JP3177470B2 - Playback device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention reads a bit stream composed of a compressed video signal or audio signal from a communication medium or a storage medium, expands the bit stream into an original video signal or audio signal, and reproduces the same. Belongs to the field of technology.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a reproducing apparatus which converts digital video information and audio information inputted via a recording medium or a communication medium into video signals and audio signals and outputs the signals, video signals and audio for a plurality of channels for an arbitrary time. It has a function to insert a signal into a bit stream, take out only the channel set by the user on the playback device, and output it as a video signal and an audio signal. A function has been considered in which information can be supplied, selected by the user, and viewed at the user's preferred angle.

[0003] A DVD player has such a function.

FIG. 2 shows a bit stream input to a DVD player.

FIG. 1 shows a case where video signals and audio signals for two channels are present.

In the figure, reference numeral (11) denotes a bit stream, which includes header information (12) to (19) and AV information (20).
And (27), channel 1 AV information (21), (2
3), (25), channel 2 AV information (22), (2)
4) and (26). The AV information (20) and (27) are composed of video information and audio information of a single channel (a plurality of channels do not exist).

Channel 1 AV information (21), (2)
3), (25), AV information of channel 2 (22), (2)
4) and (26) are composed of AV information for each channel. The header information (12) to (19) is composed of search information indicating the location information in the bit stream in which the channel AV information of each channel to be reproduced at the same time as the number of channels existing below the header information exists. ing.

In FIG. 2, AV information of each channel to be reproduced at the same time includes (21) and (22), (23) and (2)
4), (25) and (26).

The operation of the reproducing apparatus is as follows. First, the content of the header information is analyzed, and if the analysis result is determined to be a single channel, the subsequent information is determined to be AV information (21) or (22), and the video information and The audio information is separated and output as a video signal and an audio signal via a video decoder and an audio decoder.

If the analysis result of the header information indicates that a plurality of channels exist, the position where the AV information of the channel designated by the user exists is determined, and the bit stream is skipped to the information position. A bit stream is extracted, video information and audio information are separated, and output as a video signal and an audio signal via a video decoder and an audio decoder.

In the above-described prior art, the angle can be changed only at the timing when the header information exists.
The angle cannot be changed during the input period of V information, and the bit stream skipping operation is required when the angle is changed, and the seek operation of the DVD disk drive is required. Therefore, the time required for the angle change affects the seek operation time of the drive. And the problem that only one angle can be output at the same time.

In order to switch the angle in such a manner that the reproduction of the video and audio outputs is temporally continuous in response to a user's channel switching instruction, the AV information of another channel is accessed according to the channel switching information. Although it is possible, if the user wants to see the scene being viewed again at another angle, a plurality of operations such as fast rewind and angle change are required.

[0013]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and relates to a technique for simultaneously reproducing a plurality of angles in a reproducing apparatus for reproducing a video having a plurality of channels (angles). Subject.

When there are a plurality of angles, 1
It is a technical object to reproduce another angle from a point in time a predetermined time ago by performing the operations.

[0015]

According to the present invention, there is provided a reproducing apparatus for reproducing information in which single-channel information and plural-channel information are mixed, wherein the channel information includes video information and audio information. A first storage unit for storing the video information and the audio information for each channel, a second storage unit for storing the search information for each channel, and a user interface unit for inputting channel designation information When reading the plurality of channel information, video information and audio information are stored in the first storage unit for each channel, and search information is stored in the second storage unit for each channel. Reading video information and audio information from the first storage unit using search information corresponding to the channel designation information input from the interface unit; And it features.

Further, the search information is stored at predetermined intervals by a timer.

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of the playback device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment is for reproducing video information and audio information of two channels (angles).

In FIG. 1, (1) is a reproducing apparatus,
The input bit stream is converted into video and audio signals and output.

(2) is a disk drive which reads out and outputs a bit stream from a recording medium.

A demultiplexer (3) performs data communication with the disk drive (2) and analyzes and separates an input bit stream.

A memory (4) stores the bit stream and search information separated by the demultiplexer (3). The memory (4) includes a search information memory area (5), a channel 1 memory area (6), and a channel 2 memory area (7).

A video / audio decoder (8) decodes each AV information stored in the memory (4) into a video signal and an audio signal, and outputs them.

(9) is a CPU, which controls these operations.

(10) a user interface unit for recognizing a user operation such as an angle change,
Send to (9).

FIG. 3 shows the memory area (6) for channel 1 of the memory (4), and FIG. 4 shows the memory area (7) for channel 2 in detail.

