JP4100307B2 - Program, recording medium and playback apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a reproducing apparatus for reproducing information from a recording medium, a program used at the time of reproduction, and a recording medium on which the program is recorded.

  In an AV device such as a CD or DVD player, in order to manage content recorded on a recording medium, a method of acquiring information from the recording medium itself or on a network and generating table of contents information is considered (for example, , See Patent Document 1).

  In recent years, the bandwidth of networks has increased, and not only small-capacity information but also various types of content such as movie title subtitle information, images, and audio are prepared on the network.

JP 2001-307464 A

  In view of the above background, it is conceivable that in an AV device using a so-called optical disc as a recording medium, external content related to the content recorded on the recording medium is downloaded from a network and viewed. However, in the above-described conventional example, a method for managing content recorded on a recording medium has been provided. However, a method for managing downloaded external content has not been particularly considered.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to enable efficient management by downloading external content related to content recorded on a recording medium from a network. . Also, by managing the external content in association with the recording medium, even when a plurality of external contents are downloaded to the same recording medium, or when the recording medium is replaced, it is related to the recording medium. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for efficiently searching and reproducing external contents.

The above object can be achieved by the invention described in the claims.

  According to the program, the recording medium, and the playback apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to efficiently manage external contents related to the contents recorded on the recording medium by downloading them from the network.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation example when the specific program related to the content recorded on the disc is acquired on the network in the control program according to the present embodiment. In the figure, S201 is a start step, S202 is a specific content acquisition instruction step, S203 is a specific content acquisition step, S204 is a disc ID acquisition step, S205 is a specific content storage step, and S206 is an end step.

  The flowchart of the program shown in FIG. 2 will be described step by step.

  First, when the operation is started (S201), the program is executed in the specific content acquisition instruction (S202). Specifically, for example, in the basic menu screen showing the contents of the disc as shown in FIG. 5, the user selects the related information button 501 and gives an instruction to acquire specific information related to the content recorded on the disc. . The selection by the user is performed by the playback device itself or the cursor key and the execution key prepared on the remote controller.

  As a result, specific content is acquired as related information of the content recorded on the disc (S203). Specifically, for example, access to an address on the network set in the related information button 501 in FIG. 5 is performed. FIG. 6 shows an example of the content provider's home page displayed as a result of the access. The provision of specific content may be performed by the seller or creator of the disc inserted in the playback device as part of the service incidental to the purchase of the disc. The providing method and its contents are not particularly limited. The user can select and download a specific content of his / her preference.

  When the specific content is downloaded, the disk ID is subsequently acquired (S204). A specific acquisition method will be described later. Although the disc ID is used here, the information is not limited to one type as long as the disc discriminating information or the information recorded on the disc can be discriminated. The disk ID acquired here is given as an integer value of 10 digits, for example. The disc ID may be set to be different for all the discs, or may be different for each disc title.

  Subsequently, the downloaded specific content is stored in a memory in the playback device (S205).

  FIG. 1 shows an example of a storage system for specific content stored in a memory in a playback device. Each content is associated with a disk ID and stored with a code and text information regarding the content. Is shown. For example, when a movie trailer video clip is downloaded as the specific content E, the disc ID “33333333333” at that time is associated, and the accompanying information includes a code “V” indicating the video clip and text information “trailer” indicating the content. Stored in association. However, incidental information such as codes and text information is not limited to this format, and there is no problem as long as it characterizes the contents of specific content. Assume that at least the disk ID is associated and stored.

  The specific content acquisition operation is completed as described above (S206). However, at the download stage, depending on the content of the specific content, it is also possible to simultaneously reproduce the content.

  Next, an embodiment of a playback apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a reproducing apparatus according to the present invention, and shows a reproducing apparatus using an optical disk as a recording medium. Reference numeral 300 denotes a playback device, 301 an optical disc, 302 a user I / F, 303 a control unit, 304 a memory, 305 a track buffer, 306 a drive, 307 a pickup, 308 a network control unit, and 309 a network I / F , 310 is a decoder unit, and 311 is an output unit.

  When starting playback, the user inserts the desired optical disc 301 into the playback device 300 and gives a playback instruction using the remote controller or playback device main body key. A user instruction input input via the user I / F 302 is interpreted by the control unit 303, and the control unit 303 starts reproduction of the optical disc 301.

