JPH07131822A - Recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the recorder which can easily record a video signal differing in the number of lines, the number of pixels, etc., in a frame. CONSTITUTION:The video signal is divided by a block division part 12 into blocks each composed of data consisting of 64 pixels in total which are pixels of 8 vertical lines and 8 horizontal lines in a frame and further divided by a macro block division part 13 into macro blocks by putting a luminance signal included in nearly the same area with one block of a color difference signal on a screen and blocks of 1st and 2nd color difference signals. The divided video signal is put in large blocks by a large block division part 14 by dividing the input video signal of one frame vertically into 20, encoded with high efficiency by the macro blocks at an encoding part 15, and inputted to a track generation part 16. The amount of data by the macro blocks after the high- efficiency encoding varies with input data, so the track generation part 16 constitutes data of one track so that the data include at least visually important data included in a corresponding large block.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording device for encoding and recording a video signal.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a digital VTR for digitally recording a television signal (hereinafter referred to as a TV signal) has been developed. In a home-use digital VTR, in order to reduce the tape consumption, a method is considered in which the color difference signals are thinned to 1/2 and then recorded. Further, when the color difference signal of one frame consists of 8 × k × m lines,
Data of one frame is divided into 8 × k lines to form m large blocks. In each large block, each block consisting of horizontal 8 pixels and vertical 8 lines is encoded and then recorded on one track. Therefore, one frame of data is recorded on a total of m tracks.

[0003]

In the above arrangement, when the color difference signals are thinned out, the vertical resolution of the color signals deteriorates. However, when the line thinning is not performed, the number of lines of the color difference signal is doubled, so that the number of blocks of 8 lines × 8 pixels increases. Moreover, since only the blocks relating to the color difference signals increase, the total number of blocks does not become an integral multiple of the case where line thinning is not performed. Therefore, it becomes difficult to record in the same format as the conventional example.

Currently, there are SDTV signals and HDTV signals, but HDTV signals are composed of about twice the number of lines as SDTV signals. Further, the number of pixels per line of the luminance signal is larger than that of the SD signal. Therefore, the number of blocks in one frame greatly differs between the two, making it difficult to share the format.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems of the conventional recording apparatus.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, with respect to a luminance signal, a first color difference signal, and a second color difference signal, the three signals are approximately 16 × k × m with respect to the number of lines in one frame.
(K and m are natural numbers) lines, and the luminance signal and the first and second color difference signals included in substantially the same range on the screen as a rectangle surrounded by vertical 8 lines and horizontal 8 pixels of the first color difference signal. , A macroblock forming means for forming a macroblock, a large block generating means for vertically dividing pixels in one frame approximately every 8 × k lines to generate 2m large blocks, and a large block in one frame Means for encoding the pixels of each macroblock for each macroblock, and all the data or visually important data of the coded macroblocks included in the large block or the visually insignificant data of another large block. There are provided a track generation means for converting the data into tracks and a recording means for recording each frame on the tape and recording one frame of data in 2m tracks. A recording apparatus characterized Rukoto.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, with respect to the luminance signal, the first color difference signal and the second color difference signal, the three signals are approximately 16 × k × m (k and m are natural numbers) with respect to the number of lines in one frame.
The first video signal is a line and the number of pixels of the first or second color difference signal included in one line is approximately 8 × n (n is a natural number) pixels, and the luminance signal is the number of lines in one frame. The first or second color difference signal is approximately 16 × k × m lines in approximately 32 × k × m lines, and the number of pixels of the first or second color difference signals included in one line is approximately 8 × n pixels. A video signal selecting means for selecting one of the second video signals and a rectangle surrounded by 8 vertical lines and 8 horizontal pixels of the first or second color difference signal with respect to the selected video signal are substantially the same on the screen. Macroblock constructing means for constructing a macroblock from the luminance signal and the first and second color difference signals included in the range, and the pixels in the one frame are vertically divided into approximately 8 × k lines and 2m in number in the vertical direction. A large block that produces a large block of Generating means, encoding means for encoding pixels in the one frame for each macroblock, all data of the encoded macroblocks included in the large block or visually important data or other large blocks And a recording means for recording each of the tracks on the tape and recording one frame of data in 2m tracks. Recording device.

[0008]

With the above-mentioned structure, the recording apparatus of the first and second aspects of the invention executes the encoding process and the like in units of macroblocks.

In the first aspect of the invention, a macroblock is formed by pixels for the luminance signal and the first and second color difference signals contained in the same area on the screen as the color difference signal block. When the color difference signals are thinned out, the number of color difference signal lines per frame is 8 × k × m lines, and assuming that the number of color difference signal pixels in one line is 8n pixels, macroblocks in one frame The number is k × m × n. On the other hand, when the color difference signal lines are not thinned out, the number of color difference signal lines per frame is 16 × k.
Xm lines, and the number of pixels of the color difference signal in one line is 8
If there are n pixels, the number of macroblocks in one frame is 2.
The number is × k × m × n.

