JP4534501B2 - Video reproducing apparatus and recording medium - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a video reproduction technology for displaying subtitles and reproducing video information, and more particularly to a video reproduction technology for acquiring subtitle information from a network or a recording medium and reproducing video information.

  As recording media for recording video information such as movies, there are VTRs (Video Tape Recorders) and optical disks. Particularly for home use, an optical disk called DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) is widely used.

  These recording media are devised so that subtitles can be displayed simultaneously with video information. By recording subtitle information on the recording medium, for example, Japanese subtitles can be reproduced in a foreign movie, and the contents can be easily understood (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2001-186446 A

  However, since these subtitle information is recorded in advance on a recording medium, another subtitle cannot be displayed later. Therefore, for example, when video information is reproduced from a recording medium on which Japanese subtitles are not recorded, even if it is intended to display Japanese subtitles, it cannot be displayed, which is inconvenient.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a video reproduction technique capable of acquiring subtitle information that is not recorded on a recording medium on which video information is recorded, and displaying the acquired subtitle to reproduce the video information. .

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention acquires subtitle information that is not recorded on a recording medium on which video information is recorded, from a recording medium that is different from the recording medium on which video information is recorded.

  Preferably, character code information of characters to be displayed as subtitles is acquired.

  More preferably, when the playback device does not have a character font based on the acquired character code information, the character font is acquired.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to reproduce a subtitle different from the subtitle recorded on the recording medium on which the video information is recorded.

The outline of the present embodiment is as follows.
In the present embodiment, character code information is acquired via a network as subtitle information not recorded on a recording medium on which video information is recorded, and font data corresponding to the character code information is displayed as subtitles. To do. If the playback device does not have a character font based on the acquired character code information, the character font is acquired.

  It takes time to download all font data for one language at a time. For example, there are thousands of Japanese character types, so if you try to download font data corresponding to all of them, it will take a lot of time if you are using a slow network connection such as a telephone line, Meanwhile, there is a possibility that the video information cannot be reproduced.

  Furthermore, since the font data has a large amount of data as described above, a large amount of memory for storing the font data is required when all the font data is downloaded at once.

  According to the present embodiment, since the character code information with a small amount of data is acquired, the video information can be reproduced quickly and the memory capacity can be reduced.

  Furthermore, since the character code information is downloaded in the order in which the subtitles are displayed, the time from the start of downloading the subtitle information to the actual playback of the video can be shortened. Can be increased. Furthermore, subtitles can be displayed while downloading.

  Furthermore, since the font data necessary for subtitle display is not downloaded in a batch but in the order in which the subtitles are displayed, the memory capacity necessary for storing the font data can be reduced.

A specific embodiment of a playback apparatus as an embodiment to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of the reproducing apparatus of the present embodiment.
In FIG. 1, 101 is an optical disk, 102 is an optical pickup that reads a signal from the optical disk, 103 is a reproduction signal processing circuit that reproduces data by performing predetermined demodulation processing on the signal reproduced from the optical disk, and 104 is a predetermined reproduction data. Is an output control unit that outputs at the timing, 105 is a servo unit that controls the rotational speed of the optical disk and the position of the optical pickup, 106 is a drive control unit that controls the servo unit and the reproduction signal processing circuit, and 107 is from among the reproduced packets PCR detection unit for detecting the value of PCR (Program Clock Reference); 108, an audio decoder for decoding audio signals; 109, an audio output terminal for outputting decoded audio signals; 110, a video decoder for decoding video signals; Is a caption signal synthesizer for adding a caption signal to the decoded video signal; 112 Is a video output terminal that outputs a video signal in which subtitle information is combined, 113 is a subtitle output unit that outputs subtitles as a video signal, 114 is a system control unit that controls the entire playback device, and 115 receives a signal from a remote controller A remote control receiving unit 116 is a network control unit for controlling connection with a network, 117 is an external network, and 118 is a memory unit.

  Here, regarding the subtitle display, a subtitle information storage method will be described.

  In the playback apparatus of this embodiment, caption information is handled as character information. In other words, the subtitle characters to be displayed are handled as character codes, and when displayed on the screen, the font data indicating the shape of the character corresponding to each character code is converted into a graphic and displayed.

FIG. 2 shows the relationship between character codes and font data.
In FIG. 2, subtitle information, and the character code of "Hello", "A", "I""U","e","o" ... such as consists of font data representing each character of the shape required for the Japanese display Yes.

