JPH05109240A - Video tape recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To shorten the time for making a table for managing the recording state of a video tape in the lump. CONSTITUTION:A management area is provided in the beginning of the tape for the purpose of grasping its recording state, where management information including a compressed picture signal and an address signal showing its position is recorded. The impressed picture signal and the address signal and an index signal for its mark are recorded in the leading position of a program. When a desired picture is selected by displaying a table of the management information on a screen at the time of reproducing a video signal, a program can be retrieved by detecting its index signal. When the index signal is detected by an index/address signal detecting circuit 18 at the time of fast forward reproducing and high speed search, etc., in the video tape recorder 1, the management information recorded in the leading position of the program corresponding to this index signal is stored in memories 19 and 21, and hence the information is always renewed. At the time of turning off a power source and at the time of ejection, such management information of a tape range whose management information has not the whole tape is recorded in the management area of the beginning of the tape.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a video tape capable of managing the recording condition of a video tape as a compressed image, displaying a list as needed, and quickly searching for a program corresponding to a desired image. It is an object of the present invention to provide a new video tape recorder which can improve the operability by adding and updating the recording status management information without the user being aware of it.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A video tape has a problem that it is disadvantageous in random access as compared with a disk or the like, and is not good at a process of calling a desired image among recorded images and immediately reproducing it. is there.

Therefore, when recording a video signal on a tape, an index signal is recorded at the recording start position of each video signal, and the index signal is searched during reproduction to relatively easily reach a desired recorded image. There is a known device.

For example, in an 8 mm VTR (video tape recorder), one recording track has a video signal recording area (video area), a PCM audio signal recording area (PCM area), and a recording area between them. An area (code area) for recording additional information other than video and audio signals is provided.

Then, the index signal is recorded in a code area in a predetermined number of tracks from the recording start position of the video signal, and during reproduction, the index signal is detected while fast-forwarding and rewinding the tape. The beginning part of the recorded image can be found relatively easily.

However, in this method, the index signal must be sequentially searched to reproduce and confirm the head portion of the recorded image one by one, and the head portion of the desired recorded image cannot be directly accessed, which is not very convenient. Not good.

Therefore, a table area is provided for collecting the image (compressed image) of the head portion of each recording signal and its address information in one place on the tape, and this table is provided at the time of retrieval.
Access to the table to retrieve the management information recorded in the table area, to grasp the recorded contents of the tape as a whole, and search for the desired recorded image from that to reach the target recording position. It is possible.

In this case, when a video signal is newly recorded, the original recording signal may be overwritten in some cases, so that the management information in the table area must be rewritten accordingly.

[0009]

However, when the video signal is newly recorded, the index information is searched from the beginning to the end of the tape to update the management information. Therefore, there is a problem in that the operation waiting time increases.

[0010]

[Means for Solving the Problems] By the way, when the magnetic head is tracing the tape such as fast-forward playback or high-speed search for cueing, the index signal is detected without ignoring the index signal. If compressed image data and address data corresponding to this are read out and stored in the memory each time they are detected and these management information is constantly updated, it becomes unnecessary to frequently record the management information in the table area.

In view of this, the video tape recorder of the present invention solves the above-mentioned problems by solving the above-described problems by recording the first area for recording the video signal on the recording track of the video tape and the sub information of the video signal. In a video tape recorder according to a format having a second area for recording a compressed image signal of a video signal, management information including a compressed image signal and an address signal indicating its position is recorded on the tape in order to manage the recording condition of the tape. Management information recording means for collectively recording in a management information area provided at a predetermined position, an index signal as a mark of a position on the tape corresponding to the compressed image signal, and an address signal indicating a recording position are recorded in the second area. Index / address signal recording means, reproducing means for reproducing management information in the management information area or the second area, and management after reproduction Information storing means, an index signal detecting means for detecting the index signal, and a management information corresponding to the index signal detecting means receiving the signal from the index signal detecting means. Then, the updating means is provided for updating the information and always recording the latest management information when the management information is recorded on the tape.

