JP5188322B2 - Information recording device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an information recording apparatus.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-133867 discloses that “first recording bit rate setting means for setting a recording bit rate based on the total remaining capacity calculated by the remaining capacity calculating means and the reserved recording time detected by the recording time detecting means. Is a recording rate automatic setting recording apparatus.

According to this apparatus, “a recording rate automatic setting recording apparatus capable of setting an appropriate recording bit rate when recording on a disk having a plurality of recording surfaces can be provided.”
JP 2004-266857 A

  In recent years, video cameras that employ optical disc media represented by DVD and BD as recording media have appeared. In addition, the recording capacity of small hard disks is increasing year by year, and so-called hard disk cameras, which employ hard disks as recording media for AV data, have also appeared. The optical disk camera can easily change and carry the medium, and the HDD camera can often store a larger amount of data than the optical disk of the same generation.

  In order to improve the user-friendliness of such an information recording apparatus, it is desirable that shooting can be started as soon as possible and shooting can be performed for as long as possible. Even if an event that you want to shoot occurs, if the start of shooting is delayed, you may not be able to shoot the beginning of the event, and if the recording medium is not enough, you may not be able to shoot the event to the end Because it increases.

  However, there is a case where shooting is started even though there is not enough free space on the recording medium because of rushing to start recording. Alternatively, there may be a case where a picture with a higher quality than that which can be recorded for a sufficient time with respect to the free space is shot.

  By the way, there is a video camera equipped with an optical disk, a hard disk, and two recording media. Such a video camera is often called a hybrid video camera. With this hybrid video camera, AV data recorded on a hard disk can be dubbed to a DVD or BD with a single video camera without using an external dubbing device or the like. For this reason, the advantages of both the recording capacity of the hard disk and the ease of carrying and storing the DVD and BD can be complementarily used.

  However, since there are two or more recording media, the operation is complicated for the user, it is difficult to know which recording medium should be used, and it is difficult to know which recording medium the video camera is in a recordable mode. There is a case. In the case of a hybrid camera, there is a case where an operation is performed so that recording is performed with a recording medium having no recording capacity, even though there is a medium having a sufficient remaining capacity of the recording medium.

  As described above, the video camera may not be able to record for a sufficient time. Furthermore, in the video camera, if the user takes time to appropriately set the recording quality and the recording medium after the event to be photographed occurs, the start of photographing the event may be delayed.

  Patent Document 1 describes an apparatus related to recording reservation of a recorder. However, it is different from an apparatus used by a user to photograph an object, such as the video camera apparatus described above. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228561 has a description about lowering the rate, but has not been studied on suppressing the delay of the start of photographing.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an information recording apparatus that suppresses both the delay in starting information recording and the possibility of being unable to record desired time information.

  In order to solve the above problems, the information recording apparatus controls, for example, the loading state of the recording medium, the remaining amount thereof, the recording image quality, and whether the image recognition function is enabled or disabled to reduce the amount of data to record information. To do. For example, this process is executed when the power is turned on.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an information recording apparatus that suppresses both the delay in starting information recording and the possibility that desired time information cannot be recorded.

  Problems, means, and effects other than those described above will be clarified by examples described later.

  Examples of the information recording device include an optical disk camera, a hard disk camera, and other camera devices that capture still images or moving images. Alternatively, there is an audio recording device that records audio.

  In the present embodiment, as an example of the information recording apparatus, a hybrid digital system including a hard disk and an optical disk drive capable of reading and writing BD (Blu-ray Disc (registered trademark)) / DVD (Digital Versatile Disc). Description will be made using a video camera (hereinafter also simply referred to as a video camera). This video camera can be used for entrance ceremonies, graduation ceremonies, athletic and school events such as school events for children, celebrations such as birthday parties and weddings, travel to resorts, and other homes where there are small children. This is particularly effective in general video camera usage scenes such as daily life. However, the present invention is not limited to this.

  In FIG. 1, reference numeral 100 denotes a video camera. A system control unit 101 has a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a memory and controls the entire system. Reference numeral 102 denotes an imaging element that images a subject, converts imaging information from an optical signal to an electrical signal, and converts an analog electrical signal to a digital signal. Reference numeral 103 denotes a video input / output terminal which inputs and outputs digital video signals compressed and expanded by the video compression / decompression unit 104. An audio input / output terminal 105 inputs / outputs a digital audio signal compressed / expanded by the audio compression / decompression unit 106. A multiplexing / separating unit 107 multiplexes the video compression data and the audio compression data output from the video compression / decompression unit 104 and the audio compression / decompression unit 106 to generate stream data, or converts the stream data into video compression data. Separated into audio compression data, each data is input to the video compression / decompression unit 104 and the audio compression / decompression unit 106.

  Reference numeral 109 denotes an optical disk loading unit which can be loaded in and removed from an optical disk 110 such as a BD or DVD. An optical disk driver unit 108 writes stream data and various information files generated by the multiplexing / demultiplexing unit 107 via the system control unit 101 into the optical disk 110 in a predetermined format when recording AV data, or when reproducing AV data. The stream data and various information files recorded on the optical disc 110 are read out. Reference numeral 111 denotes a hard disk driver unit. When recording AV data, the stream data and various information files generated by the multiplexing / demultiplexing unit 107 are written to the hard disk 112 in a predetermined format via the system control unit 101, or when reproducing AV data. The stream data and various information files recorded on the hard disk 112 are read out. Here, the video compression / decompression unit 104, the audio compression / decompression unit 106, the multiplexing / demultiplexing unit 107, the optical disk driver unit 108, and the hard disk driver unit 111 may be configured to execute hardware operations as a circuit. It is good also as a structure which memorize | stores as a program in the control part 101, and performs a process like software. On the optical disc 110 and the hard disc 112, a file obtained by digitally compressing the amount of AV data such as video information and audio information, management information of the AV data, and the like are recorded. In the present embodiment, a hard disk will be described as an example, but it goes without saying that other recording media may be used.

  A communication unit 113 performs communication processing with other devices such as an information processing apparatus via a communication input / output terminal 114. Reference numerals 1700 and 1701 denote external recording devices, for example, devices that record information such as file servers, video recorders, and home servers.

  Reference numeral 115 denotes a monitor unit, which is a GUI (Graphical User Interface) such as a menu of the recording / reproducing apparatus 100, video information input by the image sensor 102 during recording, or video information reproduced from a DVD or a hard disk during reproduction. Is displayed.

  The power supply unit 116 supplies power for driving the recording / reproducing apparatus such as a battery for driving the apparatus and an AC power supply.

  Reference numeral 117 denotes an operation unit, which includes, for example, buttons, toggle switches, and rotary switch switches. Further, a configuration in which a touch panel is provided on the monitor unit 115 may be used in combination. The operation unit 117 includes a switch for instructing information recording, such as a general shooting button in a video camera.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a power switch in the video camera 100. FIG. 2A shows an example in which there are “OFF” and “ON” as power switches, and there is no power switch for each recording medium. In the figure, there is a mark such as “BD / DVD”, but this is merely an example of the optical disk 110. The same applies to FIG.

  An example of a start-up sequence of a hybrid video camera having such a power switch is shown in FIG. FIG. 3 shows the operation when the power switch is turned “ON” in FIG. The power switch is used, for example, in a video camera capable of recording on a plurality of types of recording media.

