JPH08235758A - Recording medium reproducing device and method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To forbid the reproduction of an image in a designated range by providing a memory for storing information for parental control and registering a data unit identification number at the head and the tail end of the area in which the reproduction is desired to be forbidden in the memory. CONSTITUTION: An information file recorded in a recording medium is composed of plural data units (DUTs), each DUT is provided with a DUT header and a DUT identification number is written there. A recording medium reproducing device is set to be a parental setting mode and DUT identification numbers at the head and the tail end of the area in which the reproduction is desired to be forbidden are inputted from a key input part 110. By performing confirming operation by using a method for reproducing the designated range, etc., all DUT identification numbers in the designated range are stored in a parental memory part 111 corresponding to a volume identifier. In a reproducing mode, the reproduction of an image in the designated area for forbidding reproduction is forbidden by referring to information in the memory part 111. During the time reproduction is stopped, the image just before the stoppage is displayed together with a message for displaying the contents in the forbidden area.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording medium reproducing apparatus and a recording medium reproducing method for reproducing a recording medium such as an optical disk.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a moving image-compatible optical disc reproducing device for reproducing an optical disc on which information such as moving images and voices has been digitally recorded has been developed, and in accordance with this, various kinds of software such as movies and applications are being provided. .

By the way, movies and the like often include scenes such as violent scenes and obscene scenes, which are not desirable for persons who receive education. Therefore, in recent years, it has been considered to set some restrictions on the reproduction of such scenes having educational problems (hereinafter, referred to as parental).

Conventionally, as a method of realizing this parental, a flag area for parental is provided in a data unit which is a unit of a certain data, and the value of this flag is read at the time of reproduction, so that each data unit is read. It is known to decide whether to prohibit reproduction.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a data structure of a disc having the parental setting flag. The data structure of this disk is composed of a system area, a basic volume descriptor, a volume descriptor set terminator, a path table, a directory record, a plurality of files, and a lead-out. A volume identifier including a software title identification code is described in the basic volume descriptor. The file includes file management information and the above-mentioned plurality of data units (hereinafter referred to as DUT). FIG.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a structure of DUT. The DUT includes a data unit header, a sub video block, an audio block and a main video block. The data unit header includes DUT identification & search information, DUT reproduction control information, DUT configuration identification information, sub-picture block configuration information, audio block configuration information, video block configuration information, and reservation. The DUT reproduction control information, which is information for controlling the reproduction of the data unit, includes RPGNO (next program number capable of continuous reproduction), AVSYNC (synchronization pointer for video sound synchronization), SPSNO (sub-picture division number), P
It consists of ARENT (parental) and EFFECT (edge effect).

As shown in FIG. 9, each sub-picture block consists of a block header and a plurality of sub-picture channels. Each sub-picture channel includes a channel header, bitmap data that is display data, and its control data. The audio block is composed of a block header and a plurality of audio streams, as shown in FIG.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a data structure of PARENT information. PARENT is an item for determining whether to permit or prohibit DUT reproduction, and is composed of 1-byte data. Here, the 4th bit and the 5th bit are flags indicating permission / prohibition of reproduction. "00" means reproduction permission, and "01" means reproduction prohibition. The reproduction prohibition flag becomes invalid when the user inputs a password.

[0008]

However, the setting of the parental flag is limited only to the software production. That is, the scene for parental setting is determined by the judgment of the software providing side, and the user cannot select any scene and set the parental setting. For this reason, it is not possible to perform flexible parental settings according to individual circumstances on the user side.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and a recording medium reproducing apparatus and a recording medium reproducing method by which a user can arbitrarily set an area in the entire data area of a recording medium whose reproduction is prohibited. The purpose is to provide.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a recording medium reproducing apparatus of the present invention provides a recording medium having a data area in which at least one data of video, audio or video auxiliary information is recorded. In a recording medium reproducing device for reproducing, a data area arbitrarily selected from the outside
Based on the setting contents of the reproduction prohibited area setting means for presetting the reproduction prohibited area and the reproduction prohibited area setting means, control is performed to selectively reproduce the data read from the recording medium. And a reproduction control means for controlling the reproduction.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the recording medium reproducing apparatus of the present invention reproduces a recording medium in which at least one data of video, audio or video auxiliary information is unitized and recorded in a unit. In the recording medium reproducing device, a reproduction prohibition unit setting means for setting the data unit arbitrarily selected from the outside as a data unit whose reproduction should be prohibited, and based on the setting contents of the reproduction prohibition unit setting means And a reproduction control means for controlling so as to selectively reproduce the data read from the recording medium.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the recording medium reproducing apparatus of the present invention unitizes at least one data of video, audio or video auxiliary information into a unit and adds identification information to each unit. In a recording medium reproducing apparatus for reproducing the recorded recording medium, identification information storage means for storing identification information of the data unit arbitrarily selected from the outside, and data read from the recording medium during data reproduction. A comparison unit that extracts the identification information added to the data unit and compares it with the identification information stored in the identification information storage unit, and if the identification information matches as a result of the comparison by the comparison unit, the identification information And a reproduction prohibition control means for controlling reproduction of the data unit to which is added.

