KR20010099898A - Video recording and playback - Google Patents

Abstract

The video recording and reproducing apparatus includes a broadcast receiver 10, a display 18, and a recording and reproducing end 16 arranged for receiving broadcast video signals. Support of at least one additional function, such as Internet browser 26, and recording of received video images placed and arranged according to the user's selection or by the user of this function while playing the video images received on the display 18 Allows you to automatically pause playback while starting or continuing.

Description

Video recording and playback

At the same time, but the ability to record and play back independently becomes more extensive through digital video recording systems based on rewritable optical or magnetic disks. Such a system provides the ability to make a so-called timeshift of television broadcasts. This means that the broadcast can be paused or replayed back to the desired point before the end to allow real-time and slow motion operation without losing the subsequent part of the broadcast or waiting for the end.

Another feature that is common to home audio and video (AV) equipment is that television producers include embedded content of programs in the form of Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) for websites that deliver ancillary data to the broadcast. Internet access for them. One disadvantage of such devices is that a user typically records a website during the broadcast (and no longer exists in the created website) to investigate after the broadcast is over to check if the content is still new. Or stop watching the broadcast when you get the details of the website.

One way to solve this problem is to use Philips to detect these URLs (called Crossover Links). In order to avoid missing a broadcast, provided by the system, it is to use Picture-In-Picture technology that allows the user to simultaneously browse a website and continue watching the broadcast.

This ensures that the user does not actually miss any broadcast, but the combination of website and live broadcast is still not ideal in that it is generally more information than the user can fully understand.

The present invention relates to systems and devices for recording and playing back video broadcast signals in real time, and more particularly to systems and devices in which recording and playback can occur simultaneously but independently.

1 is a block schematic diagram of functional components of an AV system suitable for embodying the present invention.

2 is a flow diagram illustrating operational steps of web access handling through the device of FIG.

3 is a schematic diagram illustrating components of an alternative configuration of an AV system for the system of FIG.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide usability for a home AV system so that the user is not overwhelmed by the excessive amount of data being provided at the same time and the user does not miss a portion of the broadcast to accommodate the data being displayed.

According to the present invention, there is provided a broadcast receiver, comprising: a broadcast receiver arranged to receive broadcast video signals;

A display device connected with the receiver and arranged to display received video pictures;

A recording and reproducing stage arranged to selectively record video signals received by the receiver and to reproduce the video signals at the display device;

A video recording and reproducing apparatus comprising user operable input means operable to allow a user to control functions of a display device and recording and reproducing end;

Functional means for supporting at least one additional function, arranged to pause the playback while starting or continuing recording of the received video pictures as the function is selected while playing the received video pictures on the display device; A video recording and reproducing apparatus further comprising the above functional means.

By triggering the start of recording (if not already in progress), as well as pausing playback when the user's attention is turned into an add-on, the user can use picture-in-picture or other techniques to simultaneously fill more data on the screen. Improved means are provided for processing data at a sufficient rate without resorting to them.

Suitably, the functional means supporting the at least one additional function, although not necessarily necessary, comprises a web browser having means for connecting to display data on the display device and having a connection for accessing the data via the Internet. Such a web browser detects web links (eg, URLs) carrying the received broadcast video signal and, for example, displays the broadcast video received on the display device and / or via an audio representation on the display. By creating an icon to be placed, it is desirable to be able to further operate to display this detection to the user.

In addition, the functional means supporting the at least one additional function mentioned above comprises a home audio or video product connected to the device (via a wired or wireless link) and configured to generate and deliver a signal to the device indicating the selection of the function. can do. As another alternative, the functional means supporting at least one additional function comprises a television receiver connected to the device (as above, via a wired or wireless link) and configured to generate and deliver a signal to the device indicating the selection of the function. In such a situation, the television receiver may raise the handset of the receiver to set up the call when the receiver detects or responds to an incoming call such that playback pause alerts the viewer for the presence of the call. May be arranged to generate the signal when. Similar functionality can be provided when the functional means include an email system.

Other features and advantages will become apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention, which is provided by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 illustrates a number of components that make up a home video recording and web browsing system, beginning with a receiver 10 coupled with an antenna 12 for receiving broadcast audio and video signals. Other forms of broadcast delivery, such as cable or satellite, may be due to the front-end of the receiver configured accordingly.