  First, in step S300, information on the mode that was last activated is acquired. This information is assumed to be stored in a RAM (Random Access Memory) provided in the system control unit 101, for example. For example, when a video camera is used last time, a mode for recording in the hard disk 112 is used, and when the power is turned off in that mode, information indicating that is stored in the RAM. Similarly, when the mode for recording on the optical disk 110 is used last time and the power is turned off in this mode, information indicating that is stored in the RAM. Next, in step S301, if the read mode information is a hard disk, the process proceeds to step S302. If not, the process proceeds to step S303. In step S302 and step S303, the hard disk 112 and the optical disk 110 such as a BD / DVD are activated. Here, the activation process refers to recording of data on a designated recording medium after executing various hardware initialization processes, checking whether or not a recording medium is loaded, whether or not recording is possible, remaining amount information, and the like. The video camera is activated in a possible state and waits for the shooting button to be pressed.

  In the process of S302 or S303, at least after determining the medium to be used for recording, the system control unit 101 performs a process of displaying the activation mode using an LED or the like, or activates the monitor unit 115. Control is performed to execute at least one of processing, activation mode display processing on the monitor unit 115, OSD display processing on the monitor unit 115, and imaging button validation processing included in the operation unit 117. Among these, for example, the photographing button validation processing means that processing is performed so that photographing is started when the photographing button is pressed. In other words, if the shooting button is not activated, shooting is not started even if the shooting button is pressed.

  Then, the start-up processes 302 and 303 are completed, and the user can record by pressing the shooting button while looking at the monitor unit 115.

  Further, as described above, since FIG. 2A has only “OFF” and “ON” in the power switch, which recording medium is activated is determined by the information on the mode activated last time as in the flow of FIG. Based on the above, it is determined in which mode to start. Of course, it may always be started on the specific recording medium side regardless of the mode information started last time. In the example of FIG. 2A, the recording medium is switched to the other recording medium by further moving the switch in the arrow direction while the power switch is “ON”. In this case, the video camera remembers which mode it was last activated in, but the user often forgets which mode it was activated in. Furthermore, it is rare that the user remembers how much remaining amount each recording medium has.

  On the other hand, FIG. 2B is an example in which there is a switch for each recording medium in addition to “OFF” as the power switch. In this case, since which recording medium is to be activated at the time of activation is designated by the switch, the previous activation mode information calling process as in step S300 in FIG. 3 is not required. For this reason, the user can designate which recording medium to start, but even in this case, there are few examples that remember the remaining amount of each recording medium. Therefore, for example, although it has been started on the optical disc 110 side of the BD / DVD, there is a possibility that the disc is not loaded, or even if the disc is loaded, there is no remaining amount and recording is not possible.

  In view of this, the video camera 100 is provided with a special power switch for starting up in a state where shooting can be performed reliably when the power is turned on. This switch is referred to as a “certain photographing button” in the following description. In addition, starting the camera while the certain photographing button is pressed is referred to as “certain photographing mode”. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an installation example of the certain photographing button. 4-a is added to FIG. 2-a, and FIG. 4-b is added to FIG. 2-b.

  FIG. 5 is an example of a processing flow when the video camera 100 including the sure shooting button is activated as the certain shooting mode.

  In FIG. 5, when the activation process of the video camera system is started, first, in step S500, it is determined whether or not the sure shooting button has been pressed. In other words, this is a process for determining whether the activation is a normal activation or a certain imaging mode. If it is determined in step S500 that the certain photographing button has been pressed, the process proceeds to step S501, and activation processing in the certain photographing mode is executed. Details of this will be described later.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S500 that the certain photographing button has not been pressed, the process proceeds to step S502, and normal startup processing is executed. Since this process is the same as the process shown as step S301 to step S303 in FIG. 3, a detailed description thereof is omitted. As described above, in this hybrid video camera 100, the process of starting in the sure shooting mode or starting normally is switched depending on whether or not the certain shooting button in FIG. 4 is pressed.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a start processing flow of the sure photographing mode in step S501.

  First, in step S600, it is confirmed whether or not the remaining amount of the hard disk is greater than or equal to a preset threshold value. Here, it is assumed that the threshold value of the remaining amount of the hard disk is stored in, for example, a RAM included in the system control unit 101. When the total capacity of the hard disk 112 is 100 GB, if the threshold is set to 1 GB, it is determined whether or not the remaining amount is 1 GB or more in step S600, and if it is 1 GB or more, it is determined that recording is possible, and the process proceeds to step S302. Start up with the hard disk. On the other hand, if the remaining amount is less than 1 GB, the process proceeds to step S601. It should be noted that the hard disk remaining amount threshold value is convenient if the user can freely change it from the menu screen or the like. Further, the threshold value may be defined not as the absolute value of the capacity such as GB but as a percentage of the total capacity of the hard disk.

  In step S601, since the remaining amount of the hard disk is less than the threshold, it is difficult to record AV data on the hard disk 112. However, the video camera 100 attempts to record AV data on the hard disk by performing a recording time adjustment process. This is to improve the usability by creating a situation where the user can shoot at least the remaining amount of the hard disk when the user wants to shoot. Details of the recording time adjustment process in step S601 will be described later with reference to FIG.

  Next, in step S602, it is confirmed whether recording is possible as a result of the recording time adjustment processing in step S601. If it is determined that recording is possible, the process proceeds to step S302 and the hard disk 112 is activated.

  On the other hand, if it is determined that recording is impossible, the process advances to step S603 to determine whether or not the optical disk 110 is loaded in the optical disk drive, that is, whether a BD or DVD is loaded. If the optical disk 110 is loaded, the process proceeds to step S604. In step S604, the remaining amount of the optical disk 110 is compared with a preset threshold value. Note that the threshold value used here may be different from the threshold value of the hard disk 112 used in step S600 or may be the same. If it is determined in step S604 that recording is possible, the process proceeds to step S303, and the activation process of the optical disc 110 such as a BD / DVD is executed. On the other hand, if it is determined that recording is impossible, the process proceeds to step S601 and then to step S602. If it is determined in step S602 that recording is possible, the process proceeds to step S303, and the optical disk 110 is started up.

  If it is determined in step S603 that no optical disk is loaded, or if it is determined in step S602 that recording is not possible, the process proceeds to step S605. In step S605, a warning sound is sounded. This warning sound is to be activated in the reliable shooting mode, but neither the hard disk 112 nor the optical disk 110 such as a BD / DVD is in a recordable state, so that the user is informed that the activation has failed in the reliable shooting mode. Objective. However, if this purpose can be achieved, it is not always necessary to sound a warning sound. For example, in addition to the warning sound, the monitor unit 115 may be configured by means for notifying the user, such as displaying a message indicating that the camera could not be activated in the certain photographing mode. After the warning sound is sounded in step S605, the normal activation process in step S300 is executed because it cannot be activated in the reliable photographing mode. At this time, if the hard disk 112 is started, messages such as “Cannot record to this hard disk” or “The hard disk capacity is full” will be displayed. If the hard disk 112 is started on the optical disk 110 side such as a BD / DVD, “insert BD / DVD” If the message “Please record on this BD / DVD. Please replace the disc” is displayed on the monitor unit 115, it is easy to use.

  6 assumes that the data can be recorded on the hard disk 112. However, if it is determined whether the data can be recorded on the hard disk 112 before step S600 in FIG. 6, the usability is further improved. In this case, only when it is determined that the hard disk 112 is recordable, the process proceeds to step S600 and the flow proceeds to a flow for recording to the hard disk. If the hard disk 112 cannot be recorded due to physical destruction or the like, the process proceeds to step S603. It is possible to proceed to the flow of recording on the optical disc 110 by proceeding. Similarly, step S604 is based on the premise that the optical disc 110 can be recorded. However, if it is determined whether or not recording is possible on the optical disc 110 before step S604, the usability is further improved. The reason that it is determined that recording is impossible when the optical disk 110 is loaded may be due to physical destruction or dirt such as fingerprints attached.

