JP3299375B2 - Karaoke equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a karaoke apparatus capable of reading out data from a medium on which karaoke performance information is recorded, reproducing musical tones, and displaying characters.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a karaoke apparatus reproduces music information and displays characters such as lyrics. When characters such as lyrics are displayed in a conventional karaoke apparatus, bitmap font data corresponding to all character codes that can be displayed in the karaoke apparatus are recorded in a semiconductor ROM, and the semiconductor ROM is provided. In the karaoke apparatus, since the size of the characters to be displayed is large, a large-capacity semiconductor ROM is required to record all the bitmap font data that can be displayed. For this reason, there has been a problem that the apparatus becomes large and the apparatus becomes expensive.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a small, low-cost karaoke apparatus without using a large-capacity semiconductor ROM.

[0004]

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention provides at least:
A karaoke apparatus medium in which musical tone data of a plurality of songs, character font data of all types used in the plurality of songs, and display condition data including a character code for each song of the plurality of songs and a display timing thereof are recorded. In a karaoke apparatus loaded with a karaoke apparatus, at least music data, character font data, and display condition data recorded on the karaoke apparatus medium based on music selection information inputted by the music selection means in the karaoke apparatus. Reproducing means for reading, tone output means for outputting a musical tone based on the tone data read from the reproducing means, font storing means for storing character font data read from the reproducing means, and reading from the reproducing means. The font is taken out from the font storage means based on the character code in the issued display condition data, and It is characterized in that it has a video output means for outputting a character image at a timing based on the display timing in the shown condition data.

[0005]

[0006]

According to the present invention, the character font data necessary for the music recorded on the karaoke apparatus is recorded on the medium for the karaoke apparatus. In the karaoke device, based on the music selection information,
Reproduction means reads out from the karaoke apparatus medium music data, character font data necessary for displaying characters such as lyrics, and display condition data including character codes such as lyrics and display timing. At this time, only the character font data corresponding to the character code needs to be read. The read character font data is stored in the font storage means. The read tone data is reproduced and output by the tone output means. The video output unit refers to the read display condition data, retrieves each character font data from the font storage unit based on the character code, and outputs the video according to the display timing. As described above, the font storage means only stores the character font data necessary for displaying the lyrics of the selected song, so that a low-capacity storage means can be used, and the size of the apparatus can be reduced. Cost and cost can be reduced.

[0007]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a karaoke apparatus according to the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a microprocessor, 2 is a medium, 3 is a reproducing device, 4 is a music selection switch, 5
Is a font RAM, 6 is a display condition data RAM, 7 is a display processor, 8 is a video RAM, 9 is a counter, 10 is a digital audio decoder, 11 is a switch, 12 is a master clock, and 13 is a character code table RAM.

[0008] The medium 2 stores data of n pieces of music, one font data file, n display condition data files, and n digital audio data files. Font data files are all n
It consists of all types of character codes used in the song and the corresponding font data, and can be recorded in ascending order of the character codes, for example. The display condition data file is composed of codes of characters to be displayed, coordinates on the display screen, and data of a waiting time until the display is started, and is recorded in the order of the characters to be displayed. The digital audio data file is composed of digital audio data used in each music piece. The display condition data file and the digital audio data file are provided corresponding to each music piece. In the medium 2, in addition to the above information, a directory section for searching for the information is recorded, and video data and the like can be recorded. The medium 2 is composed of one or more media. When the medium 2 is composed of a plurality of media, it can be configured to be exchangeable by a user or to be automatically exchangeable. Alternatively, it is also possible to adopt a configuration in which a plurality of media 2 are always held so as to be reproducible.

[0009] The reproducing apparatus 3 transmits digital audio data from the medium 2 based on an instruction from the microprocessor 1.
Read font data, display condition data, etc. The switch 11 switches between sending the data read by the playback device 3 to the digital audio decoder 10 or sending it to other means via the microprocessor 1 according to an instruction from the microprocessor 1. Music selection switch 4
Is constituted by selection means for the user to select music. The font RAM 5 stores font data necessary for displaying characters such as lyrics of the selected song together with character codes. Character code table RAM1
3 stores a character code used in the selected song. The display condition data RAM 6 stores display condition data read out corresponding to the music selection. The display processor 7 refers to the character code in the display condition data stored in the display condition data RAM 6, obtains font data from the font RAM 5 based on the character code table RAM 13, and generates a character image. At this time, the video RAM 8 is used. The generated character image is output based on the display timing in the display condition data. The digital audio decoder 10 includes the playback device 3
Play the digital audio data read in
Outputs musical tones .