The received AV signal content is passed from the receiver 10 to the display 18 via the demultiplexer 14 (assuming digital broadcast) via the recording and reproducing stage 16. As shown, the receiver 10, demultiplexer 14, recording and reproducing stage 16 are controlled by a single control at the processing stage in the form of a central CPU 20. This assumes that video recording and display functions are handled by a single device, although, as will be appreciated, even though the CPU 20 may be used, in which separate units represent distributed but interconnected control logic between the devices. If separate units are provided for display and recording, recording and playback stage 16 will typically have its own receiver and multiplexer stages in a conventional manner. Also, in the conventional method, the demultiplexer 14 can be replaced by an encoder stage (e.g., an MPEG encoder) for receiving analog video signals: in such an arrangement, the recording and playback stage 16 and the display ( 18) a decoder stage (not shown) will be needed in between.

User control of the device is represented by a user input device (UID) connected to the CPU 20 via an infrared link 24. The type of UID 22, as will be appreciated, will be defined at least in part by the functionality supported by the system as a whole, and additional or alternative controls (not shown) may be applied directly to the CPU 20 ( Wired) connection. In general, the handling (demultiplexing or coding, recording and playback) of audio elements of a broadcast signal is a conventional method, besides it is desirable to stop and start synchronously with the video element, which will not be described any further.

A particular function supported by the video recording and display device of FIG. 1 is the internet browser function 26. Although shown as a separate device associated with local memory 28 reserved for dedicated browser functionality, it is stored in a non-volatile area of memory 28 and mounted on the device's power-up, if necessary, or It will be appreciated that the browser module remotely stored and downloaded to 20 may be a software module supported as part of the CPU 20 functionality.

The browser 26 is UID 22 with data downloaded from the sites processed through the browser 26 and the CPU 20 for display via the television screen 18, as will be readily understood. The user's action of allows the user to visit a specifically identified location via an external interface connection 30 that connects the device to the world wide web 32. The system may be set up with a system arranged to identify and capture (in the buffer 34) web links accompanying the played video and / or broadcast (as output from the recording and playback stage 16), the web The links identify websites so that they can find assistance data for the current broadcast. As indicated by dashed link 36, real-time detection of the received URL may occur at receiver 10 such that a time stamp is stored with each URL in buffer 34 to indicate the original arrival time.

Referring to the flowchart of FIG. 2, processing to coordinate the reception and handling of video signals involving web links, and acquiring and displaying auxiliary data from remote websites is performed by a user on a television display screen 18. Beginning at step 50 with identifying and capturing by the receiver 10 of the URL accompanying the video broadcast currently being watched.

The capture of the web link is displayed to the user in step 52 via a small icon display appropriately placed on the current video broadcast on the screen, which icon can be selected by the user through the user of the UID 22. Alternatively or additionally, other forms of notification may be used, such as audio signals.

In step 54, the system looks at the user input to determine whether the user wants to visit the website identified by the captured link. The wait loop provided by the time-out check 56 determines that the system is waiting without user input for a predetermined time, followed by removal of the display (or deletion of the audio signal) on the screen in step 58, and the procedure follows. Return to step 50 awaiting capture of the URL.

If step 54 detects a user input selecting a browse option, the browser 26 is instructed to access the site identified in step 60. The user is then checked in step 62 whether or not the user is currently recording a video broadcast to which web links have been delivered, and if not, in step 64 the recording and playback stage 16 is triggered to begin recording. In order to allow the user to time-shift the broadcast received while browsing the site identified by the captured web link, the recording and playback stage 16 can simultaneously and independently play and record audio and video data. Note that it is assumed as a video recorder with the ability to do so. In steps 62 and 64, it is guaranteed that the video broadcast is recorded, and the system effectively pauses playback of the broadcast in step 66, without the user having to request the browser to do so before switching the display anew.

Control of the functions of the browser 26 and user commands may be appropriately selected via menu-driven displayed through the display. In step 68, it is checked whether or not browsing has ended by the user looking for a particular command from the UID 22 or selecting a particular menu option from the on-screen display. In the absence of such an instruction, processing exits from step 68 and enters the wait loop of step 70 when a particular command is received or when a predetermined period of time expires without any kind of user input. Upon exiting the browser, it is checked in step 72 whether the user wants to resume playback of the captured broadcast video (via the display of an on-screen message appropriately requesting a specific response from the user). In the absence of user input, the system enters the wait loop of step 74 and remains until input is received or the available storage for capturing a video broadcast is filled.