  In FIG. 6, the situation on the hard disk 112 side is first confirmed, but the situation on the optical disk 110 side such as a BD / DVD may be confirmed first. In addition, information indicating which recording medium was used before the power was last turned off may be stored in a RAM or the like, and the status of the recording medium may be checked first.

  In FIG. 6, the recording time adjustment process in step S601 may be performed for the first time after confirming that it cannot be recorded on the hard disk 112 in step S600 and cannot be recorded on the optical disk 110 in step S604. This is because, as will be described later, in the recording time adjustment process in step S601, the data amount is reduced by means such as a means for reducing the recording image quality so that shooting can be performed reliably. If it cannot be recorded, the recording image quality is not lowered, but it is desired to record on the optical disc 110 without degrading the recording image quality. Of course, since the preference varies depending on the user, it is convenient if the user can select the menu screen displayed on the monitor unit 115, the operation unit 117, and the like.

  Here, details of the recording time adjustment processing in step S601 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a recording time adjustment processing flow.

  First, in steps S700 to S702, information necessary for the processing in steps S703 and S704 is acquired. In step S700, recording time threshold information is acquired. The recording time threshold information is, for example, information indicating how much time AV data is recorded when activated in the certain photographing mode. This recording time threshold value information is assumed to be stored in advance in a RAM included in the system control unit 101 at the time of system startup, and can be changed according to user preferences from a menu screen or the like, for example. Assuming that a video camera usage scene is assumed, it is often sufficient to capture about 10 minutes at the longest, so in this embodiment, an example in which the threshold is set to 10 minutes will be described.

  In step S701, recording image quality information is acquired. The recording image quality information is recording image quality setting information such as “particularly clean”, “clean”, “normal”, and the like used when AV data is recorded by the video camera 100. The good recording image quality means that the bit rate is high and the amount of data is correspondingly large, and “particularly clean” has a larger amount of data than “clean”. Of course, this recording image quality can be changed by the user according to his / her preference, and the information is stored in the RAM. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the recording image quality information is set to “particularly beautiful” for the sake of simplicity. In addition, the amount of data when AV data is recorded in “particularly clean” is 1 GB per minute, and 10 GB is recorded when recorded for 10 minutes. In the case of “clean”, recording for 10 minutes is half of “particularly clean”. Suppose that it becomes 5 GB.

  In step S702, recording medium remaining amount information is acquired. In this process, the remaining amount of the designated recording medium is investigated and stored as information. If the designated recording medium is a hard disk, it is a part of the processing executed in step S600 of FIG. 6 and if it is the optical disc 110, it is part of the processing executed in step S604, and the result of executing step S600 or step S604 first is stored as information. If so, this processing can be omitted.

  Based on the acquired information, the recordable time is calculated in step S703. For example, it is assumed that the recording image quality is “particularly clean” and the recording medium remaining amount is 5 GB. At this time, in step S703, how many minutes can be recorded is calculated from the recording image quality and the recording medium remaining amount. When the recording image quality is “particularly clean”, since the data amount is 1 GB per minute as described above, the result is that AV data can be recorded for 5 minutes together with the information of the remaining recording medium amount of 5 GB. can get. In step S704, the result calculated in step S703 is compared with the recording time threshold acquired in step S700. If the threshold is 10 minutes, it is determined that the condition is not satisfied, and the process proceeds to step S706. On the other hand, if the threshold value is 3 minutes, for example, the process proceeds to step S705, the fact that recording is possible is stored in the RAM, and the process is terminated.

  In step S706, the currently set recording image quality information is confirmed, and it is determined whether the recording image quality can be lowered. The video camera 100 according to the present embodiment can set the recording image quality in three stages as described above. Since the recording image quality is currently set to “particularly beautiful”, the image quality is reduced to “clean” and “normal”. Can be made. Therefore, the process proceeds to step S707, and the recording image quality is changed to “beautiful”. Thereafter, in step S703, the recordable time is calculated again. Since the recording image quality is “clean”, the data amount is halved from “particularly clean”, and the result that recording is possible for 10 minutes with respect to the remaining amount 5 GB is obtained. In step S704, the threshold is 10 minutes, and recording is possible for 10 minutes. Therefore, it is determined that recording is possible, and the process proceeds to step S705. That is, recording was not possible when “particularly beautiful” was set, but recording was possible by reducing the data amount by reducing the recording image quality by one level. Therefore, although the image quality to be recorded is deteriorated by the user, it is easy to use because it is possible to reliably shoot without missing the desired shooting. Of course, there are cases where the condition of step S704 cannot be satisfied even if the recording image quality is “clear”. In this case, the process proceeds to step S706 again, and control is performed to enable photographing even if the recording image quality is further reduced.

  Of course, the type of recording medium, the remaining amount of recording medium, the data amount of recording image quality, the recording time threshold value, and the like described in this embodiment are merely examples, and various examples can be applied.

  Further, when the recording image quality is lowered in step S707, control may be performed so that the image quality is lowered to the lowest image quality at once, instead of step by step from the current setting. This makes it possible to determine at an early stage whether reducing the image quality by reducing the image quality is effective as a means for enabling recording. For example, if you tried to set “clean” first from “especially clean”, but you still could not record, but if you can record after “normal”, change the setting to “clean” once and record Processing time for recalculating the possible time is wasted. You may miss a precious scene during this time. In this case, it can be said that it was more efficient to lower it from “especially beautiful” to “normal” at a stroke without going through “clean”. Thereafter, shooting may be started with “normal”, and if it is “normal”, it is guaranteed that recording is possible. However, with “clean”, processing for confirming whether recording is possible may be performed. Furthermore, first, the image quality may be lowered to “normal” to start photographing, and in parallel with the photographing, processing for confirming whether or not “clean” can be recorded may be performed. At this time, if it is determined that recording can be performed with “clean”, the recording image quality may be changed to “clean”.

  Further, in this embodiment, the description has been given by taking 10 minutes as an example where the recording time threshold is relatively sufficient. However, the present invention is not limited to this example. For example, it is possible to acquire a shooting time based on the video camera 100 in the past and set a threshold based on the acquired shooting time. For example, the recording time threshold value can be calculated by taking an average of the photographing times of a predetermined number of times (for example, 10 times) performed in the past. Further, even if it is not an average, the predetermined number of photographing times performed in the past is classified in minutes such as 1-2 minutes, 2-3 minutes, and the system control unit 101 acquires the mode value. You may ask for. In addition, the recording time threshold value may be obtained using a statistical value of a predetermined past number of photographing times. As a result, it is possible to set a recording time threshold according to the usage method of each user. The acquisition of the shooting time may be configured such that information indicating the shooting time itself is recorded on the hard disk 112 or the like, and then acquired by the system control unit 101. Further, the system control unit 101 may analyze the captured video or audio content and acquire the time length. Further, the predetermined number of times is, for example, 10 times, but can be arbitrarily changed.

