JP3392837B2 - Optical disk, information recording method and reproducing method and reproducing apparatus for the same - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording medium, a reproducing apparatus therefor and a recording / reproducing apparatus, and more particularly to a DVD-RAM.
And an information recording / reproducing apparatus applicable to a recording / reproducing DVD player for recording / reproducing images and sounds using the recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Reproduction-only optical discs for recording image and audio data are music CDs, laser discs, and video Cs.
It has already been put to practical use as D and the like. In addition, MPEG2 (Moving Picture Exp), which is an international standard for moving image compression,
The DVD standard using the erts Group Phase 2) and AC3 audio compression method was established and put into practical use as a DVD video. Initially, the DVD standard was intended for read-only use, that is, ROM-type discs that cannot be recorded by the user. Recently, however, a DVD-RAM standard that allows recording by the user as well as reproduction has been established.

The DVD-RAM standard is currently put to practical use in a data recording / reproducing apparatus for a computer, but naturally, its application to a DVD recording / reproducing apparatus for recording / reproducing a moving image or sound is also under consideration. . Considering the application of the DVD-RAM standard to a DVD recording / reproducing apparatus, it is desired that the search can be performed similarly to the standard of the DVD video or the DVD audio based on the read-only DVD standard.

According to the DVD video standard, a VMG / VTS menu is prepared for a disc title production company. These menus are created using dedicated authoring equipment. At the time of reproduction, in addition to normal video data, the recorded content of the disc is displayed as a menu, and the user can select it by a button display or the like using the sub-picture, so that the desired portion can be searched.

On the other hand, when recording a moving image using a DVD-RAM, the user has to make a title, and the VMG / VT in the DVD video standard.
If S menu data is adopted, these will also be created by the user. However, it is very difficult for a general user to create the VMG / VTS menu data in view of the large amount of data and the necessary equipment that must be prepared for creating the menu data.
Not realistic. Furthermore, in the case of a recordable / reproducible DVD,
The act of re-recording the main record data (video / audio data) frequently occurs, but if VMG / VTS menu data is used, it is necessary to rewrite these menu data each time the main record data is rewritten. Therefore, the amount of work for that becomes enormous.

[0006]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention
When recording a moving image or audio using the D-RAM, the VMG / VTS menu as used in the DVD video standard that does not assume rewriting of the main recording data for the purpose of searching or editing. There is a problem that using the data imposes a heavy burden on the user and is not practical.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems and provide an information recording / reproducing apparatus capable of easily searching and editing without needing to create complicated menu data.

[0008]

According to the present invention, a video object is defined, the video object includes a plurality of video object units, the video object unit includes a plurality of video packs and audio packs, and the video object is Program chain information for reproducing is defined. The program chain information includes a plurality of cell information and specifies a cell reproducing order, the cell defines a reproducing section of the video object, and the cell information is ， Playback data playback area
A cell general information block including information between the cells and a specific image information block are sequentially included, and the specific image information block includes pointer information of a specific image in the video object. The information is based on an optical disc characterized in that a plurality of pieces of information exist so that specific images at a plurality of places in the same cell can be designated.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As a typical embodiment of the recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention, an apparatus for recording / reproducing a moving image encoded based on MPEG2 at a variable bit rate, for example, D
There is a VD digital video recorder.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view for explaining the structure of a recordable optical disc 10 used in this DVD digital video recorder. As shown in FIG. 1, the optical disc 10 has a structure in which a pair of transparent substrates 14 each provided with a recording layer 17 are bonded together with an adhesive layer 20. Each substrate 14 can be made of 0.6 mm thick polycarbonate, and the adhesive layer 20 can be made of an ultrathin (for example, 40 μm thick) ultraviolet curable resin. The pair of 0.6 mm substrates 14 are bonded together so that the recording layer 17 is in contact with the surface of the adhesive layer 20.
A thick large-capacity optical disk 10 can be obtained.

A center hole 22 is provided in the optical disk 10, and a clamp area 24 for clamping the optical disk 10 during rotational driving is provided around the center hole 22 on both sides of the disk. A spindle of a disc motor is inserted into the center hole 22 when the optical disc 10 is loaded in a disc drive device (not shown).
Then, the optical disc 10 is clamped in the clamp area 24 by a disc clamper (not shown) while the disc is rotating.

The optical disk 10 has an information area 25 around the clamp area 24 in which video data, audio data and other information can be recorded. Of the information area 25, the lead-out area 2 is on the outer peripheral side.
6 is provided, and a lead-in area 27 is provided on the inner peripheral side in contact with the clamp area 24. A data recording area 28 is defined between the lead-out area 26 and the lead-in area 27.

On the recording layer 17 of the information area 25, recording tracks are continuously formed in a spiral shape, for example. The continuous track is divided into multiple physical sectors,
Serial numbers are attached to these sectors. Various data is recorded on the optical disc 10 using this sector as a recording unit.

The data recording area 28 is an actual data recording area. As recording / playback information, video data (main video data) of movies, sub-video data of subtitles / menus, dialogue / sound effects, etc. are recorded. Audio data is recorded as a phase change mark, for example.

The optical disk 10 is a RAM disk for recording / reproducing, and the recording layer 17 is a phase change consisting of, for example, _two layers of a mixture of zinc sulfide and silicon oxide (ZnS.SiO ₂ ), such as a Ge ₂ Sb ₂ Te ₅ layer. It can be composed of three layers sandwiching a recording material layer. A continuous groove is formed on the substrate 14 having the recording / reproducing recording layer 17, and the phase change recording layer is provided in this groove.
In addition to the groove, the land phase change recording layer is usually used for recording information.

The DVD digital video recorder described later is configured to be capable of repetitive recording / reproduction (reading / writing) on a DVD-RAM disc (or DVD-RW disc) and repetitive reproduction on a DVD-ROM disc.

FIG. 2 shows the optical disc (DVD-RA of FIG.
It is a figure explaining the correspondence of the data recording area 28 of M) 10 and the recording track of the data recorded here.
When the disc 10 is a DVD-RAM, the main body of the disc 10 is housed in the cartridge 11 in order to protect the delicate disc surface. DVD-RAM disc 1
When 0 is inserted into the disc drive of the DVD video recorder described below together with the cartridge 11, the cartridge 1
The disk 10 is pulled out from the disk 1, clamped on a turntable of a spindle motor (not shown), and rotated so as to face an optical head (not shown).

The recording layer 17 of the information area 25 shown in FIG.
The data recording tracks are continuously formed in a spiral shape. As shown in FIG. 2, the continuous track is divided into a plurality of logical sectors (minimum recording unit) having a constant storage capacity, and data is recorded on the basis of the logical sectors. The recording capacity of one logical sector is 2048 bytes (or 2 kbytes), which is the same as the one-pack data length described later.
Has been decided.

The data recording area 28 is an actual data recording area in which management data, main video (video) data, sub-video data and audio (audio) data are similarly recorded.

FIG. 3 shows a hierarchical structure of data recorded on the optical disk 10 as an information storage medium capable of recording and reproducing video information and music information shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.
The data recording area 28 formed on the optical disc 10 is
It has a hierarchical structure of data as shown in FIG. The logical format of this structure is defined in accordance with, for example, one of the standards, ISO9660 and Universal Disc Format (UDF) Bridge.

As shown in FIG. 3, a lead-in area 27 is provided on the inner peripheral side of the optical disk 10 and a lead-out area 26 is provided on the outer peripheral side thereof, and between the lead-in area 27 and the lead-out area 26. The data recording area 28 is allocated as a volume space 28. This volume space 28 is a space for volume and file structure information (volume / file management area 70) and a space for DVD standard applications (DVD data). It has a region 71).

The lead-in area 27 has a read-only emboss zone having a concave and convex light reflection surface, a mirror zone formed by a flat mirror surface, and a rewritable data zone in which information can be rewritten. ing. The lead-out area 26 is composed of a rewritable data zone in which information can be rewritten.

