JPH08195931A - Image recording device, image reproducing device and image recording and reproducing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To simultaneously record plural digital image signals with a single recorder. CONSTITUTION: This recording device is provided with an information compressing means 1 for compressing plural digital image signals and an image recording means 2 for recording the plural compressed digital image signals outputted from the information compressing means 1. The reproducing device is provided with an information selecting part 91 for selecting a desired digital signal out of the plural reproduced digital signals and an information extending part 92 for extending information based on the reproduced compressed digital signals.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus, an image reproducing apparatus and an image recording / reproducing method for recording and reproducing an image signal in a digital system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A circuit block diagram of a conventional image recording apparatus is shown in FIG. In FIG. 12, 100 is a digital video signal input terminal, 101 is a digital audio input terminal, 102 is a video signal processing circuit, 103 is an audio signal processing circuit, 104 is a recording signal generating circuit, and 105 is a recording unit. The recording signal generation circuit 104 performs data conversion suitable for each recording medium such as data interleaving, and the recording unit 105 records an electric signal on the recording medium. For example, a VTR using a magnetic tape, a magneto-optical disk. It is a magneto-optical recording device using. In such a recording device, a digital signal having a data rate defined in advance in a recording format is recorded. That is, in the format for recording the disc image signal having the image quality comparable to that of the ordinary television broadcasting, the signal of the ordinary broadcasting compatible mode can be recorded for one channel. In the so-called HDTV-compatible recording format, a HDTV signal having a higher image quality than normal broadcasting can also record a signal in a corresponding mode for one channel.

[0003]

When an image signal is recorded using such a recording apparatus, only one channel can be recorded at the same time even if it has a plurality of recording modes. When it is desired to record a plurality of programs at the same time, it is necessary to drive a plurality of recording devices at the same time for recording, or to record only one channel or one program and give up the other. If a plurality of recording devices are used at the same time, a huge investment is required for the recording devices, which is not economical. Further, as for the recording medium, a plurality of recording media are simultaneously recorded, which is not economical.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an image recording apparatus capable of simultaneously recording a plurality of digital image signals. Another object of the present invention is to provide an image reproducing apparatus which can obtain a desired digital image signal from a plurality of reproduced digital image signals. Further, it is characterized by providing an image recording / reproducing system capable of simultaneously recording a plurality of digital image signals and obtaining a desired digital image signal from the reproduced plurality of digital image signals.

[0005]

An image recording apparatus of the present invention for achieving the above object compresses a plurality of digital image signals and compresses the plurality of compressed digital image signals serially in a time division manner. Means and an image recording means for recording the compressed digital image signal output from the information compression means.

Further, the image reproducing apparatus of the present invention comprises an image reproducing means for reproducing the recorded information into a compressed digital image signal, and an information selecting section for selecting a desired digital image signal from a plurality of reproduced digital image signals. And an information decompression unit for decompressing the reproduced compressed digital image signal to the original state.

Further, in the image recording / reproducing method of the present invention, a plurality of compressed digital image signals are simultaneously recorded by a recording instruction operation, a plurality of digital image signals are simultaneously reproduced by a reproducing instruction operation, and reproduced by a signal selection instructing operation. A desired digital image signal is selected from a plurality of digital image signals.

[0008]

According to the above-mentioned image recording apparatus, since a plurality of image recording signals are compressed and recorded, a plurality of image signals can be recorded simultaneously.

According to the above image reproducing apparatus, a plurality of compressed and recorded image signals are reproduced, and a desired image signal is selected from the reproduced plurality of image signals, and after selection or before selection. The image signal is expanded to the original state.

According to the above-mentioned image recording / reproducing system, a plurality of compressed digital image signals are simultaneously recorded, a plurality of compressed digital image signals recorded and reproduced, and a desired one of the reproduced plurality of image signals is reproduced. The image signal is selected, and the image signal is expanded to the original state after the selection or before the selection.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a schematic circuit block diagram of the image recording apparatus of the first embodiment. In FIG. 1, input terminals t ₁ to
t _n is the n-number, to the input terminal t ₁ is inputted digital signal information amount M ₁ is also the input terminal t _n digital image signals of the information amount M _n are input. Here, the digital image signal is a concept that includes not only image information but also audio information. The digital image signals guided to the respective input terminals t _{1 to} t _n are respectively supplied to the information compression means 1, and the information compression means 1 compresses all digital image signals and outputs the plurality of compressed digital image signals. The divided data is serially output to the image recording means 2. The image recording means 2 may be any one that records an electric signal on a recording medium, and is, for example, a VTR (video tape recorder), a magneto-optical recording device, or an optical recording device.