  Further, in this embodiment, in the certain photographing mode, the recording image quality is lowered only when the remaining hard disk capacity is less than the threshold value in step S600. However, when the certain photographing mode is started, the recording image quality is always minimized. You may make it start by changing a setting. This further increases the possibility of shooting at startup. However, since there is a demerit that the image quality of the recorded AV data is lowered, it is preferable that the user can select an image quality degradation control algorithm in the reliable shooting mode. For example, in the certain shooting mode, you can always change the settings such as minimizing the recording image quality, allowing the recording image quality to be reduced but recording with the best possible image quality, and not allowing the recording image quality to decrease. deep.

  Furthermore, it is conceivable to divide the processing in detail from the result of the recordable time calculated in step S704. For example, when the recording time threshold value is 10 minutes and the calculated time is 9 minutes, the threshold value is not satisfied, but some users may consider that “9 minutes can be captured”. Therefore, when the difference between the recording time threshold and the calculation result is small, such as 10 minutes and 9 minutes, the process proceeds to step S705, where recording is set, and the difference is large, such as 10 minutes and 1 minute. However, the control may proceed to step S706 so as to lower the recording image quality.

  As described above, the video camera 100 according to the present embodiment is activated in the reliable shooting mode by the processes of FIGS. At this time, an AV having a sufficient length with respect to the free space of the recording medium is obtained by using the information regarding the free space of the plurality of recording media included in the video camera 100 and the information regarding the data amount of the AV data recorded by the video camera 100. Since control is performed to adjust the amount of data so that data can be recorded, the user is more likely to be able to take a picture at startup after the power is turned on compared to the conventional case. For this reason, the user can reduce the possibility of failing to take a picture at a shooting opportunity that occurs unexpectedly, and is easy to use.

  In addition, according to the video camera 100 of the present embodiment, the activation process of the monitor unit 115, the display process of the activation mode on the monitor unit 115, the OSD display process on the monitor unit 115, and the operation unit 117 are included in S302 or S303. Prior to any one of the photographing button validation processes, the recording medium is determined by the system control unit 101. For this reason, for example, when the shooting button included in the operation unit 117 is activated, the recording medium and the recording quality are set. Then, although the remaining remaining amount is small, the recording quality becomes high, and the possibility that shooting for a predetermined time cannot be performed can be reduced. In addition, since the video camera 100 sets the recording medium and the recording quality, the user's trouble is reduced and the start of shooting is suppressed from being delayed. Further, for example, since the recording medium and the recording quality are set before the monitor unit 115 is activated, the user can grasp the set storage medium when the monitor unit 115 is activated. Become. In addition, since the recording medium and recording quality are set before the start of the video camera recording system, the user can shoot with the set recording medium and recording quality from the start of shooting. It becomes.

  Thus, according to this video camera 100, the hybrid video camera provided with a plurality of recording media is activated in a mode in which recording can be performed reliably among the plurality of recording media after the power is turned on. Also, if the recordable time is calculated from the capacity of the recording medium and the amount of AV data to be recorded, and if only a very short time can be recorded, by reducing the amount of AV data, a sufficient length can be obtained. Start up with AV data recordable. Therefore, the AV data can be reliably recorded even when the user unexpectedly takes a shooting opportunity, which is convenient.

  In the first embodiment, the recording data amount is reduced by lowering the recording image quality when starting up in the reliable photographing mode, thereby increasing the possibility of photographing. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the same effect can be obtained if the amount of data can be reduced during AV data recording.

  In the present embodiment, as one example, a method for controlling the reliable shooting mode in the video camera 100 having an image recognition function will be described. Since the present embodiment is further developed based on the contents described in the first embodiment, all the contents of the first embodiment can be applied to the present embodiment.

  FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a video camera 100 having an image recognition function. In this figure, 800 image recognition units are added to the video camera 100 of FIG. 1 and connected to the system control unit 101. The image recognition unit 800 can recognize a specific image from a subject or AV data, or perform biometric authentication by comparing an image such as a person's fingerprint or iris with a pre-registered image pattern. By mounting such an image recognition function, the video camera 100 can provide a new function, and the usability of the user is improved.

  First, an example of recognizing a specific image included in AV data will be described. In recent years, a digital still camera or the like has appeared that recognizes that a subject is a person and then releases the shutter at the moment when the person recognizes that the person is smiling. This is also applied to a video camera to recognize a person's face from the subject during AV data shooting and to control exposure and contrast so that the person's face can be beautifully shot. In response to this, information such as which scene of the AV data being shot contains a person's face can be recorded together with the AV data as image recognition information. Image recognition information is not just information about whether or not a person's face is included, but in more detail, from the characteristics of a person's face, not only gender and age, but also who the person is The specified information may be used. By using this image recognition information, for example, when reproducing a recorded scene, it is possible to search and reproduce only a scene in which a specific person is shown, which is convenient.

  Next, an example of biometric authentication by collating image patterns will be described. At present, this is often mounted on information terminals mainly containing confidential information such as PCs. Since video cameras also record private information, biometric authentication at startup is likely to become the standard in the future. In addition to protecting confidential information, it can also be applied to improve the usability of video cameras.

  For example, it is possible to provide a user-friendly environment by recognizing who of the four family members is using and managing user information stored for each user. Here, the user management information is, for example, that when the video camera 100 is activated, the user A sets the recording image quality to “particularly clean” and the recording medium to the hard disk 112 as an initial setting, but the user B sets the recording image quality to “ Information such as “clean” and setting the recording medium to the optical disk 110 as an initial setting. Further, the hard disk 112 may be shared among users, and who uses which area may be held as user management information. Here, FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of partitioning the hard disk provided with an area that can be used for each user. Specifically, FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example in which a video camera 100 having a hard disk 112 with a total capacity of 100 GB is shared and used by four families. In FIG. 9A, the total capacity of 100 GB is divided into 25 GB, each area is defined as area A to area D, area A is used by user A, area B is used by user B, and 25 GB remains in each area. It is a state with quantity. On the other hand, in FIG. 9B, the remaining amount of each region changes from the state of FIG. 9A, and the remaining amount is 1 GB for region A, 25 GB for region B, and 0 for regions C and D. That is, 24 GB of AV data is recorded in area A, and 25 GB of AV data is recorded in areas C and D. In order to manage the state shown in FIG. 9, in addition to the information on who uses which area as described above, the remaining amount of each area and the like may be held as user management information. By managing the hard disk 112 using such information, it is as if it is a video camera dedicated to oneself, even though four family members share one video camera 100 and use it. Can be used. In this manner, by installing the biometric authentication function in the video camera 100, the user of the video camera 100 can be specified and an environment that is easy for the user to use can be provided, which is very convenient.

  In the video camera 100 having the image recognition function, an example of starting the reliable shooting mode by switching the image recognition function on and off will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 6 and FIG. A video camera having an image recognition function can also be activated in the certain photographing mode shown in FIG. 5 by depressing the certain photographing button in FIG. FIG. 6 shows details of the reliable photographing mode starting process in step S501. In the first embodiment, the details of the recording time adjustment process in step S601 have been described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 7, when the recordable time is shorter than the recording time threshold, the amount of data is reduced by reducing the recording image quality, and the possibility of shooting at startup is increased. On the other hand, the recording / reproducing apparatus of the present embodiment performs processing including turning off the image recognition function in S601 recording time adjustment processing. Hereinafter, the recording time adjustment process in step S601 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  In FIG. 10, step S701 in FIG. 7 is changed to step S1001, step S706 is changed to step S1002, step S707 is changed to step S1003, and step S1004 is added. Here, the process part changed from FIG. 7 is mainly demonstrated, and the description of the other part is omitted.