Emboss data of the lead-in area 27
In the zone, the disc type such as DVD-ROM (read-only DVD disc), DVD-RAM (DVD disc for recording / reproducing) and DVD-R (recordable DVD disc), disc size, recording density, and recording start / Information about the entire information storage medium such as the physical sector number indicating the recording end position is recorded, and the recording power and recording pulse width necessary for recording data on the recording layer 17 and the data recorded on the recording layer 17 are erased. Information about recording / reproducing / erasing characteristics such as the erasing power required for reproducing, the reproducing power required to reproduce the data recorded on the recording layer 17, and the linear velocity at the time of recording / erasing is recorded.
Further, in the embossed data zone of the lead-in area 27, information regarding the manufacture of one information storage medium, such as the manufacturing number, is recorded in advance. In the rewritable data zone 27 of the lead-in and the rewritable data zone of the lead-out 26, a recording area for recording the unique disc name of each information storage medium, and confirming that recording and erasing are possible under the recording and erasing conditions A confirmation test recording area for performing the recording, a presence / absence of a defective area in the data area 72, and a management information recording area related to the address of the area are included, and a preliminary process for enabling data recording in the data area 72 Made in the area, and also the recording of data thereafter,
Information necessary for erasing and reproducing is recorded.

The volume space 28 is physically divided into a large number of sectors, and these physical sectors are numbered consecutively. The logical address of the data recorded in this volume space (data recording area) 28 is
Indicates a logical sector number, as defined by ISO9660 and UDF Bridge. The logical sector size here is the same as the effective data size of the physical sector,
The logical sector number is 2048 bytes (2 kbytes), and consecutive numbers are added to the logical sector numbers in ascending order of the physical sector numbers.

The volume space 28 has a hierarchical structure and includes a volume / file management area 70 and a data area 72 consisting of one or more video objects. These areas 70 and 72 are divided on the boundary of logical sectors. Here, one logical sector is defined as 2048 bytes, and one logical block is also defined as 2048 bytes. Therefore, one logical sector is defined as one logical block.

The volume / file management area 70 is a rewritable data zone that can be recorded and rewritten by the user, and corresponds to a management area defined by ISO9660 and UDF bridge. Information about a file or volume of video data is stored in a system memory (not shown) inside the DVD video recorder described later. Normally, the volume / file management area 70 is composed of one file.

As shown in FIG. 3, the data area 72 is defined as an area where mixed recording of computer data and audio / video is possible. The recording order of computer data and audio / video and the size of each recording information are arbitrary, and the areas in which computer data is recorded are referred to as computer data areas 74-1 and 74-2. The area in which is recorded is called the audio and video data area 76. The computer data areas 74-1 and 74-2 may not be provided due to their properties when only audio and video data is recorded in the recording area 72.
Similarly, when only computer data is recorded in the recording area 72, the audio and video data area 76 need not be provided particularly because of its nature. The computer data areas 74-1 and 74-2 and the audio and video data area 76 are each composed of one or a plurality of files.

Audio and video data area 76
As shown in FIG. 3, the control information 78 and the reproduction target, that is, one or a plurality of video objects 82, 84 as contents, required when performing each processing of recording (recording), reproduction, editing and retrieval. , 86 is recorded. video·
The object 80 includes a video object 80 whose content is video data, and a content is a still object.
There are still images such as slides, or places to be viewed in video data, picture objects 84 that are picture data such as thumbnails for searching or editing, and audio objects 86 whose content is audio data. As can be seen, the video object set 80 includes these objects 82, 8
It suffices if it consists of at least one of 4,86,
It is not necessary to have all the objects 82, 84, 86. Similarly, each of the objects 82, 84 and 86 is composed of one or a plurality of files.

One or more objects 82, 84,
Video object set 80 composed of 86
4 is video data compressed according to the MPEG2 standard (a video pack 88 described later), audio data compressed according to a predetermined standard or uncompressed (an audio pack 90 described later), and run-length compressed as shown in FIG. Sub-picture data (a sub-picture pack 92 containing bitmap data in which one pixel is defined by a plurality of bits described later) is stored.

When the video object set 80 is composed of the video objects 80, it has a data structure as shown in FIG. 4, and the video object set 80 is composed of the picture objects 84. Has a data structure including only the video pack 88 and / or the sub-picture pack 92 that does not include the audio pack 90, and when the video object set 80 includes the audio object 86, The data structure has only the audio pack 90 that does not include the video pack 88 and the sub-picture pack 92.

As shown in FIG. 4, logically, a video object set 80, ie, video, picture and audio objects 82, 84, 86, is made up of a plurality of cells 94, each cell 94 having one or more cells. The video object unit (VOBU) 96 is used.

In the cell 94, in principle, the video object unit (VOBU) 96 is decoded and reproduced in the arrangement order in the cell 94. Each video object unit 85 is an aggregate (pack row) of a video pack (V pack) 88, a sub-picture pack (SP pack) 92, and an audio pack (A pack) 90.
And is defined as data reproduced in a fixed period, for example, a period of 0.5 to 1.2 seconds. These packs are the minimum unit when performing the data transfer process, and the data is logically processed with the cell as the minimum unit.

This video object unit (VOB
An identification number (IDN # k; k = 0 to k) is attached to the U) 96, and the video object unit 96 can be specified by this identification number. The playback period of the video object unit (VOBU) 96 is usually 1 included in the video object unit (VOBU) 96.
The above video groups (Group of Pictures; G for short)
OP) corresponds to the reproduction time of the video data. Normally, 1 GOP is about 0.5 seconds according to the MPEG2 standard, and it is screen data compressed so that about 15 frame images are reproduced during that period.

The video object unit (VOB
When U) 96 includes video data, a video data stream is formed by arranging GOPs (conforming to the MPEG standard) including video packs 88, sub-picture packs 90 and audio packs 91. In addition, even in the reproduction data of only audio and / or sub-picture data, the reproduction data is configured with the video object unit (VOBU) 96 as one unit. For example, as in the case of the video object VOB of video data,
The audio pack 90 to be reproduced within the reproduction time of the video object unit (VOBU) 85 to which the audio data belongs is stored in the video object unit (VOBU) 96.

An identification number (IDN # i; i = 0 to i) is attached to each of the video objects 82, 84 and 86 forming the video object set 80, and the video objects 82, 84 and 86 are identified by this identification number. Can be specified. Further, each cell 94 has an identification number (C) as in the case of the video objects 82, 84 and 86.
_IDN # j) is attached.

FIG. 5 shows the general structure of the video pack 88, the sub-picture pack 92 and the audio pack 90. All of these packs are composed of data in units of 2048 bytes, like the logical sector in FIG. Video, audio and sub-picture packs 88, 90, 92
Includes a pack header 98 and a packet 10 as shown in FIG.
It consists of zero. The packet 100 includes a packet header, and a decoding time stamp (DST) and a presentation time stamp (PTS) are recorded in this packet header.

The control information 78 shown in FIG. 3 is reproduction control information 102 indicating control information necessary for reproduction, and recording control information 10 indicating control information necessary for recording (video recording).
4. Edit control information 106 indicating control information necessary for editing
And microscopic control information 108 showing management information relating to thumbnails (microscopic images) for searching or editing a desired place in the video data.

The reproduction control information 102 shown in FIG. 3 corresponds to the management information table (PLY_MA) as shown in FIG.
T) 112 and a program chain (PGC) information table (PGCIT) 110Y_IIT) 114. Information as shown in FIG. 7 is described in the management information table (PLY_MAT) 112, and the program chain (PGC) information table 110 has a data structure as shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 8, the program chain (PGC) information table 110 includes index scene information 120, PGC information management information 122, and search pointers # 1 to # n12 for searching each PGC information.
4 and PGC information # 1 to # n126.

The program chain (PGC) information table 110 mainly includes program chain (PGC)
C) and information regarding the reproduction order of the cells are described, and the data of the cell 94 recorded in the video object 82, that is, the movie data as the actual data composed of the video object unit 96, is the program chain ( PGC) information table 110 is reproduced. This program chain (PGC) information table 110 includes index scene information 120, PGC information management information 122, and each P as shown in FIG.
Search pointers # 1 to # for searching GC information
n124 and PGC information # 1 to # n126. The index scene information 120 describes the cell number of a scene (index scene) used as an index image.

