JP3881676B2 - Optical disc, information reproducing apparatus, information recording apparatus and method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an optical disc, an information reproducing apparatus, an information recording apparatus, and a method, and more particularly to a recording medium capable of recording / reproducing such as a DVD-RAM and a recording / reproducing DVD player for recording and reproducing images and sounds using the same. It is applicable to.

  Playback-only optical discs that record image and audio data have already been put into practical use as music CDs, laser discs, video CDs, and the like. In addition, MPEG2 (Moving Picture Experts Group Phase2), which is an international standard for moving picture compression, and the DVD standard using the AC3 audio compression system have been established and put into practical use as DVD video. The DVD standard initially assumed a ROM-type disc that was read-only, that is, not recordable by the user, but recently, a DVD-RAM standard that allows not only playback but also recording by the user has been established.

  The DVD-RAM standard is currently put to practical use in a data recording / reproducing apparatus for computers, but naturally, application to a DVD recording / reproducing apparatus for recording / reproducing moving images and sounds is also being studied. When considering the application of the DVD-RAM standard to a DVD recording / reproducing apparatus, it is desirable to be able to perform a search in the same manner as a DVD video or DVD audio standard based on the DVD standard exclusively for reproduction.

  In the DVD video standard, a VMG / VTS menu is prepared for a disc title production company. These menus are created using dedicated authoring equipment. Then, at the time of reproduction, the recorded contents of the disc are displayed in a menu in addition to normal video data, and the user can select a desired position by displaying a button using sub-pictures, etc., thereby making it possible to search for a desired location.

On the other hand, when recording a moving image using a DVD-RAM, the user will produce a title, and if the VMG / VTS menu data referred to in the DVD video standard is adopted, these will also be handled by the user. Will be created. However, it is very difficult for a general user to create VMG / VTS menu data, considering the large amount of data and necessary equipment that must be prepared for creating menu data. . Furthermore, in the case of a recordable / reproducible DVD, the act of re-recording the main recording data (video / audio data) frequently occurs. However, when the VMG / VTS menu data is used, each time the main recording data is rewritten, Menu data must also be rewritten, and the amount of work for that is enormous.
JP-A-8-130700

  As described above, when a moving image or sound is recorded using a DVD-RAM, it is used in a DVD video standard that does not assume rewriting of main recording data for the purpose of search or editing. Use of such VMG / VTS menu data has a problem that the burden on the user is very large and is not practical.

  The present invention provides an optical disc, an information reproducing apparatus, an information recording apparatus, and a method capable of solving such problems and easily performing search and editing without requiring complicated menu data creation. Objective.

To solve the above problem, in the optical disc, the video object is defined, the video object includes a video object unit, the video object unit includes a bi Deopakku and audio packs, the program for reproducing the video object Chain information is defined, and the program chain information can be recorded in a control information area for managing the video object. The program chain information includes a plurality of cell information, specifies a playback order of the cells, and Defines a playback section of the video object, and the cell information includes, in order, a block of cell general information including information of a playback section of playback data, and an information block of a specific image. The video object in the block Of those includes pointer information of the specific image, the pointer information, along with a plurality present which can be designated a specific image of a plurality of locations within the same cell, the control information area, the plurality of pointer information Correspondingly, the text data used for each search can be recorded.

  According to the present invention, text data can be displayed together with a specific image, and search and editing can be facilitated.

  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, there is an apparatus for recording / reproducing a moving picture encoded based on MPEG2 at a variable bit rate, for example, a DVD digital video recorder.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view for explaining the structure of a recordable optical disk 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 a 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 such that the recording layer 17 is in contact with the surface of the adhesive layer 20 to obtain a 1.2 mm thick large capacity optical disk 10.

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

  The optical disc 10 has an information area 25 in which video data, audio data, and other information can be recorded around the clamp area 24. In the information area 25, a lead-out area 26 is provided on the outer peripheral side, 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.

  In 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 a plurality of physical sectors, and these sectors are assigned consecutive numbers. Various data are recorded on the optical disk 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) such as movies, sub-picture data such as subtitles / menus, and audio data such as dialogue / sound effects are recorded. For example, it is recorded as a phase change mark.

The optical disk 10 is a recording / reproducing RAM disk, and the recording layer 17 is, for example, a phase change recording material layer composed of _two layers of zinc sulfide / silicon oxide (ZnS / SiO ₂ ), for example, a Ge ₂ Sb ₂ Te ₅ layer. It can be constituted by a triple layer sandwiched between. A continuous groove is engraved on the substrate 14 having the recording / reproducing recording layer 17, and a phase change recording layer is provided in the groove. Usually, in addition to the groove, the phase change recording layer in the land portion is also used for information recording.

  A DVD digital video recorder, which will be described later, is configured to be able to perform repetitive recording / reproduction (read / write) on a DVD-RAM disc (or DVD-RW disc) and repetitive reproduction on a DVD-ROM disc.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the correspondence between the data recording area 28 of the optical disc (DVD-RAM) 10 in FIG. 1 and the recording tracks of data recorded therein. When the disk 10 is a DVD-RAM, the main body of the disk 10 is stored in the cartridge 11 in order to protect the delicate disk surface. When the DVD-RAM disk 10 is inserted into the disk drive of a DVD video recorder, which will be described later, together with the cartridge 11, the disk 10 is pulled out from the cartridge 11 and clamped on a turntable of a spindle motor (not shown) so as to face an optical head (not shown). And rotated.

  In the recording layer 17 of the information area 25 shown in FIG. 1, 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 units) having a constant storage capacity, and data is recorded on the basis of the logical sectors. The recording capacity of one logical sector is determined to be 2048 bytes (or 2 kbytes) which is the same as one pack data length described later.

  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 disc 10 as an information storage medium capable of recording and reproducing the video information and music information shown in FIGS. The data recording area 28 formed on the optical disc 10 has a data hierarchical structure as shown in FIG. The logical format of this structure is determined in conformity with, for example, ISO 9660 and Universal Disk Format (UDF) bridge, which are one of the standards.

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

  The lead-in area 27 has a read-only emboss zone with an uneven light reflecting surface, a mirror zone formed with a flat mirror surface, and a rewritable data zone where information can be rewritten. The lead-out area 26 is composed of a rewrite data zone in which information can be rewritten.

