unit 180, and BD / DVD drive 190. Communicate the signal.

  The tuner unit 110 is electrically connected to an antenna (not shown), and receives a broadcast signal from the antenna and demodulates it to obtain program content. Further, the tuner unit 110 performs a channel selection process for switching the channel to be received in accordance with the control from the CPU 120.

  The CPU 120 executes a control program stored in the flash memory 131 and controls the entire recorder 100.

  The flash memory 131 stores a control program executed by the CPU 120. The DRAM 132 is used as a work area during the program execution by the CPU 120.

  The HDD 140 stores program content obtained by the tuner unit 110 in accordance with control from the CPU 120.

  The user I / F 150 is an interface with the user, and includes, for example, a light receiving unit that receives an infrared signal from a remote controller that receives a user operation. Further, the user I / F 150 may include a display that displays video.

  The network I / F 160 is an interface with the network 10 and transmits and receives communication signals to and from the network 10.

  The device I / F 170 is an interface with a video display device such as a television and transmits / receives a video signal (and an audio signal) to / from the video display device.

  The video processing unit 180 has a function of decoding program content in accordance with control from the CPU 120. When the program content is compressed and encoded according to MPEG2, the video processing unit 180 decodes the input program content according to MPEG2.

  The video processing unit 180 may have a transcoding function. However, in the first embodiment, of the recorders 100 # A to 100 # E, only the recorders 100 # A, 100 # D, and 100 # E have a transcoding function.

  In the BD / DVD drive 190, a BD / DVD not shown is inserted. The BD / DVD drive 190 performs writing to and reading from the BD / DVD according to control from the CPU 120.

(1.2.2) Software Configuration FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a software configuration of the recorder 100 according to the first embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the CPU 120 executes a control program stored in the flash memory 131, thereby causing a network distribution unit 121, a recorder search processing unit 122, an information collection unit 123, a database management unit 124, display control. Each block of the unit 125, the recorder selection unit 126, and the recording control unit 127 is configured.

  The network distribution unit 121 provides a network distribution function for distributing program content stored in the HDD 140 (or BD / DVD) via the network 10. However, in the first embodiment, of the recorders 100 # A to 100 # E, only the recorders 100 # B, 100 # D, and 100 # E have the network distribution unit 121 (network distribution function). .

  The recorder search processing unit 122 periodically generates a device search message for searching for the recorder 100 connected to the network 10. The recorder search processing unit 122 controls the network I / F 160 to transmit the generated device search message to the network 10.

  When receiving the device search message from the other recorder 100 via the network I / F 160, the recorder search processing unit 122 generates a device response message. The recorder search processing unit 122 controls the network I / F 160 to transmit the generated device response message to the transmission source of the device search message.

  The information collection unit 123 periodically generates a device information request message for requesting information indicating the presence / absence of each of a plurality of functions that can be held by each recorder 100 connected to the network 10. Here, the plurality of functions are a BD / DVD writing function, a network distribution function, and a transcoding function. The information collection unit 123 controls the network I / F 160 to transmit the generated device information request message to the network 10.

  When the information collection unit 123 receives a device information request message from another recorder via the network I / F 160, the information collection unit 123 generates a device information response message indicating a function possessed by the own recorder. It is assumed that information on the functions held by the self-recording device is stored in advance in the flash memory 131, for example. The information collection unit 123 controls the network I / F 160 to transmit the generated device information response message to the transmission source of the device information request message.

  As described above, the information collection unit 123 of each recorder 100 collects function information regarding the functions possessed by each recorder 100 by transmitting and receiving the device information request message and the device information response message.

  The information collecting unit may further collect free capacity information indicating the free storage capacity from each recorder 100. In this case, the device information response message includes information indicating the free storage capacity of the HDD 140.

  The database management unit 124 manages a function database configured using the function information collected by the information collection unit 123. Here, the management of the function database is a concept including new creation of the function database (only for the first time) and update of the function database (second and subsequent times). The function database is stored in the flash memory 131 or the HDD 140.