  On the optical disc 301, not only AV files such as video and audio, but also a playlist file indicating the reproduction order of files, a program file for performing a predetermined procedure process, and the like are recorded. First, file management information is read to identify a file recorded on the optical disc 301. Specifically, the control unit 303 instructs the drive 306 to read anchor information written in a predetermined sector, and data in the predetermined sector is read out via the optical pickup 307. Based on this information, the recording position of the file management information is obtained, and the file management information is read out. As a file management information recording method, for example, a file system represented by UDF (Universal Disc Format) may be used. By using the file system, information recorded on the disc can be handled as a file, and a file to be read can be designated by a file identifier (file name).

  At the start of reproduction, the file specified by the management information file is read. In this case, it may be an initial activation program or a playlist file for displaying a menu. Specifically, the control unit 303 reads a specified file from the optical disc 301, and information such as whether the file is a playlist or a program is added at that stage, and processing is performed according to this information. Is called. That is, when the file read first is a file corresponding to the initial startup program, the control section 303 executes the read file as a program because the information indicating that it is a program is added. Do. Specifically, the program read to the storage area in the control unit 303 is expanded, and analysis execution is sequentially performed. For example, the basic menu screen as shown in FIG. 5 may be displayed as the execution contents of the initial startup program. If the first read file corresponds to the playlist file, the control unit 303 analyzes the file contents and displays the basic menu screen as shown in FIG. Like that.

  Here, a procedure for reproducing internal content, that is, an AV file recorded on the optical disc 301, rather than acquisition of external content, will be described. For example, when the title button is selected in FIG. 5 described above, the control unit 303 starts reproduction of predetermined stream data recorded on the optical disc 301. First, the pickup 307 is controlled from the optical disc 301 by the drive 306 according to an instruction from the control unit 303, and stream data is read from an arbitrary data position and temporarily stored in the track buffer 305. The difference between the transfer rate of the drive 306 and the encoding rate of the stream data is absorbed, the stream data is read from the track buffer 305, the image data and the audio data are separated and decoded by the decoder unit 310, and the output unit 311 appropriately Output in a simple signal format.

  Note that a screen for presentation to a user other than the playback screen is also output from the memory 304 or the network control unit 308 to the output unit 311 via the decoder unit 310.

  Next, the operation at the time of external content acquisition will be described. When the related information button 501 in FIG. 5 is selected by the user, the control unit 303 reads the program file specified therein from the optical disc 301 by the same procedure as described above. Since the read file is recognized as a program by the control unit 303, the contents are sequentially executed as in the case of the above-described initial activation program. In this case, since a predetermined address on the network is designated by execution of the program, the control unit 308 passes this to the network control unit 308, and the network control unit 308 interprets this and transmits it via the network I / F 309. Access to a predetermined address on the network. Here, the case where the program file is read from the optical disc 301 using the related information button 501 as a trigger is described. However, a processing procedure similar to that of the program is incorporated in the control unit 303 as a playback device from the beginning. In selecting 501, the same effect can be obtained even when a predetermined address on the network is directly designated.

  When a predetermined address on the network is accessed, a home page screen of the content provider as shown in FIG. 6 is presented as described above. The user selects desired content and issues a download instruction.

  Here, the configuration of the network will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing a configuration of a user who uses the playback apparatus and a content provider existing on the network. 401 is the user side, 402 is the content provider side, 300 is the playback device shown in FIG. 3, 403 is the network, 404 is the content distribution control unit, and 405 is the data server.

  When the reproduction apparatus 300 is instructed to acquire specific content by an instruction input by the user, that is, when any content is selected in FIG. 6, the content distribution control unit 404 recognizes the content on the content provider side 402. The corresponding data is read from the data server 405 and sent to the network 403. When the content provider wants to charge the content or restrict the provided content, the content distribution control unit 404 is configured to perform a desired restriction operation.