  The embossed data zone of the lead-in area 27 includes disc types such as DVD-ROM (read-only DVD disc), DVD-RAM (recording / reproducing DVD disc) and DVD-R (write-once DVD disc). In addition, information relating to the entire information storage medium such as disk size, recording density, physical sector number indicating recording start / recording end position is recorded, and recording power and recording pulse width required for recording data on the recording layer 17, recording Recording / reproducing / erasing characteristics such as erasing power necessary for erasing data recorded on the layer 17, reproducing power necessary for reproducing data recorded on the recording layer 17, and linear velocity at the time of recording / erasing Information is recorded. Further, in the emboss data zone of the lead-in area 27, information relating to the manufacture of each information storage medium, such as a serial number, is recorded in advance. In the rewrite data zone 27 of the lead-in and the rewrite data zone 26 of the lead-out 26, it is confirmed whether recording and erasing can be performed with a recording area for recording a unique disk name for each information storage medium and recording erasing conditions. A test recording area for confirmation, a management information recording area regarding the presence / absence of a defective area in the data area 72 and the address of the area, and a preliminary process for enabling data recording in the data area 72 In addition, information necessary for recording, erasing and reproducing is recorded in the area.

  The volume space 28 is physically divided into a number of sectors, and these physical sectors are assigned serial numbers. The logical address of data recorded in this volume space (data recording area) 28 means a logical sector number as defined by ISO9660 and UDF bridge. The logical sector size here is 2048 bytes (2 kbytes), similar to the effective data size of the physical sector, and the logical sector number is added with a serial number corresponding to the ascending order of the physical sector number.

  The volume space 28 has a hierarchical structure and includes a volume / file management area 70 and a data area 72 composed of one or more video objects. These areas 70 and 72 are divided on the boundary of the logical sector. 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 equivalent to 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 in ISO9660 and UDF bridge. Based on the description of this area 70, audio / video data is recorded. Are stored in a system memory (not shown) inside the DVD video recorder, which will be 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 in which computer data and audio / video can be recorded together. The recording order of computer data and audio / video, and the size of each recording information are arbitrary. The areas where the computer data is recorded are referred to as computer data areas 74-1 and 74-2, and the audio / video data Is recorded as an audio and video data area 76. The computer data area 74-1 and 74-2 need not be provided in particular when only the audio and video data is recorded in the recording area 72. Similarly, the audio and video data area 76 is not provided. If only computer data is recorded in the recording area 72, it may not be provided due to its nature. Each of the computer data areas 74-1 and 74-2 and the audio and video data area 76 is composed of one or a plurality of files.

  In the audio and video data area 76, as shown in FIG. 3, one or a plurality of control information 78 and reproduction targets necessary for recording (recording), reproduction, editing, and search processing, that is, a content, are included. A video object set 80 consisting of a plurality of video objects 82, 84, 86 is recorded. The video object 80 includes a video object 80 whose content is video data, a still image such as a still slide whose content is still data, or a picture location such as a desired location in the video data, a search or editing thumbnail, etc. There is a picture object 84 that is data, and an audio object 86 whose content is audio data. Obviously, the video object set 80 need only be composed of at least one of these objects 82, 84, 86, and need not include all the objects 82, 84, 86. Similarly, each of the objects 82, 84, 86 is composed of one or a plurality of files.

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

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

  As shown in FIG. 4, logically, the video object set 80, i.e., video, picture and audio objects 82, 84, 86, is composed of a plurality of cells 94, each cell 94 having one or more video object units. (VOBU) 96.

  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 train) of video packs (V packs) 88, sub-picture packs (SP packs) 92, and audio packs (A packs) 90. Defined as data that is played back in a period of .5 to 1.2 seconds. These packs are the minimum unit for performing data transfer processing, and data is processed using a logical cell as the minimum unit.

  The video object unit (VOBU) 96 is assigned an identification number (IDN # k; k = 0 to k), and the video object unit 96 can be specified by this identification number. The playback period of the video object unit (VOBU) 96 usually corresponds to the playback time of video data composed of one or more video groups (group of pictures; GOP for short) included in the video object unit (VOBU) 96. is doing. Normally, 1 GOP is about 0.5 seconds in the MPEG2 standard, and the screen data is compressed to reproduce about 15 frame images during that period.

  When the video object unit (VOBU) 96 includes video data, a GOP (MPEG standard compliant) composed of a video pack 88, a sub-picture pack 90, and an audio pack 91 is arranged to form a video data stream. The Further, even in the reproduction data of only the 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 played within the playback time of the video object unit (VOBU) 85 to which the audio data belongs is the video object unit (VOBU). 96.

  An identification number (IDN # i; i = 0 to i) is assigned to each of the video objects 82, 84, 86 constituting the video object set 80, and the video object 82, 84, 86 is specified by this identification number. Can do. Each cell 94 is assigned an identification number (C_IDN # j) as in the case of the video objects 82, 84, 86.

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

  The control information 78 shown in FIG. 3 includes reproduction control information 102 indicating control information necessary for reproduction, recording control information 104 indicating control information necessary for recording (recording / recording), and editing indicating control information necessary for editing. It includes control information 106 and reduced-size control information 108 indicating management information related to a location search or edit thumbnail (reduced view) in the video data.

  The reproduction control information 102 shown in FIG. 3 includes a management information table (PLY_MAT) 112 and a program chain (PGC) information table (PGCIT) 110Y_IIT) 114 as shown in FIG. 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, search pointers # 1 to # n124 for searching each PGC information, and PGC information # 1. To # n126.

  The program chain (PGC) information table 110 mainly describes information related to the playback order of the program chain (PGC) and the cell, and is composed of data of the cell 94 recorded in the video object 82, that is, a video object unit 96. The movie data as actual data is reproduced according to the description of the program chain (PGC) information table 110. As shown in FIG. 8, the program chain (PGC) information table 110 includes index scene information 120, PGC information management information 122, search pointers # 1 to # n124 for searching each PGC information, and PGC information #. 1 to # n126. The index scene information 120 describes a cell number of a scene (index scene) used as an index image.

