JP3527682B2 - Information playback device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information reproducing apparatus for reproducing a video or audio signal recorded on a recording medium,
More specifically, the present invention relates to an information reproducing apparatus capable of detecting viewing of a video or audio signal.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, MPEG (Movi
A system has been developed in which a digital signal is compression-encoded using an ng Picture Experts Group) encoding technique or the like and recorded as a digital signal in a digital recording / reproducing apparatus such as a hard disk drive (HDD).

FIG. 3 shows an outline of an example of such a digital recording / reproducing apparatus system.
In FIG. 3, reference numeral 101 denotes a broadcasting station that transmits a broadcasting signal, and 1
02 is an antenna for receiving signals from the broadcasting station 101, 1
Reference numeral 03 is a digital recording / reproducing device, and reference numeral 104 is a monitor for outputting video / audio.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration example of the digital recording apparatus 103. Digital recording device 103
Receives an analog broadcast signal with tuner 1 and
The G encoder 2 digitally encodes the video / audio signal. The digitally encoded signal is recorded in the HDD 5 via the CPU 3.

The signal read from the HDD 5 via the CPU 3 is decoded by the MPEG decoder 4, and the decoded video / audio signal is output on the monitor 104.

[0006]

The HDD 5 for recording a digital signal has a fixed recordable capacity, and recording cannot be performed beyond that capacity. Therefore, in the case of newly recording, if the recordable capacity of the HDD 5 is smaller than the capacity required for the signal to be recorded, the already recorded signal must be erased to secure the recordable capacity. I won't.

Therefore, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 11-66694 proposes a method of automatically erasing a stream that has been viewed, but the problem here is to detect whether or not it has been viewed. Is the way. For example, in the case of a signal that is rarely skipped, such as music, it is possible to determine that it has been watched when all the data is continuously read.

However, when recording something like a television broadcast, it may be seen by skipping commercials and the like, so it may be preferable to judge that it has been viewed even if all the data has not been read. Many.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and even in the case where all of the reproduced video / audio signals are not continuously read (when skipped halfway and viewed),
An information reproducing apparatus capable of accurately detecting whether or not the video / audio signal is viewed.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, when two specific points of a video or audio signal recorded on a recording medium are read, all the video or audio signals are viewed. It is characterized in that it is judged that it has been done.

In the second invention of the present application, when the first and last two points of the video or audio signal recorded on the recording medium are read, it is determined that all of the video or audio signal have been viewed. It is characterized by

According to a third aspect of the present invention, when all the data of a preset ratio of the video or audio signals recorded on the recording medium are read, all the video or audio signals are viewed. It is characterized by making a judgment.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, when a predetermined number of areas of a video or audio signal recorded on a recording medium are read, all the video or audio signal is viewed. It is characterized by detecting.

With the above configuration, even if the user performs an operation such as fast-forwarding or rewinding and not all the video or audio signals are continuously read out, all the video or audio signals are not read out. It is possible to determine that it has been viewed.

Regarding the video or audio signal judged to have been viewed, when the recordable capacity of the recording medium becomes small, the deletion is performed preferentially, and the number of times the video or audio signal is viewed is displayed. By managing, it becomes possible to manage the video or audio signal in consideration of the taste of the user.

[0016]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of an information recording apparatus of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 for a digital recording / reproducing apparatus. Is attached and the description thereof is omitted.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic structure of a digital recording / reproducing apparatus according to this embodiment. The digital recording / reproducing apparatus 203 according to the present embodiment uses the MPEG encoder 2 to MP the broadcast signal received by the antenna 102.
Convert to EG digital signal.

The digital signal obtained by the MPEG encoder 2 is recorded in the HDD 5 via the CPU 13. Further, the digital signal read from the HDD 5 via the CPU 13 is supplied to the MPEG decoder 4,
Decoded into video / audio signal.

When BS digital broadcasting or CS broadcasting is received and recorded / reproduced, it is not always necessary to record / reproduce video and audio signals at the same time because there may be only audio signals.

Further, in the digital recording / reproducing apparatus 203 of this embodiment, when the digital signal is read from the HDD 5, the viewing detection circuit 6 for detecting whether or not the recorded digital signal is viewed from the position of the read data or the like. Is equipped with.

The viewing detection circuit 6 will be described with reference to FIG. The viewing detection circuit 6 has a read position comparison value holding unit 21 ... Which holds read position comparison values 1 ... N for comparing the positions of the data read from the HDD 5.
22 and actual read position and read position comparison value 1 ...
.Reading position comparison unit 23 ... 24 for comparing with N
And are provided.

Further, each read position comparing section 23 ... 24
The comparison result storage unit 25 for storing the comparison result from the, the read ratio comparison value holding unit 26 for holding the read ratio value for setting the ratio of the read data, and the read position comparing units 23 ... A ratio comparison unit 27 that compares the comparison result with the read ratio value is provided.