  Subtitle of "Hello" can be expressed by the character code representing each of the "child", "I", "to", "blood", "is". Here, the character code may be a shift JIS code widely used in personal computers or the like, or UTF (UCS (Universal Multi-Octet Coded Character Set) Transformation Format). For example, when a shift JIS code is used, “ko” can be expressed as “82B1” in hexadecimal. By the shift JIS code, Japanese is of the character, because that can be represented by a code of 2 bytes (16 bits), "Hello" can be represented by 10 bytes of code. Hereinafter, the subtitle character string itself represented by the character code is referred to as subtitle character string information. This subtitle character string information is subjected to processing such as character enlargement / reduction, character coloring, character display position, character outline emphasis and smoothing, and blending between video screens and characters using transparency. The parameter for this is also included.

  In order to display the character “ko” on the screen, not only the character code “82B1” corresponding to “ko” but also font data representing the shape of “ko” for actually displaying the character is required. is there. The font data can be expressed by, for example, a 32 × 32 pixel bitmap. Of course, there are various font formats, such as an outline font that represents the outer frame of the character as a straight line or a curve, and a stroke font that represents the stroke, and any font format may be used in this embodiment.

  Hereinafter, a case where a user plays back video information on an optical disc on which Japanese subtitles are not recorded using a playback device that does not support Japanese subtitles while displaying Japanese subtitles will be described as an example.

  First, the user turns on the power of the playback device and sets the optical disc 101 in the playback device. The system control unit 114 in the playback apparatus recognizes that the optical disc 101 is set, and reads file management information in the optical disc 101. Here, the file management information is recorded at a predetermined position on the optical disc in accordance with, for example, a file management system represented by UDF (Universal Disk Format). File management information manages each piece of information recorded on the optical disc as a file. Specifically, the file identifier (file name), recording start sector number, file length, additional information, etc. of each file are recorded.

  After the file management information is read out, the system control unit 114 reads out files necessary for reproduction of the optical disc 101 and sequentially analyzes them.

A file as shown in FIG. 3 is recorded on the optical disc 101 to be reproduced.
In FIG. 3, reference numeral 301 denotes an info. File in which information such as the number of playlists and file names in the DVR directory is written. The dvr file 302 is a menu.menu. Java file, 303 is a playlist file in which information such as the playback position, order and mark position of the video is recorded, 304 is clip information in which information such as the playback start point and its packet position in the stream file is recorded, and 305 is the video Or a stream file in which information packets such as audio are recorded.

Here, the stream file 305 will be described.
Video information is recorded after being converted into a transport stream format by reducing the amount of data by MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) 2 which is one of image information compression techniques. MPEG2 can reduce the amount of data even for high-quality HD images represented by NTSC format and high-definition images, and reduces the data amount to about 1/10 to 1/50 of the original image. It can be reduced. For example, a sufficient image quality can be obtained with a data amount of about 6 Mbps for NTSC format images and about 20 Mbps for HD images. Image compression by MPEG2 is widely used for image storage including DVD and digital broadcasting.

  Here, the MPEG2 format will be described as an example, but it goes without saying that data may be encoded using another image compression method.

  Similar to the video information, the audio information is also compressed using a voice compression technique. There are various compression techniques such as MPEG1 audio and AAC format used in BS digital broadcasting. Also, since audio information has a smaller data amount than video information, it is possible to record data in a linear PCM format without compression.

  The video information and audio information encoded as described above are multiplexed as a transport stream and recorded as one file so that transmission and storage are easy. Specifically, each information is converted into a 188-byte packet. At this time, a PID (packet ID) for packet identification is added to each packet. By adding a single PID to a series of information, packets can be easily separated during reproduction.

  In addition to video / audio, various information packets such as caption information, graphic information, and control commands can be multiplexed in the transport stream. Furthermore, packets such as PMT (Program Map Table) and PAT (Program Allocation Table) representing the relationship of each PID, and PCR (Program Clock Reference) representing time information are multiplexed. The transport stream on which the information is multiplexed in this way is recorded on the optical disc 101 as a stream file 305.

Next, the clip information file 304 will be described.
As described above, video information is recorded after MPEG2 format image compression. In the MPEG2 format, the data amount is reduced by using the correlation between successive images. Specifically, a process is performed in which the data of the immediately preceding image is used as it is without retransmitting the information of a portion that does not change between consecutive images. For this reason, image data in which only the change is encoded has a drawback that information of all pixels cannot be decoded from the data. Therefore, the images that can be reproduced by fast-forwarding or skipping operations are only images in which all pixels are encoded.