  When the PGC number is determined, the playback order of the cell for playback of the PGC corresponding to the PGC number is obtained by referring to the search pointer 124, and the actual data is obtained from the video object 82 according to the playback order of the cell. The data of the cell 94 is acquired and the video is reproduced. Although the video object 82 has been described here, cell data as actual data is extracted and reproduced in the same manner for the picture object 84 and the audio object 86 in accordance with the description of the program chain (PGC) information table 110. .

  Here, PGC corresponds to a chapter in the 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, the plurality of cells 94 constituting this PGC can be interpreted as corresponding to various scenes in the drama. The contents of the PGC (or the contents of the cell) are determined by, for example, a software provider that produces the content recorded on the disk 10. Specifically, if there is a video data stream as shown in FIG. 10 (a), the inside is divided into video object units 96 to be played back within a certain period of time. A set of units 96 is defined in the cell 94.

  Here, since the video object unit 96 is continuous in principle, the PGC information table 110, more specifically, the cell playback information 130 shown in FIG. A cell 94 is defined by the first video object unit 96 and the last video object unit 96. That is, the cell playback information 130 describes the playback section information specified by the start address 134 and the end address 136 of the playback data constituting the cell as shown in FIG.

  When the cell 94 is determined in this way, the PGC is configured by determining the reproduction order of the cell. For example, as shown in FIG. 10B, PGC # 1 is defined by arranging three cells 96 in a cell reproduction information table so that cells are reproduced in the order of cell-A, cell-B, and cell-B. Is done. Similarly, PGC # 2 is defined by arranging three cells 96 in a cell reproduction information table so that cells are reproduced in the order of cell-D, cell-E, and cell-F, and further, cell-Q, cell- PGC # 3 is defined by arranging five cells 96 in a cell reproduction information table so that the cells are reproduced in the order of R, cell-S, cell-T, and cell-U.

  Here, PGC # 2 corresponding to a certain chapter is reproduced following PGC # 1 corresponding to a certain chapter by linking PGC # 1 and # 2 to each other. In other words, cell-A to cell-F are continuously reproduced. In the PGC, the cells 94 are reproduced in the arrangement order. However, since the PGC configuration method and the PGC reproduction order are arbitrary, for example, one PGC can be defined as a cell constituting another PGC. Since a link method, that is, link information can be arbitrarily determined, various stories can be created or edited. For example, PGC # 3 can be linked to PGC # 1, and PGC # 1 and PGC # 2 can be added to the same cell, for example, cell G, to be different chapters. Thus, an arbitrary story can be reproduced by linking PGC # 3 following PGC # 1 or PGC # 2.

  As shown in FIG. 7, in the playback management table 112, an identifier ID indicating playback control information is described, the start address (VOBS_SA) and end address (VOBS_EA) of the video object set 80 are described, and control information (CTLI) ) 102 end address (CTLI_EA) and playback control information (PLYI) 102 end address (PLYI_EA) are described. The playback management table 122 describes an attribute (CAT) indicating that the management information belongs to the recording / playback DVD format, and records the video in the video object set recorded in the audio / video data area 76. Attributes such as NTSC system and wide attributes are described, and a table (AST_ATR) describing the number of audio streams in the recorded video object set (AST_Ns) and the attributes such as compression system is also described. Further, a table (SPST_ATR) describing the number of sub-picture streams (SPST_Ns) in the recorded video object set and the attributes thereof is also described. If the user has recorded 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. When there is no image, a flag (00) indicating that there is no user menu is described, and when a reduced image is recorded in the audio / video data area 76, the reduced image is representative. The PGC number that is the basis of the reduced image is described. Furthermore, a flag (0: not played back, 1: played back) indicating whether or not playback by the user of the video object set whose playback is controlled by the reservation and control information 78 is described.

  The PGC information management information (PGC_MAI) 122 shown in FIG. 8 includes information indicating the total number of PGCs as shown in FIG. 11, and the search pointer 124 of the PGC information includes each PGC information as described above. Information pointing to the beginning is included to facilitate the PGC search. The PGC information 126 includes the PGC general information 128 shown in FIG. 8 and one or more cell playback information 130 shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 11, the PGC information management information 122 (PGC_MAI) includes an end address (PGC_TABLE_EA) of the PGC information table 110, an end address (PGC_MAI_EA) of the PGC information management information 122 (PGC_MAI), and a search pointer (PGC_SRP) of PGC information. ) 124 start address (PGC_SRP_SA) and end address (PGC_SRP_EA), start address (PGCI_SA) and end address (PGCI_EA) of all PGC information (PGCI) 126, and the number of all PGCs (PGC_Ns).

  The PGC general information (PGC_GI) 128 includes information indicating the PGC playback time and the number of cells as shown in FIG. That is, the PGC general information (PGC_GI) 128 includes the number of PGCs, 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 ( The start address (PGCI_SA) and the end address (PGCI_EA) of the PGCI) 126 and the number of all PGCs (PGC_Ns) are described.

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

  In addition, the PGC general information (PGC_GI) 128 includes link information related to the PGC to be linked to the PGC, for example, a PGC navigation control in which a previous PGC, a next PGC, or a destination (GOup) PGC is described. PGC_NV_CTL), sub-picture palette table (PGC_SP_PLT) in which reproduction information relating to the color of the sub-picture palette, and the program table (not shown) starting address (PGC_PGMAP_SA) in which a list of programs constituting the PGC is described Is described. Further, in this table (PGC_GI), a start address (CELL_PLY_I_SA) of cell reproduction information (CELL_PLY_I) 120, a flag indicating whether or not there is menu data created by the user relating to the PGC (01: menu data exists, 00 : No menu data), reservation, flag indicating whether or not playback by the user of the PGC is completed (0: not played, 1: played), and whether or not the PGC is desired to be saved in the future A flag (ARCHIVE Flag), that is, a flag indicating whether or not permanent storage is desired (0: free [can be deleted], 1: permanent storage) is described.

  The index scene information 120 shown in FIG. 8 describes a cell number N of a scene registered as an index image in a pointer recording mode described later.