According to the present invention, in the recording medium reproducing apparatus according to the first aspect, when the reproduction control means detects the reproduction prohibited area, it jumps over the reproduction prohibited area and sets the reproduction position to the area immediately after the reproduction prohibited area. It is characterized in that control is performed so as to move. Further, the present invention is the recording medium reproducing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the reproduction control means comprises:
When the reproduction prohibited area is detected, a screen including character information expressing the data contents in the reproduction prohibited area is displayed before starting the data reproduction of the area immediately after the reproduction prohibited area. is there.

Further, according to the present invention, in the recording medium reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, when the reproduction control means detects the reproduction prohibited area, the reproduction of the data of the reproduction prohibited area is restricted, and the reproduction of the data of the reproduction prohibited area is performed. During the regulation period, the reproduction data of the area immediately before the reproduction prohibited area is output.

Further, according to the present invention, in the recording medium reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, when the reproduction control means detects a reproduction prohibited area, it restricts data reproduction of the reproduction prohibited area, and reproduces data of the reproduction prohibited area. During the regulation period of, the reproduction data of the area immediately before the reproduction prohibited area, on which the character information expressing the data content in the reproduction prohibited area is placed, is output.

According to the present invention, in the recording medium reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, the password setting means for setting an arbitrary password, and the reproduction control means when the password set by the password setting means is externally input. Means for prohibiting the execution of the reproduction control based on the setting content of the reproduction prohibited area setting means by the above.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the recording medium reproducing method of the present invention is a method for reproducing a recording medium having a data area in which at least one data of video, audio or video auxiliary information is recorded. A step of presetting a more arbitrarily selected data area as an area whose reproduction should be prohibited; and a step of selectively reproducing the data read from the recording medium based on the setting contents It is characterized by.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the recording medium reproducing method of the present invention unitizes at least one data of video, audio or video auxiliary information into a unit and adds identification information to each unit. In the method of reproducing the recorded recording medium, the step of setting the data unit arbitrarily selected from the outside as a data unit whose reproduction should be prohibited, and reading from the recording medium based on the setting content. Selectively reproducing the generated data.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the recording medium reproducing method of the present invention unitizes at least one data of video, audio or video auxiliary information into a unit and adds identification information to each unit. In the method of reproducing the recorded recording medium, the step of storing identification information of the data unit arbitrarily selected from the outside, and adding to the data unit from the data read from the recording medium at the time of reproducing the data. A step of extracting the identified identification information and comparing it with the identification information stored in the identification information storage means; and as a result of the comparison, if the identification information matches each other, the reproduction of the data unit to which the identification information is added is performed. And a prohibiting step.

[0020]

According to the present invention, the user himself / herself can arbitrarily specify the data area of which the reproduction is desired to be prohibited in the entire data area on the recording medium, and the reproduction of the data area can be prohibited. The reproduction prohibited area can be set, for example, in units of data units formed by dividing at least one data of video, audio, or video auxiliary information in a certain unit.

Upon detecting the reproduction prohibited area, the reproduction control means jumps over the reproduction prohibited area and moves the reproduction position to the area immediately after the reproduction prohibited area, or starts the data reproduction of the area immediately after the reproduction prohibited area. It is possible to display a screen including character information expressing the data content in the reproduction prohibited area before the operation.

Further, in the present invention, the reproduction control means, when detecting the reproduction prohibited area, restricts the data reproduction of the reproduction prohibited area, and immediately before the reproduction prohibited area during the data reproduction restriction period of the reproduction prohibited area. It is possible to output the reproduction data of the area or the reproduction data of the immediately preceding area on which the character information expressing the data content in the reproduction prohibited area is placed.
Further, in the present invention, it is possible to set an arbitrary password, and when the password is externally input, prohibit the execution of the reproduction control based on the setting content of the reproduction prohibited area setting means by the reproduction control means. .