  When the specific content is downloaded, the control unit 303 acquires the disc ID of the optical disc 301. Specifically, the control unit 301 sends an instruction to the drive 306 to read a disc identification number called BCA (Burst Cutting Area). The drive 306 reads the BCA information recorded on the optical disc 301 and returns it to the control unit 301. In the BCA, the manufacturer, title, series name, serial number, etc. of the content recorded on the disc are digitized and recorded, and used as the disc ID.

  As described above, BCA is used as the disc ID here, but the content is not limited to BCA as long as it is information capable of discriminating the disc or information discriminating the content recorded on the disc.

  In this embodiment, the processing order is such that the disc ID is obtained when the specific content is downloaded. However, there is no particular problem even if the disc ID is obtained at an earlier stage.

  When the disk ID is acquired, the downloaded specific contents are associated with each other as shown in FIG. The contents of the code and text information may be generated by the control unit 303 based on the downloaded specific content, or may be prepared by the content distribution control unit 404 described above and acquired with the content. You may use. In addition, regarding the storage format in the memory 304, if the configuration is such that a specific list file is generated or an additional information file is generated for each acquired content, the content of the information accompanying at least any content can be understood. good.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the control program as the second embodiment according to the present invention. As in the case of the first embodiment, an operation example in the case of going to acquire specific content related to the content recorded on the disc is shown. 2 corresponding to those in FIG. 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted. S701 is a determination step, S702 is an in-memory information display step, and S703 is a specific content selection / playback step.

  When a specific content acquisition instruction (S202) is performed, the above-described disk ID acquisition is first performed (S204). Subsequently, using the acquired disc ID, it is determined whether or not specific content associated with the same disc ID is stored in the memory of the playback apparatus in the format of FIG. 1 (S701). If it is not stored, the specific content is acquired on the network by the same procedure as in the first embodiment (S203), and the specific content is stored in the memory in association with the acquired disk ID (S205). ).

  In the determination step S701, when specific contents related to the same disk ID as the acquired disk ID are stored in the memory, all the specific contents related to the disk ID are displayed in a list (S702). For example, it is easy to understand if a list is displayed in a format as shown in FIG. The characters displayed on each button correspond to the text information in FIG. 1, and an external access button 801 is provided so that it is possible to go to the external network to acquire specific content at this stage. When the external access button 801 is selected, the subsequent processing is the same as that after the specific content acquisition step S203. In FIG. 8, when the user selects desired specific content, predetermined reproduction is performed according to the content (S703).

  As a playback apparatus in the present embodiment, the control unit 303 in FIG. 3 operates to control a series of processes after the determination step S701 and selectively play back the specific content stored in the memory 304.

  According to the present embodiment, since the downloaded specific content can be selectively reproduced according to the disc ID, it is easy to use visually, and the time and labor for newly downloading are reduced.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the operation of a control program as a third embodiment according to the present invention. As in the case of the first embodiment and the second embodiment, an operation example in the case of going to acquire specific content related to the content recorded on the disc is shown. Parts corresponding to those in FIGS. 2 and 7 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted. S901 is a search display step, and S902 is a predetermined genre display step. S903 is a specific content selection reproduction step.

  In the determination step S701, when specific content related to the same disk ID as the disk ID acquired in the disk ID acquisition step S204 is stored in the memory, a list of content types of the specific content related to the disk ID is displayed. It is displayed (S901). For example, it is easy to understand if a list is displayed in a format as shown in FIG. What is displayed here is a classification based on the codes in FIG. 1, and the characters displayed on each button are attributes assigned to the codes. For example, in the case of FIG. 1, “S” is caption information, “A” is audio information, and “V” is a video clip. Also in this case, an external access button 1001 is provided in the same manner as in FIG. 8, and it is possible to go to the external network to acquire specific content at this stage. When the external access button 1001 is selected, the subsequent processing is the same as that after the specific content acquisition step S203.

  When the user selects a desired genre in FIG. 10, a list of specific contents classified into the genre is displayed (S902). For example, it is easy to understand if it is displayed in the format shown in FIG. In this case, the characters displayed on each button are the same as those in FIG. 8 and correspond to the text information in FIG. Also here, as in FIG. 8, an external access button 1101 is provided, and at this stage, it is possible to go to an external network to acquire specific content. When the external access button 1101 is selected, the subsequent processing is the same as that after the specific content acquisition step S203. In FIG. 11, when the user selects desired specific content, predetermined reproduction is performed according to the content (S903).

