JPH10288992A - Karaoke device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide the KARAOKE device which never keeps an operator of the device waiting unnecessarily before a KARAOKE performance is started. SOLUTION: A system control part 7 stores played music inputted from the remote control of an operation part 15 in a played music information storage part 15 and starts reproducing the music, unfreezes KARAOKE music data stored in an auxiliary storage device 6 into KARAOKE accompaniment data, text data, and back chorus data and temporarily stores them in the auxiliary storage device 6, and then transfers part of the data to a main storage device 14 and stores them. The system control part 7 downloads only irreducible font data needed for a text display to the main storage device 14.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a karaoke apparatus, and more particularly, to a karaoke apparatus configured to play karaoke music based on stored karaoke music data and font data used for displaying lyrics.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a karaoke apparatus of this kind, karaoke accompaniment data necessary for playing one karaoke song and a lyric image corresponding to the progress of the karaoke accompaniment are displayed before starting a karaoke performance. In preparation for the performance, all the karaoke music data, including the lyrics display control data and font data necessary for the performance, is loaded into the main memory, and the operator of the karaoke apparatus must sing during the time spent for the preparation. Cannot be performed.

[0003] In particular, in this performance preparation, in order to recognize all font data used for karaoke performance, first, search is performed from the beginning to the end of the lyrics display control data, and almost all of the lyrics display control data is scattered. After analyzing the data designating the font to be used, necessary font data is loaded into the main memory based on the analysis result.

[0004]

That is, in the conventional karaoke apparatus, the operator of the karaoke apparatus has to take all the karaoke music data into the main memory until the karaoke performance is started (particularly, lyrics display control). In addition to the time required to analyze the data from the beginning to the end, it is necessary to wait only for the time required to capture all of the font data used for the performance), and there is a problem that it takes a considerable amount of time to start the performance.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and provides a karaoke apparatus that does not require an operator of the karaoke apparatus to wait unnecessarily until a karaoke performance is started. The purpose is to:

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a karaoke apparatus for playing karaoke music based on stored karaoke music data and font data used for displaying lyrics. Music data reading means for reading the karaoke music data in a predetermined block unit,
Music data storage means for storing karaoke music data read by the music data reading means; font data reading means for reading the font data based on karaoke music data stored by the music data storage means;
Font data storage means for storing the font data read by the font data read means, and karaoke music data stored by the music data storage means and font data stored by the font data storage means necessary for starting a performance. Determining means for determining whether or not the data amount has been reached; and performance control means for controlling the performance of the karaoke music piece based on the determination result of the determining means. When it is determined that the karaoke music data and the font data have reached the required data amounts, the performance of the karaoke music is started.

[0007] The karaoke apparatus of the present invention according to claim 2 is
2. The karaoke apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the music data reading means reads out the karaoke music data to be performed next in a predetermined block unit during the performance of the karaoke music,
The music data storage means, during the performance of the karaoke music,
The karaoke music data to be played next read by the music data reading means is stored. The font data reading means reads font data required for the next performance during the performance of the karaoke music, and the font data storage means. Is characterized in that during the performance of a karaoke song, the font data read means read out by the font data reading means and stored therein is required.

[0008] The karaoke apparatus according to the third aspect of the present invention,
In a karaoke apparatus configured to play karaoke music on the basis of stored karaoke music data and font data used for displaying lyrics, font data necessary for performing a part of the karaoke music based on the karaoke music data is provided. Font data reading means for reading only the font data, font data storage means for storing the font data read by the font data reading means, and font data stored by the font data storage means for starting the performance of a part of the karaoke music. And a performance control means for controlling the performance of the karaoke tune based on the determination result of the determination means, wherein the performance control means comprises: If the determining means determines that the font data has reached the required data amount, Characterized in that it start playing the song.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a karaoke apparatus.
4. The karaoke apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the font data reading means reads font data required for the next performance during the performance of the karaoke music, and the font data storage means reads the font data during the performance of the karaoke music. It is characterized by storing font data read by the font data reading means and required for the next performance.