When the PGC number is determined, the playback pointer of the PGC corresponding to the PGC number is obtained by referring to the search pointer 124, and the video object 82 is played according to the playback order of the cell. The data of the cell 94 as the real data is obtained from the video data and the video is played. Although the video object 82 has been described here, the picture object 8
4 and the audio object 86 in the same manner as the program chain (PGC) information table 110.
The cell data as the actual data is taken out and reproduced according to the description of.

Here, the PGC corresponds to a chapter in a movie story and indicates a unit for executing a series of reproductions in which the reproduction order of cells is designated. In other words, if one PGC is compared to one drama, it can be construed that the plurality of cells 94 configuring this PGC correspond to various scenes in the drama. The contents of the PGC (or the contents of the cell) are determined by, for example, the software provider who produces the contents recorded on the disc 10. Specifically, if there is a certain video data stream as shown in FIG. 10 (a), the inside is divided into video object units 96 that are played back within a certain period of time, and in principle, continuous video objects.・ Unit 9
A set of 6 is defined in the cell 94.

Here, the video object unit 9
6 is continuous in principle, the PGC information table 110 as described later, and more specifically, in the cell reproduction information 130 shown in FIG. 8, the first video object unit 96 forming a cell. And the last video object unit 96 defines a cell 94. That is, in the cell reproduction information 130, as shown in FIG. 9, the information of the reproduction section designated by the start address 134 and the end address 136 of the reproduction data forming the cell is described.

When the cell 94 is determined in this way, the PGC is constructed by determining the reproduction order of the cell. For example, as shown in FIG. 10B, cell-A, cell-B,
By arranging the three cells 96 in the table of cell playback information so that they are played in the order of cell-B, PGC #
1 is defined. Similarly, cell-D, cell-E, cell-F
PGC # 2 is defined by arranging the three cells 96 in the table of cell playback information so that the cells are played back in the order of, cell-Q, cell-R, cell-S, cell-T,
By arranging the five cells 96 in the table of cell playback information so that they are played in the order of cell-U, PGC #
3 is defined.

Here, a PG corresponding to a chapter by linking PGC # 1 and # 2 with each other.
PGC # 2 corresponding to the next chapter following C # 1
Is played. In other words, cell-A to cell-F are continuously reproduced. In the PGC, the cells 94 are played back in the arrangement order. However, the PGC configuration method and the PGC playback order are arbitrary, so that, for example, one PGC can be defined as a cell that configures another PGC, and Since the way of linking, that is, the link information can be arbitrarily determined, various stories can be created or edited. For example, PGC # 3 can be linked following PGC # 1, and PGC # 1 can be linked.
It is possible to add the same cell to PGC # 2 and PGC # 2, for example, cell G to make different chapters, and link any PGC # 1 or PGC # 2 followed by PGC # 3 according to the user's selection to create a story It will be possible to reproduce.

As shown in FIG. 7, the reproduction management table 112.
Describes an identifier ID indicating that it is reproduction control information.
Start address of video object set 80 (VOB
S_SA) and end address (VOBS_EA) are described, and the end address (CTLI_EA) of control information (CTLI) 102 and playback control information (PLYI) 1
02 end address (PLYI_EA) is described. Further, in the reproduction management table 122, an attribute (CAT) indicating that this management information belongs to the format of the recording / reproducing DVD is described, and the video in the video object set recorded in the audio / video data area 76 is recorded. Attributes (for example, NTSC system, wide, etc.) are described. Similarly, a table (A) describing the number of audio streams (AST_Ns) in the recorded video object set and its attributes, for example, compression system.
ST_ATR), and similarly, a table (SPST_ATR) describing the number of sub-picture streams (SPST_Ns) in the video object set recorded in the same manner and the attributes thereof (SPST_ATR). Further, when the user records menu image data, moving image or still image data as an independent file in the audio / video data area 76, a flag (01) indicating that there is a user menu and such a menu are displayed. If there is not, a flag (00) indicating that there is no user menu is described, and if a reduced image is recorded in the audio / video data area 76, it is a representative of the reduced image. The PGC number which is the basis of the reduced image is described. Furthermore, a flag (0: not played, 1: played) indicating whether or not the user has finished playing the video object set whose playback is controlled by the reservation and control information 78 is described.

PGC information management information (PGC_) shown in FIG.
The MAI) 122 includes information indicating the total number of PGCs as shown in FIG.
As described above, 24 includes information that points to the beginning of each PGC information to facilitate the PGC search. The PGC information 126 is composed of PGC general information 128 shown in FIG. 8 and one or more pieces of cell reproduction information 130 shown in FIG.

PGC information management information 122 (PGC_MA
I) is the PGC information table 110 as shown in FIG.
End address (PGC_TABLE_EA) of PGC
End address (PGC_MAI_EA) of information management information 122 (PGC_MAI), start address (PGC) of search pointer (PGC_SRP) 124 of PGC information
_SRP_SA) and end address (PGC_SRP
_EA), the start address (PGCI_SA) and end address (PGCI) of all PGC information (PGCI) 126.
CI_EA) and the number of all PGCs (PGC_Ns)
Is described.

The PGC general information (PGC_GI) 128 includes information indicating the PGC reproduction time and the number of cells, as shown in FIG. That is, in the PGC general information (PGC_GI) 128, the number of the PGC, the contents of the PGC describing the number of cells (PGC_CNT), the playback time (C_SRP_SA) and end address (PGC_SRP_EA) of the PGC, and all the PGC information ( P
GCI) 126 start address (PGCI_SA) and end address (PGCI_EA) and all PGCs
Number (PGC_Ns) is described.

The PGC general information (PGC_GI) 128 includes information indicating the PGC reproduction time and the number of cells as shown in FIG. That is, in the PGC general information (PGC_GI) 128, the number of the PGC, the contents of the PGC describing the number of cells (PGC_CNT), the playback time of the PGC (PGC_PB_TM), the PGC.
Table (PGC_AST_CTL) in which information for controlling the audio stream included in the
A table (PGC_SPST_CTL) in which information for controlling the sub-picture stream included in C is described is described.

Further, PGC general information (PGC_GI) 1
28, link information related to the PGC to be linked to the PGC, for example, a PGC navigation control (PGC_NV_CTL) in which the previous PGC, the next PGC, or the jump destination (GOup) PGC is described,
Sub-picture palette table (PGC_SP_PLT) that describes reproduction information regarding the colors of the sub-picture palette
And a start address (PG) of a program table (not shown) in which a list of programs constituting the PGC is described.
C_PGMAP_SA) is described. Further, in this table (PGC_GI), cell reproduction information (CEL
L_PLY_I) 120 start address (CELL_P
LY_I_SA), a flag indicating whether or not there is menu data created by the user regarding the PGC (01: menu data exists, 00: menu data does not exist), reservation, whether or not reproduction by the user of the PGC has ended. Flag (0: not played, 1: played) and the PGC
Flag (AR
(CIVE Flag), that is, a flag indicating whether to desire permanent storage (0: free [erasable], 1:
Permanent preservation) is described.

Index scene information 1 shown in FIG.
In 20, a cell number N of a scene registered as an index image by a pointer recording mode described later is described.

The cell reproduction information (CELL_
The PLY_I) 130 is roughly divided into cell general information 132 and index scene pointer information 134 as shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 13, the cell general information 132 describes a cell category (C_CAT), for example, whether the cell belongs to a block or, if so, whether the block is an angle block. Here, the angle block means a block whose angles can be switched. The angle switching means changing the angle at which the subject image is viewed (camera angle).
Specifically, in the example of a rock concert video, in the same music performance scene (same event), scenes captured mainly by vocalists, scenes mainly captured by guitarists, scenes mainly captured by drummers, etc. This means that you can see the scene. Angles can be switched (or changed) when the angle can be selected according to the viewer's preference, or when the same scene is automatically changed and repeated in the story flow (software If the producer / provider configured the story as such; or if the user of the DVD video recorder made such an edit).