  In step S1001, image recognition setting information is acquired. The image recognition setting information is information for setting whether to record the image recognition information at the time of AV data shooting, that is, whether the image recognition function is on or off. Recording image recognition information means recording information such as who's face appears in which scene using the image recognition function during AV data shooting, and not recording image recognition information. Compared to this, the amount of data recorded on the recording medium increases. The image recognition setting information is assumed to be stored in, for example, a RAM. For example, it is convenient if the user can change the setting of the image recognition function from the menu screen or the like according to his / her preference.

  In step S703, how many AV data can be recorded is calculated from the acquired image recognition setting information and the remaining amount of recording medium. For example, it is assumed that the remaining amount of the recording medium is 10 GB, a capacity of 10 GB is necessary to record AV data for 10 minutes, and the image recognition function is set to ON in the image recognition setting information. In addition, when the image recognition function is on, the data amount of image recognition information to be recorded is assumed to be 10 GB per 10 minutes. That is, in order to record AV data with the image recognition function set to ON, 1 GB of data is required per minute for AV data, and 1 GB for image recognition information. In this embodiment, since the remaining amount of the recording medium is 10 GB, the recordable time calculated in step S703 is 5 minutes.

  In step S704, the threshold acquired in step S700 is compared with the calculated recordable time. Here, it is assumed that the threshold is 10 minutes, and the recordable time is 5 minutes. Therefore, it is determined that recording is not possible as it is, and the process proceeds to step S1002. In step S1002, the image recognition setting information acquired in step S1001 is examined to determine whether the image recognition function is set to ON. If the image recognition function is set to ON, the process proceeds to step S1003. If the image recognition function is set to OFF, the process proceeds to step S706.

  In step S1003, the image recognition function is turned off, and the process advances to step S1004 to update the image recognition setting information from on to off. Next, the recordable time is calculated again in step S703. Unlike the previous calculation, since the image recognition function is turned off, only AV data is recorded, and the data amount corresponding to the image recognition information is reduced from the total data amount at the time of shooting. That is, since the remaining amount of the recording medium is 10 GB and AV data is recorded with a data amount of 1 GB per minute, the recordable time is 10 minutes. Therefore, in step S704, it is determined that recording is possible, and the process proceeds to step S705, where AV data can be recorded. As a result, although the image recognition function remains on, the image could not be shot, but by turning off the image recognition function, the amount of recorded data at the time of shooting is reduced, and the camera is activated in a state where it can be shot.

  As described above, when an information recording / reproducing apparatus having an image recognition function is activated in the reliable shooting mode, it is determined whether the image recognition function is on or off, and when the image recognition function is on, the amount of data during recording is large. If you can't take a picture, turn off the image recognition function and reduce the amount of data at the time of recording. Thereby, for example, the possibility of missing a precious scene that is only once in a lifetime, such as a scene in which my child stood up for the first time, is reduced compared to the conventional case. Of course, depending on the remaining amount of the recording medium, shooting may not be possible even if the image recognition function is turned off. In that case, it is determined in step S1002 that the image recognition function is off, and the process advances to step S706 to make recording impossible.

  In the example described above, the start control of the reliable photographing mode is performed based on the information on the remaining amount of the recording medium and the information on whether the image recognition function is on or off. However, by combining not only information on whether the image recognition function is on or off, but also other information, the possibility of shooting at startup is further increased, and usability is improved.

  For example, a combination with certain imaging due to a decrease in recording image quality as shown in FIG. 7 is possible. In step S706 and step S707 in FIG. 7, the recording image quality is reduced to the minimum, but when the recordable time is shorter than the recording time threshold, the image recognition function is turned off to further reduce the recording data amount, It can be in a recordable state. Of course, the image recognition function may be turned off before the recording image quality is lowered, and if recording is still impossible, the recording image quality may be gradually lowered.

  At this time, it is convenient to allow the user to set from the menu screen or the like whether to turn off the image recognition function, a means to lower the recording image quality, or which means to reduce the data amount first. . For example, if the user prioritizes high recording image quality over the image recognition function, the image recognition function may be set to be turned off first. On the other hand, if the user prioritizes the image recognition function over the recording image quality, the user may set the recording image quality to be lowered first. Of course, it is possible to perform control such that the recording image quality is lowered by one level, the image recognition function is turned off if recording is still impossible, and the recording image quality is lowered by another level if recording is still impossible. As long as the amount of data at the time of recording can be reduced, the means is not limited to turning off the image recognition function or lowering the recording image quality, and can be applied to this embodiment, and data that can be reduced. The larger the amount, the more likely the user can shoot, and the more types of data that can be selected, the more users can decide which data to prioritize and reduce according to their preference and usage good. Of course, the image recognition function may be always turned off regardless of the remaining amount of the recording medium when starting up with the sure shooting button pressed. In this case, since it is not necessary to determine whether the image recognition function is on or off, shooting can be started earlier by the processing time. As described above, the conditions for turning off the image recognition function can be set in various ways other than those described in the present embodiment. The same.

  In addition to switching the image recognition function depending on whether it is on or off, a method of controlling so as to increase the possibility of shooting by reducing some information from the image recognition information is also conceivable. Here, turning off the image recognition function means not recording all image recognition information. However, the data amount can also be reduced by turning on the image recognition function itself and reducing only a part of the information from the recorded image recognition information. For example, as image recognition information, it is assumed that the information on which scene is in which scene and the information on which position (coordinates) is on the screen is the same, and the amount of data is the same. To do.

  Here, for example, if information on who's face is recorded but information on where the face is on the screen is not recorded, the data amount of the image recognition information can be reduced by half. it can. Of course, when the image recognition function is turned off, that is, when all the image recognition information is not recorded, the data amount is 50% larger, but if the information amount of the image recognition information can be reduced even by 50%, shooting is possible. It may be possible, and it is convenient.

  In this way, as a means of reducing the amount of data to be recorded for reliable shooting, image recognition information is not captured as a single piece of information, but is divided into individual pieces of information. If it is possible to select whether to record or not, more detailed control becomes possible.

  Next, in the video camera 100 having the image recognition function, an example of starting the sure shooting mode using biometric authentication will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example in which a user authentication device for identifying a user by biometric authentication is installed in the video camera 100 having an image recognition function. FIG. 11-a is obtained by adding a user authentication device to FIG. 4-a, and FIG. 11-b is FIG. 4-b, respectively. The video camera 100 that performs user authentication can be activated by operating only the power switch, or can be activated by a combination of the user authentication device and the power switch. It can also be activated by an operation that combines. Of course, the installation method of the user authentication device is not limited to this. The power switch and the user authentication device may be combined into one, and a power switch equipped with the user authentication device may be provided. One may be provided with a reliable photographing button provided with a user authentication device.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of a startup flow of a video camera capable of user authentication. This figure is obtained by adding steps S1201 and S1202 to the activation flow of FIG.

  First, in step S1201, it is determined whether or not the user authentication device of FIG. 11 is being used. If the user authentication device is not used, the process proceeds to step S300, and the activation process described in the explanation of FIG. 3 is performed. I won't go into detail about this. On the other hand, if a user authentication device is used and user authentication is possible using fingerprints or irises, the process advances to step S1202. In step S1202, user management information is acquired. As described above, the user management information manages information such as which recording medium is to be activated in which recording image quality is activated for each user. This information should be set once by each user as well as registering information such as fingerprints and irises necessary for user authentication immediately after purchase, for example. This user management information is assumed to be stored in, for example, a RAM. In step S301, based on the user management information acquired in step S1202, it is determined which recording medium is to be activated. If it is the hard disk 112, step S302 is executed, and if it is the optical disk 110, step S303 is executed. Thus, a video camera capable of user authentication can be activated with different settings for each user by using user management information.