[0012]

According to the present invention, every time the index signal recorded on the tape is detected, the management information recorded on the tape corresponding to the index signal is read to update the management information in the storage means. By referring to the latest management information, the range in which the index has not been detected yet becomes clear, and after checking the management information for the other ranges, the management information for the entire range of the tape is obtained and this is used. It can be recorded in the management information (table) area of the tape by one processing.

Therefore, when recording the management information in the management information (table) area of the tape, it is possible to eliminate the redundant use of the index detection, the time for creating the management information table is significantly shortened, and the user can record the tape on the tape. It is possible to reduce the operational waiting time without being bothered by the management of.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The video tape recorder of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the illustrated embodiments.

The video tape recorder according to the present invention records an index signal at the beginning of a program (program), during playback, during CUE (fast forward playback) / REV (rollback playback), or high speed search. When the index signal is detected in such a case, the image information and the position information corresponding to the index signal are always stored in the memory, and when the table is created, the index signal is already known for the range on the tape where the index signal is already known. The search is not performed, and the index signal is searched for the other range so that the search for the duplicate index signal is not performed.

1 to 6 show a first embodiment 1 in which the present invention is applied to an 8 mm VTR.

FIG. 2 schematically shows the recording situation of the 8 mm video tape, and programs A, B and C are recorded in this order.

As shown in FIG. 4, regarding the track format, in one recording track T, a recording area VA of a video signal and a recording area PA of a PCM audio signal are provided.
A code area CA is provided between the code area CA and the code area CA. The code area CA includes, for example, a time code including an address (frame number), hours, minutes, seconds, and a frame, and an index signal indicating the start position of the program. Etc. are to be recorded.

As shown in FIG. 2, index signals IDa and ID are provided in the code area immediately after the start of recording of each program.
b and IDc are respectively recorded over a predetermined number of tracks, and in the PCM area over the predetermined number of tracks immediately after the start of recording of each program, the image of the first frame of the program is compressed image signal Sa, respectively. Sb, S
It is digitized and recorded as c.

The beginning of the video tape is an information table (hereinafter, "TOC") for managing the recording status of the entire tape.
(Table Of Contents) ”. )
, And the compressed image signals Sa, Sb, Sc are recorded as digital data in the video area.

The compressed image signal also includes an address signal indicating the recording position of the compressed image in each program, that is, the position of the index signal. Below, TOC
The compressed image data and address data recorded on the tape, and the compressed image data and address data stored in the memory for recording on the TOC are called "TOC information", and the area where the TOC exists on the tape is called "TOC information". We will call it "TOC area".

FIG. 3 shows the correspondence between the image display example on the screen and the TOC information.

In this example, the screen is divided into 4 × 4 and compressed images Ga, G corresponding to programs A, B, C are displayed.
b and Gc are displayed in a horizontal row at the top of the screen.

The TOC information is stored in the memory of the 8 mm VTR 1 and finally recorded in the TOC. When the memory content is conceptually illustrated, it corresponds to each program as shown in FIG. Address data (time code) indicating the recording position of the compressed image and the compressed image data are stored in association with each other.

ADR_a, ADR_b, ADR_c in the figure
Represents the address data of the compressed images Ga, Gb, Gc, and GD_a, GD_b, GD_c represent the image data of the compressed images Ga, Gb, Gc, respectively.

In this case, the address data ADR_a, AD
R_b and ADR_c may be arranged in the memory in search order, or may be arranged in time order while keeping a time series.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the 8 mm VTR 1.

First, the recording system will be described. The analog video recording circuit 2 processes the video signal input from the video signal input terminal 3 and then outputs it to the switch circuit 4.

The switch circuit 4 is a system controller 5
The switching control is performed by means of one of the video signal supplied from the analog video recording circuit 2 and the video signal supplied from the recording circuit 6, and the selected one is sent to the switch circuit 7 in the subsequent stage. ..

The recording circuit 6 is provided for recording a compressed image signal or the like in the TOC area as described later.

A gate circuit 8, an A / D converter 9 and an encoder 1 formed in parallel with the analog video recording circuit 2.
The signal processing system including 0 and the memory 11 is for generating a compressed image signal.