[0010] The karaoke apparatus of the present invention according to claim 5 is
In a karaoke apparatus configured to play karaoke music based on stored karaoke music data and font data used for lyrics display, data for reading only karaoke music data and font data necessary for performing a part of the karaoke music Reading means; data storage means for storing karaoke music data and font data read by the data reading means; and karaoke music data and font data stored by the data storage means for starting performance of a part of the karaoke music. Determining means for determining whether or not the required data amount has been reached, and performance control means for controlling the performance of the karaoke music piece based on the determination result of the determining means, wherein the performance control means comprises: When the determining means determines that the required data amount has been reached, the performance of the karaoke music is started. And wherein the door.

The karaoke apparatus of the present invention according to claim 6 is
6. The karaoke apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the data reading means reads out karaoke music data and font data required for the next performance during the performance of the karaoke music, and the data storage means executes the performance of the karaoke music. To
The karaoke music data and font data required for the next performance read by the data reading means are stored.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS First, the following terms are defined. The karaoke music data is data necessary for displaying a lyric image corresponding to the accompaniment of the karaoke music and the progress thereof, and includes karaoke accompaniment data, lyrics data, back chorus data, and the like.

The karaoke accompaniment data is data necessary for performing accompaniment of a karaoke music piece.
I (Musical Instrument Digi)
(Tal Interface) standard, and the like. The lyric data is data necessary for displaying a lyric image and a background image corresponding to the progress of the accompaniment of the karaoke song, and includes a header portion, font designation data, and lyric display control data.

The header section is composed of, for example, music genre data, data indicating a start clock number and an end clock number of a music piece, a music name, a singer name, and the like. The font designation data is data for designating font data used for displaying lyrics of a karaoke song, and defines the correspondence between font index data described later and font data stored in the auxiliary storage device.

The lyrics display control data includes, for example, font index data, color change data, data indicating the number of clocks indicating the timing of displaying or erasing the lyrics of the karaoke song, data indicating the number of clocks indicating the color change timing, and the like. You. The font index data is
This is data for specifying font data written in a main storage device described later.

The back chorus data is data necessary for performing a back chorus performance corresponding to the progress of the accompaniment of the karaoke music, and is, for example, MPEG (Movin).
It is composed of audio data coded based on the gPicture Element Group standard. Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a karaoke apparatus according to the present invention, and shows a basic configuration when applied to a communication karaoke system. Further, the karaoke apparatus 1 according to the present invention is shown in the outer broken line in FIG. 1
Reference numeral 7 denotes a host computer which automatically connects to each karaoke device via a telephone line and distributes karaoke music data to the karaoke device 1 and other karaoke devices (not shown).

Reference numeral 7 denotes a system control unit, which is composed of a microprocessor or the like for controlling the entire karaoke apparatus 1, and controls various input / output devices, manages memory, processes data, and the like. An operation unit 12 includes various keys, switches, and a remote controller (not shown) for setting various states of the karaoke apparatus 1.

Reference numeral 13 denotes a display unit, which includes an LCD, an LED, and the like for displaying information necessary for setting various states of the karaoke apparatus 1 to an operator. A modem 5 exchanges data with the host computer 17 via an analog communication line such as a telephone line, and converts karaoke music data transmitted from the host computer 17 into a digital signal.

Reference numeral 6 denotes an auxiliary storage device, which is mainly composed of a rewritable storage medium such as a hard disk and a CD-ROM and a read-only storage medium, and includes an operating system (hereinafter referred to as "OS"), various control programs, It stores karaoke music data and font data. The karaoke music data is captured by the modem 5 under the control of the system control unit 7 and stored in the hard disk of the auxiliary storage device 6. Note that the auxiliary storage device 6 may be configured by a read-only storage medium such as a DVD-ROM or a DVD-RAM or a rewritable storage medium.