  In general, image compression in the MPEG2 format is often performed by combining about 15 images. This set of images is called GOP (Group Of Pictures). If playback is performed from the beginning of this GOP, the image can be played back immediately.

  In the clip information file 304, the packet position at the tip of the GOP is recorded together with the encoding time of the image (corresponding to the value of Presentation Time Stamp). Thereby, it is possible to easily search for a position where reproduction is started by searching or skipping.

  The clip information file 304 has a one-to-one correspondence with the transport stream file. 01000. Corresponding to a transport stream file called m2ts, 01000. If a clip information file called clpi is recorded, correspondence between files can be easily identified.

Next, the playlist file 303 will be described.
The playlist file 303 is a file in which information defining the playback order of the transport stream file is recorded. In the playlist file 303, one or more sets of information such as a file identifier, a reproduction start time, and a reproduction end time of a stream file to be reproduced are recorded as play item information. At the time of reproduction, the stream file 305 is sequentially reproduced according to the play item information in the designated playlist file 303.

  At the start of reproduction, first, the system control unit 114 reads the menu display program 302 and executes the program. The menu display program 302 is programmed to display a menu that allows selection of contents recorded on the optical disc and various settings.

  The user selects subtitle information prior to playback. For example, subtitle information switching is instructed by selecting subtitle switching on the playback menu. When subtitle information switching is selected, the system control unit 114 controls the playback device so as to display a subtitle selection menu as shown in FIG. 4 on the screen.

  Here, since there is no “Japanese” in the subtitle selection menu, the user selects the item “download other language” and makes a decision in order to download the subtitle information. When subtitle download is designated, the menu display program 302 connects to a predetermined file server and downloads the subtitle download program. The subtitle download program requests the user to select the language type of the subtitle to be downloaded. Specifically, the playback device displays a menu as shown in FIG. The user can select a desired language by looking at the menu of FIG.

  When a language is selected, the system control unit 114 starts a subtitle information download process.

  The procedure of the subtitle information download program will be described below.

  Here, subtitle information includes subtitle character string information and font data, which need to be downloaded. Here, the subtitle character string information is a list of subtitle character strings to be displayed corresponding to video recorded on the disc. Since the subtitle character string information has a relatively small amount of data, it does not take time to download all of the subtitle character string information. In contrast, font data tends to have a large data amount. Especially in Japanese and Chinese, there are very many character types used, so it takes a very long time to download all font data. Therefore, only the font data used in each chapter is downloaded sequentially in the playback apparatus of the present embodiment.

  When subtitle information download is instructed, first, subtitle character string information is downloaded. Here, description will be made assuming that a subtitle character string corresponding to the content to be reproduced is downloaded in a row. Of course, it is also possible to control so that all subtitle character strings are not downloaded at once, but are divided and downloaded in several times.

  Specifically, when the language for downloading is designated by the user, the system control unit 114 connects to a predetermined file server (not shown) on the network via the network control unit 116.

  Here, the location of the file server on the network and the file stored on the file server are specified on the network by identification information called URL (Unified Resource Locator). This URL information may be described on the menu display program 302 for downloading, or may be described in a predetermined file on the optical disc 101.

  The file server and the playback device perform authentication processing to confirm that they are legitimate devices. At this time, the system control unit 114 sends information such as the identification number of the optical disc 101 to be played back, the identification number of the playback device, the title of the content to be played back to the file server, and requests to send the necessary file. .

  The legitimacy of the playback device is authenticated by the file server, and a subtitle information file corresponding to the title to be played back is prepared and transmitted to the playback device via the network. Here, the subtitle information includes subtitle character string information representing the character string itself to be displayed as subtitles as described above, and font data having information on the shape of each character. In the playback device, the caption information is input to the system control unit 114 via the network control unit 116, and the respective information is stored in the caption character string information storage area and the font data storage area in the memory 118.

  The download procedure as described above has been described as being included in the menu display program 302 on the optical disc 100. However, this is not a limitation, and is preinstalled as a program in the ROM in the system control unit. Alternatively, if necessary, a mechanism may be provided in which a program is transmitted from the file server side to the playback device and executed by the system control unit.

A specific example of subtitle character string information is shown in FIG.
The subtitle character string information includes basic information such as a content title 601, a language name 602, and a font name 603, and a subtitle character string for actual display.

  The subtitle character string of each chapter (Chapter1, Chapter2,...) Includes a subtitle display start time 604, a display period 605, and a display character string 606. Although not shown in this example, information such as a display position, a display size, a display color, and a font name for defining the display of each subtitle character string can be individually included. When there is no individual display information, subtitles are displayed by a predetermined display method. A specific display method will be described later.