The unit for time-division of each digital image signal in the information compressing means 1 can be any unit such as a line unit, a field unit or a frame unit. or,
Let X be the amount of information output from the information compression means 1. X is the information amount of the information of the digital image signal of the data rate determined in advance in the recording format, that is, the information amount of the normal broadcasting in the format for recording the digital image signal of the image quality comparable to the normal television broadcasting. In addition, the recording format compatible with HDTV is HD
It is the information amount of the TV signal. Then, the relation of the above information amount can be written as the following equation.

[0013]

[Equation 2]

That is, the compression rate P is set so that the above X becomes constant.
If the number of input terminals n and the amount of input information Mi are changed, it is possible to record a plurality of information without changing the image recording means 2. That is, the data corresponding to one channel is supplied to the image recording means 2, and the image recording means 2 can perform recording in the same manner as when recording one normal program without considering the data format.

FIG. 2 shows a circuit block diagram of the image recording apparatus of the second embodiment. In FIG. 2, the BS antenna 3 receives broadcast radio waves from satellites, and the received signals are branched and supplied to the first BS tuner 4 and the second BS tuner 5, respectively. This BS tuner 4,
5 are set to different reception channels so that different broadcasts can be received at the same time. The terrestrial antenna 6 receives normal broadcast radio waves in the VHF / UHF band, and the received signals are branched and supplied to the first to sixth tuners 7 to 12, respectively. Like the BS tuners 4 and 5, the tuners 7 to 12 are set to different reception channels so that different broadcasts can be simultaneously received.

The outputs of the BS tuners 4 and 5 and the tuners 7 to 12 are supplied to the A / D converters 13 and converted into digital image signals. That is, video and / or audio information of a plurality of channels received by the tuners 4, 5, 7 to 12 are simultaneously converted into digital image signals, and these digital image signals are supplied to the information compression means 1. If the received signal is a digital signal, the A / D converter is unnecessary. The information compression means 1 compresses the digital image signal as described above, and the plurality of compressed digital image signals are recorded in the image recording means 2.
, And a plurality of programs are simultaneously recorded by the image recording means 2. The information compressing means 1 is used for all tuners 4, 5,
Instead of compressing the digital image signals from 7 to 12, a desired plurality of digital image signals may be selectively compressed. In this case, the compression rate P is variable according to the number of programs (information amount).

FIG. 3 is a circuit block diagram of the image recording apparatus of the third embodiment. In FIG. 3, the tuner 1
A terrestrial or satellite wave reception signal is supplied to 4, and a broadcast signal sent via an optical fiber is supplied to the photoelectric conversion unit 15. The optical fiber is FTTH (Fib
er to the Home) environment is realized, it is wired to each home.

The change-over switch SW selectively supplies the outputs of the tuner 14 and the photoelectric conversion unit 15 to the demodulation unit 16, and the demodulation unit 16 demodulates the broadcast signal into a baseband signal as a digital signal string. For example, a signal modulated by QAM, VSB or the like is demodulated. The numbers in parentheses in FIG. 3 indicate the information amount of the digital signal, and 1 means the information amount corresponding to a normal TV signal.

The digital image signal demodulated by the demodulation unit 16 is corrected by the error correction unit 17 to correct the error associated with the demodulation, and then 4
It is supplied to the first to fourth MPEG decoding units 18 to 21 which are the image decoding means of the table, respectively. 1st-4th MPE
Although specific configurations of the G decoding units 18 to 21 will be described later, each MP
The EG decoders 18 to 21 decode digital image signals encoded according to the MPEG2 standard.

Here, MPEG is a typical image coding system, and the MPEG2 standard is mainly used for TV broadcasting. The MPEG2 standard is shown in Table 1 below, and normally, only one video source is included in the demodulated signal, and in this case, it is decoded by the first MPEG decoding unit 18. However, in MPEG2, it is possible to include a plurality of video sources in one digital data stream. For example, a digital data stream having a bandwidth (about 6 MHz) corresponding to one channel of normal analog broadcasting has four channel video sources. Can be superimposed.