The channel 1 memory area (6) stores channel 1 AV information (21),
(23) and (25) are stored in the ring buffer memory. The channel 2 memory (7) stores channel 2 AV information (22) and (2) in the bit stream (11).
4) and (26) are used as a ring buffer memory for storing.

In this embodiment, the AV information (20) and (27) are stored in the channel 1 memory (6).

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the search information memory (5) in detail.

This search information memory (5) has an area (36) for storing a memory address for storing AV information,
(40) is used as a ring buffer memory for storing channel-specific information areas (37), (38), and (39) for storing information about each channel to be reproduced at the same time when a plurality of channels are present.

The information for each channel includes an area for storing the storage addresses (28) to (32) and (33) to (35) of the memory storing the AV information for each channel to be reproduced at the same time. Areas (41) to (4) for storing a storage address of a memory storing one or more I-pictures existing in AV information of a channel and a reproduction time of the I-picture
(46).

In the present embodiment, the video information is a video compression technology of the international standard MPEG2 (IEC / ISO 138).
18), and an I-picture is an independent frame that can decode a screen by itself.

The bit stream is the same as that shown in FIG. 2 described above.

The following operation is performed by the above-described device.

The CPU (9) includes a demultiplexer (3)
Makes a required bit stream request to the disk drive (2), and the disk drive (2) reads the bit stream from the disk according to the request and transmits the bit stream to the demultiplexer (3).

The demultiplexer (3) analyzes the input bit stream and stores each information in the memory (4) according to the contents of the header information.

The operation for storing data in the memory (4) is performed according to the processing flow shown in FIG.

When a bit stream is input, first,
By the branching process of STEP1, it is determined whether the input header information is a single channel or a plurality of channels, or if the input header information is a plurality of channels, what is the channel number, and the process is branched to each process.

If a single channel is determined,
The storage address (11) of the memory (6) for storing the AV information following the header information in the bit stream is stored in the AV information storage address (36) by the processing of STEP2,
By the process of EP3, the AV information in the bit stream is stored in the area from the storage address (11).

If it is determined in the branch processing of STEP 1 that the channel 1 is a plurality of channels, the channel 1 following the header information in the bit stream is processed by the processing of STEP 4.
The storage address (2) of the memory (6) for storing AV information
9) to the channel 1 area (4) of the channel-specific information (37).
1), and the channel 1 AV information in the bit stream is stored in the area from the storage address (29) by the processing of STEP5.

Further, in the processing of STEP 6, one or more I-pictures present in the video information in the stored channel 1 AV information are searched from the storage address (29), and the I-pictures searched in STEP 6 are processed in the processing of STEP 7. The address where the picture is stored and the reproduction time are stored in the channel 1 area (41) of the channel-specific information (37).

If it is determined in the branch processing of STEP 1 that the channel 2 is a plurality of channels, the storage address (33) of the memory (7) for storing the channel 2 AV information following the header information in the bit stream is processed by the processing of STEP 8. The information is stored in the channel 2 area (42) of the channel-specific information (37) including the storage address of the channel 1 AV information to be reproduced at the time, and the channel 2 AV information in the bit stream is stored in the area from the storage address (33) by the processing of STEP9. To be stored.

Then, in the processing of STEP 10, one or more I-pictures existing in the video information in the stored channel 2 AV information are searched from the storage address (33), and the I-pictures searched in STEP 10 are processed in the processing of STEP 11. A process of storing the address where the picture is stored and the reproduction time thereof in the channel 2 area (42) of the channel-specific information (37) is performed.

The CPU (9) performs a process of transferring AV information from the memory (4) so that the decoding process of the video / audio decoder (8) can be performed continuously without interruption of video output and audio output. I have.

The operation of transferring the AV information is shown in the processing flow of FIG.

First, in the branching process in STEP 12, it is determined whether the next information to be processed in the search information memory (5) of the memory (4) is AV information or channel-specific information, and the process is branched.

Here, when it is determined that the information is AV information,
AV information storage address (36) by the processing of STEP 14
Of the AV information stored at the address stored in the.

If it is determined that the information is channel-specific, the processing of STEP 15 of channel 1 or the processing of channel 2 according to the channel number specified by the user via the user interface unit (10) in advance by the branch processing of step 15 Processing branches to STEP16.

In step 15 of channel 1, the channel 1 AV information stored at the address stored in the channel 1 AV information storage address of the channel-specific information is transferred. In step 15 of channel 2, the channel of the channel-specific information is transferred. The channel 2AV information stored at the address stored at the 2AV information storage address is transferred.

If the user instructs to change the channel via the user interface unit (10) during the transfer of the channel 1 AV information or the channel 2 AV information data, the operations shown in FIG. 10 are performed in STEP15 and STEP16.