  The cell playback information (CELL_PLY_I) 130 shown in FIG. 8 is roughly composed of 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 it belongs, whether the block is an angle block. Here, the angle block means a block whose angle can be switched. Angle switching means changing the angle (camera angle) at which the subject image is viewed. Specifically, in the case of a rock concert video, in a performance scene (same event) of the same song, a scene captured by a vocalist, a scene captured by a guitarist, a scene captured by a drummer, etc. It means that you can see the scene. Angle switching (or angle change) can be performed according to the viewer's preference, or when the same scene is automatically repeated at different angles in the flow of the story (software) There are cases where the producer / provider has configured the story in such a way; or the DVD video recorder user has made such an edit).

  Further, as shown in FIG. 13, the cell general information 132 describes the playback time (absolute time) of the cell in the PGC, and a flag (0: Unreproduced, 1: regenerated) and a flag (ARCHIVE Flag) indicating whether or not the cell is desired to be stored in the future, that is, a flag indicating whether or not it is desired to permanently store (0: free [erasable] ], 1: Permanent storage).

  In the cell general information 132, as shown in FIG. 13, the cell start address (CELL_SA) and the end address (CELL_EA) are the addresses of the first and last video object units (VOBU) in the cell. Of the cell reproduction information (CELL_PLY_I) 130 and the end address (CELL_PLY_I_EA) of the cell reproduction information (CELL_PLY_I) 130 are also described. This cell playback 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, the index scene pointer information 134 includes the physical number on the optical disc 10 of 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. A sector number (this is called an index scene pointer address (INDEX_PT)) is described. In FIG. 13, there are M index scene pointer addresses, and the number of M is variable.

  Accordingly, when searching for an image recorded on the optical disc 10, the cell number of the cell containing the index scene is read from the index scene information 120 in the PGC information table 110 shown in FIG. 8, and the PGC containing the cell number is further read. By retrieving the information 126 and reading the index scene pointer information 134 for the cell reproduction information 130 in the PGC general information 128 of the PGC information 126, the index image can be retrieved.

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

  The recording control information 104 shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 6 includes the recording management table 114 shown in FIG. 14. This recording management table 114 includes the end address (RECI_EA) of the recording control information 104 and the end of the recording management table 114. An address (REC_MAT_EA) is described, and a free area (FREE_SPACE) for writing information related to recording management is provided. Further, in the record management table 114, a flag (ARCHIVE Flag) indicating whether or not the VOBS is desired to be stored, that is, a flag indicating whether or not the VOBS is desired to be permanently stored (0: free [erasable], 1: Permanent storage) is described.

  3 is composed of an anchor pointer 108-A and a picture address table 108-B. The picture address table 108-B includes menu index information INFO1, index picture information INFO2, slide & still information INFO3. , Information picture information INFO4, defect area information INFO5, and wallpaper picture information INFO6.

  FIG. 15 shows an example of the configuration of a device (DVD video recorder) that records and reproduces digital moving picture information at a variable recording rate using information having the structure as described with reference to FIGS.

  The apparatus main body of this DVD video recorder is generally a disk drive unit (disk drive 32, disk drive unit) that rotationally drives an optical disk 10 that is a DVD-RAM or DVD-R disk and executes reading and writing of information with respect to the optical disk 10. A temporary storage unit 34, a data processor 36, a system time counter 38, etc.), an encoder unit 50 constituting the recording side, a decoder unit 60 constituting the reproduction side, and a microcomputer block 30 for controlling the operation of the apparatus main body. It consists of and.

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

  The ADC 52 receives an external analog video signal + external analog audio signal from the AV input unit 42 or an analog TV signal + analog audio signal from the TV tuner 44. 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 YR), and the color difference component Cb (or YB) is quantized with 8 bits. The ADC 52 digitizes the input analog audio signal, for example, with a sampling frequency of 48 kHz and a quantization bit number of 16 bits.

  When an analog video signal and a digital audio signal are input to the ADC 52, the ADC 52 passes through the digital audio signal. At this time, the content of the digital audio signal is not altered, and processing for reducing only the jitter accompanying the digital signal or processing for changing the sampling rate and the number of quantization bits may be performed. On the other hand, when a digital video signal and a 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. These digital signals may be subjected to jitter reduction processing, sampling rate change processing, or the like 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 has a function of converting the input digital audio signal into a digital signal (or linear PCM digital signal) compressed at a fixed bit rate based on the MPEG audio or AC-3 standard.

  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-picture signal is input from the AV input unit 42, or a DVD having such a data structure. When a video signal is broadcast and received by the TV tuner 44, a sub-picture signal component (sub-picture pack) in the DVD video signal is input to a sub-picture encoder (SP encoder) 55. The sub-picture data input to the SP encoder 55 is arranged in a predetermined signal form and sent to the formatter 56.

  The formatter 56 performs predetermined signal processing on the input video signal, audio signal, sub-picture signal, etc. while using the buffer memory 57 as a work area, and conforms to the format (file structure) as described above. The recording data is output to the data processor 36.

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

  As a result of pre-encoding, if the data compression amount is insufficient, for example, if the desired video program does not fit on the DVD-RAM disc or DVD-R disc to be recorded, and if there is an opportunity to pre-encode again, That is, for example, if the recording source is a reproducible source such as a video tape or video disc, the main video data is partially re-encoded, and the re-encoded main video data is pre-encoded before that. Is replaced with the main video data portion. Through such a series of processing, the main video data and the audio data are encoded, and the value of the average bit rate necessary for recording is greatly reduced. Similarly, 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, a cell as a minimum unit of main video data (video data) is set, 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, sub-video, and audio, etc. are set (part of these attribute information uses the information obtained when each data is encoded) The reproduction control information 102 including various information described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 6 is created.

  The encoded main video data, audio data, and sub-video data are subdivided into packs of a certain size (2048 bytes) as shown in FIG. In these packs, time stamps such as PTS (presentation time stamp) and DTS (decode time stamp) are described as appropriate. For the sub-picture PTS, 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, the VOBU 96 as data to be reproduced within a predetermined time is collected so that the data can be reproduced in the order of the time code of the data. Each data cell is defined while arranging the VOBU 96, and the VOB is composed of a plurality of cells. Is configured. A VOBS 80 including one or more VOBs is formatted into the structure shown in FIG.

  A disk drive unit that reads and writes (records and / or plays) information on the DVD disk 10 includes a disk changer unit 110, a disk drive 32, a temporary storage unit 34, a data processor 36, and a system time counter ( Or a system time clock (STC) 38.