The master clock 12 is a clock for determining the timing of the entire apparatus. Counter 9
Counts the master clock 12 and is used for the timing control of the output of the character image by the display processor 7 and the like. The microprocessor 1 controls each unit of the device.

Font RAM 5, display condition data RAM
6. The character code table RAM 13 and the like can be constituted by different storage devices, respectively. However, the character code table RAM 13 and the work RAM of the microprocessor 1 can be constituted by one storage device, and can be used by dividing an area. Semiconductor RAMs and the like can be used as these storage devices. Note that the character code table does not need to be created, and in that case, the character code table RAM 13 is not required.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a data format of a medium. As described above, the medium 2 has recorded data of n pieces of music, and has a font data file of one.
, Display condition data files, and n digital audio data files. As shown in FIG. 2A, the font data file records pairs of character codes and font data corresponding to the character codes for all character codes used in all n pieces of music. In FIG. 2A, m pairs of character codes and font data are recorded. As the font data, bitmap data may be recorded as it is, or may be recorded as compressed data. Also,
As the font data, in addition to information on the shape of the character, various attribute information such as color and brightness may be stored. Further, an index can be recorded so that the head of each character code in the font data file can be immediately identified. The pair of the character code and the font data can be recorded, for example, in ascending order of the character code.

A display condition data file is provided for each song. FIG. 2B shows the format of one display condition data file. In the display condition data file, a plurality of sets of data of a character code to be displayed, coordinates on the display screen, and a waiting time until the display is started are recorded. These data sets are recorded in the order of characters to be displayed. This data set may be configured for each character to be displayed, or may be configured as a set of a display start coordinate and a waiting time for a character code string. As the waiting time data, the time from the start of the performance may be recorded, or the waiting time after the previous character is displayed may be recorded. In FIG. 2B, a set of q character codes, coordinates, and waiting time is recorded.

The digital audio data file is
As shown in FIG. 2 (C), it is composed of digital audio data used in each music piece. One file is recorded for each song. The digital audio data may be configured in a conventionally used data format.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing an example of the operation in one embodiment of the karaoke apparatus of the present invention. First, in S21, a music selection is performed using the music selection switch 4. Now, it is assumed that, for example, the music number 1 is selected by the music selection switch 4. Then, the microprocessor 1 executes S22
In step S23, the switch 11 is closed on the side of a, that is, on the side of the microprocessor 1, and in S23, the reproducing apparatus 3 is instructed to read the display condition data file of the track number 1. The reproducing device 3 reads the display condition data corresponding to the music number 1 from the medium 2. The read display condition data is transmitted by the microprocessor 1 to the display condition data RA.
Stored in M6. Then, in S24, the character code used for song number 1 is extracted from the display condition data stored in the display condition data RAM 6, and stored in the character code table RAM 13. Further, the contents stored in the character code table RAM 13 are rearranged, for example, in ascending order of the character codes. Thus, a character code table is created.

In S25, the microprocessor 1
Instructs the playback device 3 to read font data from the font data file. The font data is read out by referring to the character code table generated in step S24 and stored in the character code table RAM 13 in order. The extracted character codes are compared with the character codes in the font data file in order. When the character codes match, the character code and the font data are stored in the font RAM 5. That is, if the character code xi in the character code table represents the character code j in the font data file, the character code j and the font data j are stored in the font RAM 5. This operation is performed for all characters in the character code table. At this time, if the data in the character code table and the font data file are arranged in ascending or descending order of the character codes, the font data file is searched only once, and the data corresponding to the character codes in the character code table is obtained. You can get all font data. In this way, only the character code and font data necessary for the song number 1 are stored in the font RAM 5
To be stored.

