JP3528682B2 - Video and audio signal recording device - 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 device,
In particular, the present invention relates to a recording device having a function of automatically managing storage capacity.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing an example of a processing procedure for storing audio and video signals (abbreviated as "AV signals") in a conventional recording apparatus. In the recording device, when there is no free space in the storage device or medium when newly recording an AV signal,
Replace with a medium that has enough free space, or
Alternatively, unnecessary AV signals stored in the storage device have been deleted (step S4 in FIG. 6).

[0003]

In the conventional recording apparatus,
When performing a new recording, it is necessary to manually check whether or not there is a free space required for the recording, and there is a problem that the procedure required for recording is complicated.

As an example of expanding the memory capacity by recompressing, for example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10-341394, if the memory capacity is insufficient, a recorded still image is read out and recompressed, and the memory is recompressed. An imaging device that replaces the image in the inside has been proposed. In addition, JP-A-10-198
According to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 536, when there is no remaining memory for storing a still image, overlapping of image data is determined, compression code data is temporarily expanded only in an area including overlapping image data IDs, and overlapping processing is performed. There is proposed a configuration of an image processing apparatus that reduces the amount of data by re-compressing it with the compression means.

Further, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 10-257422 discloses an image recording / reproducing apparatus capable of expanding the free space even during image recording, and when the free space of the memory becomes small, the recorded image data is read out and the orthogonal transform coefficient is read. A configuration has been proposed in which even data is decoded, a quantization step of a recompression rate is set, recompression is performed, and the result is stored in a memory.

However, the above-mentioned Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10-2574.
In the configuration described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 22-90, since the data is recompressed during storage, the load on the device increases, the device is required to have high system performance, and the recording time is also increased. Become.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and its main purpose is to allow a user to perform recording without worrying about the free space of the storage device, and to operate it. It is to provide a recording device that improves the efficiency and convenience. Another object of the present invention is to provide a recording apparatus that suppresses and reduces an increase in load on the recording apparatus due to free space creation processing.

[0008]

According to the present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems, storage means for storing input video and audio signals, and video and audio signals stored in the storage means are read out and a bit rate is changed. The transcoding means for reducing the size of the video and audio signals to be stored in the storage means by storing the video and audio signals, and the video and audio signals stored and held in the storage means for a predetermined time. Each time or when it is expected that the storage means will run out of free space, the transcoding means is activated to reduce the capacity of the video and audio signals stored in the storage means, and the video in the storage means is reduced. And means for controlling so as to generate a free space for storing the audio signal.

Further, according to the present invention, when the quality of the video and audio signals stored in the storage means is lower than a predetermined quality, the video and audio signals are deleted from the storage means. Means are provided.

Further, according to the present invention, based on the viewing history information,
If the extension request is not set after being viewed a predetermined number of times or more, a means for deleting the video and audio signals from the storage means is provided, or after a predetermined period of time elapses, the Means are provided for erasing the video and audio signals from the storage means.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described. In a preferred embodiment of the recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention, a storage unit (102) for storing an input video (moving image) and an audio signal and an image and an audio signal stored in the storage unit (102). , A bit rate lower than that at the time of storage and re-compression and storage means (storage device 10
A transcoder (1) for reducing the capacity of the video and audio signals stored in the storage means (102) by storing the transcoder (1)
03) and means (101) for controlling the compression bit rate in the transcoder (103), and the video and audio signals stored and held in the storage means (102) are set at predetermined constant time intervals. Alternatively, the transcoder (103) is controlled to operate at the time when the storage means (102) is expected to run out of free space on the basis of information such as reserved recording, and the storage means (10) is controlled.
Free space for storing the video and audio signals in 2) is generated.

As described above, in the present invention, the transformer is set at a predetermined fixed time or when it is expected that the storage means (102) will run out of free space on the basis of information such as reserved recording. The code (103) is activated to create a free space in the storage means (102), and recompression is performed between recordings, thus reducing the load on the recording device.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, when the compression bit rate of the video and audio signals stored in the storage means (102) is lower than a predetermined value, the video and audio signals are stored. The audio signal is configured to be erased from the storage means.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, an extension request is set by the user after the video and audio signals stored in the storage means (102) have been viewed a predetermined number of times or more. If not, the video and audio signals may be deleted from the storage means.

