JPH09130725A - Controller for recording and reproducing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To control the recording and reproducing device by the same method as to control of a VTR even when a device capable of random access is adopted for the image audio recording and reproducing device. SOLUTION: A control unit 1 and a hard disk drive 5 are connected by cables 3a, 3b and interfaces 6a, 6b for one output channel. The control unit 1 sends a similar command to that for controlling a VTR via the interface 6a, and the similar command to control other VTR is sent via the interface 6b. The hard disk drive 5 executes the commands in the received order similar to the command received via one interface. Moreover, the result of execution is returned to the control unit 1 via the interface receiving the command.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a control device for video / audio recording / reproducing apparatus applied to a commercial transmission system, for example.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Commercial broadcasters (hereinafter referred to as C
In the sending device, CMs are put in a predetermined order by sequentially setting a plurality of VTRs in a reproducing state.
Is sent. FIG. 4 shows an outline of a conventional CM transmission system using a VTR. Reference numeral 1 denotes a control unit including a control computer and a control circuit. 2
a, 2b, and 2c are VTRs, respectively. VTR2a,
A control signal is given from the control unit 1 to each of 2b and 2c via cables 3a, 3b and 3c of a serial interface (for example, RS422). VT
The reproduction signals of R2a, 2b and 2c are supplied to the switcher 4. The switcher 4 is also controlled by the control unit 1,
The reproduction signal controlled by the switcher 4 is taken out as an output. Although an example of three VTRs is shown in FIG. 4, more VTRs may be used.

Referring to FIG. 5, V by control unit 1
The control of TR will be described. Here, as shown in FIG. 5A, CM-1 is output, and at timing t0,
The operation of switching from the output of CM-1 to the output of CM-2 is performed seamlessly. In this case, CM-1, C continuously transmitted
M-2 and CM-3 are connected and reproduced by the VTRs 2a, 2b and 2c in order. After the last VTR 2c, the process returns to the first VTR 2a and CMs are continuously reproduced.

As shown in FIG. 5B, the VTR 2a causes C
M-1 is reproduced and is selected by the switcher 4. During the reproduction of CM-1 by this VTR 2a,
V via cable 3b for the next CM-2 playback
A command is given from the control unit 1 to TR2b. That is, a thread command is generated at timing t1, a cue-up command is generated at timing t2, and a play command is generated at timing t3. The sled means inserting the tape cassette into the VTR and placing the tape in the running path, and the cue-up means a heading operation for bringing the recording / playback start position to a designated position. Here, it means that the VTR 2b searches for the reproduction start position of the CM-2.

Depending on the play command, VTR2b
Performs reproduction from slightly before (eg, 3 seconds) before the timing t0 at which CM-1 is actually switched to CM-2. This reproducing operation is called preroll. In the case of VTR, a normal replay operation cannot be immediately started from the designated time, so preroll is required. Then, at timing t0, the switcher 4 selects and outputs the output of VTR2b from the output of VTR2a. VTR2
a is slightly after the timing t0 (for example, after 1 to 2 seconds)
The playback operation is continued until. This reproducing operation is called post-roll. The reproduction operation of the VTR 2a ends by the stop command at the timing t4. At a subsequent timing t5, a rewind command is generated and the tape is rewound to the tape top. Then, at timing t6, an eject command is generated. Eject means returning the tape from the running path into the cassette and ejecting the tape cassette from the VTR.

Recently, a new device (hard disk, optical disk, etc.) capable of random access by digital recording is being used instead of the VTR. In this type of device, one output (one channel) can be used to connect and record what is recorded in a plurality of areas that are not continuous (referred to as back-to-back reproduction). That is, the time required to read the recorded digital data and transfer it to the memory can be shortened as compared with the actual time required for reproduction. Therefore, by reading the digital data stored in the memory and writing the reproduced digital data into this memory, it is possible to secure the time for moving the head to reproduce the other area, and to change the area. The recorded digital data can be continuously reproduced.

In such a device, control for performing back-to-back reproduction is usually performed by a single control interface as in the case of using a conventional VTR as a device. In this control method, information for continuously reproducing non-contiguous areas is transmitted to the device in advance. More specifically, the time is added to the command in order to notify when the different area is to be reproduced. in this way,
A method of sending a command to be executed later with time in advance (referred to as timeline control) is adopted.

As shown in FIG. 6, the control unit 1 and a device capable of back-to-back playback, such as a hard disk drive 5, are connected by a control cable 3d. Timeline control is performed on the hard disk drive 5 via the control cable 3d.

