JP4569662B2 - Information recording apparatus and information recording method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a technique for recording information on a recording medium, in particular, a rewritable recording medium, or
The present invention relates to a technique for recording information on a recording medium after performing a recognition process for enabling recording of information on the recording medium after the power is turned on or the recording medium is mounted, as in a write-once recording medium.

DVD-RAM (Digital Versatile Disc-Random Acces), one of rewritable recording media
s Memory) or DVD-R (Digital Versatile Disc-R), which is one of the write-once recording media
In an information recording device using an optical disc as a recording medium such as (ecordable), after turning on the power or mounting the recording medium, disc identification, file system check, focus control,
Recognition processing for recording information on a recording medium, such as servo control such as tracking control, or learning of laser power by so-called trial writing, is performed.

If information is recorded on the recording medium without performing the recognition process, the result of the recognition process is that the recording medium mounted on the information recording apparatus is a read-only recording medium that cannot record information. However, it may end up recording information. In addition, as a result of the recognition process, even if the recording medium mounted on the information recording apparatus is a rewritable or rewritable recording medium, if the recording medium is set to prohibit recording information, A similar problem can arise. Further, as a result of the recognition process, the recording medium is a rewritable or rewritable recording medium, and even if the information recording prohibition is not set, the remaining recording capacity of the recording medium is larger than the amount of information to be recorded. If it is small, the same problem may occur.

If the information is forcibly recorded on a recording medium that cannot record information in this way, in the worst case, the information already recorded on the recording medium may be damaged. Therefore, conventionally, information cannot be recorded until the recording medium recognition processing by the information recording apparatus is completed.

The recognition processing time varies somewhat depending on the performance of the information recording apparatus and the software that controls it, but it usually takes several tens of seconds. Therefore, if the user waits for several tens of seconds, information that the user wants to record may not be recorded. Even if it was 7.8 seconds, the frustration at the time of recording would not disappear.

For example, when the information recording device is a portable information recording device such as a camera or a video camera, the power supply is often turned off except when recording information in order to avoid the consumption of a battery as a power source. . However, when the user wants to record, if the user waits for 7, 8 or several tens of seconds from turning on the power to starting recording, there is a possibility that the recording timing will be lost.

As one of means for enabling information to be recorded on the recording medium during the recognition process, the information until the information can be recorded on the recording medium after the power is turned on is temporarily written in the memory. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 08-125961 discloses a technique for transferring information from a memory to a recording medium and recording the information after it can be recorded on the recording medium.

JP 08-125961 A

However, since the conventional technology described in the above publication does not recognize whether or not information can be recorded on the recording medium, the recording medium mounted on the information recording apparatus is read-only, recording prohibited, or has insufficient recording capacity. Even if it is a recording medium, information is recorded on the recording medium. Therefore, even if the information can be stored in the memory, the information is not necessarily recorded on the recording medium, and the information can be recorded on the recording medium during the recognition process. It is insufficient.

An object of the present invention is to provide a recording technique that can record information on a recording medium after the power is turned on until the information can be recorded on the recording medium.

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, information relating to a recording medium is retained even when the power is turned off, and whether or not information can be recorded on the recording medium based on the information relating to the retained recording medium. Determine whether. When it is determined that information can be recorded on the recording medium, the information is stored in the storage means while performing recognition processing.

Since the information on the recording medium held can be read out earlier than the information on the recording medium recorded on the recording medium, it can be determined whether or not the information can be recorded on the recording medium without waiting for the completion of the recognition process. Accordingly, it is possible to record information on the recording medium after the power is turned on until the information can be recorded on the recording medium.

According to the present invention, it is possible to record information on the recording medium after the power is turned on until the information can be recorded on the recording medium.

An embodiment to which the present invention is applied will be described. In this embodiment, the information recording apparatus records a captured still image or moving image on a disk-shaped recording medium such as a DVD-RAM disk or a DVD-R disk, or a video recording a TV program or the like on a disk-shaped recording medium. It is assumed that it is a recorder. However, the application target of the present invention is not limited to a video camera or a video recorder. After the power is turned on or the recording medium is mounted, the recording medium is subjected to a recognition process for enabling recording of information on the recording medium. It goes without saying that any information recording apparatus that records information is applicable to the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an information recording apparatus 1 to which the present invention is applied.
The user can perform operations such as recording start and recording stop using the operation unit 100. In the input unit 101, an optical signal is converted into an analog electric signal by a CCD (Charge Coupled Device), and the analog signal is converted into digital information by an A / D converter and output. When the information recording device 1 is a video recorder, digital information such as a TV program is output from the input unit 101. When recording information, the DSP 102 converts the digital information output from the input unit 101 into video information corresponding to a format such as the DVD video recording standard or the DVD video standard. In addition, the DSP 102 uses the Enc during information reproduction.
N, which is one of the TV broadcasting systems, is the extension information expanded by the order / Decoder 103.
Conversion to video information corresponding to a format such as TSC. Encoder / Decode
er103 is an MPEG (M) for video information converted by the DSP102 at the time of information recording.
(oving Picture Expert Group) A stream is generated by compression, and the stream read from the recording medium 107 is decompressed when reproducing information.