Further, the video and audio signals stored in the storage means (102) are configured so that the video and audio signals are erased from the storage means after a lapse of a predetermined period. Good.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the storage means (202) for storing the input video and audio signals and the encoding means for compressing the input video (moving image) and audio signals. (204) and decoding means (205) for reading and decoding the video and audio signals stored in the storage means, and the signal decoded by the decoding means is recompressed by the encoding means and compressed. Transcoding means (203) for storing the stored video and audio signals in the storage means, and a video and audio signal stored and held in the storage means while controlling the compression bit rate in the transcoding means, By the transcoding means, every time a predetermined time is reached or when it is expected that the storage means will run out of free space. And means for controlling so as to re-compressed (204), may be configured to include.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In order to describe the embodiment of the present invention described above in more detail, an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, MPEG2 (Motion P
The AV (Audio / Video) stream of icture Experts Group 2) is input and stored in the storage device 102 such as an HHD (hard disk drive).

When the free space of the storage device 102 becomes constant or less than a predetermined reference value, or before the AV stream is stored due to recording reservation or the like, the storage capacity may be insufficient in advance. If expected, or if a certain period of time has passed since the storage, the bit rate of the AV signal stored in the storage device 102 is further reduced from the time when the AV signal was stored,
The transcoder 103 transcodes.

The management of the recompression bit rate in the transcoder 103 is performed by the compression bit rate indicator 101.

The compression bit rate indicator 103 is for each AV
It holds the current bit rate of the stream, date and time information stored in the storage device 102, and bit rate information at the time of transcoding. For example, the instruction information for recompressing at the bit rate of the original video, for example, 80% at the first transcoding, and recompressing at the 50% of the original video for the second transcoding is held and managed.

In this way, the storage device 102 always creates a free space. Storage device 10
The free space 2 itself is managed by the operating system or its file system. That is, after the free space is created in the storage device 102 by recompressing the transcoder 103, the free space is managed by a known method in a file system or the like.

Management of recording reservations and the like is performed by a known recording reservation system (not shown) provided in the control device 104. Also, a timer (system time) in the control device 104
The current date and time information may be acquired from the storage device 102, and the elapsed time of the AV signal stored in the storage device 102 may be managed.

FIG. 2 shows an AV according to another embodiment of the present invention.
It is a figure which shows the structure at the time of inputting and outputting a video stream of an analog video signal (NTSC).

An analog video input signal composed of an NTSC signal (composite video signal) is converted into a digital signal by the A / D converter 206, compressed by the MPEG2 compressor 204 at a predetermined bit rate, and stored in the storage device 202.

When the free space in the storage device 202 becomes less than or equal to a predetermined reference value, or when it is expected that the free space will be insufficient before the storage due to recording reservation or the like, or a certain period of time has elapsed from the storage time. If it passes, the AV signal stored in the storage device 202 is MP-processed.
The EG2 decompressor (decoding) 205 decompresses (decodes), reduces the bit rate from the previous time, and performs recompression, and the storage device 2
Store again in 02.

In this embodiment, the transcoder 203
The MPEG2 encoder 204 and the MPEG2 decoder 20
It is realized by using 5. The output of the MPEG2 decoder 205 is an analog video signal (NTSC) by a D / A converter 207.
Signal) and output.

Also in this embodiment, the bit rate management is performed by the compression bit rate indicator 2 as in the above-mentioned embodiment.
01. The compression bit rate indicator 201 is
The current bit rate of the V stream, storage date / time information, and bit rate information during transcoding are stored and managed.

In the second embodiment as well, similar to the above-described embodiment, when the AV stream becomes less than a predetermined reference value at regular time intervals or before the AV stream is stored due to recording reservation or the like. If the storage capacity is expected to run out in advance, or if a certain period of time has passed since the storage, A stored in the storage device 202 is stored.
An empty capacity is generated by storing the V signal in the storage device 202 with a bit rate lower than that of the original signal by the transcoder 203. The recording device 20 manages recording reservations and the like.
The information of a known recording reservation system (not shown) connected to 0 may be used, or the recording reservation management system may be provided in the control device 208. In addition, the current date and time information is acquired from the timer (system time) in the control device 208, and the elapsed time from the storage time of the AV signal stored in the storage device 202 is managed.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an example of erasing the AV signal from the storage device when the AV signal stored in the storage device 102 or 202 is lower than a predetermined constant quality. . In the example shown in FIG. 2, the constant quality (bit rate) serving as the erasure standard is set to 1.5 Mbps (megabits / second).