Under the control of the system controller 5, the gate circuit 8 extracts a signal for one frame or one field from the video input signal and outputs it to the A / D converter 9.
The digitized data is image-compressed by the encoder 10 to a size of 1/16 of the standard image size and stored in the memory 11.

The memory 11 stores not only the compressed image signal but also these signals for recording the signals supplied from the address encoder 12 in the PCM area.

The switch circuit 7 is the system controller 5
Switching control is performed by the head amplifiers 14a and 14b by selecting one of the video signal from the switch circuit 4, the address signal and / or index signal from the address / index generation circuit 13, and the compressed image signal supplied from the memory 11. Signals are alternately output to the magnetic heads 15a and 15b via the.

Next, the reproduction system circuit will be described.

The recording signal of the magnetic tape 16 is the magnetic head 1
Head amplifier 14 after being read by 5a and 15b
It is sent to the switch circuit 17 via a and 14b.

The switch circuit 17 separates the video signal, the code signal and the PCM audio signal from the reproduced signal,
It is provided to select either the reproduction signal or the compressed image signal or the address signal from the memory 11, and the switching control is performed under the control of the system controller 5. It should be noted that among the signals separated here, the recording signal in the video area is sent to a video signal processing circuit (not shown) and subjected to processing such as demodulation and restored.

The extracted code signal is sent to the index / address detection circuit 18, and the detection result and data are sent to the system controller 5, and then the memory 19 is provided.
Stored in.

Of the signals recorded in the PCM area, the compressed image signal of the video signal is sent to the field memory 21 after being processed by the preprocessor 20.

The signal written in the field memory 21 is read out as needed under the control of the system controller 5 and sent to the recording circuit 6, and the D / A converter 2 is also used.
After being analogized by 2, the format is converted by the NTSC converter 23 and then output from the video signal output terminal 24 to the display device 25 using a CRT or the like.

The PCM audio signal is reproduced by an audio signal processing circuit (not shown) according to a method similar to the conventional one.

As shown in FIG. 3, the system controller 5 manages the correspondence relationship between the address data stored in the memory 19 and the compressed image data stored in the field memory 21, and the writing mode to the TOC is set. The address data is sometimes read under the control of the system controller 5 and sent to the recording circuit 6. The output of the recording circuit 6 is sent to the switch circuit 4 as described above.

Although the memory 19 and the field memory 21 are separately described in this example for convenience, if the address data is assigned to the memory position corresponding to the horizontal or vertical blanking period, the field memory is stored together with the compressed image data. Since the TOC information can be stored in the memory 21, the memory can be effectively used.

The system controller 5 uses a command signal (for example, recording / reproducing, CUE) from the input unit 26 such as a keyboard.
/ REV, commands related to mode selection such as high-speed search, stop, and eject), and controls overall control of the switch circuits 4 and 7, the gate circuit 8, the memories 19 and 21, the address / index generation circuit 13, and the like. There is.

In the video signal recording mode (R
This mode is entered when the EC (record) key is operated or the PAUSE (pause) key is operated to release the recording waiting state. ), The system controller 5
Controls the switch circuit 4, and the analog video recording circuit 2
Selects the video signal output by the switch and sends it to the switch circuit 7.

The system controller 5 controls the switch circuit 7 at a predetermined timing, and the switch circuit 4
Or the output signal of the address / index generation circuit 13 is switched to be sent to the head amplifiers 14a and 14b.

On the other hand, the gate circuit 8 is controlled by the system controller 5 to receive one frame (or one frame) from the video input signal 3.
(Field) part is taken out and digitized by the A / D converter 9 and then a predetermined size, for example, by the encoder 10,
As described above, the compressed image signal having a size of 1/16 of the standard image size is generated.

This signal and the address signal supplied from the address encoder 12 are stored in the memory 11, read out at a predetermined timing, and sent to the switch circuit 7 and the switch circuit 17.