As shown in FIG. 13, the cell general information 132 describes the reproduction time (absolute time) of the cell in the PGC, and a flag indicating whether or not reproduction by the user of the cell has ended. (0: not replayed, 1: replayed) and a flag (ARCHIVE Flag) as to whether or not the cell is desired to be saved in the future, that is, a flag as to whether or not to permanently save the cell (0: free) [Erasable], 1: Permanent storage) is described.

In the cell general information 132, as shown in FIG. 13, the cell start address (CELL_SA) is set.
And the end address (CELL_EA) of the first and last video object units (VOBU) in the cell are described as relative addresses from the beginning of the video object set 80, and the cell reproduction information (CELL
_PLY_I) 130 end address (CELL_PL
Y_I_EA) is also described. The cell reproduction information end address (CELL_PLY_I_EA) is provided because the cell general information 132 has a fixed length, but the length of the index scene pointer information 134 is indefinite.

On the other hand, index scene pointer information 1
34, the physical sector number on the optical disc 10 of the PGC information including the cell number of the index scene (scene used as an index image) recorded in the index scene information 120 as shown in FIG. Scene pointer address (INDEX
_PT)) is described. In FIG. 13, there are M index scene pointer addresses, and the number of M is variable.

Therefore, when the image recorded on the optical disk 10 is searched, the PGC information table 11 shown in FIG.
The cell number of the cell including the index scene is read from the index scene information 120 in 0, and the PGC information 126 including the cell number is searched to retrieve the P
The index image can be searched by reading the index scene pointer information 134 for the cell reproduction information 130 of the PGC general information 128 of the GC information 126.

The procedure for registering the cell number in the index scene information 120 and the registration procedure for the index scene pointer information 134 will be described later in detail.

Recording control information 1 shown in FIGS. 3 and 6
04 includes the recording management table 114 shown in FIG. 14, and this recording management table 114 has recording control information 10
The end address (RECI_EA) of No. 4 and the end address (REC_MAT_EA) of the recording management table 114 are described, and an empty area (FREE_SPACE) for writing information regarding recording management is provided. Further, in the recording management table 114, a flag (ARCHIVE) indicating whether or not it is desired to save this VOBS.
Flag), that is, a flag (0: free [erasable], 1: permanent storage) indicating whether or not to desire permanent storage.

The reduced-scale control information 108 shown in FIG. 3 comprises an anchor pointer 108-A and a picture address table 108-B.
8-B is menu index information INFO1, index picture information INFO2, slide & still information INFO3, information picture information INF.
O4, defect area information INFO5, and wallpaper picture information INFO6 are included.

FIG. 15 shows the disk of FIG.
The configuration of an apparatus (DVD video recorder) for recording / reproducing digital moving image information at a variable recording rate using the information having the structure as described in FIG.

The main body of this DVD video recorder is
The optical disk 10 which is a DVD-RAM or DVD-R disk is roughly driven to rotate,
A disk drive unit (including a disk drive 32, a temporary storage unit 34, a data processor 36, a system time counter 38, and the like) that reads and writes information from and to an encoder unit 50 that constitutes a recording side, and a reproduction side. And a microcomputer block 30 for controlling the operation of the apparatus body.

The encoder section 50 includes an ADC (analog /
Digital converter) 52, video encoder (V encoder) 53, audio encoder (A encoder) 54, sub-picture encoder (SP encoder) 55
A formatter 56, a buffer 57, a reduced image generation unit 58, and a reduced image buffer memory 59.

The ADC 52 has an external analog video signal from the AV input section 42 and an external analog audio signal,
Alternatively, the analog TV signal + analog audio signal from the TV tuner 44 is input. The ADC 52 digitizes the input analog video signal with, for example, a sampling frequency of 13.5 MHz and a quantization bit number of 8 bits. That is, each of the luminance component Y, the color difference component Cr (or Y-R) and the color difference component Cb (or Y-B) is quantized with 8 bits. Further, the ADC 52 digitizes the input analog audio signal at a sampling frequency of 48 kHz and a quantization bit number of 16 bits, for example.

When an analog video signal and a digital audio signal are input to the ADC 52, A
The DC 52 allows the digital audio signal to pass through. At this time, the contents of the digital audio signal may not be changed, and only the jitter associated with the digital signal may be reduced or the sampling rate or the number of quantization bits may be changed. On the other hand, when the digital video signal and the digital audio signal are input to the ADC 52, the ADC 52 allows the digital video signal and the digital audio signal to pass through. Jitter reduction processing, sampling rate change processing, etc. may be performed on these digital signals without changing the contents.

The digital video signal component from the ADC 52 is sent to the formatter 56 via the video encoder (V encoder) 53. The digital audio signal component from the ADC 52 is sent to the formatter 56 via the audio encoder (A encoder) 54.

The V encoder 53 has a function of converting an input digital video signal into a digital signal compressed at a variable bit rate based on the MPEG2 or MPEG1 standard.

The A encoder 54 converts the input digital audio signal into MPEG audio or AC-3.
It has a function of converting into a digital signal (or linear PCM digital signal) compressed at a fixed bit rate based on the standard.

When a DVD video signal having a data structure as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, for example, a signal from a DVD video player with an independent output terminal of a sub video signal is input from the AV input section 42, or such data is output. DV of composition
When the D video signal is broadcast and received by the TV tuner 44, the sub video signal component (sub video pack) in the DVD video signal is input to the sub video encoder (SP encoder) 55. The sub-picture data input to the SP encoder 55 is arranged in a predetermined signal form,
It is sent to the formatter 56.

The formatter 56 has a buffer memory 57.
While using as a work area, the specified signal processing is performed on the input video signal, audio signal, sub-picture signal, etc., and the recorded data that matches the above-mentioned format (file structure) is sent to the data processor 36. Output.

Here, a brief description will be given of the contents of standard encoding processing for creating the recording data. That is, when the encoding process is started in the encoder unit 50 in FIG. 15, parameters necessary for encoding video (main image) data and audio data are set. Next, the main video data is pre-encoded using the set parameters, and the optimal code amount distribution for the set average transfer rate (recording rate) is calculated. In this way, the main video is encoded based on the code amount distribution obtained by the pre-encoding. At this time, audio data encoding is also executed at the same time.

As a result of pre-encoding, if the amount of data compression is insufficient, for example, if the desired video program cannot fit on the DVD-RAM disc or DVD-R disc to be recorded, an opportunity to re-encode is given. If so, that is, if the recording source is a repeatable source such as a video tape or a video disc, a partial re-encoding of the main video data is performed, and the main video data of the re-encoded part is earlier than that. It is replaced with the main video data part pre-encoded in. By such a series of processing, the main video data and the audio data are encoded, and the value of the average bit rate required for recording is significantly reduced. Similarly, the parameters necessary for encoding the sub-picture data are set, and the encoded sub-picture data is created.

The main video data, audio data, and sub-video data encoded as described above are combined and converted into a video object structure.

That is, main video data (video data)
The cell is set as the minimum unit of, and cell reproduction information (C_PLY_I) as shown in FIG. 13 is created. Next, the configuration of the cells that make up the program chain (PGC), the attributes of the main video, the sub-video, and the audio are set (some of these attribute information are obtained by encoding the data. 3) and FIG. 6
Reproduction control information 1 including various information described with reference to
02 is created.

The encoded main video data, audio data and sub video data are subdivided into packs of a fixed size (2048 bytes) as shown in FIG. These packs have PTS (presentation time stamp) and DTS (decode time stamp) as appropriate.
Etc., the time stamp is described. For the PTS of the sub-picture, a time arbitrarily delayed from the PTS of the main picture data or audio data in the same reproduction time zone can be described.

Then, so that each data can be reproduced in the order of the time code, the data is reproduced in a fixed time into a VOBU 96, and each data cell is defined by arranging the VOBU 96 and is composed of a plurality of cells. VOB is configured. A V that combines one or more of this VOB
The OBS 80 is formatted in the structure of FIG.

The disc drive unit for reading / writing information (recording and / or reproducing) from / to the DVD disc 10 is a disc changer unit 110, a disc drive 32, a temporary storage unit 34, and a data processor 3.
6 and a system time counter (or system time clock; STC) 38.