Next, in S26, the microprocessor 1 closes the switch 11 to the side of b, that is, the side of the digital audio decoder 10, and in S27,
It instructs the reproducing device 3 to read the digital audio data file corresponding to the music number 1. Playback device 3
Starts reading a digital audio file and sends reproduction start information to the microprocessor 1. Upon receiving the reproduction start information from the reproduction device 3, the microprocessor 1 resets the counter 9 immediately. When digital audio data is input, the digital audio decoder 10 starts decoding and outputs musical tones .

During tone output, the microprocessor 1
At 28, processing for character display is performed. The microprocessor 1 sequentially refers to the display condition data stored in the display condition data RAM 6, and obtains a character code, coordinates to be displayed, and a waiting time until the display is started. Then, it waits until the value of the counter 9 reaches the waiting time. When the value of the counter 9 has reached the waiting time, the counter 9 is reset, font data corresponding to the character code is obtained from the font RAM 5, and the display processor 7 is instructed to display characters together with the coordinates. When the value of the waiting time is displayed as the accumulated time from the start of the music, the counter 9 is not reset for each character display. The display processor 7 outputs the designated video R
The font data is drawn at the coordinates of AM8. For example, k
Character code yk, coordinates p as the display condition data
If k and the waiting time tk are stored, the process waits until the value of the counter 9 reaches tk. And the character code yk
If the character code in the font RAM 5 corresponding to the
8 is drawn at coordinate pk. Such processing is sequentially and repeatedly performed for each set of character codes, coordinates, and waiting time of the display condition data. The display processor 7 executes the drawing process instructed by the microprocessor 1
The contents of the video RAM 8 are constantly output as video signals. By repeating the drawing process instructed by the microprocessor 1, characters are sequentially displayed.

In this example, no special synchronization processing is performed between the musical sound output and the character image output, but the microprocessor 1, the counter 9,
Since the digital audio decoder 10 is operated, there is no deviation between the musical sound output and the character video output.

In the above example, only the character display has been described. However, it is also possible to display a character image together with the image information. When video information is separately supplied, the character video output output from the display processor 7 and the video information may be superimposed and displayed. In the case of a still image, an image may be stored in another video RAM, and the image and the character image may be superimposed and output as a video.

The reproduction of the video information can be performed by the reproducing device 3. In this case, after reading the digital audio data, the switch 11 is switched so that the output of the playback device 3 is input to the video information decoder, the video information is read, and the video output is obtained by the video information decoder. Superimpose with the video output. At this time, the digital audio data is temporarily
It may be stored in a memory or the like.

[0022]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, only the font data of the characters used in the selected music piece is stored in the storage means. And the types of characters are small, and the required storage capacity is small. Therefore, characters can be displayed by using a low-capacity storage device instead of a large-capacity semiconductor ROM in which font data is recorded, and the effect that the device can be reduced in size and cost can be realized. is there.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a karaoke apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a data format of a medium.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of an operation in one embodiment of the karaoke apparatus of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Microprocessor, 2 ... Medium, 3 ... Reproduction device, 4
... Music selection switch, 5 font RAM, 6 display condition data RAM, 7 display processor, 8 video RAM, 9 counter, 10 digital audio decoder, 11 switch, 12 master clock, 1
3. Character code table RAM.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ identification code FI H04N 5/91 H04N 5/91 Z (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G10K 15/04 302 G09G 5 / 00 510 G11B 20/02 G11B 23/00 G11B 27/34 H04N 5/91

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. At least musical tone data of a plurality of songs, character font data of all types used in the plurality of songs, and display condition data including a character code of each song of the plurality of songs and a display timing thereof are recorded. In a karaoke apparatus loaded with a karaoke apparatus medium, music selection means for performing music selection, and at least musical sound data and characters recorded on the karaoke apparatus medium based on music selection information input by the music selection means. Playback means for reading font data and display condition data; tone output means for outputting a tone based on tone data read from the playback means; font storage means for storing character font data read from the playback means And from the font storage unit based on the character code in the display condition data read from the reproduction unit. A karaoke apparatus comprising video output means for extracting a font and outputting a character video at a timing based on a display timing in the display condition data.