JP5143304B2 - Video recording apparatus, copy control method, and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a video recording apparatus that records content, and more particularly to a video recording apparatus, a copy control method, and a program capable of managing a history of copying content to an external device.

  Generally, in hard disk recorders that record content such as digital broadcasting, the recorded content is copyright-protected, so when copying (diving) the recorded content to an external device, the number of copies is limited. There is. In addition, a technique for managing a copy history of copied content is used. For example, as shown in Patent Document 1, a technique is disclosed in which copy information is transmitted to a management center and collectively managed.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-16788

  However, the technique described in Patent Document 1 does not include a technique for preventing duplicate copying of content. Further, there is no method for making the history information of the content usable even after the content is deleted.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a video recording apparatus, a copy control method, and a program that can prevent duplicate copying of content and can use history information of the content even after the content is deleted.

  According to the embodiment, the video recording apparatus records the copy history information that associates the identification information of the content copied to the external device with the identification information of the external device, and when copying the content to the external device, Means for referring to the copy history information and notifying that there is a copy history of the content to the external device if there is a copy history of the content to the external device.

1 is a perspective view showing a video recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a video recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of a video recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a flowchart showing a copy control method to which the video recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied. 6 is a flowchart showing a copy control method to which the video recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied. 6 is a flowchart showing a copy control method to which the video recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied. The conceptual diagram which shows the content list of the video recording apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The conceptual diagram which shows the copy history of the content of the video recording apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The conceptual diagram which shows the copy destination list of the content of the video recording device which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The perspective view which shows the television which concerns on another embodiment of this invention. The perspective view which shows the computer which concerns on another embodiment of this invention.

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

  First, the configuration of a video recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. This video recording apparatus is realized as a hard disk recorder 1, for example.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the hard disk recorder 1. The hard disk recorder 1 includes a hard disk (HDD) 106b (see FIG. 2). Further, an optical drive 116a such as a DVD drive or an HD DVD (High Definition DVD) drive is incorporated as necessary. The hard disk recorder 1 is a recording / playback apparatus capable of digitally recording and playing back video and audio signals (contents) such as TV broadcast programs.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the hard disk recorder 1 is configured to control content recording and reproduction operations in accordance with a remote control code transmitted by an infrared signal or the like from a remote control unit (not shown).

  Furthermore, the hard disk recorder 1 has a network function for connecting to a local area network (LAN), and receives broadcast waves corresponding to, for example, a cable TV from an information processing terminal or the like through a network such as a LAN or the Internet. Can do.

  As shown, the hard disk recorder 1 includes a terrestrial analog tuner 101, a terrestrial digital tuner 102, a BS / CS (Broadcasting Satellite / Communication Satellite) tuner 103, an AV input unit 104, an encoder unit 105, a disk drive unit 106, an MPU. (Micro Processing Unit) 107, decoder unit 108, AV output unit 109, display unit 110, timer microcomputer unit 111, user operation input unit 112, memory 113, remote control interface (I / F) 114, and communication control unit 115 ing.

  The terrestrial analog broadcast wave tuner 101 is a device for receiving terrestrial analog broadcast program data and selecting a channel for channel selection, and is connected to an external TV antenna. The terrestrial digital broadcast wave tuner 102 is a broadcast receiving unit that performs reception of terrestrial digital broadcast program data and channel selection processing for channel selection, and is connected to an antenna compatible with digital broadcasting. The BS / CS tuner 103 is a broadcast receiving unit that performs reception of broadcast program data corresponding to the BS and CS and channel selection processing for channel selection, and is connected to a BS / CS-compatible antenna.

  The AV input unit 104 inputs moving image data via the input terminal 5. The moving image data input from the external device by the AV input unit 104 is sent to the encoding unit 105.

  The encoder unit 105 executes an encoding process for digitally compressing and encoding content input from the AV input unit 101 or the TV tuner 102 under the control of the MPU 105. By this encoding process, the content is converted into a compressed and encoded digital data sequence corresponding to, for example, the MPEG2 or DVD video format.

  The disk drive unit 106 is a disk storage device that executes processing for recording content converted into a compressed and encoded digital data string and processing for reading the recorded content under the control of the MPU 107. The disk drive unit 106 includes a disk drive 116a and a temporary storage device 106b.