  Next, FIG. 13 shows an example of an activation flow for activating in a certain photographing mode in a video camera capable of user authentication. FIG. 13 is a diagram in which FIG. 5 and FIG. 12 are combined. Since the processing contents executed in each step are as described above, detailed description thereof is omitted. First, it is determined in step S1201 whether or not user authentication has been performed. If user authentication has been performed, user management information is acquired in step S1202. Next, in step S300, it is determined whether or not to start in the sure shooting mode. When starting in the certain shooting mode, the process proceeds to step S501.

  Here, FIG. 6 shows details of the reliable photographing mode starting process in step S501. In step S600, it is determined whether or not the remaining amount of the hard disk is greater than or equal to a threshold. In a video camera capable of user authentication, whether or not the remaining amount of the hard disk area specified by the acquired user management information is greater than or equal to the threshold. Judge whether. Of course, if the acquired user management information is set to record preferentially over the optical disc 110 such as a BD / DVD, the step S603 is performed before the remaining amount of the designated area of the hard disk 112 is confirmed. May be executed to control to record on the BD / DVD.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 9, a case where the hard disk 112 is divided into four areas for each user will be described. Also, assume that the user authenticated in step S1201 is user A. Since the user A is to use the area A of the hard disk 112 based on the user management information, in step S600, it is determined whether or not the remaining capacity of the area A of the hard disk is equal to or greater than a threshold value. Here, if the remaining amount of the area A of the hard disk 112 is equal to or greater than the threshold value, the process proceeds to step S302 to activate the video camera. On the other hand, if the remaining amount of the area A of the hard disk is less than the threshold value, the process proceeds to step S601, and the recording time adjustment process is executed. Details of the recording time adjustment processing in step S601 are shown in FIG. 7, and FIG. 10 shows a variation of FIG. 7, but here it is executed in a video camera capable of user authentication using FIG. An example of the flow of the recording time adjustment process will be described.

  In FIG. 14, step S701 in FIG. 7 is replaced with step S1401, step S702 is replaced with step S1402, step S706 is replaced with step S1403, and step S707 is deleted. Here, the process part changed from FIG. 7 is mainly demonstrated, and the description of the other part is omitted.

  First, in step S1401, priority recording area setting information is acquired. The priority recording area setting information is, for example, one of the information stored in the RAM, and which of the four areas from A to D of the hard disk 112 is to be prioritized to record AV data. This is information in which priority is set. Only one piece of this information may exist in the information recording / reproducing apparatus, or each user may have setting information. Here, it is assumed that each user has priority recording area setting information. First, as a result of the determination process in step S600, it is determined that the remaining amount of the area A of the hard disk 112 is less than the threshold value, that is, it is determined that AV data for a predetermined time or more cannot be recorded in the area A. Obtain priority recording area setting information and investigate the contents. Here, it is assumed that the priority recording area setting information of the user A is set as A> C> B> D, for example. That is, when the user of the video camera is determined to be the user A by user authentication, recording of AV data is usually attempted in the area A having the highest priority. Since it is determined that recording cannot be performed in the area A this time, recording of AV data is attempted in the area C having the next highest priority after A.

  In step S1402, the remaining amount of the area C of the hard disk 112 is acquired. Here, as shown in FIG. 9B, the remaining amount of the area C of the hard disk 112 is 0, and AV data cannot be recorded any more. That is, in FIG. 14, the process proceeds from step S703 to step S704 and step S1403.

  In step S1403, it is investigated whether there is an area for which the remaining amount has not been investigated as a hard disk area. Here, the areas B and D have not been investigated, and according to the priority recording area setting information, the area B has the next highest priority. Therefore, the process proceeds again to step S1402, and the remaining amount of the area B of the hard disk is acquired. As shown in FIG. 9B, the remaining amount of the area B of the hard disk 112 is 25 GB, and no data is recorded. Therefore, in the next step S703, the recordable time is calculated. Here, since the remaining amount of the recording medium is 25 GB and AV data is recorded with a data amount of 1 GB per minute, the recordable time is 25 minutes. Since the recording time threshold acquired in step S700 is 10 minutes, it is determined in step S704 that recording is possible, and the process proceeds to step S705. If there is no remaining amount in the region B, the remaining amount in the region D is confirmed based on the priority recording region setting information. Furthermore, when it is determined that there is no remaining amount in the area D and recording is not possible, it means that there is no remaining amount in any area of the hard disk 112, so that the process proceeds to step S603 in FIG. become.

  As described above, in the video camera capable of user authentication, it is assumed that the user A has no remaining capacity in the area A where the AV data was originally planned to be recorded because the user A was originally scheduled to record the AV data. However, by controlling the AV data to be recorded in the remaining area (area B in this example), the possibility of shooting is increased, which is convenient.

  In this example, when the remaining amount of the area A of the hard disk is less than the threshold value, the recording is immediately recorded in another area of the hard disk 112, but other control methods are also conceivable. For example, as shown in FIG. 9B, the remaining amount of the area A is 1 GB, and although it is less than the threshold, there is an empty area, and thus AV data can be recorded for a short time. Therefore, for example, control may be performed to reduce the amount of AV data so that 10 minutes of AV data can be recorded in 1 GB which is a free space in the area A of the hard disk 112.

  In this embodiment, in order to record 10 minutes of AV data, a 10 GB free area is required in the area A of the hard disk. However, since the free area in area A is only 1 GB, recording for 10 minutes is impossible as it is. On the other hand, if the data amount of AV data can be reduced to 1/10, AV data can be recorded for 10 minutes even if the free area is 1 GB. As means for reducing the data amount of such AV data, the above-described reduction in recording image quality, reduction in image recognition information, and the like can be considered. That is, in the video camera capable of user authentication described so far, when starting in the reliable shooting mode, the recording time adjustment process shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. By reducing the number, the possibility of shooting is further increased, which is very convenient. Of course, as long as the data amount at the time of AV data recording can be reduced, the means is not limited to the reduction in the recording image quality and the reduction of the image recognition information, and the same effect can be obtained by any means.

  Further, first, a hard disk area having enough free space for recording 10 minutes of AV data is searched without reducing the amount of data, and if there is free space for 10 minutes, it is recorded there. Control may be made so that the amount of data is reduced for the first time when there is no free space for a minute, and recording is performed in an area where there is even a little space.

  In the present embodiment, for example, when the user A records AV data, there is no free space in the area A, and therefore a case occurs in which AV data is recorded in the area B that is the area of the user B. In this way, when a certain user borrows another user's area and performs certain photographing, the data should be saved to his own area as soon as possible. For example, when the user A borrows the area B, the area A is provided with the same free area as the area B is borrowed by deleting data that is no longer needed from the area A. Should be saved in that area. If this is not done, when user B tries to perform reliable shooting, the AV data recorded by user A may occupy area B, and a situation may occur in which reliable shooting cannot be performed. Therefore, when a certain user borrows another user's area and surely shoots, the user A is prompted to save the recorded data from the area B to the area A at the end of AV data recording or the like. If it controls like this, it is convenient.