  In addition, information may be added to the subtitle character string information so that chapter and paragraph breaks can be recognized as necessary. Accordingly, when the user performs a fast-forward operation or a skip operation during reproduction, the subtitle display position can be easily obtained.

  After downloading all the subtitle character information, the font data is downloaded. Here, downloading of font data does not download all fonts at once, but downloads only the fonts of necessary characters in the order of use.

Here, a specific method for storing the downloaded font data is shown below.
FIG. 7 shows an example of data arrangement in the font data storage area in the memory 118.
The font data storage area includes a font shape storage area and a font management information area. The downloaded font data is packed and recorded in the font shape storage area. A list of information such as the character code and recording address of each downloaded font data is stored as font management information.

  When reading font data, first, using the font management information, the recording address and data size are obtained from the character code of the font data to be read. The font shape of the font data may be read from the recording address obtained here.

  Further, when determining the presence or absence of font data, it is only necessary to check whether the font management information includes a character code corresponding to the necessary font data.

  As described above, the downloaded font data can be stored in the font data storage area in the memory 118.

  Note that the user can perform other operations while downloading the subtitle information. Specifically, operations such as performing other setting operations or starting playback of video information that does not correspond to the downloaded subtitles can be performed while subtitle information is being downloaded.

  When playback of content is instructed during downloading of caption information, an optical disk playback operation is started in parallel with downloading of caption information.

The reproduction of the video information is performed according to the following procedure.
First, a playlist file 303 corresponding to the content the user has instructed to play is read from the optical disc 101. One or a plurality of play item information is recorded in the playlist, the stream file 305 corresponding to the play item information is read, and reading is performed from the packet of the packet number specified in the play item information. Is called. Specifically, the system control unit 114 instructs the drive control unit 106 to read the information of the sector in which the packet to be read is recorded. The drive control unit 106 controls the servo unit 105 so that the designated sector can be read, and performs control so that the disk rotation speed and the position of the optical pickup become predetermined values. When a recording signal is read from the optical disc 101 by the optical pickup 102, signal processing such as error correction processing and data rearrangement is performed by the reproduction signal processing unit 103 and is input to the output control unit 104 as sector data. . The output control unit outputs the packets at the time corresponding to the time stamp added to each packet in order from the packet of the packet number designated by the system control unit 114.

Here, the recording format of the packet of the stream file 305 recorded on the optical disc is shown in FIG.
In FIG. 8, 801 is a packet header and 802 is an MPEG packet.
Each MPEG packet is recorded with a 4-byte (32-bit) packet header added thereto. 30 bits in the packet header are used as a time stamp indicating the timing of outputting the packet. The time stamp represents the time counted with the 27 MHz clock as a reference, and the value counted by the 27 MHz counter in the output control unit is compared with the value of the time stamp added to each packet. Control to output the packet. Thereby, the output timing of the packet can be controlled. When a packet is output from the output control unit, the packet header is removed and only the MPEG packet is output.

  The MPEG packet output from the output control unit 104 is input to the PCR detection unit 107, the audio decoder 108, and the video decoder 110. Each packet includes a 13-bit PID (Packet ID) for determining the packet type, and the type such as a PCR packet, an audio data packet, and a video data packet is determined based on this. Thereby, the audio decoder 108 and the video decoder 110 can use only a desired packet.

  The stream data in the stream file to be reproduced includes time information called PCR (Program Clock Reference), and video and audio are output in synchronization with this time information. This PCR packet is input to the PCR detection unit 107, and time information in the stream is acquired. The video decoder 110 and the audio decoder 108 receive this PCR value as time information, and perform video and audio decoding processing based on this PCR value. As will be described later, the PCR value is also used for controlling the display timing of captions.

  The audio decoder 108 decodes an audio packet in the stream data and outputs an audio signal. The decoded audio signal is output to the audio output terminal 109.

  The video decoder 110 decodes a video packet in the stream data and outputs a video signal. The video signal is output to the video output terminal 112 as a video signal in which caption information output from a caption output unit (to be described later) is superimposed and the caption information is synthesized.

  Subtitle display is also performed in synchronization with the PCR included in the stream data. Specifically, the PCR value detected by the PCR detection unit is input to the system control unit 114, and this PCR value is compared with the display start time in the subtitle character string information. Is done.