  Here, a configuration example of the function database will be described with reference to FIG. The function database records the presence / absence of the BD / DVD writing function, the presence / absence of the network distribution function, and the presence / absence of the transcoding function for each recorder 100.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the function database records the BD / DVD writing function “present”, the network distribution function “none”, and the transcoding function “none” for the recorder 100 # A. The function database records the BD / DVD writing function “none”, the network distribution function “present”, and the transcoding function “none” for the recorder 100 # B. The function database records the BD / DVD writing function “none”, the network distribution function “none”, and the transcoding function “yes” for the recorder 100 # C. The function database records the BD / DVD writing function “Yes”, the network distribution function “Yes”, and the transcoding function “No” for the recorder 100 # D. The function database records the BD / DVD writing function “Yes”, the network distribution function “Yes”, and the transcoding function “Yes” for the recorder 100 # E.

  The database management unit 124 further manages a free space database configured using the free space information collected by the information collection unit 123. The free space database is stored in the flash memory 131 or the HDD 140. The free capacity database is a record of the free storage capacity of the HDD 140 for each recorder 100.

  The display control unit 125 displays an image connected to the user I / F 150 or the device I / F 170 so as to display a screen for prompting the user to specify at least one function to be applied to the program content to be recorded. Control the equipment.

  The recorder selection unit 126 refers to the function database when at least one function to be applied to the program content to be recorded is designated by a user operation, and selects a user operation from among the recorders 100 # A to 100 # E. The recorder 100 having all of the functions designated by is selected. In addition, when there are a plurality of recorders that possess all of the functions designated by the user operation, the recorder selection unit 126 refers to the free space database, and among the plurality of recorders possessing the designated functions. Select the recorder with the most free storage capacity.

  The recording control unit 127 controls the recorder selected by the recorder selecting unit 126 to record the program content to be recorded. Specifically, when the recorder 100 other than the recorder itself is selected by the recorder selector 126, the recording controller 127 requests the other recorder 100 to make a recording reservation. To send a recording reservation request message. On the other hand, when the recorder is selected by the recorder selection unit 126, a recording reservation for the recorder is set.

(1.3) Operation of Recording System Next, the operation of the recording system 1A according to the first embodiment will be described in the order of (1.3.1) overall operation and (1.3.2) recorder selection operation. . In the following, a case will be described in which the recorder 100 # A makes a recording reservation to another recorder in response to a recording reservation operation from the user for the recorder 100 # A.

(1.3.1) Overall Operation FIG. 5 is an operation sequence diagram showing an overall schematic operation of the recording system 1A according to the first embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 5, in step S110, the recorder 100 # A transmits a device search message. Each of the recorders 100 # B to 100 # E receives a device search message. FIG. 6A is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a device search message. As shown in FIG. 6A, the device search message is configured according to the UPnP (Universal Plug & Play) protocol.

  In step S120, each of recorders 100 # B to 100 # E transmits a device response message to recorder 100 # A. The recorder 100 # A receives the device response message. FIG. 6B is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the device response message. As shown in FIG. 6B, the device response message is configured according to the UPnP protocol.

  In step S130, the recorder 100 # A transmits a device information request message to the recorders 100 # B to 100 # E detected in step S120. Each of the recorders 100 # B to 100 # E receives a device information request message. FIG. 7A is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a device information request message. As shown in FIG. 7A, the device search message is configured according to the UPnP protocol.

  In step S140, each of recorders 100 # B to 100 # E transmits a device information response message to recorder 100 # A. The recorder 100 # A receives the device information response message. FIG. 7B is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the device information response message. As shown in FIG. 7B, the device information response message is configured according to the UPnP protocol, and includes information indicating the presence / absence of each of the BD / DVD writing function, the network distribution function, and the transcoding function. Although not shown in FIG. 7B, the device information response message includes information indicating the free storage capacity.

  In step S150, the recorder 100 # A creates or updates the function database and the free space database in accordance with each device information response message received in step S140.

  The processes in steps S110 to S150 are periodically executed at predetermined time intervals. Thereby, even when a new recorder 100 is connected to the network 10, information indicating functions related to the new recorder 100 can also be collected.

  In step S160, the recorder 100 # A accepts a recording reservation operation from the user and starts a recording reservation process. In the recording reservation process, program content to be recorded is designated by the user. The program content may be designated by a channel and a time zone on which the program content is broadcast.