  In this way, when multiple users share and use one video camera, the total capacity of the hard disk is divided to provide an area that can be used for each user, and the remaining amount of the area is investigated at startup, If the remaining amount is not sufficient, control is performed so that recording is performed in an area having a remaining amount, so that the possibility of shooting is further increased and the usability is improved.

  In the example described so far, the total capacity of the hard disk 100 GB is divided into four equal parts by four users and shared. Therefore, for example, when it is attempted to record AV data in the area A but there is no free area, the AV data is recorded in another area. That is, another user invades the hard disk area of one user. In this way, it is not a good feeling that other users are invaded by the hard disk area prepared for yourself, so multiple users are conscious of one area, so it is not easy to beat something An erroneous operation such as deleting data by mistake may occur. Therefore, for example, an area that is not for any user may be provided on the hard disk, such as area E in the hard disk division example in which the area for reliable photographing shown in FIG. 15 is provided.

  In other words, this area E may be handled as an area for the reliable photographing mode. That is, when the camera is activated in the reliable shooting mode, control is performed so that AV data is always recorded in the area E regardless of which user is operating the video camera 100. As a result, a situation in which another user invades the hard disk area of one user does not occur. In addition, in order to use the area E as an area for the reliable photographing mode, it is desirable to always ensure a sufficient free space in the area, more specifically, to always have no data. For this reason, after AV data is recorded in the area E in the reliable photographing mode, it is recommended to move the recorded AV data to the hard disk area for the user who recorded the data. Of course, when recording in the reliable shooting mode, it is possible to control to overwrite the existing data in area E forcibly, but it is desirable for the user to overwrite valuable data. Absent. Therefore, it is convenient to let the user select whether to overwrite existing data.

  Here, the video camera 100 capable of user authentication has been described on the assumption that user authentication is performed. Of course, the user can set whether or not to perform user authentication from a menu or the like. Also good. If the setting is such that user authentication is not performed, even if the user's finger is touching the user authentication device, fingerprint authentication is not performed, and step S1201 may be skipped and the process proceeds to step S300. Also, even if the user's finger is touching the user authentication device, if the touch cannot be performed successfully due to insufficient touch, the process does not proceed to step S1202 and a warning is given. The user should be cautioned so that user authentication can be performed correctly by outputting sound or voice.

  Further, if the user can select what kind of control is to be performed in the reliable shooting mode of the video camera 100 capable of user authentication, it is very convenient to use. For example, for each user, it may be set that the image recognition information may be reduced and the hard disk area of another person may be invaded, but the recording image quality is not deteriorated. Furthermore, in order to perform reliable shooting, if you have to perform control such as reducing the amount of data or borrowing another person's hard disk area, devise the user to recognize that fact. Good. For example, an example of displaying characters or icons on the monitor unit 115 or outputting sound can be considered as the device.

  Further, in the example described so far, as a result of investigating the remaining amount of the recording medium, if the recording medium has a vacancy and can be recorded, the recording is performed. It has been controlled to record with a reduced amount of data and not to record if there is no space and recording is not possible. However, as an ultimate reliable photographing method, it is conceivable to allow recording even if the existing data is erased. In the examples described so far, the possibility of shooting has increased, but recording is not possible if there is no free space on the recording medium, so it was not guaranteed that 100% shooting could be performed, but existing data If recording is performed after data is erased or data is overwritten, 100% of the image can be taken.

  This makes it possible to realize true photographing in a true sense. However, as described above, erasing existing recorded data is risky for the user, and in some cases suffers a great damage. Therefore, an information recording / reproducing apparatus should be devised so as to reduce risks and damages as much as possible in order to delete existing data and overwrite data.

  As a contrivance, for example, the recording date and time of the existing data is investigated and deleted from the oldest one, the reproduction date and time and the number of times of reproduction are investigated and deleted from the oldest and the least number of times, BD / DVD It may be possible to investigate whether or not the recording medium for storage is dubbed and delete it from the dubbed one. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, it has been described that recording is performed for 10 minutes in the certain photographing mode. Therefore, the data amount of existing data may be investigated, and control may be performed so that the data amount to be deleted is closer to 10 minutes. . Of course, it is convenient if the user can set in advance which data is to be deleted preferentially. In addition, when performing reliable shooting by forcibly overwriting existing data, it may be possible to set from the menu screen or the like, in addition to the “reliable shooting button” in FIG. 4 and FIG. May be provided. Of course, it is also possible to perform reliable photographing by forced overwriting by combining and operating a plurality of existing button presses.

  In addition, the video camera 100 is provided with a certain shooting button in a set, or is activated in a certain shooting mode using an existing button. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, it may be selected from the menu screen whether or not to start in the sure shooting mode. That is, when the user has set the certain shooting mode to “ON” on the menu screen, the video camera 100 of this embodiment is controlled to start in the certain shooting mode. At this time, it is not necessary to operate the certain photographing button at all. In addition, when the certain photographing mode is set to “OFF” from the menu screen, for example, it may be controlled to start based on the mode information at the time of starting last time. With the configuration as described above, it is possible to start in the reliable shooting mode without newly providing a button in the set, and it is easy to use.

  In this embodiment, the hard disk is built in the recording / reproducing apparatus. However, the hard disk is not limited to the built-in type and may be detachable. If it is a detachable type, the data recorded on the hard disk can be carried, so it is easy to transfer the data to another device. Further, a similar effect can be obtained with a semiconductor memory or the like instead of the hard disk 112. Further, the type of the optical disc 110 such as BD and DVD is not particularly limited. For example, the optical disc is not limited to BD and DVD, and may be another optical disc such as HD (High Definition) -DVD. Further, the present invention is not limited to the combination of a hard disk and an optical disk, and may be a combination of a hard disk and a semiconductor memory, an optical disk and a semiconductor memory, for example. Here, FIG. 16 shows a configuration example of a hybrid camera having a hard disk and a semiconductor memory as a recording medium and having an image recognition unit among the above combinations.

  Furthermore, the video camera 100 according to the present embodiment may transmit the recorded AV data and various types of information to an external storage medium via the communication unit 113. For example, in FIG. 1, when the camera is activated in the sure shooting mode, even when an attempt is made to record AV data in the external storage medium 1700 but there is no remaining amount, the external storage medium 2 of another external storage medium 1701. It is easy to use because it can check the remaining amount and record AV data if there is remaining amount. In the example of FIG. 1, since the video camera 100 has a built-in hard disk 112 and is compatible with the optical disk 110, for example, AV data is recorded on the built-in hard disk when all the external storage media have no remaining capacity. It is very convenient to control. On the other hand, a configuration in which the video camera 100 main body does not have a recording medium and data is recorded only on an external storage medium is also conceivable. Such a video camera 100 is cheaper than a conventional video camera and can be used easily. In the sure shooting mode of the video camera 100, it is preferable to prepare a plurality of external storage media or divide the total capacity of the external storage media for each user so that shooting can be performed more reliably. . Here, the external storage medium and the video camera in FIG. 1 may communicate with each other by wire or wirelessly. The external storage medium may be a server on a network or a memory built in a mobile phone or a portable music player, and is not particularly limited.

  Of course, the number of recording media is not limited to two, and three or more recording media may exist. When one recording medium is divided into a plurality of areas and used, the same effect can be obtained even if only one recording medium is used. In this embodiment, the image sensor 102 has been described as an example of a sensor. However, a sensor that changes other physical information into an electrical signal may be used. An example of a sensor is a microphone. Further, although image information has been described as an example of information, other information may be used. For example, there is audio information as an example of information.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to an above-described Example, Various modifications are included. For example, the above-described embodiments have been described in detail for easy understanding of the present invention, and are not necessarily limited to those having all the configurations described. In addition, a part of the configuration of a certain embodiment can be replaced with the configuration of another embodiment, and the configuration of another embodiment can be added to the configuration of a certain embodiment. Further, it is possible to add, delete, and replace other configurations for a part of the configuration of each embodiment.