  The disk drive 116a is composed of, for example, a hard disk drive (HDD) or a DVD drive. The DVD drive executes a read / write process for a recording medium such as a DVD-RAM / DVD-R. When a DVD drive is used as the disk drive 116a, a disk medium 201 such as a DVD-RAM / DVD-R is detachably attached to the disk drive 116a. Further, the DVD drive can also execute data read processing from DVD-ROM media.

  Note that both the hard disk drive and the DVD drive may be provided as the disk drive 116 a in the disk drive unit 106. In this case, the content converted into the compression-coded digital data string is first recorded on the hard disk drive. The content recorded on the hard disk drive is recorded on a disk medium 201 such as a DVD-RAM / DVD-R (dubbing) as necessary.

  The temporary storage device 106 b is a buffer memory for temporarily recording write data to the disk drive unit 104 or read data from the disk drive unit 104. The compression-encoded content obtained by the encoder unit 105 is input to the disk drive 116a via the temporary storage device 106b. Also, the compression-coded content read from the disk drive 116a is sent to the decoder unit 108 via the temporary storage device 106b.

  The decoder unit 108 is a device that executes a decoding process for decoding the compression-encoded content under the control of the MPU 107. The content decrypted by this decoding processing is output to an external device or the like via the output terminal 6 by the AV output unit 109.

  The AV output unit 109 is an interface used when copying (dubbing) and moving (moving) content recorded on a connected external device. External devices are HDD recorders, portable information terminals, car navigation systems, portable music players, and the like. The external device is the copy destination device in this proposal, such as a portable media player with a built-in hard disk or nonvolatile memory, but is a removable media such as HD DVD-R / RW or SD memory card. It doesn't matter.

  The MPU 107 is a main CPU provided for controlling the operation of each component of the hard disk recorder 1. The MPU 107 includes an electronic program guide data 11 superimposed on a broadcast wave received from the terrestrial analog tuner 101, an electronic program guide data 12 superimposed on a broadcast wave received from the terrestrial digital tuner 102, and a BS / CS tuner. The program for creating the entire program guide data 20 is executed by combining the electronic program guide data 13 and the like superimposed on the broadcast wave received from 103. These electronic program guide data are electronic program guides such as EPG (Electric Program Guide).

  In addition, the MPU 107 can customize a customized electronic program including a designated broadcast service name by designating a broadcast service name included in the electronic program guide from the entire program guide data 20 displayed on, for example, a TV receiver. A registration program for creating table data is also executed.

  The display unit 110 is a display device for status display provided in the main body of the hard disk recorder 1, and for example, copy history information, title, channel number, playback / recording of the content that is currently viewed, played back, and recorded. Used to display status information such as progress. For example, when a user copies content (such as a TV program) recorded by the hard disk recorder 1 to an external device, the content, external device identification information, copy history information, a title, and the like are displayed.

  The timer microcomputer unit 111 is a microcomputer incorporating a timer for timekeeping, and functions as a sub CPU for processing signals transmitted from the user operation input unit 112 and the remote control unit. The timer microcomputer unit 111 also has a function of managing the channel number, title, recording start time, recording end time, and the like for each TV program reserved for recording. The timer built in the timer microcomputer unit 111 functions as a clock module that measures the current date and time. When the recording start time or recording end time of each TV program reserved for recording has come, the timer microcomputer unit 111 has a remote control code processing function. This remote control code processing function is a function for executing an operation requested by the remote control code received from the remote control unit 301 via the remote control interface 114 in cooperation with the MPU 107.

  In the hard disk recorder 1, an operation to be executed corresponding to each remote control code is defined. By operating the remote control unit, the user instructs the hard disk recorder 1 to execute operations such as recording / playback of content, recording reservation, display of a recording reservation list, display of a title list of recorded content, and the like. can do.

  The user can also instruct the hard disk recorder 1 to output an electronic program guide corresponding to the key to the display unit 108 by operating the key of the remote control unit.

  Next, FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing the main configuration of the hard disk recorder 1. The hard disk recorder 1 includes a content source input unit 120, a storage medium a (content storage area) 121, a storage medium b (content list information storage area) 122, a storage medium c (content copy destination list information storage area) 123, and a storage medium d. (Content copy history information storage area) 124, an encryption / decryption unit 125, a copyright management unit 126, a copy output interface 127, and a user interface unit 128.

  The external device 400 connected to the hard disk recorder 1 includes a copy output interface 401.