  In step S170, the recorder 100 # A causes the user I / F 150 or the device I / F 170 to display a screen for prompting the user to specify at least one function to be applied to the program content to be recorded. Control connected video display devices. Further, the recorder selection unit 126 refers to the function database when at least one function to be applied to the program content to be recorded is designated by a user operation, and among the recorders 100 # A to 100 # E, The recorder 100 having all the functions designated by the user operation is selected. Here, it is assumed that recorder 100 # B has been selected. The detailed operation in step S170 will be described later.

  In step S180, the recorder 100 # A generates a recording reservation request message for requesting recording reservation of the program content to be recorded, and transmits it to the recorder 100 # B. The recording reservation request message includes information (content name or channel and time zone) that can specify program content to be recorded. The recorder 100 # B receives the recording reservation request message.

  In step S190, the recorder 100 # B generates a recording reservation response message for permitting the recording reservation request message and transmits the recording reservation response message to the recorder 100 # A. The recorder 100 # A receives the recording reservation response message. The recorder 100 # B sets the recording reservation of the program content to be recorded in the own recorder.

(1.3.2) Recorder Selection Operation FIG. 8 is an operation flowchart showing the recorder selection operation by the recorder 100 # A, that is, the detailed operation of step S170 in FIG. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a screen display example in the recorder selection operation. In the recorder selection operation, the functions desired by the user are sequentially inquired in a question format, and the recorder 100 having all the functions desired by the user is selected from the recorders 100 # A to 100 # C.

  As a first question, as shown in FIG. 9A, the display control unit 125 controls to perform screen display for prompting the user to specify whether or not to apply the BD / DVD writing function. The user I / F 150 receives a user operation that specifies whether to apply the BD / DVD writing function.

  As shown in FIG. 8, when the user I / F 150 accepts a user operation to apply the BD / DVD writing function (step S171; YES), in step S172, the recorder selection unit 126 reads the BD from the function database. / Search for recorder 100 having DVD writing function.

  As a second question, as shown in FIG. 9B, the display control unit 125 controls to display a screen for prompting designation of whether or not to apply the network distribution function. The user I / F 150 receives a user operation that specifies whether to apply the network distribution function.

  As shown in FIG. 8, when the user I / F 150 accepts a user operation to apply the network distribution function (step S173; YES), the recorder selection unit 126 selects the recorders narrowed down by the question 1 in step S174. For 100, the recorder 100 having the network distribution function is searched from the function database.

  As a third question, as shown in FIG. 9C, the display control unit 125 controls to display a screen for prompting designation of whether or not to apply the transcoding function. The user I / F 150 receives a user operation that specifies whether or not to apply the transcoding function.

  As shown in FIG. 8, when the user I / F 150 accepts a user operation to apply the transcoding function (step S175; YES), the recorder selection unit 126 in step S176 selects the recorders narrowed down by the question 2. For 100, the recorder 100 having the transcoding function is searched from the function database.

  In step S177, the recorder selection unit 126 confirms whether or not there is a recorder 100 remaining as a result of the search by questions 1 to 3.

  If there is a remaining recorder 100 (step S177; YES) and there is only one remaining recorder 100, the recorder selection unit 126 selects the one recorder 100 as a recording target. Is selected as a recorder to be recorded.

  If there are remaining recorders 100 (step S177; YES), and there are a plurality of remaining recorders 100, the recorder selection unit 126 refers to the free space database to determine the plurality of recorders 100. The recorder 100 having the largest free storage capacity is selected as the recorder to record the program content to be recorded.

  On the other hand, when the remaining recorder 100 does not exist (step S177; NO), the display control unit 125 performs control so as to display a screen indicating that the corresponding recorder 100 does not exist.

  FIG. 10A shows a pattern of the result of designation by the user in each of Questions 1 to 3, and FIG. 10B shows the recorder 100 corresponding to each pattern. As shown in FIG. 10A, when the result for Question 1 (Result 1) is NO, the result for Question 2 (Result 2) is NO, and the result for Question 3 (Result 3) is NO, As shown in FIG. 10B, the recorder 100 having the largest free storage capacity is selected from the recorders 100 # A to 100 # E. The other patterns are similarly selected.

(1.4) Effects of the First Embodiment According to the first embodiment, the recorder 100 # A refers to the function database, and the user of the recorders 100 # A to 100 # E connected to the network 10 Select a recorder that has all of the functions specified by the operation. Then, the recorder 100 # A controls the selected recorder to record the program content to be recorded.