As described above, the number of macroblocks in the method of the present invention is exactly double that of the conventional method of thinning lines. Therefore, by doubling the number of tracks for recording one frame, the number of macro blocks (k × n) that can be recorded per track can be made the same.
Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to record the method of thinning the lines of the color difference signal and the method of not thinning the lines in substantially the same format.

Next, in the recording apparatus of the second invention, two TV signals (for example, SDTV signal and HD signal) in which the number of lines in one frame of the luminance signal and the number of pixels per line are different.
When recording (TV signal) in a common format, the selection is made so that the number of lines in one frame of both color difference signals and the number of pixels per line are substantially the same. That is, H
The number of lines of the luminance signal of the DTV signal (32 × k × m) is S
When the number of lines of the luminance signal of the DTV signal is almost twice (16 × k × m), the number of lines of the color difference signals of both is about 16 × k × by thinning out the color difference signals of the HDTV signal. It can be m lines. Although the number of pixels per line of the luminance signal of the HDTV signal is usually larger than that of the SDTV signal, the number of pixels per line of the color difference signal is set to about 8 × n for both the HDTV signal and the SDTV signal.

As a result, the number of macroblocks in one frame is about 2 × k × m for both HDTV signals and SDTV signals.
Xn. Therefore, the number of macroblocks per track can be set to about k × n, and one frame of data can be recorded in 2m tracks.

As described above, according to the first and second aspects of the present invention, the line thinning-out SD reduces the tape consumption.
SDT that realizes high image quality without thinning out TV signals and lines
For three TV signals, V signal and HDTV signal,
Number of macroblocks included in one track (k × n)
Can be almost the same. Therefore, it becomes very easy to share the circuit by the three methods. Further, these three methods can realize the same image quality during high speed reproduction by dividing one frame in the vertical direction and assigning it to the tracks.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Here, an example in which the luminance signal as the SDTV signal is 480 lines per frame and 720 pixels per line is used. The color difference signal is 480 per frame.
For each line, 360 pixels are used. here,
480 = 16 × k × m (k = 3, m = 10) and 360 = 8 × n (n = 45).

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a recording apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 11 is a video input unit, 12 is a blocking unit, 13 is a macroblocking unit, 14 is a large blocking unit, 15 is an encoding unit, 16 is a track generation unit, and 17 is an output unit.

In FIG. 1, the video signal input from the video input unit 11 is vertically 8 in the frame by the blocking unit 12.
The data composed of a total of 64 pixels of line and horizontal 8 pixels is made into one block. The input video signal that has been divided into blocks is divided into macroblocks by the macroblocking unit 13 by collectively collecting the blocks of the luminance signal and the first and second color difference signals included in the same area as one block of the color difference signals on the screen. It Here, a total of 4 blocks of two luminance signal blocks and one first and second color difference signal block are included in one macroblock. As a result, one frame of the input video signal is divided into 2700 macroblocks.

The video signal divided into macroblocks is
The large block forming unit 14 divides one frame of the input video signal into 20 (= 2 × m) in the vertical direction to form a large block.
As a result, one large block contains 135 macroblocks.

The input signal divided into large blocks is subjected to high-efficiency encoding for each macroblock by the encoder 15 and input to the track generator 16. The amount of data for each macroblock after high-efficiency coding is variable depending on the input data. Therefore, the track generating unit is configured to include at least visually important data of macroblocks included in a large block corresponding to one track. Also,
Visually insignificant data that cannot be recorded on one track will be recorded on another track.

The data for each track configured as described above is output from the output unit 17 and recorded on the tape. As a result, the video signal of one frame is recorded on the same 20 tracks as the large block.

Here, FIG. 2 shows an explanatory view of a conventional macroblock in which color difference signals are thinned out and a macroblock in which the above line thinning is not performed. FIG. 2A shows a macro block for thinning lines. In FIG. 2A, since the color difference signal block has twice the size in the vertical direction on the screen, four luminance signal blocks (Y) and two color difference signal blocks (CR and CB are included in one macroblock. )including.

On the other hand, FIG. 2B shows a macroblock in the case where line thinning is not performed. In this case, 1
The macroblock includes two luminance signal blocks and two color difference signal blocks. In this way, the size of the macroblock on the screen when the color difference signal is thinned out is twice as large as that when the color difference signal is not thinned out.