[0021]

[Table 1]

Then, the first MPEG decoding unit 18
Video source, the second MPEG decoding unit 19 outputs the second video source, the third MPEG decoding unit 20 outputs the third video source, and the fourth MPEG decoding unit 21 outputs the fourth video source. Decrypt. In this case, the information amount of each video source is set to 1/4 of the original MPEG2 video source. The respective outputs of the first to fourth MPEG decoding units 18 to 21 are respectively supplied to the parallel / serial conversion unit 22, and the parallel / serial conversion unit 2
2 outputs a plurality of input data to the image recording means 2 as one data string. That is, since the parallel-serial converter 22 does not compress data in particular, the amount of information does not change, but the output is one MPEG2 format signal.
Therefore, the image recording means 2 can perform recording in the same manner as when recording one normal program without considering the data format. Although four MPEG decoding units are shown in FIG. 3 according to each source, it is needless to say that one MPEG decoder may be used to decode four signals. Yes. Reference numeral 22 is a so-called set top box, which is mounted, for example, above the television receiver.

FIG. 4 is a circuit block diagram of the MPEG decoding units 18 to 21. In FIG. 4, 25 is an input terminal to which a digital data stream is input. Two
Reference numeral 6 is a voice demodulation unit, the output of which is led to the digital voice output terminal 27. Reference numeral 28 is a variable length decoding means for performing variable length decoding on the video portion from the signal of the input terminal. Reference numeral 29 is an inverse quantization means for performing inverse quantization after performing the variable length decoding, and 30 is inverse DC after performing the above inverse quantization.
It is an inverse DCT means for performing T. This output is added to the adder 31 and the switch 32, respectively, and is output from the digital video output terminal 33 as a digital video signal. 34,
A frame memory 35 is used for inter-frame motion compensation. Reference numerals 36, 37, and 38 denote forward, bidirectional, and backward motion compensation units, which perform motion compensation operations.
A switching unit 39 switches the operation of motion compensation and performs the operation of decoding so-called P picture and B picture.

FIG. 5 shows a circuit block diagram of the image recording apparatus of the fourth embodiment. In FIG. 5, the third of FIG.
The same components as those in the embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals in the drawings, the description thereof is omitted, and only different components will be described. That is, the digital modulation / demodulation means 40 demodulates a code such as VSB / OFDM / QAM, and its detailed configuration will be described later. The outputs of the digital modulation / demodulation means 40 are supplied to the first to sixth MPEG decoding sections 41 to 46, respectively, and the first to sixth MPEG decoding sections 41 to 46 decode the MPEG2 format digital image signals. . This 1st-6th MPE
Each output of the G decoding units 41 to 46 corresponds to a normal MPEG2 information amount. The respective outputs are supplied to the information compression means 1, and the information compression means 1 compresses the input data at the compression rate P = 6. Therefore, the output of the information compressing unit 1 has one unit of information (one channel of analog broadcasting), and the image recording unit 2 can record a plurality of programs by the same operation as recording a normal program.

Here, the VSB and the like will be described. Generally, to transmit digital data, a compression technique (MPEG or the like) for compressing information in the base band and a modulation technique for digitally modulating the information are required. In the video signal modulation technique, 8-value or 16-value VSB (Ve
stylistic SideBand: vestigial sideband modulation, 64-value QAM (Quadrature Ampli)
tude Modulation: quadrature amplitude modulation), O
FDM (Orthogonal Frequency)
Division Multiplex: Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) is being considered as a powerful method. Each of the above methods has a feature that a large amount of digital information can be transmitted in a narrow frequency band. For example, in a transmission line having a bandwidth of 6 MHz, 8-level VSB has a value of 32.3 Mbit.
Information can be transmitted at a speed of / sec, and a 16-value VSB has a speed of 43 Mbit / sec. 2 for QAM
The 56-value QAM method has the same transmission rate as the 16-value VSB method. In the case of OFDM, each carrier has a speed of 24 Mbit / sec to 30 Mbit / sec in the case of 64-value QAM.

