JP4491979B2 - Index distribution method, index distribution apparatus, and program recording apparatus - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an index distribution method, an index distribution apparatus, and a program recording apparatus that enable a user to efficiently view contents recorded in a broadcast recording apparatus such as a recording apparatus that records a television broadcast.
[0002]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In recent years, recording devices using hard disks and MPEG compression technology have been put into practical use. This apparatus compresses a television broadcast in real time and records it on a hard disk. If a 20-30 GB hard disk is provided, MPEG2 compressed video data can be recorded for about 12 hours, so that it is not necessary to replace a video cassette or rewind the tape as in a conventional VTR. A time random access recording device could be realized.
[0003]
However, since it is possible to record a TV program for a long time of 12 hours as described above, if you want to watch all through the recorded program, the same time as the recording time is required. There was a problem that it could not take time to play and see it.
[0004]
An object of the present invention is to provide an index distribution method, an index distribution apparatus, and a program recording apparatus that can select and view only a desired scene from a television program recorded for a long time.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The invention of claim 1 is a program list including program codes of programs broadcasted by a broadcasting station. The index distribution device is connected to the broadcast recording device that records the broadcast of the broadcast station. While delivering, according to the progress of the program broadcast by the broadcast station, The index distribution device Create an index of the show, Said Broadcast recording device Recorded The program code of the program Send to the index distribution device do it, The index distribution device For broadcast recording equipment Said The index corresponding to a program code is distributed.
[0006]
The invention of claim 2 includes a program list including a program code of a program broadcasted by a broadcast station, generation time information indicating the occurrence timing of each scene appearing in the program broadcast by the broadcast station, and title information indicating the content. A storage means for storing an index; and a broadcast recording device for recording the broadcast of the broadcast station; and a distribution means for distributing the index to the broadcast recording apparatus, wherein the distribution means includes the broadcast recording When the program code of the program is received from the device, the program corresponding to the received program code is Said The index is distributed to the broadcast recording apparatus.
[0007]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided recording means for recording a program broadcasted by a broadcasting station, a program list including a program code of the program broadcasted by the broadcasting station, and generation indicating the occurrence timing of each scene appearing in the recorded program An index including time information and title information indicating the content; receiving means for receiving from the index distribution device; and recording means for recording did Transmission means for transmitting a program code of a program to the index distribution device; and search reproduction means for searching for and reproducing the index scene from the recorded program, wherein the reception means is transmitted by the transmission means The program corresponding to the program code Said An index is received.
The present invention can be applied to both television broadcasts and radio broadcasts. The following description will be given taking television broadcasts as an example. Note that the television broadcasting can be applied to any of analog terrestrial broadcasting, BS broadcasting, (terrestrial broadcasting, BS, CS) digital broadcasting, cable broadcasting, and Internet broadcasting. The program recording device is a device that records (records) a television broadcast program and reproduces it in accordance with a user operation. When the program is played back from the beginning, a playback time as long as the program recording time is required. The index distribution device watches this television broadcast, creates an index corresponding to the progress, and stores it. The index includes generation time information indicating the generation timing of each scene in the program and title information indicating the contents of the scene. In addition to this, a keyword that can be used when searching for the scene may be included. This index is distributed from the index distribution device to the program recording device. That is, the program recording apparatus receives an index after or during recording of a program. In the program recording device, the user selects a desired scene with reference to the distributed index, and searches for and reproduces the scene from the recorded program. Thereby, the user can view the program efficiently.
[0008]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a scene index distribution system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a recording apparatus of the system, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a scene index distribution apparatus of the system.
[0009]
In FIG. 1, the scene index distribution system includes a recording device 2 and an index distribution device 3. The recording device 2 is installed in a home or the like and receives and records a television broadcast transmitted from the television broadcast station 1. This television broadcasting can be applied to all types of broadcasting such as general analog terrestrial broadcasting, BS broadcasting, (terrestrial, BS, CS) digital broadcasting, cable television broadcasting, and Internet broadcasting. The index distribution device 3 is installed in an index distribution company or the like, receives the TV broadcast transmitted from the TV broadcast station 1 and displays it on a monitor, and an attendant who watches a program displayed on the monitor has each scene Create an index for. The created scene index is distributed to the recording apparatus 2 via communication means such as a subscriber telephone line or the Internet. In this embodiment, the index is distributed via the Internet 4.