FIG. 5C shows an example of timeline control. An example in which the command used for the VTR is used as the control command is shown. That is, as a command, CM-2 thread and CM-2 queue-up (C
(Including information on recording position of M-2), stop of CM-1, play of CM-2, rewind of CM-1, CM-
The eject command of No. 1 is transmitted from the control unit 1 to the hard disk drive 5 together with the information specifying the time for executing each command. The time of transmission is, of course, before the time each command is executed. The hard disk drive 5 executes these commands at the designated time. However, since the thread, rewind, and eject commands have no meaning for the hard disk drive 5, when these commands are received, the hard disk drive 5 only returns a normal end, and the hard disk drive 5 actually performs the operation corresponding to the command. Do not execute.

[0010]

Conventionally, since a VTR is mainly used as a recording / playback device, a command for VTR is prepared in order to reduce the development cost of control hardware and software. It is preferable to perform the same control as the VTR. However, in the case of the above-mentioned timeline control, it is necessary to add time information, and the control cannot be performed in exactly the same manner as the VTR.

A plurality of VTRs 2a, 2b, 2 shown in FIG.
Unlike when using c, the hard disk drive 5
In this case, since there is only one control interface, it is not easy to use the system realized by using the VTR as it is. As an example, a plurality of VTs may be used, as described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5B, to continuously play back what is not continuously recorded on the VTR.
Using R, one continuous recording of one VT
Playback is performed by R, and VTRs are sequentially switched. That is, one of the control interfaces corresponds to one continuous area. If a similar control is performed on a device such as a hard disk drive, it is necessary to use a plurality of control interfaces and a plurality of hard disk drives, which wastes the device.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a control device for a recording / reproducing apparatus, which enables control similar to that of a VTR even if a new device such as a hard disk drive is used instead of the VTR. To do.

[0013]

According to the present invention, there is provided a control device comprising a recording / reproducing device capable of random access and a control unit for controlling the operation of the recording / reproducing device. The coupled first and second input / output sections are provided in the recording / reproducing apparatus, and the recording / reproducing apparatus is configured to execute the commands in the order given from the control unit via the first and second input / output sections. The control device of the recording / reproducing apparatus is characterized in that the result of processing for the command is returned to the control unit via the first or second input / output unit to which the command is given.

The recording / reproducing apparatus has two input / output units for control commands, and the control unit has two VTRs.
Commands are sent to these input / output units in the same manner as for controlling. Since the recording / reproducing apparatus executes the commands in the order received, the recording / reproducing apparatus is controlled in the same manner as when the commands are received via one input / output unit. Therefore, even if a random access recording / reproducing device is used instead of the VTR,
The control method is similar to that of the VTR, and it is easy to use the control unit of the system using the existing VTR.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. This embodiment can be applied to the case where CM (commercial) data (image and sound) is transmitted from the hard disk drive 5. FIG. 1 shows the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. Reference numeral 1 denotes a control unit including a computer and a control circuit, and 5 denotes a device capable of back-to-back reproduction, such as a hard disk drive. An MO drive may be used as this type of device. The control unit 1 and the hard disk drive 5 are connected via cables 3a and 3b of a control interface (for example, a serial interface such as RS422). The hard disk drive 5 is provided with interfaces (control ports) 6a and 6b connected to the cables 3a and 3b.

FIG. 2 shows a concrete example of a CM transmission system to which the present invention can be applied. CM material is VTR11,
CM bank section 13 that is reproduced by a material reproducing device such as 12
Stored as digital data in. CM bank section 1
3 is composed of, for example, an MO changer. CM
A bank controller 14 and a personal computer 15 are installed. The computer 15 functions as a terminal for registering / filing CM material, and C
A database regarding CM materials stored in the M bank unit 13 is constructed.

Reference numeral 16 denotes a CM sending unit, which comprises a hard disk drive to constitute the CM sending unit 16 and a CM sending unit controller 17. A personal computer 18 is provided as a terminal for monitoring / controlling CM transmission. In the example of FIG. 2, it is possible to send CM to three channels. Each channel has a working channel and a backup channel in order to deal with a failure or the like.

The computers 15 and 18 are connected by a LAN 19 such as Ethernet, and a computer DLS20 and an APC 21 for controlling the entire broadcasting station are also connected to the LAN 19. The DLS 20 sends the material filing data and the filing result data to the computer 15, and also sends the sending data to the computer 18. The APC 21 gives the sending frame instruction data to the computer 18. Further, a VTR unit 22 is provided for creating a CM-integrated tape on which, for example, the CMs to be broadcast on one day are collectively recorded by using the CM material registered in the CM bank unit 13.

In brief, the above-mentioned CM sending system sends a transfer list of CM materials to be sent from the computer 18 to the computer 15, and the CM bank 13 needs to send the CM material to the CM sending unit 16 based on this transfer list. CM materials are transferred. Then, under the supervision of the computer 18, the CM is actually transmitted to each channel. The present invention is applied to the control of the hard disk drive that constitutes the CM sending section 16 in the CM sending system as described above.