For example, in the case of 16-value VSB, 4 as described above.
A transmission speed of 3 Mbit / sec can be obtained, of which approximately 39 Mbit can be used for transmission of video signal data.
/ Sec, 6 channels for an image compressed to 6 Mbit / sec with MPEG2 (6 video sources)
Transmission becomes possible. For example, with OFDM, it is possible to transmit 4 to 5 channels with one wave. The symbol (6) after the digital modulation / demodulation means 40 in FIG. 5 indicates that it is 6 units of video information, and this is an embodiment showing the case of 16-value VSB. If it is an 8-value VSB, the amount of information is 5 units after the demodulation unit, the number of MPEG decoding units is 5, and the compression rate is P = 5. Further, if OFDM, the amount of information is 4 to 5 units after the demodulation unit, 4 to 5 in the MPEG decoding unit, and the compression rate is P = 4 to 5.

FIG. 6A shows a digital modulation / demodulation means 40.
Is a 16-value VSB demodulator, and FIG. 6B shows a case where the digital modulation / demodulation means 40 is an 8-value demodulator. In FIGS. 6A and 6B, 50 and 60 are intermediate frequency filters and synchronous detectors, which are detected here. Reference numeral 61 is an NTSC interference elimination filter, especially an 8-value VS
It is arranged in the case of B. This is because 8-value VSB has been studied for terrestrial broadcasting, and there is a high possibility that conventional analog TV broadcasting and digital broadcasting will coexist in terrestrial broadcasting. This is a circuit that removes the interfering wave because of it. 51,
An equalizer 62 performs code equalization corresponding to each transmission path. Reference numerals 52 and 63 denote phase track circuits for canceling phase noise generated when the tuner performs frequency conversion. A slicer 53 performs data slicing. 64
Is a trellis decoder, which decodes a trellis code which is a kind of convolutional code for error correction. Reference numerals 54 and 65 denote deinterleave circuits, which deinterleave the data interleaved on the transmission side. Reference numerals 55 and 66 are error correction circuits, which perform error correction using the Reed-Solomon code. Reference numerals 56 and 67 denote derandomizing circuits, which restore the randomized data on the transmitting side. 57, 68
Is a synchronization / timing extraction circuit, which extracts a segment synchronization signal in order to synchronize the data clock.

FIG. 7A shows a digital modulation / demodulation means 40.
Is an OFDM demodulator. In FIG. 7A, reference numeral 70 denotes a bandpass filter that cuts unnecessary components. Reference numerals 71 and 72 are a multiplier and an oscillator, which perform frequency conversion. 73, 74, and 75 are places for performing OFDM demodulation. First, A / D conversion and serial-parallel conversion are performed, and FFT (F
ast Fourier Transform) and parallel-serial conversion it. The FFT score becomes equal to the number of carriers in OFDM.

FIG. 7B shows a digital modulation / demodulation means 40.
Is a QAM demodulator. In FIG. 7B, reference numeral 80 is a bandpass filter that cuts unnecessary components. Reference numerals 81 and 82 denote detectors, respectively, which detect carrier waves having a phase difference of 90 degrees. Reference numerals 83 and 84 denote low-pass filters, which pass only necessary detection outputs, and these detection outputs are passed through an automatic equalizer 85 or
It is sent to each discriminator 86, 87 without going through the automatic equalizer 86. Each of the discriminators 86 and 87 determines the level of the input data. The code synthesizing circuit 88 converts both input data into one data string and outputs it.

FIG. 8 shows a circuit block diagram of the image reproducing apparatus of the fifth embodiment. In FIG. 8, this image reproducing apparatus can reproduce the information recorded by any of the first to fourth embodiments. The image reproducing means 90 reproduces the information recorded on the recording medium, and when it is recorded on a magnetic tape, it is a VTR, and when it is recorded on a magneto-optical disc, it is a magneto-optical reproducing device or an optical disc. When recorded, it is an optical disk reproducing device or the like.

The reproduction output of the image reproducing means 90 is supplied to the information selecting section 91, and the information selecting section 91 can select one or two or more from a plurality of reproduced video information. That is, when two are selected, one may be a so-called parent screen and the other may be a so-called child screen, and a signal for displaying like a picture-in-picture may be formed.