[0010]
In addition, the index distribution device 3 distributes a program table 7 describing a program broadcast (transmitted) by the television broadcast station 1 to the recording device 2 in advance. The program table 7 is a table in which the name, start time, end time, genre, program code, and genre code of a program broadcast by the television broadcasting station 1 are tabulated. The genre is a category for classifying the type of program, for example, sports, news, variety, and the like. The program code is a number uniquely assigned to each program, and each program can be identified by this program code. The genre code is a code representing each genre. Distribution of the program table 7 may be performed via the same communication means as the distribution of the scene index.
[0011]
In the recording device 2, the user designates in advance a television program to be recorded. This designation is performed based on the program table 7 sent from the index distribution device 3. When a program to be recorded is designated, the recording device 2 activates the tuner 11 and the MPEG encoder 12 (see FIG. 2) at the start time of the program to record the program on the hard disk 13.
[0012]
The program to be recorded is designated by either a method for directly designating a predetermined program or a method for designating a genre and indirectly designating all programs corresponding to the genre. When directly specifying a program, either a method of inputting a program code from the operation unit 17 or a method of displaying a list of the program table 7 on the monitor 18 and selecting from the list can be specified. Also, when specifying a genre, either a method of inputting a genre code from the operation unit 17 or a method of displaying a list of genres on the monitor 18 and selecting from the list can be specified. As a program reservation method, various methods such as a method of designating a series program in series can be adopted in addition to the method of designating by individual program and genre.
[0013]
When a program is being broadcast, the index distribution device 3 also receives the program and displays it on the monitor 25 (see FIG. 3). Create a scene index. The scene index is composed of the occurrence time of the scene, a title (scene information comment) indicating the content of the scene, and a keyword used when searching the scene. The clerk operates the operation unit 21 of the index creation / distribution unit 3b such as a personal computer to input the scene index.
[0014]
When a staff member creates a scene index for a certain program, the program code of the program is first input. The scene index of this program created thereafter is stored as one scene index file with the program code as the file name.
[0015]
The attendant watches the video of the program and operates an index generation operator included in the operation unit 21 when a scene for which a scene index is to be created is reached. When the index generation operator is operated, a record of one scene index is created in the scene index file, and the current time is automatically input in this record. The clerk inputs the title (scene information comment) and keyword of the scene, and the input of one scene index record is completed. Accordingly, one scene index file generally includes a plurality of scene index records. When the program ends, the staff performs an end operation so that a scene index file corresponding to one program is stored in the hard disk 22. This scene index file is distributed to the recording device 2 that has recorded the corresponding program.
[0016]
In this embodiment, the time information attached to each index record is the absolute time at that time, but other types of time information such as an elapsed time from the start of the program may be attached.
[0017]
The recording device 2 is recording a program to the index distribution device 3 (or the central computer of the index distribution company) when recording of the program designated for recording by the user is started or when recording is completed. Notify that has completed. The index distribution device 3 distributes the scene index file corresponding to the program to the recording device 2 that has received this notification.
[0018]
When playing back a recorded program, the user of the recording device 2 can start playback from the beginning of the program like a conventional VTR. However, only the desired scene can be obtained using the distributed scene index file. It can also be played back selectively. When a program is specified by the user, the recording device 2 displays a list of scene indexes of the program. When the user selects a desired scene from the list, the recording device 2 reproduces the scene from the recorded video. When a keyword is specified by the user, the scene corresponding to the keyword is selectively extracted from the scene index records of all currently recorded programs (the date and time range may be limited). List scene index records for a scene. When the user selects a desired scene from among them, the scene is reproduced from the recorded video.
[0019]
As described above, in this embodiment, the index distribution device 3 is installed in a place (company) different from the television broadcast station 1 and the scene is transmitted via a communication means such as a subscriber telephone line or the Internet different from the television broadcast (radio wave). The index file is distributed. With this system, companies other than television broadcasting stations can participate in the work of distributing the scene index. It is also possible to install the index distribution device 3 in a television broadcast station, create a scene index in the television broadcast station, and transmit the scene index superimposed on the television broadcast radio wave.