As described above, since the hard disk drive 5 is provided with the two control interfaces 6a and 6b for one output channel,
The control unit 1 controls the hard disk drive 5 in the same way as it controls two VTRs. That is,
The control unit 1 transmits the control command to the hard disk drive 5 by alternately using the two cables 3a (interface 6a) and the cable 3b (interface 6b). When inconsistent commands are sent at the same time through the two cables 3a and 3b, for example, when a play command and a stop command are sent at the same time, the side that has been moving (the side that sent the stop command) is stopped, Start playing on the side that is about to move (the side that sent the play command).

The hard disk drive 5 is provided with a CPU and a memory for receiving this control command. Inside the hard disk drive 5, the processing is performed by regarding the received commands from the interfaces 6a and 6b as being received from one interface. That is, the hard disk drive 5 executes the commands in the order received by the interfaces 6a and 6b, and returns the result of processing for the commands to the control unit 1 through the interface 6a or 6b that received the command. Further, inside the hard disk drive 5, the position of the head is virtually held. Specifically, an address (for example, a time code) is stored in the memory as a virtual head position.

The control sequence of the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 3A, CM1 is reproduced, and CM2 is reproduced from timing t0.
Is shown in FIG.
FIG. 3B shows a command transmitted via the cable 3a and the interface 6a, and FIG. 3C shows a command transmitted via the cable 3b and the interface 6b. These commands are the same as those for controlling the VTR, and do not include time designation information as in the timeline control.

Cable 3b and interface 6b
From the control unit 1 via the command of the thread (timing t11), the command of queue up
12), and play commands (timing t13) are sequentially sent. When the hard disk drive 5 receives the cue-up command, the value that virtually indicates the position of the head on the memory is changed to the received value that indicates the start of reproduction. Also, the timing t at which the play command is transmitted
13 is a timing slightly prior to the timing t0 of switching from CM-1 to CM-2. Since the thread and eject commands are unique to the VTR and have no corresponding operation in the hard disk drive 5, when such a command unique to the VTR is accepted, a normal end response is returned without doing anything. However, when a command such as rewind or FF (forward fast forward) is accepted, the value of the virtual head position stored in the memory is updated.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3B, a command is transmitted from the control unit 1 to the hard disk drive 5 via the cable 3a and the interface 6a. A stop command (timing t13), a rewind command (timing t14), and an eject command (timing t15) are transmitted in sequence. The stop command is transmitted at the same timing t13 as the play command. The two commands have inconsistent contents, so the hard disk drive 5 is the one that has been operating (the side that sent the stop command).
The reproduction of CM-2 on the other side (the side that sent the play command) is started. The information on the reproduction start position is included in the cue-up command received at the timing t12.

The hard disk drive 5 executes the commands in FIG. 3B received via the interface 6a and the commands in FIG. 3C received via the interface 6b in the order in which they are received, without distinguishing between them. The execution result (for example, normal end) is returned to the control unit 1 via the interface that received each command.

In the above description, the present invention is applied to the case of performing back-to-back reproduction, but back-to-back recording is also considered for back-to-back reproduction. However, the present invention can be applied to this as well. Further, although the above description is an example of one output channel, since the reading speed of the hard disk drive is high, one physical head can function as a device having a plurality of virtual heads, for example, two heads. . In that case, multiple output channels can be retrieved from the hard disk drive. The present invention can be applied to the case where there are a plurality of such output channels, and the same control as described above is performed for each output channel.

[0027]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to control one device as well as control a plurality of VTRs, and control unit of a system for controlling an existing VTR ( There is an advantage that it can be used with almost no change in hardware and software.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example of a CM transmission device to which the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 3 is a timing chart for explaining a control sequence of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an example of a conventional control device.

FIG. 5 is a timing chart for explaining a control sequence of a conventional control device.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of another example of the conventional control device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3a, 3b Control interface 5 Hard disk drive

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A control device comprising a random-accessible recording / reproducing device and a control unit for controlling the operation of the recording / reproducing device, wherein one reproduction output channel is connected to the control unit. A second input / output unit is provided in the recording / reproducing device, and the recording / reproducing device executes commands in the order given from the control unit via the first and second input / output units. A control device for a recording / reproducing apparatus, wherein a result of processing for a command is returned to the control unit via the first or second input / output unit to which the command is given. 2. The control device for a recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the command is the same as a command for controlling a VTR. 3. The control device for the recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a thread, a queue-up, and the like are provided via the second input / output unit.
A play command is sequentially given from the control unit to the recording / reproducing apparatus, and a stop command is given through the first input / output unit at substantially the same timing as the play command timing, and the stop command is given. Followed by rewind,
An apparatus characterized in that an eject command is sequentially given from the control unit to the recording / reproducing apparatus so that a plurality of image data can be connected and reproduced. 4. The control device of the recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the plurality of image data are image data of commercial material.