The position of data read from the HDD 5 is a physical position on the HDD 5, that is, information such as a track and a sector necessary for specifying the position of the data on the HDD 5. This information is normally managed by the system, and the read position comparison values 1 ...
Is automatically set according to the video / audio signal read by.

On the other hand, with respect to the read ratio value comparison value, there is room for the user to set how much data is read to determine that it has been viewed.

That is, by setting, for example, 50% for a variety program in which commercials frequently enter, 80% for a drama, etc., depending on the recorded video / audio signal, it is possible to perform viewing detection suitable for the recorded program. . Of course, as an initial setting value, for example, a value of 90% may be held in advance, and that value may be used if there is no particular setting by the user.

When reading a digital signal from the HDD 5, the CPU 13 inputs the read position data to the viewing detection circuit 6. The input read position data is
In each read position comparison unit 23 ... 24, it is compared with a preset read position comparison value 1 ... N.

The comparison results of the respective comparison units 23 ... 24 are recorded in the comparison result storage unit 25. The value recorded in the comparison result storage unit 25 is compared with the read ratio value by the ratio comparison unit 27, and if it is equal to or more than the read ratio value, it is determined that the digital signal has been viewed, and the viewing detection signal is set. Output.

Here, the read position comparison values 1 ...
By setting in advance two specific points of the digital signal and setting the read ratio value to 100%,
If the point data is read, it can be determined that the digital signal has been viewed. In this case, the read position comparison value holding unit and the read position comparison unit are respectively 2
Will be prepared.

Also, by setting the first and last two points of the digital signal (stream) as the specific two points, it is judged that the digital signal has been watched even if the user watches the program halfway through. be able to.

Further, the read position comparison values 1 ...
When the digital signal is set to a position at a certain fixed interval and the read rate value is set to, for example, 50%, it is determined that the digital signal is viewed when 50% or more of the data is read. be able to.
In this case, the read position comparison value holding unit and the read position comparison unit are provided in arbitrary numbers.

Further, the read position comparison value 1 ... N
By dividing the digital signal into a plurality of areas, setting them at arbitrary positions in each of the divided areas, and setting the read ratio value to, for example, 50%,
When the data is read from the above area, it can be determined that the digital signal has been viewed. Also in this case, the read position comparison value and the read position comparison unit are provided in an arbitrary number.

As described above, the digital signal detected as already viewed is deleted preferentially when the recordable area of the HDD 5 becomes small, or the number of times of viewing is recorded. It is also possible to manage user preferences with.

[0033]

According to the present invention, it is possible to detect the viewing of a video or audio signal even if the user skips the video or audio signal while viewing the video or audio signal. The video or audio signal whose viewing is detected in this manner can be preferentially erased when the recordable area of the recording medium becomes small. In addition, by recording the number of times of viewing, it becomes possible to know the user's preference information, and the management of the video or audio signal becomes easy.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration example of a digital recording / reproducing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a viewing detection circuit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of a system configuration example of a digital recording / reproducing apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration example of a conventional digital recording / reproducing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 tuner 2 MPEG encoder 4 MPEG decoder 5 hard disk drive 6 Viewing detection circuit 13 CPU 101 broadcasting station 102 antenna 104 monitor 203 Digital recording / reproducing apparatus

Front page continuation (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04N 5/76-5/956 G11B 20/10-20/12 G11B 27/00

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A reproducing unit for reading a video or audio signal recorded on a recording medium, a read position managing unit for managing a position of the video or audio signal read by the reproducing unit, and a recording unit for recording on the recording medium. And a viewing detection unit for detecting whether or not the video or audio signal is viewed, wherein the viewing detection unit is a specific one of the video or audio signals recorded in the recording medium. An information reproducing apparatus, wherein when a point is read out, it is detected that all of the video or audio signal has been viewed. 2. The information reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the viewing detection means, when the first and last two points of the video or audio signals recorded on the recording medium are read out, An information reproducing apparatus, characterized by detecting that all of the video or audio signal has been viewed. 3. A reproducing means for reading out a video or audio signal recorded in a recording medium, and a read data management for managing the video or audio signal recorded in the recording medium at regular intervals and managing the number of read data. An information reproducing apparatus comprising: means for detecting whether or not a video or audio signal recorded on the recording medium is viewed, wherein the viewing detecting means is recorded on the recording medium. An information reproducing apparatus, which detects that all of the video or audio signals have been viewed when a predetermined number of data of the video or audio signals are read. 4. A reproducing means for reading out a video or audio signal recorded on a recording medium, and a data area for managing the video or audio signal recorded on the recording medium by dividing the video or audio signal into areas of arbitrary size. An information reproducing apparatus comprising: a reading area managing unit that manages the number; and a viewing detecting unit that detects whether or not a video or audio signal recorded in the recording medium is viewed, wherein the viewing detecting unit is An information reproducing apparatus, characterized in that, when a predetermined number of areas of a video or audio signal recorded on the recording medium are read out, it is detected that all of the video or audio signal has been viewed. .