[0020]
1 shows one television broadcasting station 1, one recording device 2, and one index distribution device 3. However, the present invention has a configuration in which a plurality of television broadcasting stations 1 exist and a configuration in which a plurality of recording devices 2 exist. This includes a form in which a plurality of index distribution apparatuses 3 exist.
[0021]
When the index distribution device 3 (index distribution company) is installed separately from the television broadcast station as in this embodiment, there may be a plurality of index distribution devices for one television broadcast station. Absent. In this case, each index distribution device may share a program to create a scene index, or may be in a competitive relationship to create a scene index for the same program.
[0022]
The recording apparatus 2 will be described with reference to FIG. The recording device 2 includes a control unit 10, a television tuner 11, an MPEG encoder 12, a hard disk 13, an MPEG decoder 14, a video composition unit 15, an internet communication unit 16, and an operation unit 17. A monitor 18 such as a machine is connected.
[0023]
The hard disk 13 has a large capacity of about 20 to 30 GB or more, and records video data of a television broadcast program compressed by the MPPEG encoder 12. The video data includes not only video but also audio data. Video data of one program is created on the hard disk 13 as one video data file. The file name of each video data file is the program code of the program. In the case of MPEG2 compression, video data of about 12 hours can be recorded on 30 GB.
[0024]
The TV tuner 11 is for receiving a program broadcasted by the TV broadcasting station 1, and the broadcasting format of the TV broadcasting station 1 (analog terrestrial broadcasting, BS broadcasting, (terrestrial, BS, CS) digital broadcasting, cable TV broadcasting) will be installed. Note that a plurality of types of tuners may be provided so as to correspond to a plurality of broadcasting forms of broadcasting stations.
[0025]
An MPEG encoder 12 is connected to the TV tuner 10. The MPEG encoder 12 encodes the video signal of the television broadcast input from the television tuner 11 into video data that is MPEG data and writes the encoded video data to the hard disk 13. If the television broadcast is a digital broadcast and the television tuner 11 can output the video signal as it is, the MPEG tuner 12 may be skipped and the television tuner 11 and the hard disk 13 may be directly connected. The video data is given a time code indicating the broadcast time at predetermined intervals.
[0026]
In order to be able to record in parallel programs broadcast from a plurality of television broadcasting stations, a plurality of television tuners 11 and MPEG decoders 12 may be provided in parallel. In addition, the hard disk 13 can be handled by only one drive, but by providing a plurality of hard disk drives, it is possible to provide a sufficient writing speed and storage capacity.
[0027]
When playing back a recorded program, the video data file of the program stored in the hard disk 13 is read out and input to the MPEG decoder 14. The MPEG decoder 14 decodes video data, which is MPEG data, into an analog video signal. This video signal is output to a monitor (television receiver) 18 via the video composition unit 15.
[0028]
In the normal playback mode, playback starts from the beginning of the program, so data is read from the beginning of the video data file. In the reproduction mode in which the user designates a scene to be reproduced, the designated scene in the video data file is searched based on the time code, and the video data is read therefrom. Which part of which video data file is read out is instructed by the control unit 10.
[0029]
The video composition unit 15 is a circuit for synthesizing the control video generated by the control unit 10 and the television video reproduced by the MPEG decoder 14. The control video is, for example, a program table or a scene index list display video. When only one of the TV image and the control image is output, the image composition unit 15 outputs the signal to the monitor 18 as it is.
[0030]
The Internet communication unit 16 is a communication device for communicating with the index distribution device 3. The recording device 2 transmits a program being recorded (or has been recorded) to the index distribution device 3 via the Internet communication unit 16 and receives a scene index file of the program correspondingly. Further, the program table is periodically received from the index distribution device 3. The operation unit 17 includes an operator for designating a program to be recorded, a program to be reproduced, and a scene by the user.