In accordance with the control command from the system controller 5, the switch circuit 7 appropriately receives either the video signal from the switch circuit 4, the address signal or index signal from the address / index generation circuit 13, or the compressed image signal from the memory 11. It is selected and supplied alternately to the magnetic heads 15a and 15b via the head amplifiers 14a and 14b to be recorded on the magnetic tape 16.

That is, when the index signal is to be recorded immediately after the recording operation is started, when the system controller 5 receives the recording command, the switch circuit 7 is controlled so that the address / index generating circuit 13 controls the switch circuit 7. The index signal and its address signal are selected, and the timing is controlled so that the magnetic head 15a or 15b records the index signal in the code area shown in the figure.

Further, the system controller 5 selects the compressed image signal from the memory 11 in the switch circuit 7 and records it in the PCM area.

For example, if a composite video signal for one frame is sampled at a frequency four times as high as the color subcarrier frequency f _SC and expressed by 8-bit data per image,
The data amount for a compressed image having a size of 1/16 of the standard screen is about 276 kilobytes. Therefore, since the amount of data that can be recorded in the PCM area of one track is 8448 bits, it is possible to record 1/16 compressed image for one frame in approximately 32 tracks.

As described above, since the index signal and the compressed image signal are recorded only in the recording start portion of the video signal, the subsequent video signal and PCM audio signal are recorded as usual. That is, the system controller 5 controls the switching of the switch circuit 4, selects the video signal output from the analog video recording circuit 2 and sends it to the switch circuit 7, and controls the switch circuit 7 at a predetermined timing to control the head amplifier. The data is sent to the magnetic heads 15a and 15b via 14a and 14b.

During this time, the data is not read from the memory 11 and supplied to the switch circuit 7.

Further, the system controller 5 sends a command to the switch circuit 17 to select the compressed image signal supplied from the memory 11 and sends it to the field memory 21 via the preprocessor 20 to store it as compressed image data. At the same time, the address data corresponding to this is stored in the memory 19.

Since the structure of the recording system for the PCM audio signal is the same as the conventional one, the description thereof will be omitted.

Next, the operation during reproduction will be described.

In this embodiment, the index signal can be read out in the normal playback mode at the standard tape speed, the fast-forward playback mode such as CUE / REV, or the high-speed search mode for finding the beginning of the program. Possible modes (hereinafter collectively referred to as "ID reproduction mode")
Sometimes, when the index signal is found, the TOC information is stored in the memory each time it is found, and the content of the TOC information is automatically updated so that the user is not burdened with the management of the TOC information. There is.

When the cassette tape is first attached to the 8 mm VTR 1, the TOC information is first read and stored in the memories 19 and 21 so that the apparatus can manage all the recorded information on the tape.

At this time, the reproduction signals from the magnetic heads 15a and 15b are sent to the switch circuit 17 via the head amplifiers 14a and 14b, and the compressed image signal separated here is stored in the field memory 21 through the preprocessor 20. Further, the address signal is stored in the memory 19 under the control of the system controller 5 via the index / address detection circuit 18.

Therefore, when it is desired to view the list of tape recording conditions in this state, the TO provided in the input unit 26 is used.
When the display key for C information is operated, a 1/16 compressed image signal is sent from the field memory 21 to the display device 25 via the D / A converter 22 and the NTSC converter 23, and is displayed as shown in FIG. It The user can display or turn off this screen as needed.

When the user wants to find the desired program by looking at the screen, he or she can operate the search key of the input section 26 to select the program, and immediately the address of the compressed image is known on the device side. You can tape forward to find the beginning of the program and get to it.

In the subsequent ID reproduction mode, the TOC information is updated each time an index signal is detected during the tracing of the magnetic heads 15a and 15b, and the cue of the program is referred to the latest position information stored in the memory. Done.

The reproduced signal from the magnetic heads 15a and 15b is sent to the switch circuit 1 via the head amplifiers 14a and 14b.
7, the code signal separated here is sent to the index / address detection circuit 18, and when the index signal is detected, the fact and address data are notified to the system controller 5, and the address data is sent to the memory 19. Is stored.