  Thereby, the user can record the program content to be recorded on a recorder having a desired function. Therefore, the user can master the recorders 100 # A to 100 # E having various functions without knowing which recorder has what function.

(2) Second Embodiment In the first embodiment described above, the case where the recorder 100 is the main subject of operation has been described, but in the second embodiment, a case where an apparatus other than the recorder 100 is the main subject of operation. explain.

  In the second embodiment, (2.1) the outline of the recording system, (2.2) the operation of the recording system, and (2.3) the effects of the second embodiment will be described in this order. Note that differences from the first embodiment will be mainly described, and redundant description will be omitted.

(2.1) Overview of Recording System FIG. 11 is an overall schematic configuration diagram of a recording system 1B according to the second embodiment.

  As illustrated in FIG. 11, the recording system 1 </ b> B includes recorders 100 #A to 100 #E connected to the network 10 and a control device 200 connected to the network 10. The control device 200 is a network compatible device capable of controlling the recorders 100 # A to 100 # E, and is a PC server, for example.

  The control device 200 includes blocks other than the tuner unit 110, the device I / F 170, and the BD / DVD drive 190 in the hardware configuration of the recorder 100 described in the first embodiment. In addition, the control device 200 includes each block excluding the network distribution unit 121 in the software configuration of the recorder 100 described in the first embodiment.

(2.2) Operation of Recording System FIG. 12 is an operation sequence diagram showing an overall schematic operation of the recording system 1B according to the second embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 12, in step S210, the control device 200 transmits a device search message. Each of the recorders 100 # A to 100 # E receives a device search message.

  In step S <b> 220, each of the recorders 100 #A to 100 #E transmits a device response message to the control device 200. The control device 200 receives the device response message.

  In step S230, the control device 200 transmits a device information request message to the recorders 100 # A to 100 # E detected in step S220. Each of the recorders 100 # A to 100 # E receives a device information request message.

  In step S240, each of the recorders 100 # A to 100 # E transmits a device information response message to the control device 200. The control device 200 receives the device information response message.

  In step S250, the control device 200 creates or updates the function database and the free space database in accordance with each device information response message received in step S240.

  Steps S210 to S250 are periodically executed at predetermined time intervals. As a result, even when a new recorder 100 is connected to the network 10, information on functions related to the new recorder 100 can also be collected.

  In step S260, the control device 200 accepts a recording reservation operation from the user and starts a recording reservation process. In the recording reservation process, program content (channel and time zone) to be recorded is designated by the user.

  In step S270, the control device 200 performs control so as to perform screen display for prompting the user to specify at least one function to be applied to the program content to be recorded. Further, the recorder selection unit 126 refers to the function database when at least one function to be applied to the program content to be recorded is designated by a user operation, and among the recorders 100 # A to 100 # E, The recorder 100 having all the functions designated by the user operation is selected. Here, it is assumed that recorder 100 # B has been selected. The detailed operation in step S270 is the same as the recorder selection operation described in the first embodiment.

  In step S280, control device 200 generates a recording reservation request message for requesting recording reservation of the program content to be recorded, and transmits it to recorder 100 # B. The recording reservation request message includes information (content name or channel and time zone) that can specify program content to be recorded. The recorder 100 # B receives the recording reservation request message.

  In step S290, the recorder 100 # B generates a recording reservation response message indicating permission of the recording reservation request message and transmits the recording reservation response message to the control device 200. The control device 200 receives the recording reservation response message. The recorder 100 # B sets the recording reservation of the program content to be recorded in the own recorder.

(2.3) Effect of Second Embodiment As described above, the control device 200 refers to the function database and is designated by a user operation among the recorders 100 # A to 100 # E connected to the network 10. The recorder 100 having all of the functions is selected. Then, the control device 200 controls the selected recorder 100 to record the program content to be recorded.

  Thereby, the user can record the program content to be recorded on a recorder having a desired function. Therefore, the user can master the recorders 100 # A to 100 # E having various functions without knowing which recorder has what function.

(3) Other Embodiments As described above, the present invention has been described according to the embodiment. However, it should not be understood that the description and drawings constituting a part of this disclosure limit the present invention. From this disclosure, various alternative embodiments, examples and operational techniques will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

  In each of the above-described embodiments, it has been described that the recorder 100 has one or more advanced functions among the BD / DVD writing function, the network distribution function, and the transcoding function. However, not only the BD / DVD writing function, but the recorder 100 may have a writing function to the memory card.