The temporary storage unit 34 is the disk drive 32.
Buffering a fixed amount of data (data output from the encoder unit 50) written to the disk 10 via the disk 10 or data reproduced from the disk 10 via the disk drive 32 (input to the decoder unit 60). Data) to be buffered.

For example, when the temporary storage unit 34 is composed of a 4-Mbyte semiconductor memory (DRAM), the average memory capacity is 4M.
It is possible to buffer recording or reproducing data for about 8 seconds at a recording rate of bps. When the temporary storage unit 34 is composed of a 16-Mbyte EEPROM (flash memory), it is possible to buffer record or reproduction data for about 30 seconds at an average recording rate of 4 Mbps. Further, when the temporary storage unit 34 is composed of a 100-Mbyte ultra-compact HDD (hard disk), it is possible to buffer the recorded or reproduced data for 3 minutes or more at an average recording rate of 4 Mbps.

The temporary storage section 34 is used for the disc 1 during recording.
When 0 is used up, it can be used for temporarily storing recording information until the disc 10 is replaced with a new disc. Further, the temporary storage unit 34 is a high-speed drive (double speed or more) as the disk drive 32.
When is adopted, it is possible to use it for temporarily storing the data read extra from the normal drive within a fixed time. Temporary storage unit 3 for the read data during playback
If the buffered data is buffered in 4, the reproduced image is not interrupted by switching and using the reproduced data buffered in the temporary storage unit 34 even when an optical pickup (not shown) causes a reading error due to a vibration shock or the like. You can

The data processor 36 shown in FIG. 15 receives the DVD recording data from the encoder section 50 under the control of the microcomputer block 30.
2 or the DVD reproduction signal reproduced from the disk 10 is taken out from the drive 32.
The management information recorded on the disk 10 is rewritten, or the data (file or VTS) recorded on the disk 10 is deleted.

The microcomputer block 30 has M
It includes a PU (or CPU), a ROM in which a control program and the like are written, and a RAM that provides a work area necessary for executing the program.

Of the execution results of the MPU 30, the contents to be notified to the user of the DVD video recorder are displayed on the display unit 48 of the DVD video recorder or on the monitor display by the on-screen display (OSD).

The timing at which the MPU 30 controls the disc changer unit, the disc drive 32, the data processor 36, the encoder unit 50 and / or the decoder unit 60 can be executed based on the time data from the STC 38. The recording / playback operation is normally executed in synchronization with the time clock from the STC 38, but the other processing may be executed at a timing independent of the STC 38.

The decoder section 60 is composed of a separator 62 for separating and extracting each pack from DVD reproduction data having a pack structure as shown in FIG. 5, a memory 63 used when executing signal processing such as pack separation, and a separator 62. A video decoder (V decoder) 64 that decodes the separated main video data, a sub video decoder (SP decoder) 65 that decodes the sub video data (contents of the sub video pack 90) separated by the separator 62, and a separator 6.
An audio decoder (A decoder) 68 that decodes the audio data (contents of the audio pack 91 of FIG. 9) separated by 2 and the video data from the V decoder 64 are appropriately combined with the sub-picture data from the SP decoder 65, A video processor 66 that outputs sub-images such as menus, highlight buttons, subtitles, etc. on the main image, and a video / digital / analog converter (V / DAC) that converts the digital video output from the video processor 66 into an analog video signal. 67) and an audio digital analog converter (A) for converting the digital audio output from the A decoder 68 into an analog audio signal.
-DAC) 67 is provided.

The analog video signal from the V / DAC 67 and the analog audio signal from the A / DAC 67 are transmitted via the AV output section 46 to an external component (not shown) (a multi-channel stereo device of 2 to 6 channels + a monitor TV or a projector). ) Is supplied to.

Next, a basic data processing operation in the DVD video recorder of this embodiment, that is, a recording process and a reproducing process will be described below.

In the data processing at the time of recording, first, when the MPU of the microcomputer block 30 receives a recording command by a user's key input, necessary management data is read from the DVD disk 10 through the disk drive 32 and a write area is determined. To do. Next, the management area is set to write the recording data in the determined area, the write start address of the video data is set in the disk drive 32, and the data recording is prepared.

Here, the management area to be set refers to a file management section (which refers to directory decoding in ISO9660) that manages a file and control information 78, and records necessary parameters in the file management section.

Next, the microcomputer block 30
Resets the time to the STC unit 38. Where ST
C38 is a system timer that records and plays back based on this value. After that, the microcomputer block 30
Executes the settings of other parts.

Here, the flow of the video signal is as follows. That is, first, the AV signal input from the TV tuner unit 44 or an external input is A / D converted by the ADC 52,
The video signal is input to the video encoder 53, the audio signal is input to the audio encoder 54, and the TV tuner unit 44 inputs a closed caption signal or a text signal such as teletext to the SP encoder 55.

Each encoder 53, 54, 55 compresses each input signal and packetizes it (however, when each packet is packed, it is divided into 2048 bytes per pack and packetized). Input to the formatter unit 56. Here, each encoder 53,
54 and 55 are P of each packet according to the value of STC38.
TS and DTS are determined and recorded as necessary.

The formatter 56 has a buffer memory 57.
The packet data is temporarily stored in the packet data, and then each packet data that has been input is packed, mixed for each GOP, and input to the data processor 36.

The data processor 36 attaches an ECC to the disk drive 32 collectively as an ECC group for every 16 packs. However, the disk drive 32
Is not ready to record on the disc 10,
The data is transferred to the temporary storage unit 34 and waits until the data is ready to be recorded, and the recording is started when the data is ready. Here, the temporary storage unit 34 is assumed to be a large-capacity memory because it holds recorded data for several minutes or more by high-speed access.

At the end of recording, the reproduction control information 102 of the control information 78 and the volume & file management area 70.
After that, necessary information is recorded and the recording operation is finished.
However, the microcomputer block 30 can read / write to / from the data processor 36 through the microcomputer bus in order to read / write the volume & file management area 70 of the file.

In the data processing at the time of reproduction, when the microcomputer block 30 receives a reproduction command by the user's key input, the disk drive 3
2 reads the volume & file management area 70 through the data processor 36 and determines the address to be reproduced. Here, the volume & file management area 70 refers to a volume descriptor and a file management unit,
The volume descriptor determines whether the optical disc 10 is a DVD disc, the control information 78 is extracted from the information of the file management unit, and the video objects 82, 84, 86 corresponding to the title to be reproduced from the control information 78.
To determine the address to start playback.

Next, the microcomputer block 30 sends to the disk drive 32 the address of the data to be reproduced and the read command which have been previously determined. The disk drive 32 reads the sector data from the disk 10 in accordance with the sent instruction, corrects the error in the data processor 36, and outputs it to the decoder unit 60 in the form of pack data.

In the decoder unit 60, the read pack data is received by the separator 62 and packetized, and the video packet data (M
PEG video data) is transferred to the video decoder 64,
The audio packet data 68 is the audio decoder 6
8 and transfers the sub-picture packet data to the SP decoder 65.
Transfer to. For each packet data sent, the PTS is loaded into the STC 38 at the start of transfer, that is, the PTS in the pack is transferred to the STC 3 by the microcomputer block 30.
8 or the video decoder 64 automatically sets the PTS of the video data in the STC section. After that, each of the decoders 64, 65, and 68 performs playback processing in synchronization with the PTS (presentation time stamp) value in the packet data (while comparing the PTS and STC values), and audio subtitles are added to the TV. You can play the video. Next, the optical disk 10 which is a feature of the present invention
The procedure for registering an index scene in the index scene will be described by taking as an example the case where an image most frequently used as an index scene is used. The index image is an image for searching or editing the recorded contents of the optical disc 10. In the index image registration method of this embodiment, position information (indicating the recording position of the index image in the main recording data (video data)) is used. A method of recording a pointer on the optical disc 10 (referred to as a pointer recording mode) and a method of recording reduced image data generated by the reduced image generation unit 58 from input video data on the optical disc 10 as index image data (reduction). Image recording mode)
There is.