[0031]
Note that writing and reading of video data in the HDD 13 may be performed by the control unit 10 via a bus, or may be directly performed by the MPEG encoder 12 and the MPEG decoder 14.
[0032]
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the index distribution device 3. The index distribution device 3 includes an image receiving unit 3a having a TV tuner 24 and a monitor 25, and an index creation / distribution unit 3b having an operation unit 21, a control unit 20, a hard disk 22, and an Internet communication unit 23. The TV tuner 24 receives broadcasts from the same TV broadcast station as the TV tuner 11 of the recording device 2, receives all broadcast programs, and displays them on the monitor 25. A staff member always watches the TV broadcast program displayed on the monitor 25. The clerk inputs the scene index of each scene to the index creation / distribution unit 3b (operation unit 21) while watching the video of the program. The operation unit 21 includes a keyboard for inputting text data and an index generation operation element.
[0033]
At the start of the program to be watched, the clerk inputs that the scene index file of the program is to be created and the program code of the program. Then, the control unit 20 creates a scene index file for the program on the hard disk 22 and prepares for input of a scene index record corresponding to each scene in the program.
[0034]
The attendant watches the video of the program and operates the index generation operator when a scene is to be created. When the index generation operator is operated, the index creation / distribution unit 3b creates a record of one scene index in the scene index file and automatically inputs the current time in the time input field of this record. When a scene title (scene information comment) and a keyword are input by an attendant, this scene index record is completed and written into the scene index file. When a program end operation is performed by a staff member, the scene index file is closed and stored in the hard disk 22. This scene index file is distributed to the recording device 2 that recorded the corresponding program.
[0035]
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a scene index. This figure is a list of scene indexes of a plurality of programs. One or a plurality of scene indexes are created for one program (program code). Each scene has a scene title (scene information comment), a keyword of the scene, and a start time of the scene. In this embodiment, a plurality of scene indexes (records) corresponding to one program are collectively written in one file, but the scene index corresponding to each scene may be made into one file. In this way, even before the end of the program, it can be distributed to the recording device every time one scene index is created. On the recording device side, the scene index (record) may be grouped by program to create an index file.
[0036]
5 and 6 are flowcharts showing the operation of the recording apparatus. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation at the time of recording reservation and at the time of recording. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation during reproduction.
FIG. 5A is a flowchart showing the operation at the time of recording reservation of a program. Program recording reservation can be performed indirectly by designating a genre (s1), and an individual program can be directly selected (s3). . When the genre is designated, the program of the designated genre is selected from the program table and registered in the reservation list (s2). The reservation list is a memory area set in the hard disk 13 and stores a program code (including channel information) of a program to be recorded, a program start date and time, and a program end date and time. When an individual program is directly selected (s3), this program is registered in the reservation list (s4).
[0037]
FIG. 5B is a flowchart showing the operation during recording. Check the reservation list, and if there is a program whose recording disclosure time is reached (s10), turn on the TV tuner (s11), operate the MPEG encoder 12 and start recording the received video onto the hard disk 13 (S12). The file name of the video data recorded on the hard disk 13 is the program code of this program, and the time code of the time when the video data is received is sequentially added and recorded. Then, the index distribution company is notified that the program is to be recorded (s13). The notification destination may be the index distribution device 3 or a different device, but the notification content is transmitted to the index distribution device 3, and the index distribution device 3 then sends the scene index file of this program to this device. Deliver to
[0038]
If the recording end time of the program being recorded is reached (s14), the operation of the MPEG encoder is stopped to end the recording (s15), and the TV tuner 11 is turned off (s16). Then, the recorded video file is closed (s17).
[0039]
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation during reproduction. The user selects a program or keyword at the time of reproduction. The user selects a program by directly inputting a program code or selecting from a list display of recorded programs. Further, the user selects a keyword by directly inputting the keyword or by selecting from a keyword list display. When a program is selected (s21), it is determined whether the scene index file of the selected program is distributed (s22). If the scene index file is already distributed, a list of the titles of each scene is displayed. Then (s23), the user is allowed to select one scene (s24). Then, the part of the scene is searched from the video data file based on the time code, and reproduction is started from the part (s25). On the other hand, if the scene index file has not been distributed yet, it is displayed that the scene index file has not yet arrived (s26), and playback is started from the beginning of the program (s27).