  During subtitle display, the system control unit 114 sequentially reads out the character code of the displayed subtitle character string and font data corresponding to the character code from the memory 118 and outputs them to the subtitle output unit 113. The caption output unit 113 generates caption information as a caption video signal. The adding unit 111 superimposes the video signal decoded by the video decoder 110 and the subtitle video signal generated by the subtitle output unit 113. A video signal on which subtitles are superimposed is output from the video output terminal 112, and the subtitles are displayed on the display screen of the display device.

  The subtitle output unit 113 enlarges / reduces the character or colors the character according to the parameter in the subtitle character string information, and displays it at the designated position. At this time, it is also possible to improve the display quality of the caption by performing processing such as contour enhancement, smoothing, blending with a video screen using transparency, and the like.

  After the display period specified in the caption character string information has elapsed, the caption output unit 113 stops outputting the video signal of the caption. Here, when the display period is set to 0 seconds, by defining that the screen is not erased after the display, it can be used for various display effects such as displaying the characters of the subtitle one character at a time. As described above, a predetermined subtitle is displayed at a predetermined time.

Note that font data can be downloaded at a higher speed than subtitle display.
For example, when font data is downloaded using a general 56 Kbps modem, font data for about 7 characters per second can be downloaded assuming that the font data is 1 Kbyte per character. On the other hand, it is said that the speed at which a user can read subtitles is limited to 300 characters per minute. Therefore, it can be seen that there are 5 characters per second, which is slower than the font data download speed. In general contents such as movies, the display speed of subtitles is much slower than that, and there are many scenes without subtitles. Therefore, it is possible to download the font data while displaying the video information and display it as subtitles.

  It is also possible to send font data at higher speeds by reducing or compressing the amount of font data, or by reducing the character size. Furthermore, when the same character is repeatedly displayed, the transmission of font data can be omitted, so there is no fear that the transmission speed of the font data will be faster. Of course, high-speed means can be used by network connection.

  When the download of all the font data corresponding to the subtitle character string information is completed, the system control unit 114 ends the connection with the network. At this time, a message indicating that the download is complete may be issued to the user.

FIG. 9 shows the timing of subtitle information download and video information playback.
FIG. 9A shows the timing of both cases in which the subtitle information is downloaded by a general download method and then the video information is reproduced. FIG. 9B shows the timing of subtitle information download and video information playback by the playback apparatus of this embodiment.

  FIG. 14 shows a generally considered subtitle information download procedure corresponding to FIG.

  In FIG. 14, S1 is a start step, S2 is subtitle character string information, S3 is a procedure for downloading all font data, S4 is a disc playback start step, and S5 is an end step.

  In a generally considered download method, first, subtitle character string information is downloaded (S2), and then all font data necessary for subtitle display is downloaded (S3). After all the subtitle character string information and font data are prepared, reproduction of video information from the optical disc 101 is started (S4). During disc playback, subtitles are displayed using the downloaded subtitle character string information and font data.

  In a generally conceivable downloading method, all font data is downloaded at once regardless of whether it is included in the character string actually displayed in the caption. For this reason, font data that does not need to be displayed is also downloaded, and the amount of font data to be downloaded increases. Further, since the font data is downloaded regardless of the display order of the character strings, the content cannot be reproduced until all the font data is downloaded.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 9A, in a generally considered download method, it takes a very long time from the start of downloading the subtitle character string information to the actual reproduction of the disc data.

  FIG. 15 shows a subtitle character string information and font data download procedure in the playback apparatus of the present embodiment corresponding to FIG.

  In FIG. 15, S6 is a step of downloading a predetermined amount of font data, S7 is a step of downloading the remaining font data, and the other symbols are the same as those in FIG.

  In the playback apparatus of the present embodiment, at the start of playback processing, first, downloading of subtitle character string information is started (S2). Subsequently, subtitle character string information is analyzed, and it is determined whether the font data corresponding to the subtitle character string information is stored in the memory 118, so that the system control unit 114 determines a font that needs to be downloaded. . If there is font data to be downloaded, a predetermined number of font data are downloaded from the subtitle character string information in order of display time. In this embodiment, downloading is executed until a predetermined number (100 characters in this embodiment) of font data is stored in the memory 118 from the beginning of the subtitle character string.

  Thus, the number of font data to be downloaded before reproducing the video information is limited, and the time until the data reproduction on the disk is started is shortened. Needless to say, the number of font data stored in the memory 118 may be determined to a number other than 100 characters. The predetermined number may be determined by the amount of characters in the caption character string information, the amount of characters per unit time, or the like. If a predetermined number of font data has already been stored in the memory 118, it is possible to immediately start reproducing the video information without downloading the font data after downloading the subtitle character string information. .