When the system controller 5 knows that the index signal has been detected, it controls the switch circuit 17 to send the compressed image signal recorded in the PCM area to the preprocessor 20 for preprocessing and then the field memory. 21 to memorize.

The reproduced video signal is output after being subjected to conventional signal processing.

As described above, in the ID reproduction mode, the compressed image data and the address data indicating the position are updated each time the index signal is found.

For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the programs A and B are recorded in the HR range, and the non-recorded range HO exists between the program B and the program C next thereto. In, the programs A, B, and C are reproduced at least once, and the TOC information about them is already stored in the memory (see the upper part of FIG. 6).

After that, it is assumed that the program C is overwritten on the program C because the program D is recorded after the program B.

As described above, at the time of recording the video signal,
Since the index signal and the compressed image signal are recorded at the recording start position and the TOC information is stored in the memory,
In this case, the TOC information of the program D will be newly added to the memory.

This situation is shown in the middle part of FIG.

Therefore, the programs A, B, and
TOC information corresponding to each of C and D exists, but this state does not match the actual recording state of the tape.

That is, the program D is replaced by the program C
Is erased, the programs A, B, and D are actually recorded on the tape.

Therefore, in order to avoid such an inconvenience, it is necessary to constantly manage the start and end positions of the recorded program to rewrite the TOC information, or to update the TOC information frequently when the index signal is detected. Occurs.

In the ID reproduction mode, the latter method is adopted. For example, if the program E is recorded after the program D, and the program E is cued after starting from the position of the tape top from the program A. The index signals of the programs A, B, and D located on the way are detected, so that it becomes clear that there is no program C. If the TOC information of the program C is deleted from the memory, the information can be easily updated. (See the lower part of FIG. 6).

The TOC information in the memory, which is updated each time the index is detected as described above, is finally written in the TOC area located at the beginning of the magnetic tape as described above. In order to form the information recording mode, the TOC creation key is positively provided, or the TOC is generated when the eject key for ejecting the cassette tape is instructed or when the power is turned off.
Should be created.

In any case, the TOC information is transferred to the magnetic tape 1.
When a command to record at the beginning of 6 is issued, the data stored in the field memory 21 and the memory 19 is read out and supplied to the recording circuit 6, where predetermined processing such as digital modulation is performed. Then, it is sent to the switch circuit 4.

At this time, the switch circuit 4 and the switch circuit 7 at the subsequent stage are controlled so as to select the digital signal output from the recording circuit 6 in accordance with the control command from the system controller 5, and thus this data is sent to the head amplifiers 14a and 14b. After being fed to the magnetic heads 15a and 15b via the tape and fed to the tape top, it is recorded in the TOC area at the beginning of the tape.

The recording area is the video area shown in FIG. 4, and the point that digital data is recorded in this area as it is is different from normal video signal recording.

As described above, immediately before the TOC is created, the TOC information in the range traced by the magnetic head is stored in the memory under the control of the system controller 5.

Therefore, it is more efficient to retrieve only the TOC information in the range where the magnetic head has not yet traced on the tape, update the TOC information in the memory, and then write all the TOC information in the TOC area. Is.

That is, the TOC in the range HR in FIG.
Since the information has been investigated, the index signal detection is performed for all areas other than this range, and the index investigation from the beginning to the end of the tape is completed and the T
After the OC information is complete, the tape is fed to the tape top and recorded in the TOC area.

The correspondence between the above processes and modes is summarized in a table format as shown in [Table 1].

[0084]

[Table 1]

In the recording mode, the index signal and TOC information are recorded at the head position of the program, the TOC information is stored in the memory, and the TOC information is updated within the trace range of the magnetic head in the ID reproduction mode. Done. After that, when ejecting or turning off the power, T
When the OC is created, the TOC area is updated after the TOC information is updated on all the tapes, so that the user is freed from the troublesome operation of managing the TOC information.