The management information storage section (not shown) of the auxiliary storage device 6 stores information necessary for managing the stored karaoke music data as a karaoke music management table. , A song number, a song version, a stored date (year, month, day), and information indicating the number of song selections after the storage, and the like. System control unit 7
However, by transmitting the information stored in the management information storage unit to the host computer 17, it is possible to inform the host computer 17 of the information of the karaoke music stored in the karaoke apparatus 1.

Usually, the karaoke music data is stored in a compressed state in order to minimize the storage capacity of the auxiliary storage device 6. The karaoke music data is not only taken in at the request of the user of the karaoke device 1, but is also taken automatically in a time zone when the karaoke device 1 is used less frequently, such as at night. 14
Is a main storage device, which is generally configured by a storage medium such as a semiconductor memory that can be rewritten and accessed at high speed, and under the control of the system control unit 7, an OS read from the auxiliary storage device 6, It stores a control program, karaoke music data and font data in a decompressed state.

Reference numeral 15 denotes a music piece information storage unit, which is generally constituted by a rewritable and high-speed accessible storage medium such as a semiconductor memory, and which receives a reservation input from the operation unit 12 under the control of the system control unit 7. The information which specifies the performed karaoke music is stored. Reference numeral 2 denotes an external video reproducing apparatus, which is widely used in VTRs, video CD players, and L
D players, more recently MPEG players and DVDs
(Digital Video Disk) A player or the like that reproduces and outputs a video signal from video data recorded on a video tape or various discs as a recording medium under the control of the system control unit 7.

Reference numeral 9 denotes a superimpose unit, to which font data and color change information stored in the main storage unit 14 are supplied by the system control unit 7. Further, the superimposing unit 9 adds a background video signal supplied from the external video reproducing device 2 according to an instruction of the system control unit 7,
The lyric image created based on the supplied font data and color change information is synthesized and output to the image display unit 3 described later.

Reference numeral 3 denotes an image display unit, which is a display device capable of simultaneously displaying a plurality of images such as a wide TV and a monitor TV, which have been widely used recently, in a plurality of windows. The video display unit 3 includes a plurality of video display devices 1 to N, and each video display device simultaneously displays a video based on a video signal input from the superimposition unit 9.

Reference numeral 8 denotes a MIDI tone generator, which is supplied with MIDI data in the karaoke music data stored in the main storage unit 14 by the system controller 7;
The I data is output as a performance music signal by the function of the electronic musical instrument. Reference numeral 10 denotes a mixer / amplifier unit,
By synthesizing and amplifying the performance music signal output from the sound source unit 8 and the signal of the singer's singing voice captured by the microphone 4 and outputting the synthesized music signal to the speaker 11, the performance music and the singing voice of the singer are reproduced as audible sounds. .

Next, the operation of the karaoke apparatus according to the present invention configured as described above will be described in detail. When the operator turns on the power of the karaoke device 1, the system control unit 7 automatically downloads the OS stored in the auxiliary storage device 6 to the main storage device 14, performs various initial settings, and then waits for performance. Waits for an input from the operation unit 12.

An operator operates a remote control included in the operation unit 12 while watching information displayed on the display unit 13, and
Enter the number of the song you want to play and select a song.
The system control section 7 stores the input music number data of the music piece in the music piece information storage section 15. Normally, the system control section 7 reproduces the performance music in accordance with the registration order of the music number data stored in the performance music information storage section 15. However, in order to simplify the explanation, before the performance music is registered, nothing is registered. Assume that it has not been registered.