The reproduction signal selected by the information selecting section 91 is supplied to the information expanding means 92, which expands the information compressed by the information compressing means 1 described in the first to fourth embodiments. Alternatively, the MPEG decoder expands information of 1 unit or less, for example, 1/4 unit, into 1 unit of information. As a result, the video information becomes equivalent to the normal non-compressed information, and the user can view the video without being aware of the compression. Further, the information selection unit 9 and the information decompression unit 42 may be in the reverse order. That is, it may be selected and then expanded, or may be expanded and then selected. 9
Reference numeral 3 is a display means, which is not particularly limited to, for example, a CRT, a liquid crystal display, a plasma display or the like. The user operates the information selection section 91 while looking at the display means 93 to determine whether it is digital broadcasting, analog broadcasting, satellite or terrestrial broadcasting, compressed or not, or live broadcasting. You can select your favorite video information without having to worry about whether it is broadcast or recorded information.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart for explaining the image recording / reproducing method of the sixth embodiment of the present invention. S1 is the start. In S2, a plurality of tuners and the like are first set and then recording of a plurality of programs or images photographed by the user is started at the same time. In step S3, it is detected whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed after the start of recording. This may be a predetermined time or may be recorded until the recording medium runs out. S4 is a standby mode in which the recording is finished. S5 is to detect that the user has issued a reproduction command, which corresponds to the operation of the reproduction button in the conventional VTR or the like. S6 is a feature of the present invention and is where the user selects a channel. That is, the conventional channel selection can be selected when watching TV or when making a VTR timer reservation.
According to the present invention, that is possible even during reproduction. In S7, for example, assuming that the user is not confined to the conventional VTR operation and is not accustomed to the concept of channel operation at the time of reproduction, in such a case, a display for selecting a channel is displayed. In step S8, image reproduction is started, and a desired program is selected from a plurality of programs recorded by the apparatus of the present invention. S9
Corresponds to commands such as fast forward, rewind, slow, still, stop, etc., as in a normal VTR. S10 is the end.

That is, according to the present embodiment, since all broadcasts simultaneously broadcast can be multiplex-recorded on the same medium and an arbitrary broadcast can be selected, the true time including freedom of channel selection can be obtained. You can build a shift machine,
For example, by recording all programs at all times and deleting only unnecessary ones later, the conventional concept of timer reservation itself becomes unnecessary, and troublesome timer reservation procedures, careless mistakes and reservations are made. There is basically no recording failure due to forgetting. Also, you can certainly watch or save the extension of baseball broadcast time and extraordinary news,
Furthermore, it becomes possible to view the programs whose broadcast times are changed by these special programs.

Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, a new application can be developed by mixing and recording a broadcast program and a non-broadcasting video source or a non-broadcasting source according to the present invention and reproducing it. it can. For example,
You can create a special library by mixing live broadcasts from the fireworks display with videos taken by users at the venue. It is also possible to record the state of each venue and the state of the audience seats in a mixed manner at a sports day. For example, in athletics, a plurality of competitions such as floor exercises and parallel bars are in progress at the same time, and in TV programs, only a part of them can be viewed while switching between them. Thus, FIG. 10 shows the recording of all competitions using the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining the manner in which it is reproduced. The user can select a favorite one from the pre-recorded floor exercises and display it on the screen by operating the remote controller or the like. As shown in FIG. 11, a part of the picture-out-picture or picture-in-picture display mode may be displayed on the child screen, or the parent-child screen may be replaced or the child screen source may be replaced. good.

By doing so, even if the service is not realized as in the case of so-called interactive multimedia interactive broadcasting, a viewing environment substantially equivalent to that can be realized from the user's point of view.

[0038]

As described above, according to the image recording apparatus and / or reproducing apparatus of the present invention, a plurality of video programs can be simultaneously recorded even when there is only one recording apparatus.

Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to record a plurality of programs with only a normal recording medium consumption amount for one program.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, since all broadcasts simultaneously broadcast can be multiplex-recorded on the same medium and an arbitrary broadcast can be selected, a true time shift including freedom of channel selection can be made.・ You can build a machine,
For example, by recording all programs at all times and deleting only unnecessary ones later, the conventional concept of timer reservation itself becomes unnecessary, and troublesome timer reservation procedures, careless mistakes and reservations are made. There is basically no recording failure due to forgetting. Also, you can certainly watch or save the extension of baseball broadcast time and extraordinary news,
Furthermore, it becomes possible to view the programs whose broadcast times are changed by these special programs.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, a new application can be developed by mixing and recording a broadcast program and a non-broadcasting video source or non-broadcasting source according to the present invention and reproducing the same. .