The microcomputer 104 controls the entire information recording apparatus 1. Further, the microcomputer 104 determines whether or not information can be recorded on the recording medium 107 mounted on the information recording apparatus 1. The microcomputer 104 also packetizes the stream compressed by the Encoder / Decoder 103 as required. In this embodiment, it is assumed that it complies with the DVD video recording standard or the DVD video standard.

The EEPROM 105 functions as a holding unit that can hold stored information even when the power is turned off. It goes without saying that a memory other than the EEPROM can be used as long as the stored information can be retained even if the power is turned off. The EEPROM 105 holds information regarding the recording medium 107. The information regarding the recording medium 107 includes (1)
Is the recording medium 107 a recordable recording medium? (2) Is write-protection set on the recording medium 107? (3) Is it possible to read / write information from / to the recording medium 107? (4)
What is the remaining recording capacity of the recording medium 107? Such information is included.

The memory 106 stores a stream compressed by the Encoder / Decoder 103 or a stream packetized by the microcomputer 104. If it is not necessary to record the compressed information or to reproduce the compressed information, Encoder / Deco
The der 103 is unnecessary, and the video information converted by the DSP 102 is stored in the memory 106 instead of the stream compressed by the Encoder / Decoder 103. The recording medium 107 is a disc-shaped recording medium such as a DVD-RAM or a DVD-R.

Next, the operation of the information recording apparatus 1 when recording information will be described with reference to FIG.
The user can instruct recording by operating the operation unit 100. When there is a recording instruction from the operation unit 100, the microcomputer 104 determines that recording is possible based on information about the recording medium 107 obtained by the recognition process or information about the recording medium 107 held in the EEPROM 105. If so, the information recording apparatus 1 is configured to record information.
Control the whole.

The digital information output from the input unit 101 is subjected to various processing for generating video information such as a luminance signal and a color difference signal by the DSP 102, and format conversion for compression into MPEG is performed. In the encoder / decoder 103, the DSP 102
MPEG compression is performed on the video information output by, and a stream is generated. Although not shown, the encoder / dec is also connected in parallel with the audio information from the microphone or the external input terminal.
The audio information is also input to the order 103 and compressed to generate a stream. Specifically, an MPEG-AUDIO, Dolby Digital, or uncompressed LPCM stream is generated in parallel with the compression of the video information. In this embodiment, the recording medium is a DVD-RAM or D
Since it is VD-R, MPEG compression is performed according to the DVD video recording standard or the DVD video standard, but the compression method is not limited as long as it conforms to the standard by the medium.

The generated video information and audio information streams are packetized and multiplexed in accordance with the standard by the microcomputer 104. Multiplexed program stream (hereinafter P
S) is temporarily stored in the memory 106, and when the accumulated amount exceeds a certain threshold, the memory 10
6 is recorded on the recording medium 107. Note that the microcomputer 104 normally controls the PS accumulated in the memory 106 to continuously record the PS on the recording medium 107.
By controlling to perform recording intermittently, it is possible to reduce power consumption.

In this figure, the microcomputer 104 has been described as performing control of the entire information recording apparatus 1. However, a plurality of microcomputers may be used for each function as necessary. E
Although the configuration in which the EEPROM 105 and the memory 106 are separate memories has been described, the memory 106 is also configured by an EEPROM, and the EEPROM 105 and the memory 106 are combined into one EEPROM.
You may comprise as ROM. In this case, it goes without saying that the stored information can be replaced with a memory other than the EEPROM as long as the stored information can be retained even if the power is turned off.