According to the pointer recording mode, there is no special index image data such as a reduced image,
The index image can be displayed only with the pointer to the main image, and the index image is displayed while being created on the decoder side, and disk search is frequently performed when the menu is displayed, so the user menu is displayed compared to the reduced image recording mode. Although it takes some time, there is an advantage that the disk capacity used is small because there is no actual reduced image.

For the registration of the index image, the above two modes may be selectively used according to the designation by the user, or both modes may be used together. In this embodiment, a case where both modes are used together will be described.

The index image can be automatically registered, and the apparatus automatically detects the start and end of recording,
For example, as shown in FIG. 16, it is possible to register the images 1 and 2 of the cell-1 at the start of recording of the cell-1 or the image 5 of the last frame of the cell-3 at the end of the recording. . It is also possible for the user to manually perform an operation such as key input while monitoring the image being recorded on the display screen. In that case, the error occurs during the recording operation as shown in images 3 and 4 in FIG. It is possible to register a plurality of arbitrary images in the cell-2 in which the image is stored.

First, the index image registration procedure in the former pointer recording mode will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. When the user gives an index image registration command through the key input unit 49, the MPU in the microcomputer block 30 generates a registration trigger for the encoder unit 50, and at the same time as step S10.
It is judged that there is a registration trigger by 1 and the video encoder 5
A GOP creation start signal is obtained from 3 for each cell to detect the start of I picture creation (step S102). As will be described later, this I picture serves as the registration point of the index image.

Note that the registration trigger from the MPU may be generated, for example, once each time the user inputs a registration command, or when the MPU starts / stops recording on the optical disc 10, and further, when a video or audio signal is generated. It may be done automatically when the scene changes. It is desirable that the user can specify these selections via the key input unit 49.

Next, the microcomputer block 30
The MPU therein detects the currently recorded physical sector number M on the optical disk 10 via the disk drive 32 and the data processor 36 and holds it in the RAM (step S
103), further trying to define, ie I
The cell number N of the cell in which the picture is to be registered as an index image is detected and similarly stored in the RAM (step S104).

Next, the microcomputer block 30
The MPU therein determines whether or not the recording is completed via the disk drive 32 and the data processor 36 or by a command from the key input unit 49 (step S10).
5) If the recording is completed, the cell number N held in step S104 is registered in the index scene information 120 of the PGC information table 110 shown in FIG. 8 on the optical disc 10 (step S106).

Subsequently, the MPU in the microcomputer block 30 determines the cell number described in the index scene information 120 from the PGC information table 110 shown in FIG. 8 on the optical disk 10 via the disk drive 32 and the data processor 36. PG containing N
The C information is retrieved (step S107).

Here, the microcomputer block 3
The MPU within 0 is the P searched in step S107.
If the GC information is # 1, this PGC information is #
1 is the cell reproduction information 130 shown in FIG. 9, specifically, the index scene cell information 1 in the cell reproduction information 130.
The physical sector number M stored in the RAM in step S103 is recorded in 34 (step S108).

Next, the index image registration procedure in the reduced image recording mode will be described using the flowchart shown in FIG. Basically, the image being recorded on the optical disc 10 is continuous on the time axis unless recording is stopped, and the continuous portion has a property that the contents can be grouped into the same type. This grouping is performed in units of cells described above. Considering the actual recording operation, one cell is generated at the recording start and recording end operations. Therefore, as the position information of the index image, the physical sector number M corresponding to an arbitrary cell may be registered as described above.

The DVD standard adopts MPEG2 for video encoding as described above. MPEG2
Then (as is the case with MPEG1), encoding is performed in a cycle called GOP as shown in FIG.
The GOP includes an intra-coded screen (I picture) and an inter-coded screen (P picture, B picture). The former is a screen that performs coding only within its own screen, while the latter is Cannot be used as an index image because it is a screen that performs prediction using another screen as a reference screen. Therefore, in the index image registration procedure in the reduced image recording mode of FIG. 17, the I picture is used as the registration point of the position information of the index image as shown in FIG.

Similar to the pointer recording mode, when the user first gives an index image registration command through the key input section 49, the microcomputer block 30
The MPU therein generates a registration trigger for the encoder unit 50, and determines that there is a registration trigger in step S201. The registration trigger from the MPU may be generated, for example, once each time the user inputs a registration command, or when the MPU starts / stops recording on the optical disc 10.
Further, it may be automatically performed at the time of scene change of video and audio. It is desirable that the user can specify these selections via the key input unit 49.

Next, the microcomputer block 30
When determining that there is a registration trigger in step S201, the MPU therein detects the physical sector number M currently being recorded on the optical disk 10 via the disk drive 32 and the data processor 36 and holds it in the RAM (step S20).
2) Further, the reduced image generation unit 58 is activated to generate reduced image data to be registered as an index image (step S203). Then, the generated reduced image data is stored in the reduced image buffer memory 59 together with the current PGN number.
Packetize and record.

Next, the microcomputer block 30
The MPU therein determines whether or not the recording is finished via the disk drive 32 and the data processor 36 or by a command from the key input unit 49 (step S20).
5) From the volume & file management area 70 on the optical disk 10, which has been loaded in advance via the disk drive 32 and the data processor 36, when recording is completed, as shown in FIG.
The logical address of the reduced image management area shown therein is acquired (step S206). Then, the contents of this reduced image management area, specifically, the PGN number N, the sector address in the reduced image management area of the reduced image to be actually recorded, the sector address of the original main image, etc. are updated (step SS20).
7).

Next, the microcomputer block 30
The MPU within the reduced image generation unit 58 in step S203.
The reduced image data that is generated and packetized and stored in the reduced image buffer memory 59 is read out and packed, and the data processor 36 and the data processor 36 are provided in an area on the optical disc 10 defined by the contents of the reduced image management area in steps S206 to S207. Recording is performed via the disc drive 32 (step S208).

Then, it is judged whether or not all the reduced image data stored in the reduced image buffer memory 59 have been read (step S209). If the reduced image data remains, the next PGC number N in the reduced image buffer memory 59 is determined.
Is specified and the processing of steps S207 to S208 is repeated, and when all the reduced image data is read out, the reproduction control information 102 and the volume & file management area 70 shown in FIG. 3 are sequentially updated (steps S211 to S21).
2), the process ends.

Next, the format of the user menu file on the optical disc 10 for the index image (reduced image) will be described. The format of this user menu file can be conceptually configured as shown in FIG. 20, and specifically can be configured as shown in FIGS. 21 to 22.

First, the data contained in the user menu file is, as shown from top to bottom in FIG. 20, a first anchor point, a reduced image management area, a backup of the reduced image management area (not shown), The reduced image data group and the second anchor point are listed in that order.

The first entry in this user menu file is the first anchor point (a, in FIG. 20).
p, b, q), which are the start address (a) and end address (p) of the reduced image management area, and the start address (b) and end address (q) of the backup data of the reduced image management area, respectively. ) Is described.

Next to the first anchor point, a reduced image management area is set, and this reduced image management area is shown in FIG.
Is recorded in the picture address table 108B shown in FIG. The data of the reduced image management area is "32
It is undergoing "kbyte alignment" processing. The entire reduced image information at the beginning of the reduced image management area is recorded in the menu index information INFO1 in the picture address table 108B shown in FIG. The reduced image entire information includes the number of AV reduced images, the number of only pointers, the number of defective areas, and the number of registered background images. Of these, the "number of only pointers" is the pointer recording mode described above. The number of registered index pixels is indicated only by.

The relation table between the PGC and the reduced image recording position next to the reduced image overall information in the reduced image management area is the actual data relating to each reduced image forming the user menu, that is, the PGC number (PGCN), Time code (can be used for time search, etc.), reduced image start address, number of used sectors (= data length), reduced image size, address (pointer) to the original file (AV data) of the reduced image, search and title The text data used for, the starting address and data length of the defective area when there is a defective area in the file, the registration number and the starting address of the background image data of the user menu, and the like are recorded.