By the processing in STEP 17, an I picture of the channel specified by the user in the channel-by-channel information that is currently being processed is searched for one having a reproduction time after the time of the currently output AV information.

Next, the AV information of the channel before the change up to the reproduction time of the I picture searched in STEP 17 is transferred by the processing in STEP 18.

Then, by the processing of STEP 19, the operation of starting the transfer of the AV information according to the I picture storage address searched in STEP 17 is started.

In this embodiment, the description has been made with respect to up to two channels. However, it is also easy to change the number of target channels by changing the amount of memory shown in FIGS. 3, 4, and 5. Can be done.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 6 shows a hardware configuration of a reproducing apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

The difference from the first embodiment is that there are two video / audio decoders (8a) and (8b), and the video output of both decoders is
An operation is performed such that mixing or selection of IP or the like is performed and video output is performed.
8) operates such that only one audio output is selected, and the mixer (47) and the selector (48)
It is configured to operate according to the instruction of U (9).

The operation of the apparatus configured as described above, which is different from that of the first embodiment, will now be described.

In the operation for transferring the AV information and each channel AV information shown in FIG. 9, the AV information is transferred to both video / audio decoders (8a) and (8b), and the channel 1 AV information is transferred to the video / audio The channel 2 AV information is transferred to the decoder (8a).
Operate to transfer to an audio decoder (8b),
Both video / audio decoders (8a) and (8)
From b), video output and audio output corresponding to each channel are performed.

Further, by controlling the mixer (47) and the selector (48) in accordance with an instruction from the user via the user interface section (10), it is possible to instantaneously switch and view a desired channel or desired mixing. Perform the operation.

Although this embodiment is based on the case of two channels, it is also possible to input more channels, and it is possible to simultaneously display multiple screens by dividing the screen into four and nine screens by the mixing means. .

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 7 shows a hardware configuration of a reproducing apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 7, the second
The difference from this embodiment is that the video output and the audio output of both video / audio decoders (8a) and (8b) are output as they are in two systems, and the channel switching and mixing operations are not performed. The playback device configured as described above can be used as a 3D video playback device by encoding a right-eye video and a left-eye video into two channels in a bit stream. In addition, a stereo sound can be obtained by encoding the right ear sound and the left ear sound into two channels.

FIG. 11 shows a hardware configuration of a reproducing apparatus according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

The hardware configuration is obtained by adding a timer (49) to the reproducing apparatus of the first embodiment shown in FIG.
A timer is input to the CPU (9).

In the fourth embodiment, when reproducing video information and audio information of two channels, search and reproduction can be performed a predetermined time (5 seconds in this embodiment).

The timer (49) operates to notify the CPU (9) of the lapse of time in accordance with the instruction of the CPU (9).

FIG. 12 and FIG. 13 are diagrams showing the memory (4) in detail.

As shown in FIG. 12, the memory (4) has a channel search information area for a time (second) that can be searched and reproduced. In this embodiment, the memory is (5).
It has five 1-second areas indicated by 0) to (54).

The five areas constitute a ring buffer, and the five areas are used by the CPU (9) so as to be sequentially updated with new data. Further, one channel search information area has a configuration shown in FIG.

The timer value (55) stores time information at which the CPU (9) writes the channel search information. The channel search addresses (56) and (57) store the time indicated by the timer value (55) of each channel. AV of each channel to be played
The channel search address indicating the position of the disk where the information exists is stored.

The bit stream is as shown in FIG.

The operation of the fourth embodiment will be described below.

The CPU (9) has a demultiplexer (3)
Makes a required bit stream request to the disk drive (2) via the, and the disk drive (2) reads the bit stream (11) from the disk according to the request and transmits it to the demultiplexer (3).

The demultiplexer (3) analyzes the input bit stream (11), separates the video information and audio information if the AV information is (20) or (27), and separates them into the video / audio decoder (8). And a video output and an audio output are respectively performed.

This operation is repeated so that the video output and the audio output are not interrupted.

When the demultiplexer (3) finds the channel header information (13) from the input bit stream, it sends it to the CPU (9). The CPU (9) first stores the channel header information (13) in the channel header information (13). Extract the number of existing channels.

If there are a plurality of channels,
The channel search address of the channel specified by the user is extracted from the channel switching information of the bit stream (11), and the data transfer of the bit stream from that address is performed via the demultiplexer (3). 2) and instructs the timer (49) to reset and start counting, and searches the channel (1) and channel 2 of the bit stream for the channel 1 and channel 2 search addresses (56) and (57). ), And 0 is stored in the timer value (55) of the memory (4). Thereafter, when recognizing the channel switching information from the bit stream, the demultiplexer (3) transmits the channel switching information to the CPU (9),
If the value of the timer (49) has elapsed by one second from the timer value of the previous channel switching information, the PU (9) writes the value obtained by adding one second to the previous timer value to the timer value of the next channel search information and Write each channel search address in the received channel switching information. By repeating this operation, the memory (4) is operated so that all the channel search information of the latest 5 seconds is stored every 1 second.