[0023]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the structure of a moving picture compatible optical disk reproducing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Since the data structure of the optical disc reproduced by the optical disc reproducing apparatus of the present embodiment is the same as that shown in FIGS. 7 to 11, it is omitted here.

As shown in the figure, the moving picture compatible optical disk reproducing apparatus includes a key input section 101, a system ROM &
RAM unit 102, optical disc 103, optical disc drive unit 104, CPU unit 105, video decoder unit 10
6, audio decoder unit 107, SP (sub-picture) decoder unit 108, system processor unit 109
(Hereinafter, referred to as SYSPRO section), a DATARAM section 110, a parental memory section 111, a D / A & reproduction processing section 112, a video / audio output section 113, and the like.

In this moving image compatible optical disk reproducing apparatus, when the CPU section 105 inputs a reproducing instruction from the key input section 101, it sends a target address and a read command to the optical disk drive section 104. The optical disc drive unit 104 starts driving the optical disc 103 according to the read command, reads the data of the target address from the optical disc 103, and sends it to the SYSPRO unit 109. SYSP
The RO unit 109 uses the DATARAM to transfer the transmitted data.
Once stored in the unit 110, video data (MPEG video data), audio data and sub-picture data are separated based on the header information in each data unit, and the video decoder unit 106, the audio decoder unit 107,
Transfer to the SP decoder unit 108. Each decoder unit 10
6, 107 and 108 decode the respective data,
The decoding result is sent to the D / A & reproduction processing unit 112.
The D / A & reproduction processing unit 112 converts each digital signal of the decoded video data, audio, and sub-picture into an analog signal, and converts each analog signal into an image of a TV or the like.
The audio output unit 113 is supplied.

Next, the parental processing in the moving image compatible optical disk reproducing apparatus of this embodiment will be described.

In this embodiment, the user himself / herself can select an arbitrary data area on the optical disk and set parental prohibition of reproduction for that area. That is,
Information indicating the data area selected by the user (see FIG. 8).
(DUT identification information in the DUT identification & search information shown in)
Is stored in advance in the parental memory unit 111, and when the disc is reproduced, control is performed based on the information stored in the memory unit 111 so as to prohibit reproduction of the corresponding data area. In addition, in the parental memory unit 111, together with the above-mentioned data area information for which reproduction is prohibited, a volume identifier (basic volume descriptor shown in FIG. 7) that is information for identifying the type of optical disc is described. ) Are stored and are stored in association with each other.

The details of this parental processing will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, the volume identifier recorded on the optical disk is read, and it is checked whether this volume identifier is already stored in the parental memory unit 111 (step 201). If the volume identifier is stored in the parental memory unit 111, it is determined that parental has been set for the optical disc, and the playback mode is immediately entered (step 20).
2). In addition, the volume identifier is the parental memory unit 1
11 is stored in the parental memory unit 111 (step 20).
3) Then, the parental setting mode is entered (step 204).

When the parental setting mode is entered, the user first sets an area in which reproduction is prohibited (step 205). To set this area, the user uses the key input unit 101 to start the DUT of the area whose reproduction is to be prohibited.
And the final DUT is specified. Each DU
DUT identification information such as a unique number is added to each T. By designating this DUT identification information,
The first DUT and the last DUT of the reproduction prohibited area can be designated.

When the reproduction prohibited area is specified, its head D
The process of reproducing the DUTs from the UT to the final DUT is executed, and the data (video,
Voices and sub-pictures are displayed for confirmation (step 206). Through this display, the user confirms whether or not the reproduction prohibited area can be designated as desired (step 2).
07) If the reproduction prohibited area has not been specified as desired, the process returns to step 205 and the reproduction prohibited area is specified again.

When the designation of the target reproduction prohibited area is completed,
Each DUT identification information from the designated first DUT to the last DUT is stored in the parental memory unit 111 as information indicating the reproduction prohibited area (step 208). In this way, in this embodiment, the user himself / herself can arbitrarily set one or more data areas in the entire data area on the disc as the reproduction prohibited area.

After that, the user sets a password for canceling the parental setting (for example, a four-digit number) using the key input section 101, and the parental memory section 1 is set.
11 shows a volume identifier and reproduction prohibited area information (DU
T identification information) and stored (step 20).
9). With the above, the parental setting is completed.