The system control section 7 stores the performance music information storage section 1
No. 5 is always searched to determine whether there is a music piece to be reproduced. In this case, since the music number data is registered, the operation immediately proceeds to the reproduction operation of the music piece. The system control unit 7 searches the karaoke music data stored in the auxiliary storage device 6 for karaoke music data corresponding to the music number based on the music number data stored in the performance music information storage unit 15 and compresses the data. The stored karaoke music data is decompressed into karaoke accompaniment data, lyric data and back chorus data, temporarily stored in the auxiliary storage device 6, and then only a part of the data is transferred to the main storage device 14. To remember. And the system control unit 7
Downloads only the font data necessary for the lyrics display to the main storage device 14. However, after decompressing the karaoke music data, all of the data may be transferred and stored in the main storage device 14, and only the font data necessary for the lyrics display at a minimum may be downloaded to the main storage device 14.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing the structure of the lyrics data. The lyrics data is composed of a header part at the head thereof and a lyrics data block following the header part. The lyrics data block is divided into N blocks from lyrics data block 1 to lyrics data block N, and each block is composed of font designation data and lyrics display control data. Normally, font designation data is arranged at the head of the lyrics data block. In the lyrics display control data, in addition to the various control data described above, a font index necessary for displaying the lyrics video in time series is included. Data (hereinafter also referred to as "FI data")
Are scattered over almost the entire area (in the figure, FI
FI from data B1-00 to FI data BN-NN
Data).

First, the system control unit 7 downloads only the lyrics data block 1 which is the first lyrics data block from the lyrics data stored in the auxiliary storage device 6 to the main storage device 14, and then downloads the font data. Based on the designated data, necessary font data is read from the font data stored in the auxiliary storage device 6 and written into the font table of the main storage device 14, and the karaoke music data and the font data are used to start playing. It is determined whether or not the required data amount has been reached. If it is determined that the required data amount has been reached, the performance of the karaoke music is immediately started.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing the relationship between the font data in the auxiliary storage device 6, the font designation data, and the font table in the main storage device 14. In this example, an operation of storing font data necessary to display a telop "Spring is coming" is described. FIG.
FIG. 2A is a conceptual diagram of font data stored in the auxiliary storage device 6. In this figure, the auxiliary storage device 6 stores “K” in the box number FD00 and “T” in the box number FD02 in ascending order of the numbers. . . The font data “come” is stored in the box number FD23. However, in the figure, “X” means that font data indicating other characters is stored, but the description of the characters is omitted because it is unnecessary for the description of the present embodiment.

FIG. 3B is a conceptual diagram of font designation data. The system control unit 7 reads the font data from the box number (FD) designated by the font index (FI) of the font designation data, and writes the font data in the font table of the main storage device 14. For example, in the figure, since FD21 corresponds to FI00, the system control unit 7 determines the box number FD21 of the font data.
And reads font data indicating "spring" stored in the font table.

FIG. 3C is a conceptual diagram of a font table in the main storage device 14. As shown in the upper diagram of FIG. 3C, the font index (F
I) is attached, and the font data is stored in a storage area corresponding to the font index, but this storage area indicates that nothing is currently stored.

The lower part of FIG. 3C shows a state in which font data is stored in storage areas FI00 to FI06 in the font table. System control unit 7
Converts the font data indicating “spring” read as described above into the font index F of the font designation data.
The font data is written in the storage area specified by the font index in the same font table as I00. Then, the system control unit 7 repeats the same procedure one after another, and repeats the font index (F
The font data is read from the box number (FD) corresponding to I) and written in the font table of the main storage device 14 to complete the font table.

Next, the system control section 7 executes MIDI based on the karaoke accompaniment data and the back chorus data.
By controlling the sound source section 8, a performance signal required for playing the music is reproduced, and the performance signal is reproduced by the mixer / amplifier section 10.
Output to Then, the mixer / amplifier section 10 reproduces the performance music and the singing voice as audible sound by synthesizing the performance signal and the singer's voice signal input from the microphone 4 and outputting to the speaker 11.

The system control section 7 controls the external video reproducing apparatus 2 based on the genre information in the lyrics display control data to output a background video corresponding to the genre of the music to the superimposing section 9, When the lyrics image is output to the superimposing unit 9 based on the font index and the color change information in the lyrics display control data, the superimposing unit 9 combines the background image and the character image to the image display device 3. Output.

In this case, the FI data in the lyrics display control data of FIG. 2 includes “FI00, FI01, F
I02, FI03, FI04, FI05, FI01, F
The system control unit 7 searches the font table based on this data and displays a telop "Spring has arrived".