Next, processing performed by the information recording apparatus 1 when the user mounts the recording medium 107 will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a procedure of processing performed after the recording medium 107 is loaded in the information recording apparatus 1 until the information can be recorded on the recording medium 107. Note that the recording medium 1
Even after the 07 is mounted, when the power is turned on again after the power is turned off, the processing after the power is turned on is also performed according to the flowchart of FIG. In FIG. 1, the mounting mechanism for the recording medium 107 is not particularly specified, but it is assumed that a mechanism that allows the user to mount and remove the recording medium 107 from the operation unit 100 is mounted.

When the recording medium 107 is loaded into the information recording apparatus 1 (step S201), the microcomputer 10
4 performs recognition processing of the recording medium 107 in order to confirm the state of the recording medium 107 (step S202). As described above, the recognition process means a process for making information ready to be recorded on a recording medium such as disc discrimination, file system check, focus control, tracking control, servo learning such as so-called trial writing, and laser power learning. The time required for this recognition processing is usually several tens of seconds, and at most several seconds.

Next, the microcomputer 104 records the recording medium 107 from various information obtained by the recognition process.
The information regarding is acquired (step S203). As described above, information on the recording medium 107 includes (1) Is the recording medium 107 a recordable recording medium? (2) Is the write prohibition set for the recording medium 107? (3) Is it possible to read / write information from / to the recording medium 107? (4) What is the remaining recording capacity of the recording medium 107? Such information is included. Information on prohibition of recording on the recording medium 107 may be recorded on the recording medium 107 itself, or may be acquired from the cartridge when the recording medium 107 is stored in the cartridge.

Next, the microcomputer 104 stores the acquired information regarding the recording medium 107 in the EEPROM 1.
It is held at 05 (step S204). Since the EEPROM 105 can retain the stored information even when the power is turned off, the retained information is stored in the microcomputer 10 when the power is turned on next time.
4 can be obtained.

By performing the processing shown in FIG. 2, the information recording apparatus 1 enters a state in which information can be recorded on the recording medium 107, and therefore shifts to a standby state in which an instruction from the operation unit 100 is waited (step S20
5). Thereafter, when a recording instruction is issued from the operation unit 100, information is recorded according to the above-described procedure.

A process performed by the information recording apparatus 1 when the user turns off the power of the information recording apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a procedure of processing performed by the information recording apparatus 1 when the information recording apparatus 1 is powered off.

When the operation unit 100 gives an instruction to turn off the power to turn off the power (step S301),
Before actually turning off the power, the microcomputer 104 first acquires information about the recording medium 107 (
Step S302).

Next, the microcomputer 104 holds the information regarding the recording medium 107 acquired in step S301 in the EEPROM 105 (step S303). Of the information related to the recording medium 107 acquired in step S302, information that needs to be changed with respect to the information related to the recording medium 107 held in the EEPROM 105 when the power is turned on is updated and held in the EEPROM 105. An example of information that needs to be changed is information regarding the remaining recording capacity. That is, even if the remaining recording capacity is 100 MB when the power is turned on, if 60 MB is used for recording information, the information regarding the remaining recording capacity is changed from 100 MB to 10 MB.
It is necessary to update to 0-60 = 40 MB. And the power supply of the information recording device 1 is actually cut off (step S304).

In this way, by holding information about the recording medium 107 immediately before the power is turned off, the microcomputer 104 determines whether or not information can be recorded on the recording medium 107 when the power is turned on next time. This can be known before the recognition processing 107 is completed.

It is important to know whether or not information can be recorded. For example, if the information recorded on the recording medium 107 is in a state where it cannot be read / written for some reason, such as corruption of management information for managing the information, it must be restored to a state where it can be read / written the next time the power is turned on. Therefore, it is not possible to record information on the recording medium 107. If the recorded capacity is almost absent, recording cannot be performed even when the power is turned on next time. Information about the recording medium 107 is held in the EEPROM 105 so that the information can be known before the recognition processing of the recording medium 107 is completed.

Hereinafter, it will be described that the information recording apparatus 1 to which the present invention is applied can record information on the recording medium 107 even after the power is turned on until the information can be recorded on the recording medium 107. .
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a procedure of processing performed by the information recording apparatus 1 when a recording start command is received from the user immediately after power-on. Note that the procedure shown below is based on the premise that the information recording apparatus 1 is turned off while the recording medium 107 is mounted.

First, when the power is turned on, the microcomputer 104 starts the above recognition process for the recording medium 107 (step S401). Note that the procedure of the recognition process is as shown in FIG. On the other hand, when an information recording start instruction is received from the operation unit 100 during the recognition process (step S402), the microcomputer 104 stores information on the recording medium 107 in the EEP.
The data is read from the ROM 105 and acquired (step S403).