At this time, if the user presses the search key, the key content is recognized by the user interface unit (10),
Sent to CPU (9).

The CPU (9) reads the currently reproduced channel and the search address of the other channel of the information 5 seconds ago from the memory (4), and demultiplexes (3) the data transfer from that address. To the disk drive (2) via.

Disk drive (2) receiving the instruction
Operates to start data transfer from the data written to the specified address on the disk.

In this embodiment, since the search is performed for up to two channels, the search address area indicates two areas.

By changing the amount of memory shown in FIG. 12 and FIG. 13, it is easy to change the searchable / reproducible time and the number of target channels, and the search time is changed by the setting of the user. It is also possible.

[0083]

As described above, according to the present invention, the channel (angle) change can be instantaneously switched by the I-picture timing or the selector without affecting the seek operation capability of the disk drive. Simultaneous output of a plurality of channels (angles) becomes possible.

Further, when there are a plurality of angles, it is possible to realize the scene being viewed by one operation in response to a request to view the scene again at another angle.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a reproducing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows a bit stream.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing contents of a memory for channel 1;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing contents of a memory for channel 2;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing contents of a search information memory;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a reproducing apparatus according to a second embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a reproducing apparatus according to a third embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a bit stream input process according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a video / audio decoder data transfer process according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a channel switching process according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a reproducing apparatus according to a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of a memory area according to a fourth embodiment;

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing contents of channel search information in a memory according to a fourth embodiment;

[Explanation of symbols]

 1. Reproduction device 2. Disk drive 3. Demultiplexer 4. Memory 5. 5. Search information memory 6. Memory area for channel 1 7. Memory area for channel 2 Video / audio decoder 9. CPU10. User interface unit 11. Bit stream 49. Timer

Claims (11)

(57) [Claims] 1. A reproducing apparatus for reproducing information in which single-channel information and plural-channel information are mixed, wherein said channel information comprises video information, audio information and search information, and said video information and audio information are A first storage unit for storing the search information for each channel; and a user interface unit for inputting the channel designation information. The audio information is stored in the first storage unit for each channel, the search information is stored in the second storage unit for each channel, and the video is stored using the search information corresponding to the channel designation information input from the user interface unit. A reproducing apparatus for reading information and audio information from the first storage unit. 2. When the channel designation information is input to the user interface unit, a boundary position of a read frame is stored, and video information and audio information for the channel designated by the channel designation information in the first storage unit are stored. 2. The reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the data is read from a frame position corresponding to the boundary position. 3. A video signal converting means for converting the video information into a video signal, wherein the video information stored in the first storage unit, in which a plurality of channel information is stored, is converted into a video signal by the video converting means for each channel. 3. The reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the reproducing apparatus converts the data into the following. 4. A plurality of audio conversion means for converting the audio information into an audio signal, wherein the audio information stored in the first storage unit, in which a plurality of channel information is stored, is converted by the audio conversion means for each channel. 3. The reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the reproducing apparatus converts the data into the following. 5. The reproducing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said plurality of channel information includes video information for a right eye and video information for a left eye. 6. A reproducing apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising mixing means for mixing a plurality of video signals into respective areas obtained by dividing the screen, wherein the outputs of said plurality of video conversion means are mixed by said mixing means. . 7. The reproducing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said plurality of channel information includes audio information for a right ear and audio information for a left ear. 8. The apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising selection means for selecting one audio signal from the plurality of audio signals, wherein the outputs of the plurality of audio conversion means are selected and output by the selection means. Playback device. 9. A reproducing apparatus for reproducing information in which single-channel information and plural-channel information are mixed, wherein said channel information is composed of video information, audio information and search information, and said video information and audio information are A first storage unit for storing the search information, a second storage unit for storing the search information for each channel, a user interface unit for inputting channel designation information, and a timer. , Video information and audio information are sequentially stored in the first storage section, search information is sequentially stored in the second storage section at predetermined time intervals by the timer, and channel designation information input from the user interface section A playback device that reads out video information and audio information from the first storage unit using search information corresponding to the information. 10. The reproducing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein, as the search information, only the search information for each predetermined time is stored in the second storage unit. 11. A method according to claim 11, further comprising a search key input to the user interface unit, wherein, when an input is made with the search key, video information and audio information in the first storage unit are read based on the search information. The playback device according to claim 10.