  The temporary storage unit 34 buffers a certain amount of data written to the disk 10 via the disk drive 32 (data output from the encoder unit 50) or reproduces it from the disk 10 via the disk drive 32. This is used to buffer a certain amount of the data (data input to the decoder unit 60).

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

  The temporary storage unit 34 can be used to temporarily store recording information until the disk 10 is replaced with a new disk when the disk 10 is used up during recording. Further, when the high-speed drive (double speed or higher) is adopted as the disk drive 32, the temporary storage unit 34 can be used to temporarily store data read out from the normal drive within a certain time. If the read data at the time of reproduction is buffered in the temporary storage unit 34, even if an optical pickup (not shown) causes a read error due to vibration shock or the like, the reproduction data buffered in the temporary storage unit 34 is switched and used. As a result, it is possible to prevent the playback video from being interrupted.

  The data processor 36 shown in FIG. 15 supplies the DVD recording data from the encoder unit 50 to the disk drive 32 according to the control of the microcomputer block 30, takes out the DVD reproduction signal reproduced from the disk 10 from the drive 32, The management information recorded in the disk 10 is rewritten, or the data (file or VTS) recorded in the disk 10 is deleted.

  The microcomputer block 30 includes an MPU (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.

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

  Note that the timing at which the MPU 30 controls the disk changer unit, the disk 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 other processing may be executed at a timing independent of the STC 38.

  The decoder unit 60 is separated by a separator 62 that separates and extracts each pack from DVD playback data having a pack structure as shown in FIG. 5, a memory 63 that is used when performing pack separation and other signal processing, and the separator 62. A video decoder (V decoder) 64 that decodes the 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 62. The audio data (the content of the audio pack 91 in FIG. 9) 68 is decoded, and the video data from the V decoder 64 is appropriately combined with the sub-picture data from the SP decoder 65, and the main video is displayed in the menu. , Highlight button, subtitle and other sub-video A processor 66, a video / digital / analog converter (V / DAC) 67 for converting the digital video output from the video processor 66 into an analog video signal, and an audio for converting the digital audio output from the A decoder 68 into an analog audio signal.・ A digital / analog converter (A / DAC) 67 is provided.

  The analog video signal from the V • DAC 67 and the analog audio signal from the A • DAC 67 are supplied to an external component (2-channel to 6-channel multi-channel stereo apparatus + monitor TV or projector) via the AV output unit 46. Is done.

  Next, basic data processing operations in the DVD video recorder of the present embodiment, that is, recording processing and playback processing will be described next.

  At the time of data processing at the time of recording, first, when the MPU of the microcomputer block 30 receives a recording command by a key input by the user, necessary management data is read from the DVD disk 10 through the disk drive 32 and an area to be written is determined. Next, the management area is set so that the recording data is written in the determined area, the video data writing start address is set in the disk drive 32, and preparations for recording the data are made.

  Here, the management area to be set indicates a file management unit (indicating directory decoding in ISO9660) and control information 78 for managing files, and records necessary parameters in the file management unit.

  Next, the microcomputer block 30 resets the time in the STC unit 38. Here, the STC 38 is a system timer that performs recording and playback based on this value. Thereafter, the microcomputer block 30 executes setting of other units.

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

  The encoders 53, 54, and 55 compress the respective input signals into packets (however, each packet is divided into packets of 2048 bytes per pack and packetized), and the formatter unit 56 To enter. Here, the encoders 53, 54 and 55 determine and record the PTS and DTS of each packet according to the value of the STC 38 as necessary.

  The formatter 56 temporarily stores the packet data in the buffer memory 57, then packs each input packet data, mixes it for each GOP, and inputs it to the data processor 36.

  The data processor 36 collects every 16 packs as an ECC group, adds the ECC, and sends the ECC group to the disk drive 32. However, if the disk drive 32 is not ready for recording on the disk 10, it is transferred to the temporary storage unit 34, waits until it is ready to record data, and starts recording when it is ready. Here, since the temporary storage unit 34 holds recording data of several minutes or more by high-speed access, a large-capacity memory is assumed.

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

  In the data processing at the time of reproduction, when the microcomputer block 30 receives a reproduction command by first inputting a key by the user, the volume & file management area 70 is read from the disk drive 32 through the data processor 36 and the reproduction address is determined. To do. Here, the volume & file management area 70 indicates a volume descriptor and a file management unit. The volume descriptor determines whether or not the optical disk 10 is a DVD disk. The control information 78 is extracted from the information of the file management unit. The video objects 82, 84 and 86 corresponding to the title to be reproduced are determined, and the address at which the reproduction is started is determined.

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

Inside the decoder unit 60, the read pack data is received and packetized by the separator 62, video packet data (MPEG video data) is transferred to the video decoder 64 according to the purpose of the data, and the audio packet data 68 is the audio decoder. 68, and the sub-picture packet data is transferred to the SP decoder 65. 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 set to the STC 38 by the microcomputer block 30, or the video decoder 64 automatically sets the PTS of the video data to the STC. Set to the department. After that, each decoder 64, 65, 68 performs a reproduction process (while comparing the values of PTS and STC) in synchronization with the value of PTS (presentation time stamp) in the packet data, and the audio subtitle is attached to the TV. Videos can be played.
Next, an index scene registration procedure to the optical disc 10 that is a feature of the present invention will be described with reference to an example in which an image that is most frequently used as an index scene is used.
The index image is an image for searching and editing the recorded contents of the optical disc 10, and the registration method of the index image in the present embodiment uses position information (the position information indicating the recording position of the index image in the main recording data (video data)). A method of recording a pointer on the optical disc 10 (referred to as a pointer recording mode) and a method of recording on the optical disc 10 the reduced image data generated by the reduced image generator 58 from the input video data as index image data (reduction). Image recording mode).

  According to the pointer recording mode, the index image data such as a reduced image is not actually provided, and the index image can be represented only by the pointer to the main image. The index image is displayed while being created on the decoder side, Since the disk search is frequently performed when the menu is displayed, the user menu display takes a little time compared to the reduced image recording mode, but there is an advantage that less disk space is used because there is no actual reduced image. .