[0040]
When a keyword is selected (s31), a scene search date / time range designation input is accepted (s32). When searching for a scene by keyword, the search range is limited by the broadcast date and time in order to search not only one program but also a scene to which the keyword is attached to all programs across programs. The scene index file of the program recorded in the designated search range is read out, the scene corresponding to the selected keyword is searched (s33), and the titles of the scenes are displayed in a list (s34). When the user selects one scene from them (s35), a part corresponding to the scene is searched from the video data file based on the time code, and reproduction is started from that part (s25).
[0041]
In this embodiment, a TV broadcast program has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to a TV program, and can be applied to, for example, a radio program.
[0042]
Moreover, the embodiment described above also discloses the following inventions in addition to the inventions described in the claims.
(1) The index distribution method according to claim 1, wherein the index includes, for each scene appearing in the program, generation time information indicating a timing at which the scene appears and title information indicating the content of the scene.
(2) The index distribution method according to (1) or (1), wherein the index is distributed only to an apparatus that records the program among broadcast recording apparatuses.
(3) The index distribution method according to (1), (1), or (2), wherein the broadcast recording device searches a predetermined scene from recorded contents and selectively reproduces based on the index.
(4) The index distribution apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the distribution unit distributes the index only to a broadcast recording apparatus that records the program.
(5) The index distribution device according to (2) or (4), wherein the broadcast recording device searches for and reproduces a predetermined scene from recorded contents based on the index.
(6) The program recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein a program to be recorded in a recording unit is transmitted to the index distribution apparatus, and an index of the program is received.
[0043]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, the user receives the index of the program recorded in the program recording apparatus, and selects and reproduces a desired scene from the program recorded for a long time based on this index. Can be viewed efficiently.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a scene index distribution system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a recording apparatus.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an index distribution apparatus.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a scene index
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the recording apparatus.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the recording apparatus.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Television broadcasting station, 2 ... Recording apparatus, 3 ... Index delivery apparatus, 3a ... Image receiving part, 3b ... Index preparation delivery part, 4 ... Internet, 5 ... Program table, 6 ... (Program) video data file, 7 ... Scene index,
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Control part, 11 ... Television tuner, 12 ... MPEG encoder, 13 ... Hard disk, 14 ... MPEG decoder, 15 ... Video composition part, 16 ... Internet communication part, 17 ... Operation part, 18 ... Monitor (TV receiver),
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 20 ... Control part, 21 ... Operation part, 22 ... Hard disk, 23 ... Internet communication part, 24 ... Television tuner, 25 ... Monitor

Claims (3)

The index distribution device distributes the program list including the program code of the program broadcast by the broadcast station to the broadcast recording device that records the broadcast of the broadcast station ,
In accordance with the progress of the program broadcast by the broadcasting station, the index distribution device creates an index of the program,
And transmitting program code of the program that the broadcast recording apparatus is recorded in said index distribution device,
Index distribution method characterized by delivering the index said index distribution apparatus corresponding to the program code for the broadcast recording device. A storage for storing a program list including a program code of a program broadcasted by a broadcasting station, and an index including generation time information indicating the occurrence timing of each scene appearing in the program broadcasted by the broadcasting station and title information indicating the content Means,
For the broadcast recording device that records the broadcast of the broadcast station, the program list, and a distribution means for distributing the index,
The distribution unit receives a program code of the program from the broadcast recording apparatus, the index distribution apparatus distributes the index of the program corresponding to the program code received to the broadcast recording apparatus. Recording means for recording a program broadcast by a broadcasting station;
A program list including program codes of programs broadcast by the broadcast station, and an index including generation time information indicating the generation timing of each scene appearing in the recorded program and title information indicating contents are received from the index distribution apparatus. Receiving means;
Transmitting means for transmitting the program code of the program recorded by the recording means to the index distribution device;
Search and playback means for searching and playing back the scene of the index from the recorded program,
The reception means, program recording apparatus in which the transmitting means receives the index of the program corresponding to the program code transmitted.

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