  The content source input unit 120 is the above-described broadcast wave digital tuners 102 and 103, the AV input unit 104, or the like. The content source input unit 120 is a content input port, and it is assumed that the content is subject to copy restrictions mainly due to copyright or the like. For example, it has a function like a TV tuner, takes in content, and converts it into reproducible format data if necessary. At this time, copyright information regarding the content is also acquired. If the broadcast wave is scrambled, descrambling processing is also performed here. Further, the content source input unit is not limited to the TV tuner, and may be a content download from the Internet or a read interface from a disk medium, for example.

  The storage medium a (content storage area) 121 stores the recorded content. The storage medium b (content list information storage area) 122 stores a list of recorded contents (described later: see FIG. 7). The storage medium c (content copy destination list information storage area) 123 stores a content copy destination list (described later: see FIG. 9). The storage medium d (content copy history information storage area) 124 stores a content copy history (described later: see FIG. 8). These recording media a to d may be a large-capacity recording medium such as a hard disk drive or a non-volatile memory, and may be of any kind. For convenience, the recording medium is divided into four recording media, but some or all of them may be secured on the same recording medium.

  The encryption / decryption unit 125 performs an encryption process for storing content in the recording medium of the hard disk recorder 1 and a process for decrypting it. The copy output interface unit 127 is a part that outputs content at the time of copying, and communicates with an external recording medium or a video recording apparatus. Also, it has a function of authenticating whether the connected external recording medium or video recording apparatus is a device permitted to copy. An example is an IEEE1394 interface with a DTCP protection function. The copyright management unit 126 manages the copyright of the content by determining whether or not the content stored in the recording medium a121 can be copied, managing the status information of the copied content, and the like.

  The user interface unit 128 displays a GUI such as a menu for the user, and manages input / output for the user's operation in response to an instruction from the user and passing the instruction to the copyright management unit 126.

  The operation of the hard disk recorder 1 configured as described above will be described.

  4 to 6 are flowcharts showing a copy control method to which the video recording apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention is applied.

  The content source input unit 120 of the hard disk recorder 1 acquires content by broadcast waves or the like (step S1: FIG. 4). The copyright management information included in the acquired content is transferred from the content source input unit 120 to the copyright management unit 126 (step S2: FIG. 4). Note that the content source input unit 120 is assumed to mainly handle copyright-protected content as described above, and passes the copyright management information acquired together with the content to the copyright management unit 126. The same applies to the case where the content is not copyright-protected. In this case, information indicating that the content is copy-free is passed. With reference to the recording medium b122, if the content does not exist in the recording medium b122, a new content ID is issued (step S3: FIG. 4). Next, information about the content to be recorded is acquired together with the content ID. This is copyright information, recording date and time, storage area path in the recording medium a121 for recording the content, name of the content, comment, etc. If necessary, the information can be input by the user through a GUI or the like. get. These pieces of information are added to the content list together with the content ID and stored in the recording medium b122. The MPU 107 of the hard disk recorder 1 associates information related to the content such as the title and date and time with the content ID from the acquired content, adds it to the content list information, and saves (stores) it in the recording medium b122 (step S4: FIG. 4). (See FIG. 7). Further, the encryption / decryption unit 125 encrypts the content and stores it in the storage medium a121 in association with the content ID (step S5: FIG. 4). In this case, the content ID may be stored together with the encrypted content, or may be associated by recording the content path on the content list side. The content is encrypted in order to protect the copyright in the recording medium a121. If the content is copy-free, it is not always necessary to encrypt the content.

  Next, a case where the content stored in the storage medium a121 is copied to an external device will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  When copying content, the user connects a copy destination external device (such as a recording medium) to the copy output interface unit 127. Then, information is acquired from the recording medium b122, a content list is displayed on the display unit 110 through a GUI or the like, and content to be copied is selected. User operation information is fetched from the user interface unit 128 and passed to the copyright management unit 128.

  Next, the copyright management unit 128 of the hard disk recorder 1 acquires information on the selected content (its content ID) from the recording medium b122 (step S101). Next, the copy destination history corresponding to the content ID is acquired from the recording medium d124 (step S102). At this time, if there is no corresponding copy destination history, a new copy destination history corresponding to the content ID is created. Based on the acquired content list and copy destination history (see FIG. 8), the number of times the relevant content is permitted to be copied and the number of times the relevant content has been copied in the past are determined to determine whether copying is possible (step S103).