On the other hand, in step 201, it is determined that the parental setting has been made for the optical disc, and when the playback mode is entered, the playback start position is determined according to the user's instruction. For example, reproduction from the top data, reproduction from a scene immediately after the end of the previous reproduction, reproduction from another scene desired by the user, and the like are determined.

Even after entering the reproduction mode, the user can reset the parental setting by requesting the resetting of the parental setting mode by inputting the password (step 210). Further, the parental release can be released by requesting the parental release through the input of the password (step 211) (step 212). However, the term “parental cancellation” here means that parental control is not performed only for the current disk reproduction.

Then, the disc reproduction is started. When the parental is not canceled by the password input, the SYSPRO unit 109 uses the parental memory unit 11
Based on the reproduction prohibited area information stored in No. 1, the DUT which should be prohibited from being reproduced is determined, and the reproduction is prohibited. That is, the SYSPRO unit 109 compares the DUT identification information described in the header of each DUT read from the disc with the DUT identification information stored in the parental memory unit 111, and if they match, the data in the DUT Controls to prohibit the playback of.

When the password is input before the reproduction is started in step 211, the input password is collated with the password stored in the parental memory unit 111, and if they match, the parental is released. When the parental is canceled, the reproduction prohibition control based on the reproduction prohibition area information stored in the parental memory unit 111 is not executed (step 212).

The following is a specific method for prohibiting the data reproduction in the reproduction prohibited area in the reproduction mode.

For example, as shown in FIG. 3, there is a method of continuously reproducing only the area other than the reproduction prohibited area while skipping the reproduction prohibited area. Further, in this case, in order to prevent the contents of the reproduction prohibited area from being unclear from the user's point of view, as shown in FIG. 4, before the data immediately after the reproduction prohibited area is reproduced, the sub-data shown in FIG. The sub video channel in the video block may be switched to display the situation description of the main video on the display screen. Further, the audio stream in the audio block shown in FIG. 10 may be switched to explain the situation of the main video by audio.

There is also a method in which the screen information immediately before the first DUT which is the reproduction prohibited area is held in the memory and the screen is displayed only during the reproduction period of the reproduction prohibited area. In this case as well, the sub-picture channel in the sub-picture block may be switched, and as shown in FIG. 5, the description of the current parental status and the situation description of the main picture may be caption-displayed on the display screen. Further, similarly to the above, the audio stream in the audio block may be switched and the user may be notified by voice.

Further, during the reproduction period of the reproduction prohibited area, the entire display screen is displayed in black by switching the sub-picture channel, and an explanation that it is in the reproduction prohibited state as shown in FIG. Alternatively, the situation description of the main video may be displayed.

Thus, according to the optical disk reproducing apparatus of the present embodiment, the user himself / herself can arbitrarily set an area in the entire data area on the disk whose reproduction is to be prohibited, and the flexibility is provided in consideration of the individual circumstances of the user. It is possible to realize rich parental functions.

In the present embodiment, the identification information of the DUT corresponding to the reproduction prohibited area is used as the parental memory unit 11.
1 and configured to perform user-specified parental control, but over the DUT group for one title,
It is also possible to store flag information indicating whether the reproduction is prohibited or permitted for each DUT in the parental memory unit 111, and perform the parental control based on the flag information.

The parental system according to this embodiment is
The present invention is also applicable to media in which a fixed parental flag is set as shown in FIG. 11, and parental reproduction can be executed in combination with the parental flag.

[0046]

As described above, according to the present invention, in the entire data area on the recording medium, the user himself / herself arbitrarily designates the data area to be reproduced, and the reproduction of the data area is prohibited. can do. Therefore, it is possible to perform the optimum parental setting according to the individual circumstances of the user.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a moving image compatible optical disc reproducing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a procedure of parental processing according to this embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a specific method of prohibiting reproduction of a reproduction prohibited area according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a method of switching screens across a reproduction prohibited area according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a specific method for prohibiting the reproduction of other reproduction prohibited areas.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a specific method of prohibiting the reproduction of another reproduction prohibited area.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a data structure of a disk having a parental setting flag according to the related art and the present embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a structure of a conventional DUT and a DUT of the present embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a structure of a sub-picture channel in the related art and the present embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a structure of a conventional audio block and a conventional audio block.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a data structure of parental information according to the related art and the present embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 ... Key input unit, 102 ... System ROM & RA
M section, 103 ... Optical disk, 104 ... Optical disk drive section, 105 ... CPU section, 106 ... Video decoder section,
107 ... audio decoder section, 108 ... SP decoder section, 109 ... system processor section (SYSPRO
Part), 110 ... DATARAM part, 111 ... parental memory part, 112 ... D / A & reproduction processing part, 113 ... video / audio output part.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Internal reference number FI Technical display location G11B 27/00 G11B 27/00 DD