  When a predetermined amount of font data is stored in the memory 118, reproduction of data on the optical disc 101 is started (S4). When the data on the optical disc 101 is reproduced, the reproduced data is output from the output control unit 104 in a packet format, and the packet is input to the audio decoder 108, the video decoder 110, and the PCR detection unit 107.

  The PCR detection unit 107 extracts the PCR time in the PCR packet in the reproduced packet and outputs it to each decoder.

  The video decoder 110 decodes the data in the input video packet, converts it into a video signal, and inputs it to the video composition unit 111.

  The audio decoder 108 decodes the data in the input audio packet, converts it into an audio signal, and outputs it to the audio signal output terminal 109. The audio signal output to the audio signal output terminal 109 is reproduced as audio through an external amplifier and a speaker.

  On the other hand, the system control unit 114 converts the subtitle information into graphic data using the subtitle character string information and font data stored in the memory 118 and inputs the graphic data to the subtitle output unit 113. At this time, the display time information is added to the graphic data of the subtitle information to be displayed and input to the subtitle output unit.

  The caption output unit 113 compares the time provided from the PCR detection unit 107 with the display time of the graphic data, and outputs the graphic data input at a predetermined time to the video composition unit 111 as video data. The video synthesizing unit 111 synthesizes the subtitle information output from the subtitle output unit 113 with the video signal decoded by the video decoder 110 and outputs it to the video output terminal 112.

  The video signal output to the video output terminal 112 is input to an external monitor and displayed as a video.

  As described above, in the playback apparatus of this embodiment, font data is downloaded in accordance with the order of subtitle character strings to be displayed. That is, when the subtitles are actually displayed, the font data necessary for displaying the subtitles is controlled to be downloaded. Therefore, as shown in FIG. Playback of video information can be started without waiting. As a result, the time to wait for the user can be greatly reduced.

  As described above, by downloading the font data in parallel with the reproduction of the video information, it becomes possible for the user to view the content without waiting for the completion of the downloading of the font data.

  By the way, when a fast-forward operation is performed by the user or a skip operation to the next chapter (Chapter) is performed during playback of video information, it is necessary to display characters that have not yet been downloaded as subtitles. there is a possibility. In this case, the downloading of the font information is resumed from the subtitle character string corresponding to the display time of the video for which the reproduction is resumed. If the skip button is pressed during the process, it is desirable to clear the subtitle display screen and delete the old subtitles.

  FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a procedure for downloading font data when the skip operation is performed.

  When the skip operation is performed, the playback position of the stream is changed. The playlist data 303 includes skip mark information, and when a skip operation is instructed by the user, the system control unit 114 obtains the playback start time of the stream according to the skip mark information.

  Next, the output start position of the subtitle character string is searched (S7). This is to obtain the subtitle character string to be displayed at the time corresponding to the reproduction start position of the stream from the subtitle character string information shown in FIG. Subsequently, the font information corresponding to the subtitle character string to be displayed is downloaded. Also at this time, the font information corresponding to a predetermined number of characters may be stored in the memory 118 as in step S2 of FIG.

  Subsequently, reproduction of data on the disc is started (S4). The data reproduction start position can be obtained from the packet position of the stream on the disc using the clip information 304 from the reproduction start time. Output of the packet is started, and output of the decoded video data and audio data is started.

  Subtitles are displayed in parallel with the video data output. As described above, graphic data is generated from subtitle character string data and downloaded font data, synthesized with video output, and displayed on an external monitor.

  After the reproduction of the data on the disc is started, the remaining font information is downloaded (S6). Thereby, the font information can be downloaded while displaying the data and subtitles on the disc.

  With these processes, even when a skip operation or a fast-forward operation is performed during downloading, it is possible to minimize the time until subtitles are displayed.

  Here, the download program has been described as being included in the menu display program 302 on the optical disc 101, but this is not a limitation. For example, a program for downloading may be pre-recorded in a ROM (not shown) in the system control unit 114, and may be configured to be called and operated when a download from the network is instructed. . A program for downloading may be stored in a server on the network, downloaded to a memory in the playback device via the network as necessary, and executed by the system control unit 114. good. Also, the subtitle display program may be recorded as a program on the optical disc 101 or may be recorded in advance in the ROM in the system control unit 114. Of course, it does not matter if it is recorded on a server on the network and downloaded and executed as necessary.