The bit rate of AV1 was 6 Mbps before transcoding, but became 5 Mbps after transcoding. Similarly, AV2 is 5Mbps to 3Mbps, AV3 is 3Mb
ps is transcoded to 1.5Mbps. AV4 has a bit rate of 0.5 Mbps after transcoding,
Since it is less than 1.5Mbps, it is erased from the storage device without transcoding.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining how, when a certain AV is viewed, if there is no extension request from the user, the AV is viewed from a certain number of viewing times and then deleted from the storage device. . The history information such as the number of viewings is stored and held in the internal memory (not shown) of the control devices 104 and 208 in FIG. 1, for example.

In the example shown in FIG. 4, the number of times of viewing as a deletion reference is set to one. Further, only AV3 has already been viewed twice, and the AV 3 is instructed to postpone erasing. AV
1, AV2, and AV4 have never been viewed. At this time, if the AV4 is viewed and the postponing deletion is not instructed, the number of viewings of the AV4 is changed to 1, and after the viewing is completed, the AV4 is deleted from the storage device.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining an example of erasing an AV signal from the storage device when the AV signal has passed a certain period. In the example shown in FIG. 5, the storage period serving as the deletion reference is 7 days. AV1, AV2, AV
3 and AV4 are stored in the storage device respectively 2 /
10 (February 10), 2/13, 2/14, 2/17.

The control device 104, 208 of FIG. 1 or FIG.
Acquires the current date information from a timer (not shown), and assuming that this is 2/18, AV1 stored in 2/10 is erased from the storage device since 8 days have elapsed from the storage. The erasing of the AV signal from the storage device is performed by the control devices 104 and 208 in FIG. 1 or 2.

[0036]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The video and audio signals stored in the storage device are set at regular intervals, or when it is expected that the free space will run out,
By automatically transcoding and creating free space, the user can record without worrying about the free space of the storage device, and the operability and convenience are improved. Further, according to the present invention, transcoding is performed at a predetermined time other than the time of recording to create the free space, so that there is an effect of reducing the load on the recording apparatus.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an example of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining an example of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining an example of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a storage procedure of a conventional recording device.

[Explanation of symbols]

100,200 Recording device 101, 201 Compressed bit rate indicator 102, 202 storage device 103 transcoder 104 control device 203 transcoder 204 MPEG2 compressor (encoder) 205 MPEG2 decompressor (decoder) 206 A / D converter 207 D / A converter 208 control device

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04N 5/76-5/956 G11B 20/10-20/12

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. A storage unit for storing input video and audio signals, a video and audio signal already stored in the storage unit, and a compression bit rate further than that at the time of storage in the storage unit. a transcoding means for reduction of the size of the video and audio signals stored in said memory means by again stored in the re-compressed the storage means the video and audio signals dropped at time other than the time of recording, the actuating the transcoding unit, recording apparatus characterized by comprising a controller that controls so as to reduce the capacity of the video and audio signals stored in said storage means. 2. The control means is the transcoding means.
At the time of every fixed time, or the free space of the storage means
Time when the capacity has dropped below a specified standard value, or recording
The time is set by the reservation information, and after the recording
5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the operation is performed at an outside time.
On-board recording device . 3. Storage means for storing the input video and audio signals, and reading the video and audio signals already stored in the storage means from the time when the video and audio signals are stored in the storage means. Transcoding means for reducing the compression bit rate and re-compressing the video and audio signals and storing again in the storage means; and controlling the compression bit rate in the transcoding means, and at the time other than recording time, the transcoding means. Means for operating and storing in the storage means
That the video and audio signals, performs control so as to recompress braking
Recording apparatus characterized by comprising: a control means. 4. The transcoding means is the control means.
At the time of every fixed time, or the free space of the storage means
Time when the capacity has dropped below a specified standard value, or recording
The time is set by the reservation information, and after the recording
4. The operation according to claim 3, wherein the operation is performed at an outside time.
On-board recording device. 5. Storage means for storing the input video and audio signals, encoding means for compressing the input video and audio signals, and reading and decoding the video and audio signals already stored in the storage means. And a decoding unit that re-compresses the video and audio signals decoded by the decoding unit, and stores the video and audio signals compressed by the encoding unit in the storage unit. While controlling the compression bit rate in the coding means and the transcoding means, the transcoding means is activated at a time other than the time of recording , and the image and sound in the storage means are controlled.
Recording apparatus characterized by comprising a controller that controls so as to recompress the voice signal. 6. The control means is the transcoding means.
At the time of every fixed time, or the free space of the storage means
Time when the capacity has dropped below a specified standard value, or recording
The time is set by the reservation information, and after the recording
6. The operation according to claim 5, wherein the operation is performed at an outside time.
On-board recording device.