  If copying is impossible, such as content that cannot be copied and content that has no remaining number of copies (NO in step S103), the user is notified of this, and the copying process is terminated (step S104). On the other hand, if copying is possible in step S103 (YES in step S103), a copy destination list (see FIG. 9) is acquired from the recording medium c123 (step S105). The copy destination list is a list of copy destination external devices to which the hard disk recorder 1 has copied in the past, and a copy destination ID for identifying the external device that is the copy destination is recorded. Here, the minimum required information for the copy destination list is only this copy destination ID, but it is desirable to record the following information together for convenience. For example, if the external device can pass information for identifying the external device such as a model number or serial number in connection with a procedure such as authentication, the information such as the model number or serial number is recorded. In addition, the date and time of the last access, the remaining recording capacity of the external device, the information of the content recorded last, the owner name of the recording medium, etc. are also useful (see FIG. 9). In addition, as a label to be given to an external device, a character string that allows the user to easily identify each external device is set in the copy destination list, and the label is displayed when presenting the external device to the user. Then, convenience for the user can be achieved (see FIG. 9).

  When the copy destination list is acquired, information about the copy destination to be copied next is acquired (step S106). The information about the copy destination may take the form selected by the user from the list of copy destinations, or identification information such as the model number or serial number as described above may be obtained in the process of authentication with the connected external device. If there is, information may be acquired through the copy output interface, and the corresponding copy destination may be automatically verified from the copy destination list and presented to the user. At this time, if the copy destination to be copied does not exist in the copy destination list (NO in step S107), information on the copy destination is added to the copy destination list and stored in the recording medium c123 (step S108). ).

  Next, it is checked whether or not the acquired copy destination ID exists in the copy destination history of the corresponding content (step S109). If there is a matching copy destination ID in the copy destination history (YES in step S109), the user is notified that the same copy destination has been copied in the past (step S110). At this time, if other information related to the matched copy destination ID in the copy destination history, for example, the date and time of copying in the past, the path in the external device, the name of the user who performed the copying, etc. are presented together with the copy destination label, the user Useful for reminiscent of past copies. Subsequently, it is confirmed to the user whether or not to execute the current copy as it is (step S111). If the user does not wish to copy (NO in step S111), the process ends. If the user wishes to copy (YES in step S111), the process proceeds to the next process.

  Next, the content is read from the recording medium a121, and the encryption / decryption unit 125 performs the decryption process on the encryption applied for storage in the hard disk recorder 1 (step S112).

Next, the copyright management unit 128 instructs the copy output interface unit 127 to handle content (step S113). At this time, for example, copy management information such as CCI (Consolidated Client Infrastructure) or the like, and the processing of the copy output interface unit 127 is determined. The copy output interface unit 127 is normally expected to be an interface that supports some kind of copyright protection, and performs processing for the corresponding protection technology and outputs the content to the external device 400 (step S114).
Next, information about the current copy is added to the copy destination history and stored in the recording medium d124 (step S115). The information to be recorded requires at least a copy destination ID, but if multiple copies are permitted, it is desirable to record the information in association with the number of copies (FIG. 7, FIG. 7). (Refer to the association of dotted lines in FIGS. 8 and 9). For convenience, it is desirable to record the following information together. For example, the date and time of copying, the path in the external device if possible, the name of the user who performed the copying, and the like.

  Finally, if necessary, information on the corresponding content in the content list may be updated. For example, the number of times of copying is managed in the content list, or the number of times that copying is possible reaches the upper limit, and the status in the content list is changed.

  As described above, by managing content copying using the content list, copy destination list, and copy destination history, the user can easily find the copy destination for a certain content and prevent unnecessary copying. It ’s useful.

  Next, the case of deleting content from the hard disk recorder 1 will be described with reference to FIG.

  The MPU 107 of the hard disk recorder 1 acquires information about the content corresponding to the content ID of the content for which the user has instructed deletion from the storage medium b122 (step S201). The MPU 107 determines whether a copy destination history corresponding to the storage medium d124 exists (step S202). If the MPU 107 determines that the copy destination history corresponding to the storage medium d124 exists (YES in step S202), the MPU 107 sets a flag indicating deletion in the corresponding content ID of the content list and updates the information on the recording medium b122. (Step S203: Refer to the uppermost status in FIG. 7). In this case, a flag indicating deletion is set in the corresponding content ID of the content list, and the description of the corresponding content is not deleted from the recording medium b122. In addition, information on the copy destination history of the corresponding content is also stored in the recording medium d. Then, the content corresponding to the content ID is deleted from the recording medium a121 (step S205). On the other hand, when the MPU 107 determines that there is no copy destination history corresponding to the storage medium d124 (NO in step S202), the information corresponding to the corresponding content ID is deleted from the content list, and the information of the recording medium b122 is stored. Update (step S204).