  In addition, each of the above-described configurations may be configured such that some or all of them are configured by hardware, or are implemented by executing a program by a processor. Further, the control lines and information lines indicate what is considered necessary for the explanation, and not all the control lines and information lines on the product are necessarily shown. Actually, it may be considered that almost all the components are connected to each other.

Block diagram of video camera Diagram showing an example of a video camera power switch Diagram showing an example of a video camera startup sequence Diagram showing an example of installation of the reliable shooting button of a video camera The figure which shows the example of starting flow of the video camera which has the certain photographing button A diagram showing an example of the startup flow when the certain shooting button is pressed Diagram showing an example of recording time adjustment processing flow by changing recording image quality Block diagram of a video camera having an image recognition unit The figure which shows the example of the division of the hard disk which provides the area which can be used every user The figure which shows the example of a recording data amount adjustment process flow by on-off switching of image recognition information The figure which shows the installation example of the user authentication apparatus of a video camera Diagram showing an example of the startup flow of a video camera that utilizes user authentication A diagram showing an example of a startup flow in the reliable shooting mode utilizing user authentication The figure which shows the example of a flow of the recording time adjustment process performed in the video camera which can be authenticated The figure which shows the example of the division of the hard disk which provides the area for sure photographing Block diagram of a video camera having an image recognition unit using a hard disk and a semiconductor memory as a recording medium

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Video camera, 101 ... System control part, 102 ... Image pick-up element, 103 ... Image | video input / output terminal, 104 ... Image | video compression / expansion part, 105 ... Audio | voice input / output terminal, 106 ... Audio | voice compression / expansion part, 107 ... Multiplexing / demultiplexing part , 108 ... optical disk driver section, 109 ... optical disk loading section, 110 ... optical disk, 111 ... hard disk driver section, 112 ... hard disk, 113 ... communication section, 114 ... communication input / output terminal, 115 ... monitor section, 116 ... power supply section

Claims (6)

An information recording device for recording information acquired from a sensor,
A plurality of recording media;
A recording medium selection means for the user to select which recording medium among the plurality of recording media;
Recording means for recording information input from the sensor on the recording medium;
Recordable time acquisition means for acquiring information indicating the remaining time that can be recorded on the recording medium from the free capacity of the recording medium and the bit rate for recording information input from the sensor;
Time setting means for setting a time for recording the information;
Control means for controlling each of the components,
The control means includes
When the remaining recordable time of the first recording medium selected by the recording medium selecting means is shorter than the set time, the information is recorded on the second recording medium when the power is turned on. Control to
An information recording apparatus that controls to reduce a data amount of the information to be recorded when recording on the first and second recording media is impossible . An information recording device for recording information acquired from a sensor ,
A plurality of recording media;
A recording medium selection means for the user to select which recording medium among the plurality of recording media;
Recording instruction means for the user to instruct recording of information;
Recording means for recording information input from the sensor on a recording medium;
Recordable time acquisition means for acquiring information indicating the remaining time that can be recorded on the recording medium from the free capacity of the recording medium and the bit rate for recording information input from the sensor;
Time setting means for setting a time for recording the information;
A first power-on means and a second power-on means for performing a power-on operation by the user;
Control means for controlling each of the components,
The control means includes
When the remaining time is shorter than the set time and the power is turned on by the first power-on means, after the power is turned on and before the recording instruction means is activated, An information recording apparatus that controls to reduce a data amount of the information to be recorded. An information recording device for recording information acquired from a sensor,
A plurality of recording media;
A recording medium selection means for the user to select which recording medium among the plurality of recording media;
Recording means for recording information input from the sensor on the recording medium;
Recordable time acquisition means for acquiring information indicating the remaining time that can be recorded on the recording medium from the free capacity of the recording medium and the bit rate for recording information input from the sensor;
Time setting means for setting a time for recording the information;
Control means for controlling each of the components,
The sensor is an image sensor, and information acquired from the image sensor is image information.
Comprising image recognition processing means for performing image recognition processing on the image information;
The recording means records recognition processing information indicating a result of the image recognition processing on the recording medium together with image information input from the imaging element,
The control means includes
When the remaining recordable time of the recording medium selected by the recording medium selecting means is shorter than the set time, when turning on the power, by deleting a part of the recognition processing information, An information recording apparatus that controls to reduce a data amount of the information to be recorded. An information recording device for recording information acquired from a sensor ,
A plurality of recording media;
A recording medium selection means for the user to select which recording medium among the plurality of recording media;
Recording instruction means for the user to instruct recording of information;
Recording means for recording information input from the sensor on a recording medium;
The free space of the recording medium and the bit rate for recording information input from the sensor
A recordable time acquisition means for acquiring information indicating the remaining time recordable on the recording medium;
Time setting means for setting a time for recording the information;
Control means for controlling each of the components,
The sensor is an image sensor, and information acquired from the image sensor is image information.
Comprising image recognition processing means for performing image recognition processing on the image information;
The recording means records recognition processing information indicating a result of the image recognition processing on the recording medium together with image information input from the imaging element,
The control means includes
If the remaining recordable time of the recording medium selected by the recording medium selection means is shorter than the set time, the recognition process is performed after the power is turned on and before the recording instruction means is validated. An information recording apparatus that controls to reduce a data amount of the information to be recorded by deleting a part of the information. An information recording device for recording information acquired from a sensor,
A plurality of recording media;
A recording medium selection means for the user to select which recording medium among the plurality of recording media;
Recording means for recording information input from the previous SL sensors on the recording medium,
Recordable time acquisition means for acquiring information indicating the remaining time that can be recorded on the recording medium from the free capacity of the recording medium and the bit rate for recording information input from the sensor;
Time setting means for setting a time for recording the information;
Control means for controlling each of the components,
The sensor is an image sensor, and information acquired from the image sensor is image information.
Comprising image recognition processing means for performing image recognition processing on the image information;
The recording means records recognition processing information indicating a result of the image recognition processing on the recording medium together with image information input from the imaging element,
The control means includes
When the remaining time is shorter than the set time, control is performed to reduce the data amount of the information to be recorded by stopping the recording of the recognition processing information when the power is turned on. Information recording device. An information recording device for recording information acquired from a sensor ,
A plurality of recording media;
A recording medium selection means for the user to select which recording medium among the plurality of recording media;
Recording instruction means for the user to instruct recording of information;
Recording means for recording information input from the sensor on a recording medium;
The free space of the recording medium and the bit rate for recording information input from the sensor
A recordable time acquisition means for acquiring information indicating the remaining time recordable on the recording medium;
Time setting means for setting a time for recording the information;
Control means for controlling each of the components,
The sensor is an image sensor, and information acquired from the image sensor is image information.
Comprising image recognition processing means for performing image recognition processing on the image information;
The recording means records recognition processing information indicating a result of the image recognition processing on the recording medium together with image information input from the imaging element,
The control means includes
When the remaining time is shorter than the set time, the amount of information to be recorded is stopped by stopping the recording of the recognition processing information after the power is turned on and before the recording instruction unit is activated. An information recording apparatus characterized by controlling so as to reduce noise.

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