  As in the case of the second embodiment, the playback device in the present embodiment controls the series of processing after the determination step S701 by the control unit 303 in FIG. 3 so as to selectively play back the specific content stored in the memory 304. To work.

  According to the present embodiment, specific content that has been downloaded can be determined according to the disc ID, and content of a desired genre can be efficiently searched using supplementary information stored in the memory.

  In the fourth embodiment of the present invention, the operation flow is not particularly illustrated, but in the embodiment, it is assumed that the operation is performed so as to display a screen as shown in FIG. That is, in FIG. 3, even when the optical disc 301 is not inserted, the control unit 303 performs control so that the specific content downloaded in the memory 304 can be reproduced.

  In FIG. 12, the disk ID in FIG. 1 is displayed on each button. The operation after the user selects a desired disk ID is the same as that in the search display step S901 (FIG. 10) and later described in the third embodiment.

  In this case, if a disc title is used instead of a number as the disc ID, the disc title itself is displayed on each button in FIG. 12, so that the user can easily discriminate the disc.

  According to this embodiment, even when no disc is inserted, it is possible to search for and play back the specific content stored in the memory.

  In the above embodiments, the type of memory for storing the specific content is not particularly limited, but there is no particular problem as long as it can be used for the application of the present invention, such as an HDD or a removable semiconductor memory. In each embodiment, the case where an optical disk is used as a recording medium has been described. However, this is not limited to this, and the present invention can be applied to various recording media.

The figure which shows the correlation of the specific content memorize | stored in a memory | storage device, disc ID, and incidental information The flowchart which shows operation | movement of Example 1 of the control program by this invention. Block diagram of playback device Diagram showing network connection status Basic menu screen example Sample screen provided by content provider The flowchart which shows operation | movement of Example 2 of the control program by this invention. Content list display screen example The flowchart which shows operation | movement of Example 3 of the control program by this invention. Display screen example for content search Content list display screen example Disk ID list display screen example

Explanation of symbols

300 Playback device 301 Optical disc 302 User I / F
303 Control Unit 304 Memory 305 Track Buffer 306 Drive 307 Pickup 308 Network Control Unit 309 Network I / F
310 Decoder unit 311 Output unit 401 User side 402 Content provider side 403 Network 404 Content distribution control unit 405 Data server

Claims (7)

A program for controlling reproduction of information on a recording medium and related information,
Obtaining from the outside specific information related to the predetermined information recorded on the recording medium;
Obtaining medium identification information of the recording medium,
When specific information is acquired, control is performed such that the storage device in the playback device is associated with the medium identification information, and is stored with a code relating to the content of the specific information. program. A program for controlling reproduction of information on a recording medium and related information,
Obtaining the medium identification information of the recording medium,
Control is performed so as to search for desired specific information using the medium identification information stored in the storage device in the playback device or a code associated with the specific information associated with the medium identification information. Program to do. A recording medium on which information is recorded,
A recording medium on which the program according to claim 1 or 2 is recorded. A playback device for playing back information from a recording medium,
An identification information obtaining means for reading the medium identification information recorded on the recording medium,
An external information acquisition means for acquiring information from outside;
A storage device for storing the medium identification information and the specific information acquired by the external information acquisition means;
Predetermined information recorded on the recording medium, and reproducing means for reproducing the specific information stored in the storage device,
Program execution means for reading and executing the program recorded on the recording medium,
The reproducing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the recording medium is the one according to claim 3 . A playback device for playing back information from a recording medium,
Identification information acquisition means for reading the medium identification information recorded on the recording medium;
An external information acquisition means for acquiring information from outside;
A storage device for storing the medium identification information and the specific information acquired by the external information acquisition means;
Playback means for playing back predetermined information recorded in the recording medium and specific information stored in the storage device;
A playback apparatus comprising the program according to claim 1 . The playback apparatus according to claim 4 or 5 , wherein
The reproducing apparatus, wherein even when no recording medium is inserted, the reproducing means reproduces the specific information stored in the storage device. A playback device according to any one of claims 4 to 6 ,
The reproduction apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the external information acquisition target of the external information acquisition means is a network.

Images