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A recording medium reproducing apparatus for reproducing a recording medium having a data area in which at least one data of video, audio or video auxiliary information is recorded, and reproducing a data area arbitrarily selected from the outside. Reproduction prohibited area setting means for presetting the area to be prohibited, and reproduction for controlling so as to selectively reproduce the data read from the recording medium based on the setting content of the reproduction prohibited area setting means. A recording medium reproducing apparatus comprising: a control unit. 2. A recording medium reproducing apparatus for reproducing a recording medium in which at least one data of video, audio or video auxiliary information is unitized and recorded in a certain unit, and the recording medium reproducing apparatus arbitrarily selected from the outside. Based on the setting contents of the reproduction prohibition unit setting means for setting the data unit as a data unit whose reproduction should be prohibited,
A recording medium reproducing apparatus comprising: a reproduction control unit that controls so as to selectively reproduce the data read from the recording medium. 3. A recording medium reproducing apparatus for reproducing a recording medium in which at least one data of video, audio or video auxiliary information is unitized in a certain unit and recording identification information is added to each unit, Identification information storage means for storing identification information of the more arbitrarily selected data unit, and identification information added to the data unit from the data read from the recording medium at the time of data reproduction. When the comparison means for comparing with the identification information stored in the information storage means and each identification information as a result of the comparison by the comparison means, control is performed so as to prohibit reproduction of the data unit to which the identification information is added. A recording medium reproducing apparatus comprising a reproduction prohibition control means. 4. The recording medium reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the reproduction control unit detects a reproduction prohibited area, the reproduction control unit jumps over the reproduction prohibited area and moves a reproduction position to an area immediately after the reproduction prohibited area. A recording medium reproducing apparatus characterized by the above. 5. The recording medium reproducing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein when the reproduction control unit detects a reproduction prohibited area, the reproduction prohibited area is detected before data reproduction of an area immediately after the reproduction prohibited area is started. A recording medium reproducing apparatus characterized by displaying a screen including character information expressing the data contents in the recording medium. 6. The recording medium reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the reproduction control unit detects a reproduction prohibited area, it restricts data reproduction of the reproduction prohibited area, and a data reproduction restriction period of the reproduction prohibited area. A recording medium reproducing device characterized by outputting reproduction data of an area immediately before the reproduction prohibited area. 7. The recording medium reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, when the reproduction control unit detects a reproduction prohibited area, it restricts data reproduction of the reproduction prohibited area, and a reproduction period of data reproduction of the reproduction prohibited area. A recording medium reproducing apparatus characterized by outputting reproduction data of an area immediately before the reproduction prohibited area, on which character information expressing data contents in the reproduction prohibited area is placed. 8. The recording medium reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the password setting means for setting an arbitrary password, and the reproduction by the reproduction control means when the password set by the password setting means is externally input. A recording medium reproducing apparatus, further comprising: a unit that prohibits execution of reproduction control based on the setting content of the prohibited area setting unit. 9. A method of reproducing a recording medium having a data area in which at least one data of video, audio or video auxiliary information is recorded, in which reproduction of a data area arbitrarily selected from the outside should be prohibited. A recording medium reproducing method comprising: a step of presetting as an area; and a step of selectively reproducing data read from the recording medium based on the setting contents. 10. A method of reproducing a recording medium in which at least one data of video, audio or video auxiliary information is unitized into a certain unit and identification information is added to each of them, and the recorded medium is reproduced from outside. A step of setting the selected data unit as a data unit whose reproduction should be prohibited; and a step of selectively reproducing the data read from the recording medium based on the setting content. Recording medium reproduction method. 11. A method for reproducing a recording medium in which at least one data of video, audio or video auxiliary information is unitized into a certain unit and identification information is added to each unit, and the recording medium is reproduced from outside. Storing identification information of the selected data unit, and extracting the identification information added to the data unit from the data read from the recording medium during data reproduction and storing the identification information in the identification information storage means. And a step of inhibiting reproduction of the data unit to which the identification information is added when the identification information matches as a result of the comparison.