When a power failure or the like occurs, the backup power supply is switched to update the TOC information for all tapes, and the TOC is created and then the power is turned off, or the backup power supply has a sufficient capacity. When not,
Before recording the information about the tape range that has already been surveyed and TOC information in the TOC area, turning off the power, and then returning to the original state, the TOC information is confirmed by tracing the range where the TOC information has not been surveyed in advance. It should be done to.

In the above, an example in which the present invention is applied to an 8 mm VTR has been shown, but the present invention is not limited to this and can be applied to a digital video tape recorder.

FIG. 7 schematically shows an example of the tape format of the digital video tape recorder according to the second embodiment.

Within one recording track 27, a main area 28 in which video signals and audio signals are recorded
An ATF area 29 in which a pilot signal for tracking servo is recorded, and a subcode area 30 in which a subcode (sub information) such as a time code is recorded are provided.

Therefore, the compressed image signal, the address signal, and the index signal can be recorded in the sub code area 30.

Of course, the beginning of the tape is assigned to the TOC, and T is assigned to its main area and / or subcode area 30.
The OC information may be written.

Since the recording area for the compressed image signal can be secured in an area different from the main area 28 for recording the video signal in this manner, the original recording area for the video signal can be obtained by recording the compressed image signal. The inconvenience of reduction is eliminated.

FIG. 8 shows a digital video tape recorder 3
1 schematically shows the configuration of 1.

However, description of the audio signal processing system is omitted for the sake of simplicity.

First, the recording system will be described. The video signal is sent to the video signal recording processing unit 33 via the video signal input terminal 32, and converted into a digital signal to which an error correction code is added, and then the switch circuit. The data is sent to a magnetic head 36 (actually, a plurality of them exist, but is represented by one symbol for simplification) through an amplifier 35 and an amplifier 35, and is recorded on a magnetic tape 37.

Reference numeral 38 denotes a subcode data recording section, which is C
Upon receiving a control command from the PU 39, a predetermined subcode signal, that is, an index signal, an address signal, or the like is output to the switch circuit 34, or digital data of a compressed image supplied from the video signal recording processing unit 33 is processed. Is provided to the switch circuit 34 to record these signals in the sub-code area 30.

Next, at the time of reproduction, the reproduction output of the magnetic head 36 is sent to the switch circuit 41 via the amplifier 40, where it is separated into a video signal and a sub-code signal. The latter is sent to the signal reproduction processing section 43, and the latter is sent to the subcode data reproduction section 44.

Reference numeral 45 denotes a memory, which temporarily stores the video signal from the preprocessing circuit 42 to perform image processing or the like.
It is provided under the control of the CPU 39 to store the compressed image data and address data from the subcode data reproducing unit 44.

Output of video signal reproduction processing section 43 and memory 4
The output of No. 5 is selectively output from the video signal output terminal 47 by the switch circuit 46.

The CPU 39 serving as the control center has the input unit 4
8 (sub-code information according to the command from the keyboard, mouse, input tablet, etc.)
8 and receives the reproduction information of the subcode from the subcode data reproducing section 44 and stores it in the memory 45 as necessary.

In the digital video tape recorder 31, however, the video signal input from the video signal input terminal 32 in the recording mode is the video signal recording processing section 3.
3 to be digitized here and then sent to the switch circuit 34.

The switching timing of the switch circuit 34 is controlled by the CPU 39, and the data is recorded in the main area 28 of the recording track 27 via the amplifier 35 and the magnetic head 36.

The compressed image data sent from the video signal recording processing section 33 to the subcode data recording section 38 as required, and the subcode data recording section 3 from the CPU 39.
The subcode data (including address data and data corresponding to the index signal) sent to the switch 8 is sent to the switch circuit 34, and a predetermined subcode signal is sent to the recording track 2 according to the switching timing control by the CPU 39.
7 is recorded in the subcode area 30.

For example, an index signal, a compressed image signal as TOC information and its address signal are recorded in these sub-coareas 30 on a predetermined number of tracks located at the beginning of the program.

Further, the CPU 39 associates the address data with the compressed image data from the subcode data recording section 38, and stores the TOC information in the memory 45 for management.