Further, during the performance of the karaoke music, the system control unit 7 stores the karaoke music data to be performed next in the main memory 14 and downloads necessary font data to the main memory 14 one after another. Complete the font table and continue playing karaoke songs.

[0040]

As described above, according to the karaoke apparatus according to the present invention, the minimum karaoke music data and font data necessary for performing the karaoke music are downloaded to the main storage device 14 and then the karaoke is immediately performed. Since the performance of the music starts, before the karaoke performance starts,
The operator of the karaoke apparatus does not have to wait longer than necessary.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a karaoke apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing a structure of lyrics data used in the karaoke apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing a relationship among font data, font designation data, and a font table used in the karaoke apparatus according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 karaoke device 2 external video playback device 3 video display unit 5 modem 6 auxiliary storage device 7 system control unit 8 MIDI sound source unit 9 superimpose unit 10 mixer / amplifier unit 12 operation unit 13 display unit 14 main storage device 15 performance music information Storage unit 17 Host computer

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A karaoke apparatus configured to play karaoke music on the basis of stored karaoke music data and font data used for displaying lyrics, music data reading means for reading the karaoke music data in predetermined block units. Music data storage means for storing karaoke music data read by the music data reading means; font data reading means for reading the font data based on the karaoke music data stored by the music data storage means; Font data storage means for storing font data read by the data reading means; karaoke music data stored by the music data storage means and data amount necessary for starting the performance of the font data stored by the font data storage means To determine whether or not And a performance control means for controlling the performance of the karaoke music piece based on the determination result of the determination means, wherein the performance control means requires the karaoke music piece data and the font data. A karaoke device that starts playing a karaoke music piece when it is determined that the data amount has reached a predetermined value. 2. The karaoke apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the music data reading means performs a karaoke music performance during the performance of the karaoke music.
The karaoke music data to be played next is read out in units of predetermined blocks, and the music data storage means, during the performance of the karaoke music,
The karaoke music data to be played next read by the music data reading means is stored. The font data reading means reads font data required for the next performance during the performance of the karaoke music, and the font data storage means Storing the font data necessary for the next performance read by the font data reading means during the performance of the karaoke music. 3. A karaoke apparatus configured to play karaoke music based on stored karaoke music data and font data used for displaying lyrics, wherein a part of the karaoke music is played based on the karaoke music data. Font data reading means for reading only the font data necessary for the font data, font data storage means for storing the font data read by the font data reading means, and font data stored by the font data storage means being part of a karaoke song. Determining means for determining whether or not the amount of data required to start a performance has been reached; and performance control means for controlling performance of a karaoke music piece based on a determination result of the determining means; The control means determines that the determination means has reached the required data amount of the font data. If, to start playing karaoke music, karaoke apparatus according to claim. 4. The karaoke apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the font data reading means reads font data required for the next performance during the performance of the karaoke music, and the font data storage means stores the karaoke music. During the performance of the karaoke apparatus, the font data read out by the font data reading means and required for the next performance is stored. 5. A karaoke apparatus configured to play karaoke music on the basis of stored karaoke music data and font data used for displaying lyrics, wherein the karaoke music data and fonts required for playing a part of the karaoke music are provided. Data reading means for reading only data; data storage means for storing karaoke music data and font data read by the data reading means; karaoke music data and font data stored by the data storage means are part of karaoke music. Determining means for determining whether or not the amount of data required to start a performance has been reached; and performance control means for controlling performance of a karaoke music piece based on a determination result of the determining means; If the control means determines that the required data amount has been reached, the control means Initiating the playing karaoke apparatus according to claim. 6. The karaoke apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the data reading means reads karaoke music data and font data required for the next performance during the performance of the karaoke music, and the data storage means comprises: A karaoke apparatus for storing karaoke music data and font data necessary for the next performance read by the data reading means during performance of the karaoke music.