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

  Index image registration can also be performed automatically, and the apparatus automatically detects the start and end of recording. For example, as shown in FIG. Can be registered, or the image 5 of the last frame of the cell-3 at the end of recording can be registered. It is also possible to manually perform key input while monitoring the image being recorded on the display screen by the user. In this case, it occurs during the recording operation as shown by images 3 and 4 in FIG. Registration can be performed for any of a plurality of images in cell-2.

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 determines that there is a registration trigger in step S101, and the video encoder A GOP creation start signal is obtained for each cell from 53, and the start of I picture generation is detected (step S102). As will be described later, this I picture becomes a registration point of the index image.

  It should be noted that the registration trigger from the MPU may be generated once every time the user inputs a registration command, for example, once, or when the MPU starts / ends recording on the optical disc 10, or when a video or audio scene change occurs. It may be done automatically. These selections are preferably made possible by the user via the key input unit 49.

  Next, the MPU in the microcomputer block 30 detects the physical sector number M currently recorded on the optical disk 10 through the disk drive 32 and the data processor 36 and holds it in the RAM (step S103), and further defines the current definition. The cell number N of the cell to be registered, that is, the I picture to be registered as an index image, is detected and similarly stored in the RAM (step S104).

  Next, the MPU in the microcomputer block 30 determines the end of the recording through the disk drive 32 and the data processor 36 or by a command from the key input unit 49 (step S105). 10, 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 above (step S106).

  Subsequently, the MPU in the microcomputer block 30 includes the cell number N 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. PGC information to be searched is searched (step S107).

  Here, the MPU in the microcomputer block 30 assumes that the PGC information retrieved in step S107 is # 1, the cell reproduction information 130 shown in FIG. The physical sector number M held in the RAM in step S103 is recorded in the index scene cell information 134 in the reproduction information 130 (step S108).

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

  In the DVD standard, MPEG2 is adopted for video encoding as described above. In MPEG2 (as in MPEG1), encoding is performed in a cycle called GOP as shown in FIG. The GOP has 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, whereas the latter is the latter. 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.

  As in the pointer recording mode, when the user first 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 step S201. It is determined that there is a registration trigger. The registration trigger from the MPU may be generated every time the user inputs a registration command, for example, once, or automatically when the MPU starts / ends recording on the optical disc 10 or when a video or audio scene change occurs. You may go to These selections are preferably made possible by the user via the key input unit 49.

  Next, when the MPU in the microcomputer block 30 determines that there is a registration trigger in step S201, the MPU detects the physical sector number M currently recorded on the optical disk 10 via the disk drive 32 and the data processor 36 and stores it in the RAM. The reduced image generation unit 58 is activated to generate reduced image data to be registered as an index image (step S203). The generated reduced image data is packetized and recorded in the reduced image buffer memory 59 together with the current PGN number.

  Next, the MPU in the microcomputer block 30 determines whether or not the recording is ended via the disk drive 32 and the data processor 36 or by a command from the key input unit 49 (step S205). The logical address of the reduced image management area shown in FIG. 20 is acquired from the volume & file management area 70 on the optical disk 10 captured in advance via the drive 32 and the data processor 36 (step S206). Then, the contents of the 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 SS207).

  Next, the MPU in the microcomputer block 30 reads and packs the reduced image data generated in step S203 by the reduced image generator 58 and packetized and stored in the reduced image buffer memory 59, and in steps S206 to S207. Recording is performed via the data processor 36 and the disk drive 32 in the area on the optical disk 10 defined by the contents of the reduced image management area (step S208).

  Then, it is determined whether or not all the reduced image data stored in the reduced image buffer memory 59 has been read (step S209). If reduced image data remains, the next PGC number N in the reduced image buffer memory 59 is designated. Steps S207 to S208 are repeated, and when all the reduced image data is read, the reproduction control information 102 and the volume & file management area 70 shown in FIG. 3 are sequentially updated (Steps S211 to S212), and the process is terminated. .

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

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

  The user menu file initially contains pointer addresses called first anchor points (a, p, b, q in FIG. 20), and the start address (a) and end address of the reduced image management area, respectively. (P), and the start address (b) and end address (q) of the backup data in the reduced image management area are described.

  A reduced image management area is set next to the first anchor point, and this reduced image management area is recorded in the picture address table 108B shown in FIG. The data in the reduced image management area has undergone a “32 kbyte alignment” process described later. 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 overall reduced image information includes the number of AV reduced images, the number of pointers only, the number of defective areas, and the number of registered background images. Among these, the “number of pointers only” indicates the pointer recording mode described above. The number of registered index pixels is indicated only by.

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

  Among the related tables, PGC number, time code, reduced image start address, number of sectors used, reduced image size, reduced image source file address (pointer), and search text data used for search and title Is recorded in the index menu information INFO2 in the picture address table 108B shown in FIG. 3, and the head 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. The registration number and head address of the background image data are recorded in the wallpaper picture information INFO6 in the picture address table 108B shown in FIG.

  Further, although not shown, a backup of the reduced image management area is recorded after this association table. This backup is recorded 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 generation unit 58 of FIG. 15 is recorded. These reduced image data are packed and recorded in the picture object 84 shown in FIG. However, these data are 32 kbyte aligned for each reduced image. After that, the same second anchor point (a, p, b, q) as the first anchor point at the top of the user menu file is described. This is because it is considered that the file is usually damaged from the top management area that is frequently accessed. By placing an anchor point at the end of the file, it is more secure.

  The reason why 32 kbytes are aligned at each segment of the file is to allow access to each ECC group in units of 32 kbytes when changing, adding or deleting data. As a result, faster access is possible, and the operation of the data processor 36 shown in FIG. 15 is reduced.

  Note that all the address information in the user menu file is represented by a relative address from the top of the file.

The user menu file in FIG. 20 has the following characteristics.
(A) One or more index image data (that is, reduced image data) for menu selection representing at least a part of video data is recorded in the same user menu file.
(B) Management of all reduced image data recorded on the optical disc 10 (DVD-RAM disc, DVD-RW disc, or DVD-R disc) having a reduced image management area (designation of storage location and corresponding video signal) Perform all at once.

  Specifically, the contents 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 spare picture address table The end position is described, and menu index information (INFO1), index picture information (INFO2), defect area information (INFO5), wallpaper picture information (INFO6), and padding data are stored as a picture address table (corresponding to 108B in FIG. 3). Described 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, the start position of the spare picture address table, and the preliminary address End position of the picture address table are described.