The reproduced video signal of the main area 28 separated by the switch circuit 41 among the reproduced signals is sent to the video signal reproduction processing section 43 through the pre-processing circuit 42 and demodulated, and the video signal via the switch circuit 46. It is output to the output terminal 47.

On the other hand, the reproduction signal of the subcode area 30 is separated by the switch circuit 41 and then sent to the subcode data reproducing section 44.

Index detection and address detection are performed in the subcode data reproducing unit 44, and the detection result and various read subcode information are sent to the CPU 39.

Among the reproduced sub-code information, TOC information, that is, compressed image data and address data, is stored in the CPU.
It is stored in the memory 45 under the control of 39.

When the CPU 39 receives the TOC information display command from the input section 48, the switch circuit 46 is switched to the memory 45 side, and the compressed image signal read from the memory 45 is sent to the video signal output terminal 47. A list of recording conditions as shown in FIG. 3 is displayed on the screen of a display device (not shown). The user can find the desired program by selecting the desired program from the list.

This digital video tape recorder 31
The method of managing the TOC information and the correspondence between the modes and the processing contents in FIG. 6 are the same as those described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6 and [Table 1]. To do. Since the digital video tape recorder 31 handles both the video signal and the compressed image signal as digital signals except for the input / output processing, the video signal remains an analog signal as in the case of the 8 mm VTR. Handling It is possible to perform consistent signal processing without incurring processing complexity caused by handling the compressed image signal as a digital signal.

Although the TOC area is provided at the beginning of the tape in the above two examples, the location may be provided anywhere if it is predetermined, and in the previous example, the index signal is provided with the index signal. However, it is also possible to record the index signal at every predetermined cycle and record the compressed image signal corresponding to the index signal (in that case, the cue of the program should be in the tape feeding direction). Depending on the first or last found index signal accordingly.

[0113]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, it is possible to eliminate wasteful duplication of index signal detection when recording management information (TOC information) in the management information area of a tape. As a result, the TOC creation time can be significantly shortened, and the adverse effect on the operational waiting time due to the prolonged TOC creation time can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an 8 mm VTR.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing arrangement of programs on a tape.

3 is a compressed image display and TO according to the program of FIG.
It is a figure which shows notionally the memory | storage state in the memory of C information correspondingly.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a track format in an 8 mm VTR.

FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram for explaining overwriting of a program.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating T after the TOC information is added to the memory and the index is detected due to the overwriting of the program illustrated in FIG.
It is a conceptual diagram for demonstrating the update of OC information.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a track format in a digital video tape recorder.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a digital video tape recorder.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Video Tape Recorder 5 Update Means 6 Management Information Recording Means 11, 12, 13 Index / Address Signal Recording Means 16 Video Tapes 17, 18 Index Signal Detecting Means 17, 20 Reproducing Means 19, 21 Storage Means T Recording Tracks VA First Area CA, PA Second area IDa, IDb, IDc Index signal Sa, Sb, Sc Compressed image signal ADR_a, ADR_b, ADR_c Address signal 27 Recording track 28 First area 30 Second area 31 Video tape recorder 33, 38 Management information recording means 37 Video tape 38 Index / address signal recording means 39 Updating means 41, 44 Reproducing means 44 Index signal detecting means 45 Storage means

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Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A video tape recorder according to a format having a first area for recording a video signal on a recording track of a video tape, and a second area for recording sub-information of the video signal and a compressed image signal of the video signal. Management information recording means for collectively recording management information including a compressed image signal and an address signal indicating its position in a management information area provided at a predetermined position on the tape in order to manage the recording condition of the tape, and compression Index / address signal recording means for recording an index signal as a position mark on the tape corresponding to an image signal and an address signal indicating a recording position in the second area, and a management information area or management information in the second area. Reproducing means for reproducing, storage means for storing management information after reproduction, index signal detecting means for detecting index signal, When the index signal is detected by receiving the signal from the index signal detecting means, the management information corresponding to this is stored in the storage means to update the information and the latest management is always performed when the management information is recorded on the tape. A video tape recorder provided with an updating means for recording information.