  In the above embodiment, download is described as taking data from a server on the network, but this is not a limitation. For example, when a recording medium such as a memory card or a hard disk is connected to the playback device and data is taken in from such a recording medium, it is also called downloading. Of course, downloading is also performed when data is captured from a recording medium such as the optical disc 101 in which stream files are recorded, and the present invention can be applied.

Next, a second embodiment to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to the drawings.
In FIG. 10, reference numeral 119 denotes a hard disk device as a storage device, and reference numerals 101 to 118 are the same as those in FIG.
The playback apparatus shown in FIG. 10 has a hard disk device 119 separately from the memory 118 for storing subtitle character string information and font data.

  In the playback apparatus shown in FIG. 1, subtitle character string information and font data are downloaded and displayed via a network during playback. However, every time an optical disc is played, it is expected that costs such as a network usage fee will be incurred when connecting to the network and downloading data each time. In addition, a load is applied to the network. Therefore, it is desirable that the subtitle information once downloaded is stored in the playback device or in an external storage device and reused when the same optical disk is played back again. Since the memory 118 in the playback device has a limited capacity, the present invention will be described using the hard disk device 119 as an example of the storage device.

  Also in the playback apparatus shown in FIG. 10, subtitle character string information and font data are downloaded, as in the playback apparatus of FIG.

  When the reproduction of the content on the optical disc 101 is completed and the download of all the subtitle character string information and font data is completed, the system control unit 114 downloads the subtitle character string information and the font data stored in the memory 118, respectively. The file is stored in the hard disk device 119 as a file. Here, the subtitle character string information is shown in FIG. 6, and the font data has the structure shown in FIG. At this time, the character code of the character shape management information in the font data may be controlled so as to be rearranged and stored so that the character code can be easily searched.

FIG. 12 shows a file structure on the hard disk device.
In FIG. 12, 1201 is a directory for storing data corresponding to the first optical disk in the optical disk 101, 1202 is a directory for storing data corresponding to the second optical disk in the optical disk 101, and 1203 corresponds to the first optical disk. 1201 is a Japanese font data file corresponding to the first optical disc, 1205 is a Japanese subtitle character string information file corresponding to the second optical disc, and 1206 is the second optical disc. Japanese font data file 1207 corresponding to the Chinese subtitle character string information file 1207 corresponding to the second optical disk, and 1208 a Chinese font data file corresponding to the second optical disk.

  In the file configuration in the hard disk device 119 shown in FIG. 12, a different directory is created for each optical disk, and all corresponding data is stored in the directory. In order to identify the optical disc 101, an identification number of content stored in the optical disc 101, information on a BCA (Burst Cutting Area) recorded on the optical disc, or the like may be used.

  For example, the first optical disk is an optical disk having an identification number “4902888”. The subtitle character string information and font data downloaded when this disc is reproduced are recorded in the hard disk device 119 as a subtitle character string information file 1203 and a font data file 1204, respectively. Here, the subtitle character string information file is the one shown in FIG. 6 and is a list of information such as the display character string and its display position, display size, and display color together with the display time. Further, as shown in FIG. 11, the font data file is a file of font shape information indicating the shape of each character and font management information indicating the correspondence between each font shape and character code.

  Note that the caption information is stored in the hard disk device 119 as described above, not when the reproduction of the content on the optical disk is completed, but when the user instructs the power-off of the reproduction apparatus, or when the optical disk is removed. It may be. Of course, it is also possible to perform control so as to inquire the user about whether or not caption information can be stored in the hard disk device 119.

  Hereinafter, the operation when the optical disk is reproduced again by the reproducing apparatus having the hard disk device 119 shown in FIG. 10 will be described.

  When the optical disc 101 is set and a reproduction operation is performed by the user, the system control unit 114 sends a command to the drive control unit 106 to read information on the BCA area recorded on the optical disc 101. The drive control unit 106 reads the information of the BCA area from the optical disc in accordance with the received BCA area read command. The BCA information is written on the inner periphery of the optical disc 101 using a special laser, and the information can be read by the intensity of the reflectivity of the disc surface. Information of about several hundred bits can be recorded in the BCA area. The optical disc may be identified by including a several-digit disc identification number indicating the content in the disc in the BCA area.

  The disc identification number read from the BCA area is sent back to the system control unit 114. The system control unit 114 determines whether information corresponding to the disc identification number read from the optical disc 101 is recorded in the hard disk device 119. Specifically, the file management information is read from the hard disk device 119 and the existence of the file as shown in FIG. 12 is recognized. The system control unit 114 recognizes the existence of a directory corresponding to the disc identification number read from the BCA, and uses a file included in the directory.