Of this relation table, PGC number, time code, start address of reduced image, number of used sectors,
The size of the reduced image, the address (pointer) to the original file of the reduced image, and the search text data used for the search and the title are the picture address table 1 shown in FIG.
08B is recorded in the index menu information INFO2, the start address and data length of the defective area are recorded in the defective area information INFO5 in the picture address table 108B shown in FIG. 3, and the registration number and the start address of the background image data of the user menu are recorded. Is the wallpaper picture information IN in the picture address table 108B shown in FIG.
Recorded in FO6.

Further, although not shown, a backup of the reduced image management area is recorded after this relation table. This backup is kept for insurance against damage to the reduced image management area.

After the reduced image management area, an actual reduced image data group generated by the reduced image data generating section 58 of FIG. 15 is recorded. These reduced image data are packed, and the picture object 84 shown in FIG.
It is recorded in. However, these data are 32 kbyte aligned for each reduced image. After that, the second anchor point (a, p, b, same as the first anchor point at the beginning of the user menu file)
q) is described. The reason for doing this is that the file is usually damaged from the first management area that is accessed frequently. Anchor points are also placed at the end of the file to improve safety.

Further, the reason that 32 kbytes are aligned at each delimiter of this file is to allow access to each 32 kbyte ECC group when changing, adding or deleting data. This enables faster access and reduces the operation of the data processor 36 shown in FIG.

The address information in the user menu file is represented by relative addresses from the beginning of the file.

The user menu file shown in FIG. 20 has the following features. (A) One or more index image data (that is, reduced image data) for menu selection, which represents at least a still image of video data, is recorded in the same user menu file. (B) The optical disk 10 (DV
All the reduced image data recorded on the D-RAM disc, the DVD-RW disc, or the DVD-R disc (management of the storage location and the corresponding video signal) is collectively performed.

The contents specifically illustrated in FIGS. 21 to 22 are written in the user menu file of FIG. That is, as shown in FIGS. 21 and 22,
As the first anchor pointer for the picture address table, the start position of the picture address table, the end position of the picture address table, the start position of the spare picture address table, and the end position of the spare picture address table are described. (Corresponding to DA2142 of No. 1), menu index information (INFO1), index picture information (I
NFO2), defective area information (INFO5), wallpaper picture information (INFO6) and padding data are described, and as the second anchor pointer for the picture address table, the start position of the picture address table, the end position of the picture address table, and the spare picture The start position of the address table and the end position of the spare picture address table are described.

The information picture information INFO4 of FIG. 3 is also described in the picture address tables of FIGS. 21 and 22 as appropriate.

The menu index information in FIG. 21 includes the number of index pictures, the number of information pictures, the number of defective areas and the number of wallpaper pictures.

The index picture information shown in FIG. 21 includes the content characteristics, the ID of the index picture program chain, the time code of the index picture, the start position of the index picture, the number of sectors used for index picture recording, the picture size, and the original audio / video. Includes data address and search text data.

Note that the content characteristic included in the index picture information describes "1" if the still image used in the user menu has been recorded, and only the recording position (address) of this still image is recorded. Then, "0" is described.

The index picture information in the case of designating the user menu image only by the address is the content characteristic in which "0" is described as shown in FIG. 22, the ID of the program chain PGC for the slide & still picture, and
The address of the original audio / video data,
Includes slide & still picture timecode.

The wallpaper picture information shown in FIG. 22 includes the number of wallpaper pictures that can be used as the background image of the user menu (the number of the registered background image), the starting position of the wallpaper picture, and the area where the wallpaper picture is recorded. 22 includes the number of used sectors, and the padding data in FIG. 22 includes the content of the index picture, the content of the defective area, the content of the wallpaper picture, and the like.

Next, the above-mentioned "32 kbyte alignment"
Will be described. The user menu files shown in FIGS. 20 to 22 are all divided into 32 kbytes, which are units of an error correction code (ECC group), regardless of whether they are recorded areas or unrecorded areas. The position of a certain "ECC boundary" has been fixed in advance.

When recording each reduced image data, anchor point, reduced image management area, and backup of the reduced image management area, the recording start position and recording end position of all data match the above-mentioned "ECC boundary" position. Be recorded to do so.

When the amount of each data is slightly smaller than the integer value of 32 kbytes, as shown in FIG.
Is added to match the recording end position with the “ECC boundary” position. This "dummy area" means the "padding" area in FIG.

When recording / erasing the reduced image data, information is recorded / erased for each "ECC boundary" described above. In this case, since it is not necessary to change a part of the information in the ECC group, the reduced data can be directly overwritten according to the ECC boundary during recording.

By performing the "32 kbyte alignment" as described above, the reduced image data is recorded in the ECC group unit.
Since the error correction information added for erasing is not required to be corrected, the recording / erasing process for each ECC group can be speeded up.

The user menu file shown in FIG. 20 takes portability into another recording medium using a personal computer or the like into consideration. Therefore, the reduced image for the user menu, the background image, and the storage address of the reduced image management area are all represented by the differential address (relative address) from the user menu file top position.

In the relation table between the PGC and the reduced image recording position in the reduced image management area in FIG. 20, two rows from the PGC number to the search text data size represent one set of correspondence tables. In this case, the relationship between the reduced image data recorded and the video signal can be known from the correspondence between the set of the time code of the video signal and the start address. Also,
By searching the entire association table, the unrecorded area in the user menu file or the erased position of the reduced image data after deletion can be found, and new reduced image data can be recorded in this area.

In the user menu file of FIG. 20, the defective area is managed in the relation table between the position on the AV file containing audio / video data and the reduced image recording position.

Here, a specific processing method when the reduced image management area is damaged by dust or scratches attached to the surface of the disk (recording medium) 10 will be described.

First, damage to the reduced image management area due to dust or scratches on the surface of the disk (recording medium) is detected. (It can be judged whether it is damaged or not by the error correction of the ECC group.) When the damage is detected, the information of the anchor point is read, the backup data address of the reduced image management area is examined, and the reduced image is read. Read the backup data of the management area.

Next, the unrecorded area in the user menu file is searched from the relation table between the reduced image recording positions in FIG. Then, the reduced image management data is recorded in the unrecorded area in the user menu file, and the address information of the anchor point is updated.

Next, the location where the reduced image management area is damaged by dust or scratches on the surface of the disk (recording medium) is shown in FIG.
It is registered as a defective area in the relation table between the reduced image recording positions of.

When the user menu file formats shown in FIGS. 20 to 22 are adopted, the following effects can be expected. (A) Addition / search of reduced image data and high-speed access can be achieved by the "32 kbyte alignment". (B) When multiple reduced images are displayed at once on the display unit of a monitor display (not shown), each reduction is performed. It is necessary to access the corresponding reduced image data position on the recording medium for each screen. When the reduced image data is scattered (scattered) on the recording medium, it takes time to access, and it takes a long time to display a plurality of reduced images. However, as shown in FIG. 20, if a plurality of reduced image data are collectively arranged in the same user menu file, a plurality of reduced images can be displayed at high speed simply by reproducing the user menu file. it can.

(C) By collectively managing all the reduced image data in the reduced image management area, it becomes easy to manage reduction image data deletion and addition processing. That is, the unrecorded area (or the reduced image data deletion area) in the user menu file can be easily searched, and new reduced image data can be additionally registered at high speed.

(D) In the DVD video recorder shown in FIG. 15, the data processor 36 uses 16 packs (= 32 k).
The error correction information is added together as an ECC group for each byte and the optical disk (DVD-RAM, DVD-R) is added.
W or DVD-R) 10. Therefore, if you change some information in the ECC group,
It is necessary to correct the added error correction information, the process becomes complicated, and the information change process takes a lot of time. However, the above-mentioned "32k byte alignment"
By doing so, it is not necessary to correct error correction information added when recording / erasing reduced image data in units of ECC groups, and recording and erasing of user menu data can be processed at high speed.