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a circuit block diagram of an image recording apparatus (first embodiment).

FIG. 2 is a circuit block diagram of an image recording device (second embodiment).

FIG. 3 is a circuit block diagram of an image recording device (third embodiment).

FIG. 4 is a circuit block diagram of an MPEG decoding unit (third embodiment).

FIG. 5 is a circuit block diagram of an image recording device (fourth embodiment).

6A is a circuit block diagram of a 16-value VSB demodulator, and FIG. 6B is a circuit block diagram of an 8-value VSB demodulator (fourth).
Example).

7A is a circuit block diagram of an OFDM demodulation unit, FIG.
FIG. 9B is a circuit block diagram of a QAM demodulation unit (fourth embodiment).

FIG. 8 is a circuit block diagram of an image reproducing device (fifth embodiment).

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a digital recording / reproducing method (sixth embodiment).
Example).

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an image recording method using the image recording apparatus.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an image reproducing method using the image recording apparatus.

FIG. 12 is a circuit block diagram of an image recording apparatus (conventional example).

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Information compression means 2 ... Image recording means 4, 5, 7-12, 14 ... Tuner 13 ... A / D converter 18-21 ... Image decoding means (MPEG decoding part) 22 ... Parallel-serial conversion part 40 ... Digital Modulation and demodulation means 90 ... Image reproduction means 91 ... Information selection section 92 ... Information expansion means 93 ... Display means

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Internal reference number FI Technical display location H03M 7/30 Z 9382-5K H04N 7/30 H04N 7/133 Z

Claims (15)

[Claims] 1. Information compression means for compressing a plurality of digital image signals and serially outputting the plurality of compressed digital image signals in a time division manner, and image recording for recording the compressed digital image signals output by the information compression means. An image recording apparatus comprising means. 2. The information amount of the i-th digital image signal is M
i, the number of digital image signals is n, the compression ratio compressed by the information compression means is P, and the information amount of the compressed digital image signal supplied to the image recording means is X, The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the relationship is established. 3. The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information compression means is supplied with respective outputs of a plurality of tuners. 4. The image recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein when the output of the tuner is an analog image signal, the image signal is supplied to the information compression means via an A / D converter. 5. A plurality of image decoding means for respectively decoding the digital image signals, and a parallel-serial conversion section for outputting the plurality of digital image signals output by the respective image decoding means as a time-division serial data string. And an image recording unit for recording a digital image signal of a data string output from the parallel-serial conversion unit. 6. A digital modulation / demodulation means for demodulating a digital image signal, and a plurality of image decoding means for respectively decoding the digital image signals output by the digital modulation / demodulation means. The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each output of the above is supplied to the information compression means. 7. The image recording apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the image decoding means is an MPEG decoding unit that decodes an image signal of an MPEG format. 8. The image recording apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the digital modulation / demodulation means is a VSB demodulation unit for demodulating a VSB system image signal. 9. The image recording apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the digital modulation / demodulation means is a QAM demodulation section for demodulating a QAM system image signal. 10. The image recording apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the digital modulation / demodulation unit is an OFDM demodulation unit that demodulates an OFDM system image signal. 11. An image reproducing means for reproducing recorded information into a compressed digital image signal, an information selecting section for selecting a desired digital image signal from a plurality of reproduced digital image signals, and a reproduced compressed digital image. An image reproducing apparatus, comprising: an information expansion unit that expands a signal to an original state. 12. The image reproducing device according to claim 11, further comprising display means for displaying an image of a digital image signal. 13. A plurality of compressed digital image signals are simultaneously recorded by a recording instruction operation, a plurality of digital image signals are simultaneously reproduced by a reproduction instruction operation, and a desired digital image is reproduced from the plurality of digital image signals reproduced by a signal selection instruction operation. An image recording / reproducing method characterized by selecting an image signal. 14. The image recording / reproducing method according to claim 13, wherein the desired number of digital image signals is plural, and the desired digital image signals are displayed on the display means in a display mode according to a display instruction. 15. The image recording / reproducing method according to claim 14, wherein the display mode is a picture-in-picture and / or a picture-out-picture.