  As described above, when content is deleted from the hard disk recorder 1, the content list and copy history corresponding to the content are deleted together with the content, but the hard disk recorder 1 of the present invention refers to the copy destination history. Thus, a function for referring to which external device the content is copied to is provided, and such a function is useful even after the content itself is deleted from the hard disk recorder 1. For this reason, even if the content is deleted, the corresponding item in the content list and the copy history are not deleted.

  Also, if the corresponding item in the content list is not deleted when content is simply deleted, the size of the list may quickly become enormous. This is particularly noticeable in a hard disk recorder that automatically selects and records content broadcast by keyword search or the like from a program guide. Therefore, in the present invention, when content is deleted, the presence or absence of the corresponding copy destination history is confirmed. If there is no copy destination history, the corresponding content item is deleted from the content list, and there is a copy destination history. Does not delete the corresponding item from the content list. However, since the content itself is deleted, a flag indicating that the content has been deleted is described in the corresponding content item of the content list.

  As described above, by referring to the existence of the copy destination history when deleting the content and deciding to delete the item from the content list, it is possible to prevent the content list from becoming unnecessarily large. Can be referred to.

  In the above-described embodiment, the hard disk recorder has been described. However, any device having a function for storing and copying content may be used. For example, as shown in FIG. 10, a television 300 having a built-in storage medium such as an HDD, a personal computer 310 having a digital broadcast receiving function as shown in FIG.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments as they are. In the implementation stage, the present invention can be embodied by changing the components without departing from the scope of the invention.

  Various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of constituent elements disclosed in the above-described embodiments. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiment. Furthermore, constituent elements over different embodiments may be appropriately combined.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Hard disk recorder, 101 ... Terrestrial analog tuner, 102 ... Terrestrial digital tuner, 103 ... BS / CS tuner, 104 ... AV input part, 106 ... Disk drive part, 106a ... Disk drive, 106b ... HDD, 109 ... AV Output unit 107... MPU 120. Content source input unit 121... Recording medium a 122. Recording medium b 123 123 recording medium c 124 124 recording medium d 125 125 encryption / decryption unit 126 copyright Rights management unit, 127 ... Copy output interface unit, 128 ... User interface unit.

Claims (11)

Means for recording copy history information associating identification information of content copied to an external device and identification information of the external device;
Means for notifying that there is a copy history of the content to the external device, if there is a copy history of the content to the external device, referring to the copy history information when copying the content to an external device;
A video recording apparatus comprising: The video recording apparatus according to claim 1,
Comprising a storage medium,
The video recording apparatus, wherein the copy history information is stored in the storage medium included in the video recording apparatus. The video recording apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
A video recording apparatus for copying the content to the external device when an instruction is given to copy the content to the external device after notification that there is a copy history of the content to the external device. The video recording apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
A video recording apparatus that displays a copy history of the content if there is a copy history of the content to the external device. The video recording apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
The copy history information is one of the content copy count information, the content storage area information, the content copy destination storage area information, the content copy date and time information, and the content copy destination device information. One or more video recording devices. A copy control method for a video recording apparatus,
Record copy history information associating the identification information of the content copied to the external device with the identification information of the external device,
A copy control method that, when copying content to an external device, refers to the copy history information, and if there is a copy history of the content to the external device, notifies that there is a copy history of the content to the external device. The copy control method according to claim 6,
The copy control method, wherein the copy history information is stored in a storage medium included in the video recording apparatus. The copy control method according to claim 6 or 7,
A copy control method for copying the content to the external device when an instruction is given to copy the content to the external device after notification that there is a copy history of the content to the external device. The copy control method according to claim 6 or 7,
A copy control method for displaying a copy history of the content if there is a copy history of the content to the external device. The copy control method according to claim 6 or 7,
The copy history information is one of the content copy count information, the content storage area information, the content copy destination storage area information, the content copy date and time information, and the content copy destination device information. One or more copy control methods. A procedure for recording copy history information that associates identification information of content copied to an external device with identification information of the external device;
When copying content to an external device, a procedure for referring to the copy history information and notifying that there is a copy history of the content to the external device if there is a copy history of the content to the external device;
A computer-readable program for causing a computer to execute.

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