  In each of the above-described embodiments, the HDD is exemplified as the storage unit for storing the program content. However, another storage medium such as an SSD may be used instead of the HDD.

  Thus, it should be understood that the present invention includes various embodiments and the like not described herein. Therefore, the present invention is limited only by the invention specifying matters in the scope of claims reasonable from this disclosure.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1A, 1B ... Recording system, 10 ... Network, 100 ... Recorder, 101 ... Internal bus, 110 ... Tuner unit, 120 ... CPU, 121 ... Network delivery part, 122 ... Recorder search process part, 123 ... Information collection part, 124 ... Database management unit, 125 ... Display control unit, 126 ... Recorder selection unit, 127 ... Recording control unit, 131 ... Flash memory, 132 ... DRAM, 140 ... HDD, 150 ... User I / F, 160 ... Network I / F F, 170 ... device I / F, 180 ... video processing unit, 190 ... BD / DVD drive, 200 ... control device

Claims (7)

A recording system in which multiple recorders are connected to a network,
For each of the plurality of recorders, an information collection unit that collects function information indicating the presence or absence of each of a plurality of functions that the recorder can have;
A database management unit for managing a function database configured using the function information collected by the information collection unit;
A recorder selection unit for selecting one of the plurality of recorders when at least one function to be applied to program content to be recorded is designated by a user operation;
A recording controller that controls the recorder selected by the recorder selection unit to record the program content to be recorded;
The recording system, wherein the recorder selection unit refers to the function database and selects a recorder having all of the designated functions among the plurality of recorders.   2. The plurality of functions includes at least one of a writing function to a specific type of storage medium, a network distribution function of recorded program content, and a compression function of recorded program content. Recording system as described in.   The recording according to claim 1, further comprising a display control unit that controls to perform screen display for prompting a user to specify at least one function to be applied to the program content to be recorded. system. The information collecting unit further collects free space information indicating free storage capacity from each of the plurality of recorders;
The database management unit further manages a free space database configured using the free space information collected by the information collection unit;
The recorder selection unit refers to the free space database when there are a plurality of recorders possessing all of the designated functions, and among the plurality of recorders possessing all of the designated functions. 4. The recording system according to claim 1, wherein the recording device having the largest free storage capacity is selected from the recording system. In a recording system in which a plurality of recorders are connected to a network, the recorder constitutes one of the plurality of recorders,
For each of the plurality of recorders, an information collection unit that collects function information indicating the presence or absence of each of a plurality of functions that the recorder can have;
A database management unit for managing a function database configured using the function information collected by the information collection unit;
A recorder selection unit for selecting one of the plurality of recorders when at least one function to be applied to program content to be recorded is designated by a user operation;
A recording controller that controls the recorder selected by the recorder selection unit to record the program content to be recorded;
The recorder selecting unit refers to the function database and selects a recorder having all of the designated functions from the plurality of recorders. In a recording system in which a plurality of recorders are connected to a network, a control device capable of controlling the plurality of recorders,
For each of the plurality of recorders, an information collection unit that collects function information indicating the presence or absence of each of a plurality of functions that the recorder can have;
A database management unit for managing a function database configured using the function information collected by the information collection unit;
A recorder selection unit for selecting one of the plurality of recorders when at least one function to be applied to program content to be recorded is designated by a user operation;
A recording controller that controls the recorder selected by the recorder selection unit to record the program content to be recorded;
The control device, wherein the recorder selection unit refers to the function database and selects a recorder having all of the designated functions among the plurality of recorders. In a recording system in which a plurality of recorders are connected to a network, a recording control method for controlling the plurality of recorders,
For each of the plurality of recorders, collecting function information indicating the presence or absence of each of a plurality of functions that the recorder can have;
Managing a function database configured using the function information collected in the collecting step;
Selecting at least one of the plurality of recorders when at least one function to be applied to program content to be recorded is designated by a user operation;
Controlling the recorder selected in the selecting step to record the program content to be recorded,
The recording control method according to claim 1, wherein the selecting step refers to the function database and selects a recorder having all of the designated functions from the plurality of recorders.

Images