If commanded to resume playback, the process returns to step 50 waiting for the next URL. The next URL may be captured in advance with at least a portion of the subsequent part of the broadcast already being recorded. To deal with this, various methods are implemented to avoid bookmarking the recorded stream to display the captured URL present in memory 34 or separating the URL from the stream until it has been played back by the recording and playback stage 16. Can be. Either way, the check at step 62 as to whether or not the video broadcast is being recorded is modified to a check as to whether the video broadcast is recorded, i.e., past the "start recording" command at step 64, and browsing is If it is selected, even if it proceeds to stop the playback again, the processing of Fig. 2 is mainly continued as before.

With regard to the various processing of FIG. 2, the triggering of timeshifting may be a natural feature triggered internally by the browser with respect to the capture of the URL. In this situation, processing steps 63, 64, and 66 continue to proceed or immediately follow display step 52.

3 shows many possible variations on the system described above. As shown, the present invention is hosted by an individual television receiver 80 and a digital video recorder 82 device interconnected via a homebus data and control network 84. In addition, a camera 86 for a security system, a simple audio recording and playback stage 88 and a telephone 90 are connected. Although bus traffic due to the implementation of shared CPU functionality may be sent with the AV received over the bus, the latter large amount of the preferred arrangement shown as a separate and dedicated interconnect 92 between the television and the video recorder. Generate.

Additional functions supported by time-shifted television and video combinations may include the same internet connection as the previous interface to the external interface 30 to the web 32 that is connected to the bus 84 (eg, e-mail Allow support for the system and other Internet-enabled devices on the bus), triggers to automatically start capturing broadcast video and audio can instead (or additionally) be connected to the phone, causing the phone to ring or When heard (for both incoming and outgoing messages), timeshifting is triggered. Triggering through activation or switching of other devices connected to the bus 84 (as well as devices configured to transmit signals over the bus to indicate at least additional functionality to the triggered recording stage) may also be appropriately supported. Finally, although shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 as a permanent connection to provide data and / or address and / or control buses, some or all of the connections may include a wireless (AM or FL radio or infrared) link. It will be appreciated, for example, the telephone 90 of FIG. 3 may be a wireless telephone.

From the disclosure of the present invention, other variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Such variations are already known in the art of an apparatus for recording and / or playing back audio and / or video signals and their components and can be used instead of or in addition to the features already described herein.

Claims (12)

In a video recording and playback device: A broadcast receiver arranged to receive broadcast video signals; A display device connected to the receiver and arranged to display the received video pictures; A recording and reproducing stage arranged to selectively record and reproduce video signals received by the receiver on the display device; A user operable input means operative to enable a user to control the functions of the display device and recording and playback stages; Functional means for supporting at least one additional function, arranged to pause the playback while starting or continuing recording of the received video pictures as the function is selected while playing the received video pictures on the display device; Further comprising said functional means. The method of claim 1, And said functional means supporting at least one additional function comprises a web browser connected to access data via the Internet and having means connected to display data on said display device. The method of claim 2, The web browser is further operable to detect web links accompanying the received broadcast video signal to display the detection to the user. The method of claim 3, wherein And the web browser is configured to generate an icon on the display device, the icon overlaid on the display of the received broadcast video, to provide the indication. The method of claim 1, And said functional means supporting at least one additional function comprises a home audio or video product connected to said device and configured to generate and transmit a signal to said device indicative of a selection of said function. The method of claim 5, The home audio or video product is connected to the device via a wireless data link. The method of claim 1, And said selection of said function is triggered internally by said function means in accordance with a determination that a predetermined condition or combination of conditions has occurred. The method of claim 1, And the selection of the function is made through a user operation of the input means. The method of claim 1, And said functional means supporting at least one additional function comprises a telephone receiver coupled to said video recording and reproducing apparatus, said telephone receiver being configured to generate and transmit a signal indicative of selection of said function to said apparatus. The method of claim 9, And the telephone receiver is arranged to generate the signal when a user picks up the receiver's handset. 10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the telephone receiver is arranged to generate the signal upon detection of an incoming call. The method of claim 1, The functional means for supporting at least one additional function comprises an e-mail system coupled to the video recording and playback device, the email system being configured to generate and deliver a signal indicative of the selection of the function to the device. Device.