Next, obtained from the EEPROM 105 (1) Is the recording medium 107 a recordable recording medium? (
2) Is write-protection set on the recording medium 107? (3) Is it possible to read / write information from / to the recording medium 107? (4) What is the remaining recording capacity of the recording medium 107? Information recording medium 10 based on information about recording medium 107 including at least one of the above information
7 determines whether or not information can be recorded in step 7 (step S404). As described above, it takes several seconds to several tens of seconds to determine whether or not information can be recorded on the information recording medium 107 after completion of the recognition processing of the recording medium 107, but the recording medium held in the EEPROM 105 By making a determination based on the information regarding 107, the time required for this determination can be shortened.

If the information can be recorded in step S404, as described above, the input unit 101, D
SP102 starts to store information in the memory 106 via the Encoder / Decoder 103 (step S405). On the other hand, if it is determined in step S404 that recording is not possible, the microcomputer 104 controls the information recording apparatus 1 to display that fact in order to notify the user that recording is impossible (step S406). ). Although the recording operation may be ignored, it is more user-friendly to display that recording is impossible. As a display method, when the information recording apparatus 1 is a video camera, the microcomputer 104
Can be displayed on a monitor screen (not shown) or a finder (not shown) to the effect that recording is impossible. When the information recording apparatus 1 is a video recorder, the microcomputer 104 is configured to display on the display panel (not shown) or the display (not shown) that the recording is impossible. do it.

Further, a message indicating that another recording medium is requested may be displayed, and information may be stored in the memory 106. In this case, another recording medium may be loaded, and information stored in the memory 106 may be recorded on the other recording medium after the recognition process for the other recording medium is completed.

Next, the microcomputer 104 starts step S401 after a predetermined time has elapsed since the start of information storage in the memory 106 or when the amount of information stored in the memory 106 exceeds a predetermined amount.
It is determined whether or not the recognition process executed in step S1 has ended (step S407). Note that the predetermined time and the predetermined amount are appropriately set according to the time required for the recognition processing of the recording medium 107. The above-mentioned predetermined time is preferably set to at least the same time as the time required for the recognition processing of the recording medium 107, and the above-mentioned predetermined amount is at least the same as the amount of information that can be accumulated in the time required for the recognition processing of the recording medium 107 It is preferable to set to. The storage capacity of the memory 106 is preferably greater than or equal to the predetermined amount described above. More specifically, according to an experiment by the inventor, the transfer rate of information to the memory 106 is 3 to 6 Mbps, and the time required for recognition is about 20 seconds. Therefore, the predetermined time is at least 20 seconds and the predetermined amount is at least 6Mbps × 20
It is only necessary to set s = 15 MB, and the storage capacity of the memory may be 15 MB or more.

If the predetermined time and the predetermined amount are set to the above-described values, normally, since the recognition process has already been completed at the time when step S407 is executed, the normal recording state is entered (step S40).
8). That is, information stored in the memory 106 is recorded on the recording medium 107.

On the other hand, if the recognition process takes longer than the time corresponding to the amount of information that can be stored in the memory 106 for some reason, the information while recording is paused is interrupted. Since information cannot be stored in the memory 106, the storage of information in the memory 106 is temporarily stopped (step S409). Then, the recording may be resumed when the completion of the recognition process can be confirmed. In addition, instead of temporarily stopping the accumulation of information in the memory 106, the information may be accumulated in the memory 106 so that new information is overwritten on old information. Either method can be realized, but considering that the user wants to start recording and gives an instruction to start recording, it is preferable to temporarily stop the accumulation of information in the memory 106.

According to the procedure described above, information from when the power is turned on to when the information can be recorded on the recording medium can be recorded on the recording medium. At this time, since the information is recorded after confirming that the information can be recorded on the recording medium, the information is not recorded on the recording medium that cannot record the information, and the information is already recorded on the recording medium. There is no risk of damaging information.

Note that the present embodiment has been described on the assumption that the recognition process in step S401 is the same as the recognition process shown in FIG. However, for information on the recording medium 107, E
Since this information is stored in the EPROM 105, the time required for the recognition processing in step S401 can be shortened by acquiring this information from the EEPROM 105 instead of the recording medium 107. Accordingly, the predetermined time and the predetermined amount can be set small, and the memory 106 can be replaced with one having a small storage capacity. Specifically, according to the inventor's experiment, the time required for the recognition process is reduced from about 20 seconds to 7 to
It was shortened to about 8 seconds. Therefore, the predetermined time can be set to at least 8 seconds,
The predetermined amount can be set to 6 Mbps × 8 s = 6 MB. The storage capacity of the memory 106 may be at least 6 MB.