  In the example shown in FIG. 12, since the Japanese subtitle character string file 1203 and the Japanese font data file 1204 are included as files corresponding to the disc identification number “4902888”, the disc identification number “4902888” is included. When a disc is inserted, it is determined that Japanese subtitles can be displayed, a message is displayed to the user that Japanese subtitles can be displayed, and whether to use Japanese subtitles is selected. Let

  Similarly, information on Japanese subtitles and Chinese subtitles has already been downloaded to the disc identification number “54331069”. Therefore, when the disc with the disc identification number “54331069” is inserted, Japanese / Chinese A message indicating that subtitle display is possible is displayed and the user is allowed to select.

  If the user requests another language that is not recorded in the hard disk device 119, the user may connect to the network as described above and download the subtitle information in the other language.

  Further, even when caption information corresponding to the inserted optical disk is not recorded in the hard disk device 119, connection to a network is performed as necessary, and caption information is downloaded.

  By storing the subtitle information once downloaded in the hard disk device 119 as described above, it is not necessary to download the subtitle information again when reproducing the same content, and the connection to the network is made. It can be unnecessary.

  In the file configuration shown in FIG. 12, subtitle character string information and font data are stored for each identification number of the optical disc 101, but this is not a limitation. For example, font data can be shared even if the titles to be played are different. Therefore, by storing only font data in another directory as shown in FIG. 13, it is not necessary to store a plurality of the same font data. By sharing fonts, once downloaded font data can be used for other titles, the amount of font data downloaded can be reduced.

  In the playback apparatus shown in FIG. 10, the hard disk device 119 is described as an example of the storage device, but this is not limited. For example, by using a removable storage medium such as an IC card, the user can carry downloaded subtitle information. This makes it possible to display a desired subtitle, for example, even on a playback device without a network connection function or a playback device owned by another person.

Block diagram of the playback apparatus of the first embodiment Diagram showing the relationship between subtitle character string information and font data Diagram showing file structure on optical disc Figure showing the screen when subtitle language is selected Figure showing the screen when subtitle language is downloaded The figure which shows the database structure of caption information Diagram showing how font data is stored The figure which shows the data packet recording structure on the optical disk Figure showing comparison of time required to start image playback Block diagram of playback apparatus of embodiment 2 Diagram showing how to record font data files Diagram showing the file structure in the hard disk drive Diagram showing the file structure in the hard disk drive The figure which shows the procedure of subtitle information download which can be generally considered The figure which shows the download procedure of subtitle character string information and font data in the reproducing | regenerating apparatus of a present Example The figure which shows the downloading procedure of the font data when skip operation is done

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Optical disk 102 Optical pick-up 103 Playback signal processing circuit 104 Output control circuit 105 Servo part 106 Drive control part 107 PCR detection part 108 Audio decoder 109 Audio output terminal 110 Video decoder 111 Image composition part 112 Image output terminal 113 Subtitle output part 114 System control 115 Remote control receiving unit 116 Network control unit 117 External network 118 Memory 119 Hard disk device

Claims (3)

A playback device for playing back information recorded on a recording medium,
Wherein the recording medium, the character string information is recorded in the first directory corresponding to the identification information of the removable media it has been recorded font data to a different second directory from the first directory, further wherein The character string information and the font data are obtained from outside via a network,
Reproducing means for reproducing the recording medium;
Control means for controlling the reproduction means;
Wherein, when reproducing the removable medium, the character string information included in the first directory corresponding to the identification information of the removable medium to be reproduced, the subtitle using the font data included in the second directory A reproducing apparatus for controlling the reproducing means to generate. A reproduction method for reproducing information recorded on a recording medium,
Wherein the recording medium, the character string information is recorded in the first directory corresponding to the identification information of the removable media it has been recorded font data to a different second directory from the first directory, further wherein The character string information and the font data are obtained from outside via a network,
Reproducing the recording medium;
When playing a removable medium, the character string information included in the first directory corresponding to the identification information of the removable medium to be reproduced, a step that generates a subtitle using the font data included in the second directory A reproduction method characterized by comprising: A recording method for recording information on a recording medium,
Recording character string information in a first directory corresponding to identification information of the removable medium , and font data in a second directory different from the first directory, the character string information; The font data is acquired from outside via a network,
When playing back removable media, if character string information is included in the first directory corresponding to the identification information of the removable media to be played back, the character string information and the font data contained in the second directory are subtitles. A recording method which is used to generate

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