Next, FIG. 3 shows an explanatory view of a large block.
FIG. 3A shows a screen of one frame in the case of thinning lines of a conventional color difference signal. As shown in FIG. 3A, 30 macro blocks (M
B) and is divided horizontally into 45 macroblocks (MB). Here, 1 screen is 3 vertically
Large blocks are constructed by dividing each macro block. The 135 macroblocks surrounded by the thick line in FIG. 3A indicate one large block. As a result, when the color difference signals are thinned out, the video input signal of one frame is divided into 10 large blocks.

On the other hand, FIG. 3B shows a screen of one frame when the color difference signals are not thinned out. As shown in FIG. 3B, the vertical direction of one screen is divided into 60 macroblocks, and the horizontal direction is 45 as in FIG.
Is divided into macroblocks. Here, one screen is divided into three macro blocks in the vertical direction to form a large block. As a result, when the color difference signal is not thinned out, the input video signal of one frame is divided into 20 large blocks.

As described above, when the color difference signal is not thinned out by the line, 2 when the number of large blocks is thinned out by the line.
By setting the number twice, the number of macroblocks in a large block can be made the same. Since data relating to the same macroblock as the corresponding large block is basically recorded on one track, both track formats can be made substantially the same. by this,
The circuit can be shared. Further, in the present embodiment, an example in which color difference signals are thinned out is used, but a method of thinning out the number of pixels in a line to 1/2 without thinning out lines is also applicable.

Next, a second embodiment relating to a recording apparatus for recording two kinds of video signals in which the number of lines of the luminance signal in one frame is different will be described. Here, the luminance signal is 480 lines per frame and 720 lines per line.
A video signal composed of pixels is used as a first video signal, and luminance signals are 960 lines per frame and 108 lines per line.
A video signal composed of 0 pixels is referred to as a second video signal. That is, the first video signal corresponds to the SDTV signal and the second video signal corresponds to the HDTV signal.

Here, each color difference signal of the first video signal is composed of 480 lines per frame and 360 pixels per line, and each color difference signal of the second video signal is also 480 lines per frame and 360 pixels per line. It consists of. Therefore, the line-thinned signal is used as the color difference signal of the second video signal. Further, by selecting the structure of the color difference signal in this way, the number of macroblocks in one frame can be made the same for two types of video signals.

FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of the second embodiment.
In FIG. 2, 41 is a video input unit, 42 is a blocking unit, 43 is a macroblocking unit, 44 is a large blocking unit, 45 is an encoding unit, 46 is a track generation unit, 47 is an output unit, and 48 is a selection unit. It is an input part.

In FIG. 4, information indicating whether the input video signal is the first video signal or the second video signal is input from the selection input section 48.

First, the case where the input video signal is the first video signal will be described. The video signal input from the video input unit 41 is divided into blocks by the blocking unit 42 with one block consisting of a total of 64 pixels of vertical 8 lines and horizontal 8 pixels in the frame. As shown in FIG. 2B, the block-shaped input video signal is macroblocked by the macroblocking unit 43 by combining two luminance signal blocks and two color difference signal blocks included in substantially the same area on the screen. To be done. The video signal divided into macroblocks is divided into large blocks by dividing the input video signal of one frame by 20 (= 2 × m) in the vertical direction in the large block forming unit 44. As a result, one large block contains 135 macroblocks.

The input signal divided into large blocks is subjected to high-efficiency coding for each macroblock by the coding unit 45 and input to the track generation unit 46. The track generation unit 46 is configured to include at least visually important data of macroblocks included in a corresponding large block. The data for each track thus configured is output from the output unit 47 and recorded on the tape. As a result, the video signal of one frame is recorded on the same 20 tracks as the large block.

Next, the case where the input video signal is the second video signal will be described. The video signal input from the video input unit 41 is divided into blocks by the blocking unit 42 with one block consisting of a total of 64 pixels of vertical 8 lines and horizontal 8 pixels in the frame. As shown in FIG. 5, the macroblocking unit 43 macroblocks the input video signal that has been divided into blocks into six luminance signal blocks and two color difference signal blocks that are included in substantially the same area on the screen.

FIG. 6 shows the structure of the screen of one frame when divided into such macroblocks. As shown in FIG. 6, one frame of data is divided into 60 macroblocks in the vertical direction and 45 macroblocks in the horizontal direction, which are the same as the first video signal shown in FIG. 3B. It has the same structure. That is, by constructing the macroblock as shown in FIG. 5, the structure of the macroblock unit in one frame can be made the same for the first video signal and the second video signal.

Therefore, for the video signal divided into macroblocks, the large-blocking section 44 converts the input video signal of one frame into 20 (= 2 × m) in the vertical direction like the first video signal.
It is divided into large blocks. As a result, one large block contains 135 macroblocks. Each macroblock is coded by the coding unit 45 and recorded for each track in the same manner as the first video signal.