  Note that the information picture information INFO4 of FIG. 3 is also described as appropriate in the picture address tables of FIGS.

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

  The content characteristic included in the index picture information describes “1” if a still image used for the user menu has been recorded, and “0” if only the recording position (address) of this still image is recorded. Is described.

  As shown in FIG. 22, the index picture information when the user menu image is specified only by the address includes the content characteristics in which “0” is described, the ID of the program chain PGC for the slide and still picture, and the original audio. -Includes video data address and slide & still picture timecode.

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

Next, the “32 kbyte alignment” described above will be described.
The user menu files shown in FIGS. 20 to 22 are all divided into 32 kbytes, which are error correction code units (ECC groups), regardless of whether they are recorded areas or unrecorded areas. The position of a certain “ECC boundary” is fixed in advance.

  When recording each reduced image data, anchor point, reduced image management area and reduced image management area backup, the recording start position and the recording end position of all data are made to coincide with the “ECC boundary” position. To be recorded.

  When each data amount is slightly smaller than the integer value of 32 kbytes, a “dummy area” is added as shown in FIG. 20 to make the recording end position coincide with the “ECC boundary” position. This “dummy area” means the “padding” area in FIG.

  When the reduced image data is recorded / erased, the information is recorded / erased for each “ECC boundary” described above. In this case, since it is not necessary to change some information in the ECC group, the reduced data can be directly overwritten in accordance with the ECC boundary during recording.

  If the “32 kbyte alignment” as described above is performed, since the reduced image data is recorded / erased in units of ECC groups, it is not necessary to modify the added error correction information. Therefore, high-speed recording / erasing processing in units of ECC groups. Can be achieved.

  The user menu file in FIG. 20 considers portability to another recording medium using a personal computer or the like. For this reason, the saved addresses of the reduced image, background image, and reduced image management area for the user menu are all expressed by a differential address (relative address) from the user menu file head position.

  In the association 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 a set of correspondence tables. In this case, the relationship between the reduced image data recorded by the correspondence of the set of the time code of the video signal and the head address and the video signal is known. Further, by searching the entire related table, the unrecorded area in the user menu file or the deleted position of the reduced image data after deletion can be known, and new reduced image data can be recorded in this area.

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

  Here, a specific processing method when the reduced image management area is damaged due to 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. (Whether it is damaged or not can be determined by whether error correction of the ECC group has failed.)
When damage is detected, the anchor point information is read, the backup data address of the reduced image management area is checked, and the backup data of the reduced image management area is read.

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

  Subsequently, the location where the reduced image management area is damaged due to dust or scratches on the surface of the disk (recording medium) is registered as a defective area in the association table between reduced image recording positions in FIG.

When the user menu file format shown in FIGS. 20 to 22 is adopted, the following effects can be expected.
(A) By the “32 kbyte alignment”, addition / search of reduced image data and speeding up of access can be achieved.
(B) When a plurality of reduced images are displayed at a time on a display unit of a monitor display (not shown), it is necessary to access the corresponding reduced image data position on the recording medium for each reduced screen. When the reduced image data is scattered (scattered) on the recording medium, it takes time to access, and there is an adverse effect that the time required to display a plurality of reduced images becomes longer. However, as illustrated in FIG. 20, if a plurality of reduced image data are arranged together in the same user menu file, a plurality of reduced images can be displayed at high speed only 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 delete the reduced image data and manage the additional processing. That is, it becomes easy to search for an unrecorded area (or reduced image data deletion area) in the user menu file, and it becomes possible to perform additional registration of new reduced image data at high speed.

  (D) In the DVD video recorder shown in FIG. 15, the data processor 36 collectively adds error correction information as an ECC group for every 16 packs (= 32 kbytes) and adds an optical disk (DVD-RAM, DVD-RW or DVD-R). ) 10 is recorded. Therefore, if a part of information in the ECC group is changed, the added error correction information needs to be corrected, and the process becomes complicated and the information change process takes a long time. However, by performing the “32 kbyte alignment”, correction of error correction information added when recording / erasing reduced image data in units of ECC groups becomes unnecessary, and user menu data can be recorded and erased at high speed. It becomes possible.

(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.
* Ensuring the reliability of the reduced image management area
... A backup area for the reduced image management area is provided to prepare for a possible reduced image management area defect and to move the recording location when a defect occurs.
* Ensuring reliability of anchor point information indicating the recording location of the reduced image management area
... An ECC block is configured independently, and the number of data changes is reduced and recorded at two locations (first and second anchor points in FIG. 20).
* Defect management processing
... When information reproduction from the reduced image management area or anchor point becomes impossible due to dust or scratches on the surface of the optical disk (recording medium), the data is re-read from the backup unit described above so that it can be re-recorded at another position. As a result, it is possible to prevent a defective area from being registered and erroneously used again.

  In some cases, the reduced image data used for the user menu has a closed caption or multiple characters superimposed on the original image. In such a case, a reduced image may be constructed after multiplexing characters. It is also conceivable to form a reduced image using only this character data.

  FIG. 23 shows a specific display example of a menu screen obtained by using an index image registered on the optical disc 10 in the present embodiment. In this example, a map of Africa as a whole is displayed as image 1, and a map image of each country is displayed as a list 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 having a desired number from this screen, the user can search or edit the position on the optical disc 10 where the image is recorded. In addition, as shown in the figure, the time code from the beginning is also displayed on each image 1, 2,..., So that it is possible to grasp how much time has passed since the playback start time from the recorded image. it can.

  In the above embodiment, registration of index images has been described. However, the present invention can be similarly applied to registration of specific audio data.

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

  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 specific information in the main recording data is compressed. By recording compressed information, for example, reduced image data, the image or audio information recorded at the recording position indicated by the position information, or using the compressed information as a menu during playback, the user can record on the recording medium. Information can be grasped intuitively. Therefore, it is possible to quickly search for a desired location from this menu, and it is possible to efficiently perform editing operations such as erasing or replacing information in an arbitrary area on the recording medium. .