Further, the present embodiment has been described as determining whether or not information can be recorded on the recording medium 107 in step S404. However, it is also possible to make a determination in step S302 of FIG. 3 and hold the determination result in the EEPROM 105 in step S303. By doing this, the time required for step S403 and step S404 can be shortened, so that the above-mentioned predetermined time and predetermined amount can be set small accordingly, and the memory 106 is replaced with one having a smaller storage capacity. be able to.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an information recording apparatus 1 to which the present invention is applied. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a procedure of processing performed after the recording medium 107 is loaded in the information recording apparatus 1 until the information can be recorded on the recording medium 107. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a procedure of processing performed by the information recording apparatus 1 when the information recording apparatus 1 is powered off. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a procedure of processing performed by the information recording apparatus 1 when a recording start command is received from the user immediately after power-on.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Information recording apparatus, 100 ... Operation part, 102 ... DSP, 103 ... Encoder / De
coder, 104 ... microcomputer, 105 ... EEPROM, 106 ... memory, 107 ... recording medium.

Claims (7)

Input means for inputting an optical signal , converting the optical signal into an analog electrical signal, converting the analog signal into digital information, and outputting the digital information;
Signal processing means for performing processing for generating video information on the digital information output from the input means;
Compression means for compressing video information output from the signal processing means;
Storage means for storing compressed video information output from the compression means;
Recording / reproducing means for recording / reproducing compressed video information output from the storage means on a removable recording medium;
Decompression means for decompressing compressed video information reproduced from the recording medium by the recording / reproduction means;
Display means for displaying video information expanded by the expansion means;
A recognition processing means for performing a recognition process for enabling the recording / reproducing means to record compressed video information on the recording medium after the power is turned on or after the recording medium is mounted;
Even when the power supply is interrupted, the A information on the recording medium obtained by the recognition processing performed by the recognition processing means, information indicating the type of at least the recording medium, and against the prior type recording medium Holding means for holding information about the recording medium including information indicating that recording prohibition is set and information indicating the remaining recording capacity of the recording medium;
Is it possible to record compressed video information on the recording medium based on information about the recording medium held in the holding means when the power is turned off and then turned on again with the recording medium attached? Determination means for determining whether or not,
If the determination means determines that compressed video information can be recorded on the recording medium, the compressed video information is stored in the storage means while performing the recognition process, and the determination means records information on the recording medium. Is determined to be impossible, the compressed video information is not stored in the storage means, and the display means that the video information cannot be recorded is displayed on the display means ,
When the recording medium is a reproduction-only recording medium, it is determined whether or not compressed video information can be recorded on the recording medium based on information indicating a type of the recording medium. . In claim 1,
Wherein when the recording medium is a reproduction-only recording medium, wherein when if the setting of the serial Rokukin stop information to the recording medium has been made, or the remaining recording capacity of the recording medium is less than the predetermined amount, the recording A camera which displays on the display means that the video information cannot be recorded on a medium. In claim 1 or 2,
Wherein when the recording medium is a reproduction-only recording medium, wherein when if the setting of the serial Rokukin stop information to the recording medium has been made, or the remaining recording capacity of the recording medium is less than the predetermined amount, the recording A camera that displays on a display means that a recording medium different from the medium is mounted. In any of claims 1 to 3,
After the recognition process is completed, the compressed video information stored in the storage means is recorded on the recording medium. In any of claims 1 to 4,
Wherein when the recording medium is a reproduction-only recording medium, wherein when if the setting of the serial Rokukin stop information to the recording medium has been made, or the remaining recording capacity of the recording medium is less than the predetermined amount, the storage A camera characterized in that the compressed video information is not stored in the means. In any of claims 1 to 5,
If the recognition process is not completed even after a time corresponding to the storage amount of information that can be stored in the storage unit, the compressed video information is stored in the storage unit until the recognition process is completed. A camera characterized by temporarily stopping. In any one of Claims 1 thru | or 6.
The determination means determines whether or not the compressed video information can be recorded on the recording medium based on the information on the recording medium held in the holding means before the power is turned off while the recording medium is mounted. A camera characterized by judging.

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