As described above, in the second embodiment, the first video signal and the second video signal have the same number of blocks of the color difference signals, so that the structures of both macroblock units are matched. This allows the circuit to be shared. In this way, the SDTV signal and the HDTV signal can be recorded in almost the same format.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the two embodiments, various signals other than this can be input as the input video signal. Further, in the above-described embodiment, an example in which the number of macroblocks is the same vertically or horizontally or is an integer multiple is used. However, for a video signal in which the total number of macroblocks in one frame is approximately the same or an integer multiple. Can also be applied. Furthermore, division of a large block is not limited to the vertical direction, and various methods can be applied.

[0036]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, a macroblock is formed by pixels for the luminance signal and the first and second color difference signals included in the substantially same area on the screen as the color difference signal block. The number of macroblocks that can be recorded is the same by doubling the number of tracks for recording one frame and doubling the number of macroblocks as compared with the conventional method of thinning lines. You can Therefore, by using the present invention, it is possible to record the method of thinning the lines of the color difference signal and the method of not thinning the lines in substantially the same format.

Further, when recording two TV signals (for example, SDTV signal and HDTV signal) in which the number of lines in one frame of the luminance signal and the number of pixels per line (for example, SDTV signal and HDTV signal) are recorded in a common format, the two color difference signals By selecting so that the number of lines in one frame and the number of pixels per line are substantially the same, the number of macroblocks in one frame becomes almost the same for HDTV signals and SDTV signals.
The number of macroblocks per track can be made equal and one frame of data can be recorded on the same number of tracks.

As described above, according to the present invention, an SDTV signal for thinning lines to reduce tape consumption, an SDTV signal for realizing high image quality without thinning lines, and an H signal.
Since the number of macroblocks included in one track can be made almost the same for three TV signals of DTV signals, 3
It becomes very easy to share the circuit by the method. Further, in these three methods, one frame is divided in the vertical direction and assigned to the tracks, so that the same image quality can be realized during high-speed reproduction.

As described above, the recording apparatus of the present invention can deal with various video signals by a simple method, and therefore has a very great practical effect.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram according to an embodiment of a recording apparatus of the first invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a macroblock used in the first invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of a structure of a macroblock unit of one frame of the first invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram according to an embodiment of a recording apparatus of the second invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a macroblock used in the second invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a structure of a macroblock unit of one frame of the second invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 12 blocking unit 13 macroblocking unit 14 large blocking unit 15 coding unit 16 track generating unit 42 blocking unit 43 macroblocking unit 44 large blocking unit 45 coding unit 46 track generating unit 48 selection input unit

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. The luminance signal, the first color difference signal, and the second color difference signal, the three signals are approximately 16 × k × m (k and m are natural numbers) lines with respect to the number of lines in one frame,
A macroblock forming means for forming a macroblock from the luminance signal and the first and second color difference signals included in a substantially same range on a screen and a rectangle surrounded by vertical 8 lines and horizontal 8 pixels of the first color difference signal; , A block for generating a large block of 2m by vertically dividing the pixels in the one frame for every 8 × k lines, and a code for encoding the pixels in the one frame for each macroblock Converting means, and track generating means for converting all data or visually important data of the encoded macroblocks included in the large block or visually insignificant data of another large block into one track of data. A recording device, comprising: recording means for recording each track on a tape and recording one frame of data in 2m tracks. 2. With respect to the luminance signal, the first color difference signal and the second color difference signal, the three signals are approximately 16 × k × m (k and m are natural numbers) lines with respect to the number of lines in one frame,
A first video signal in which the number of pixels of the first or second color difference signal included in one line is approximately 8 × n (n is a natural number) pixels;
The luminance signal is approximately 32 × k with respect to the number of lines in one frame.
The first or second color difference signal is approximately 16 × k × m on the × m line.
Video signal selecting means for selecting one of the second video signals, which is a line, and in which the number of pixels of the first or second color difference signal contained in one line is approximately 8 × n pixels, and the selected video signal On the other hand, a macroblock is composed of a rectangle surrounded by vertical 8 lines and horizontal 8 pixels of the first or second color difference signal and the luminance signal and the first and second color difference signals included in substantially the same range on the screen. Macroblock forming means, large block generation means for vertically dividing the pixels in the one frame approximately every 8 × k lines to generate 2m large blocks, and pixels in the one frame for each macroblock And encoding means for encoding all the data or visually important data of the coded macroblocks included in the large block or other visually insignificant data of the large block. A recording apparatus comprising: a track generating means for converting into rack data; and a recording means for recording on the tape for each track and recording one frame of data with 2m tracks.