The perspective view explaining the structure of the optical disk (DVD-RAM or DVD-RW disk) which can be recorded / reproduced based on this invention The figure explaining the correspondence of the data recording area of the optical disk (DVD-RAM) of FIG. 1 and the recording track of the data recorded there A diagram for explaining a directory structure of information recorded on the optical disc of FIGS. 1 and 2 The figure which shows the data structure of the video object set shown in FIG. The figure which shows the structure of the data pack shown in FIG. The figure which shows the data structure of the control information shown in FIG. The figure which shows the content of the reproduction | regeneration management table shown in FIG. The figure which shows the data structure of the PGC information table shown in FIG. The figure which shows the schematic content of the cell reproduction | regeneration information shown in FIG. The figure for demonstrating the concept of PGC shown in FIG. The figure which shows the content of the PGC information management information shown in FIG. The figure which shows the content of the PGC general information shown in FIG. The figure which shows the content of the cell reproduction | regeneration information shown in FIG. The figure which shows the content of the PGC information management information shown in FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a DVD video recorder as a recording / reproducing apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention The figure which shows the example of registration timing of an index image A flowchart showing an index image registration procedure in the pointer recording mode in the embodiment The figure explaining the registration point at the time of index image registration by pointer recording mode A flowchart showing an index image registration procedure in the reduced image recording mode in the embodiment The figure which shows notionally the user menu file format in the embodiment The figure which shows the user menu file format of FIG. 20 in detail The figure which shows the user menu file format of FIG. 20 in detail The figure which shows the example of a display of the menu screen in the embodiment

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Recordable / reproducible optical disk (DVD-RAM or DVD-R), 11 ... Cartridge (for DVD-RAM), 14 ... Transparent substrate (polycarbonate), 16 ... Light reflection layer, 17 ... Recording layer, 19 ... Reading 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), 32 ... disk drive, 34 ... temporary storage unit, 36 ... data processor, 38 ... system time counter, 42 ... AV input unit, 44 ... TV tuner (terrestrial / satellite broadcast tuner), 46 ... AV output unit, 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, 60 ... Decoder unit, 62 ... Separator, 63 ... Memory, 64 ... Video decoder, 65 ... Sub-picture decoder, 66 ... Video processor, 67 ... Video DAC, 68 ... Audio decoder, 69 ... Audio DAC.

Claims (5)

Video object is defined, the video object includes a video object unit, the video object unit includes a bi Deopakku and audio packs,
Program chain information for playing the video object is defined,
The program chain information can be recorded in a control information area for managing the video object,
The program chain information includes a plurality of cell information, specifies a playback order of the cells, the cell defines a playback section of the video object,
The cell information includes, in order, a block of cell general information including information of a playback section of playback data, and an information block of a specific image,
The information block of the specific image includes pointer information of the specific image in the video object, and there are a plurality of pieces of pointer information so that a plurality of specific images in the same cell can be designated. ,
An optical disc readable by a reproducing apparatus, wherein text data used for searching corresponding to the plurality of pointer information can be recorded in the control information area. The reproducing apparatus information recorded on the optical disc, in the optical disc, the video object is defined, the video object includes a video object unit, the video object unit includes a bi Deopakku and audio packs, reproducing the video object Program chain information is defined, and the program chain information can be recorded in a control information area for managing the video object, and the program chain information includes a plurality of cell information and designates a playback order of the cells. The cell defines a playback section of the video object, and the cell information includes a block of cell general information including information of a playback section of playback data and an information block of a specific image in order, The information block for a specific image Are intended to be included pointer information of the specific image in the video object, the pointer information, along with a plurality present which can be designated a specific image of a plurality of locations within the same cell, the control information area, said plurality It is an optical disc that can be read by a playback device, characterized in that it can record text data used for each search corresponding to the pointer information of
Means for reproducing the pointer information;
Means for reproducing the specific image based on the pointer information;
An information reproducing apparatus comprising means for reading and reproducing the text data. In reproducing method of information recorded on the optical disc, in the optical disc, the video object is defined, the video object includes a video object unit, the video object unit includes a bi Deopakku and audio packs, reproducing the video object Program chain information is defined, and the program chain information can be recorded in a control information area for managing the video object, and the program chain information includes a plurality of cell information and designates a playback order of the cells. The cell defines a playback section of the video object, and the cell information includes a block of cell general information including information of a playback section of playback data and an information block of a specific image in order, The information block for a specific image Are intended to be included pointer information of the specific image in the video object, the pointer information, along with a plurality present which can be designated a specific image of a plurality of locations within the same cell, the control information area, said plurality It is an optical disc that can be read by a playback device, characterized in that it can record text data used for each search corresponding to the pointer information of
An information reproducing method comprising reproducing the pointer information, reproducing the specific image based on the reproduced pointer information, and reading and reproducing the text data. An information recording method for recording information on an optical disc, in the optical disc, the video object is defined, the video object includes a video object unit, the video object unit includes a bi Deopakku and audio packs, reproducing the video object Program chain information is defined, and the program chain information can be recorded in a control information area for managing the video object, and the program chain information includes a plurality of cell information and designates a playback order of the cells. The cell defines a playback section of the video object, and the cell information includes a block of cell general information including information of a playback section of playback data and an information block of a specific image in order, In the information block of a specific image , Are intended to be included pointer information of the specific image in the video object, the pointer information, along with a plurality present which can be designated a specific image of a plurality of locations within the same cell, the control information area, wherein It is an optical disc readable by a playback device, characterized in that it can record text data used for each search corresponding to a plurality of pointer information ,
An information recording method comprising: generating the pointer information and recording the pointer information in the control information area, and recording the text data in the control information area. In the information recording apparatus for recording information on an optical disc, a video object is defined in the optical disc, 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 Program chain information for reproducing an object is defined, and the program chain information can be recorded in a control information area for managing the video object, and the program chain information includes a plurality of cell information and reproduces a cell. An order is specified, and the cell defines a playback section of the video object, and the cell information includes a cell general information block including playback section information of playback data and an information block of a specific image in order. Including the information of the specific image The block includes pointer information of a specific image in the video object. A plurality of pointer information exist so that a plurality of specific images in the same cell can be specified, and the control information area Further, it is an optical disc that can be read by a playback device, wherein text data used for searching can be recorded corresponding to the plurality of pointer information, respectively.
The pointer information forms the raw, and means for recording the control information area,
An information recording apparatus comprising: means for recording the text data in the control information area.

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