(E) High reliability of the backup data of the anchor point, the reduced image management area, and the reduced image management area can be ensured by the following method. * Securing reliability of the reduced image management area: A backup area for the reduced image management area is provided to prepare for a defect in the reduced image management area and to move the recording location when a defect occurs. * Securing the reliability of anchor point information indicating the recording location of the reduced image management area ... An ECC block is configured independently, the number of data changes is reduced, and the data is recorded in two locations (first and second anchor points in FIG. 20). . * Defect management process: If information reproduction from the reduced image management area or anchor points becomes impossible due to dust or scratches on the surface of the optical disk (recording medium), the data can be reread from the backup unit and re-recorded at another position. To do so. As a result, it is possible to prevent the defective area from being registered and the defective location being used again by mistake.

Note that the reduced image data used for the user menu may have a closed caption or multiple characters superimposed on the original image. In such a case, the reduced image may be formed after the characters are multiplexed. Also,
It is also conceivable to construct a reduced image using only this character data.

FIG. 23 shows a specific display example of the menu screen obtained by using the index image registered in the optical disc 10 in this embodiment. In this example, a map of Africa as a whole is displayed as image 1, and a map of each country is displayed as images 2, 3 ,. This menu screen is displayed when the user presses the menu key of the key input unit 49. By selecting an image of a desired number from this screen, the user can search or edit the position on the optical disc 10 where this image is recorded. Further, as shown in the figure, the time code from the beginning is also displayed on each of the images 1, 2, ... so that it is possible to understand how much time has elapsed from the start of reproduction from the recorded image. it can.

Although the registration of index images has been described in the above embodiments, the present invention can be similarly applied to the registration of specific voice data.

Furthermore, the present invention can be configured not only as a recording / reproducing apparatus but also as a reproducing apparatus, that is, a reproduction-only apparatus having no recording function.

[0155]

As described above, according to the present invention, the position information (pointer) indicating the recording position of the specific information in the main recording data is recorded on the recording medium, or the position information in the main recording data is specified. By recording the compressed information obtained by compressing the information of, for example, reduced image data, the user can use the image or audio information recorded at the recording position indicated by the position information or the compressed information as a menu at the time of reproduction, The recorded information on the recording medium can be intuitively grasped. Therefore, the user can quickly search for a desired position from this menu, and the editing work such as erasing or replacing information in an arbitrary area on the recording medium can be efficiently performed. .

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a recordable / reproducible optical disc (DV according to the present invention.
D-RAM or DVD-RW disc) perspective view for explaining the structure

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a correspondence relationship between a data recording area of the optical disc (DVD-RAM) of FIG. 1 and a recording track of data recorded therein.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a directory structure of information recorded on the optical discs of FIGS. 1 and 2.

4 is a diagram showing a data structure of the video object set shown in FIG.

5 is a diagram showing the structure of the data pack shown in FIG.

6 is a diagram showing a data structure of control information shown in FIG.

7 is a diagram showing the contents of the reproduction management table shown in FIG.

8 is a diagram showing a data structure of the PGC information table shown in FIG.

9 is a diagram showing a schematic content of cell reproduction information shown in FIG.

10 is a diagram for explaining the concept of the PGC shown in FIG.

11 is a diagram showing the contents of PGC information management information shown in FIG.

12 is a diagram showing the contents of PGC general information shown in FIG.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the content of cell reproduction information shown in FIG.

14 is a diagram showing the contents of PGC information management information shown in FIG.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a DVD video recorder as a recording / reproducing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of registration timing of index images.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing an index image registration procedure in a pointer recording mode in the embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating registration points at the time of index image registration in the pointer recording mode.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing an index image registration procedure in a reduced image recording mode in the embodiment.

FIG. 20 is a diagram conceptually showing a user menu file format in the embodiment.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing the user menu file format of FIG. 20 in more detail.

22 is a diagram showing the user menu file format of FIG. 20 in more detail.

FIG. 23 is a diagram showing a display example of a menu screen in the same embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 ... Recordable / reproducible optical disk (DVD-RAM or DVD-R), 11 ... Cartridge (DVD-RAM)
), 14 ... Transparent substrate (polycarbonate), 16 ... Light reflecting layer, 17 ... Recording layer, 19 ... Read-out surface, 20 ... Adhesive layer, 22 ... Center hole, 24 ... Clamping area, 25 ...
Information area, 26 ... Lead-out area, 27 ... Lead-in area, 28 ... Data recording area, 30 ... Microcomputer block (MPU / ROM / RAM), 3
2 ... Disk drive, 34 ... Temporary storage unit, 36 ... Data processor, 38 ... System time counter, 42 ...
AV input section, 44 ... TV tuner (terrestrial broadcast / satellite broadcast tuner), 46 ... AV output section, 48 ... DVD video recorder display section (liquid crystal or fluorescent display panel), 50 ... Encoder section, 52 ... ADC, 53 ... Video Encoder,
54 ... Audio encoder, 55 ... Sub-picture encoder, 56 ... Formatter, 57 ... Buffer memory, 58
... reduced image generation unit, 59 ... reduced image buffer memory, 6
0 ... Decoder part, 62 ... Separator, 63 ... Memory, 6
4 ... Video decoder, 65 ... Sub-picture decoder, 66 ... Video processor, 67 ... Video DAC, 68 ... Audio decoder, 69 ... Audio DAC.

Front page continuation (72) Inventor Shinichi Kikuchi 3-3-9 Shimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo Inside Toshiba Abu E. Ltd. (72) Inventor Kazuhiko Hirara 3-3-9 Shimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo (72) Inventor Hideo Ando Hideo Ando, 70 Yanagimachi, Sachi-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Stock Company, Toshiba Yanagimachi Plant (56) Reference JP-A-8-111843 (JP, A) Special Features Kaihei 11-176137 (JP, A) JP-A-8-298645 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04N 5/85 H04N 5/91-5/956 G11B 20/10-20/12 G11B 27/00

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A video object is defined, the video object includes a plurality of video object units, the video object unit includes a plurality of video packs and audio packs, and program chain information for playing the video objects is provided. The program chain information includes a plurality of pieces of cell information and specifies a reproduction order of cells, the cells define a reproduction section of the video object, and the cell information is information of a reproduction section of reproduction data. Including
The general information information block and the specific image information block are sequentially included, and the specific image information block includes the specific image pointer information in the video object, and the pointer information is the same. An optical disk readable by a reproducing apparatus, characterized in that a plurality of specific images exist in a cell so that specific images can be designated. 2. A data recording method for recording information on an optical disc, in the optical disc, the video object is defined,
The video object includes a plurality of video object units, the video object unit includes a plurality of video packs and audio packs, and program chain information for playing the video object is defined. The playback order of the cells is specified by including the cell information, the cell defines the playback section of the video object, and the cell information is the session including the playback section of the playback data.
The general information information block and the specific image information block are sequentially included, and the specific image information block includes the specific image pointer information in the video object, and the pointer information is the same. An information recording method, comprising a plurality of specific images at a plurality of locations in a cell, the step of recording the video object, and the step of recording the control information. 3. An information reproducing method for reproducing information from an optical disc, in the optical disc, the video object is defined,
The video object includes a plurality of video object units, the video object unit includes a plurality of video packs and audio packs, and program chain information for playing the video object is defined. The playback order of the cells is specified by including the cell information, the cell defines the playback section of the video object, and the cell information is the session including the playback section of the playback data.
The general information information block and the specific image information block are sequentially included, and the specific image information block includes the specific image pointer information in the video object, and the pointer information is the same. There are a plurality of specific images in a cell so that a plurality of specific images can be designated, and the method comprises reproducing the control information and reproducing the video object based on the reproduced control information. Information reproduction method. 4. An information reproducing apparatus for reproducing information from an optical disc, in the optical disc, the video object is defined,
The video object includes a plurality of video object units, the video object unit includes a plurality of video packs and audio packs, and program chain information for playing the video object is defined. The playback order of the cells is specified by including the cell information, the cell defines the playback section of the video object, and the cell information is the session including the playback section of the playback data.
The general information information block and the specific image information block are sequentially included, and the specific image information block includes the specific image pointer information in the video object, and the pointer information is the same. There are a plurality of specific images in a cell so that a plurality of specific images can be designated, and means for reproducing the control information and means for reproducing the video object based on the reproduced control information are provided. Information reproduction device.