KR20030069408A - Recording Device With Using Hard Disk Drive - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A recorder using a hard disk is provided to realize a crime prevention system at a low cost by including a camera interface function in a PVR(Personal Video Recorder) with an appropriate video processing function. CONSTITUTION: A tuner(210) receives TV signals from a TV. A TV decoder(211) converts the TV signals into video and voice signals. A hard disk(219) stores the video and voice signals. A camera senses an external environment. A video processor(212) processes the video and voice information received from the camera for outputting signals formed in the same format as the video and voice signals, and applies the signals to the hard disk. A video decoder(216) receives the video and voice signals for converting the video and voice signals into signals reproduced on a screen. A display unit(218) reproduces the converted video and voice signals.

Description

Recording Device With Using Hard Disk Drive}

The present invention relates to a personal video recorder (PVR) which is a recording device using a hard disk. In particular, a hard disk including a security function by adding a camera to the PVR while storing broadcast data using the PVR and detecting an external environment. A recording apparatus using a disc.

Hereinafter, a conventional personal video recorder (PVR) will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Digital TV has made it possible to enjoy high quality images and high quality sound. In addition, a magnetic tape storage video cassette recorder (VCR), which has been spotlighted as a storage device in the past of the analog TV era, has been spotlighted as a digital video storage medium using a hard disk (PVR).

In the case of the existing VCR, the deterioration of the image quality occurs when recording and using the same tape multiple times, and the deterioration of the image quality even when the recording is stored for a long time. Therefore, there is a disadvantage in that the original image can not be completely restored and displayed.

In addition, the tape method requires a lot of time to search for a desired image.

On the other hand, in the case of the PVR, which is a recording device using a hard disk drive, by digitally storing, the image quality before storage or the image quality after storage is the same, and there is no deterioration in image quality even when used several times. In addition, because of the disk method, any location can be accessed quickly and the desired video can be searched faster than the existing VCR.

Due to the advantages of the PVR, a recording device using such a hard disk, it is being used as a device to replace a VCR in a time shifter, a TIVO, and the like, and the demand for it is increasing.

1 shows a general PVR device.

The PVR device is a TV recording device using a hard disk, and generally, as shown in FIG. 1, an analog TV tuner 110, an analog decoder 111, an MPEG encoder 112, a DTV tuner 113, a channel decoder 114, The PVR interface 115, the video decoder 116, the display unit 117 and the HDD (hard disk drive) 118.

The PVR device is capable of recording both an analog TV and a digital TV (DTV). Thus, for an analog TV, an analog TV tuner 110 that receives the analog signal, and the analog signal are digital video and audio signals. The analog decoder 111 for converting the digital decoder and the MPEG encoder 112 for converting the digital video and audio signals output from the analog decoder into a compressed digital signal generate a signal stored in the hard disk drive (HDD), and As for the TV, the DTV tuner 113 for receiving a digital signal and the channel decoder 114 for converting the digital signal into a video and audio signal have the same function.

The PVR interface 115 provides a function of applying a signal output from the MPEG encoder 112 and the channel decoder 114 to the HDD 118, and converts a digital video and audio signal stored in the HDD 118 into a video decoder. There is a function to apply to (116).

At this time, the signal stored in the HDD 118 is a broadcast signal in the form of a bit stream.

The video decoder 116 converts a digital signal stored in the HDD (hard disk drive) 118 into an analog signal and reproduces the analog broadcast signal before compression.

The display unit 117 displays the analog broadcast signal output from the video decoder.

The PVR device may store an analog image received from an analog TV in a hard disk drive (HDD) 118. In this case, the analog image, such as NTSC or PAL, is first decoded and analog / digital converted and separated into a digital image. In addition, by performing MPEG encoding on the digital video, a function of generating a video in the form of a bit stream is performed. The next process is stored in the HDD 118 through the PVR interface 115, like the digital image data obtained from the digital broadcast. And, the display can be obtained by MPEG decoding through the video decoder 116.

The present invention uses a PVR (Personal Video Recorder), which is a home TV recording device using a hard disk, which is currently being used, and has a camera and a camera interface on the PVR, and shares various devices including a hard disk interface. An object of the present invention is to propose a recording apparatus using a hard disk to which a home security function is added by providing a recording function of an image.

1 is a block diagram showing a general PVR device

2 is a block diagram showing a recording apparatus using a hard disk according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a block diagram showing a recording apparatus using a hard disk according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a block diagram showing a recording apparatus using a hard disk according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a block diagram showing an expensive image processing unit of the present invention.

6 is a block diagram illustrating a low cost image processing unit of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols for the main parts of drawings

210, 302: tuner 211: TV decoder

314: analog tuner 317, 405: DTV tuner

315: analog decoder 318, 407: channel decoder

212, 301, 400: Image processing unit 213: First mux unit

311, 401: A / D Converter 312, 402: Frame Eliminator

313 and 403 image processor 214 signal compression unit

316: MPEG encoder 404: video compression unit

215, 319, 407: hard disk interface 216: decompression unit

217: second mux part 331, 409: video decoder

218, 332, 410: display unit

219, 320, 408: Hard disk drive (HDD)

501, 602: A / D converter 601: analog mux

502: Motion detector 503, 603: Frame eliminator

504, 604: image processing unit

PVR security apparatus of the present invention for achieving the above object is a tuner for receiving a TV signal from a TV, a TV decoder unit for converting the TV signal into video and audio signals, and a hard to store the video and audio signals A disk, a camera for sensing an external environment, an image processing unit for processing video and audio information received from the camera, and outputting a signal having the same format as the video and audio signals output from the TV decoder to the hard disk; And a video decoder for receiving the video and audio signals from the hard disk and converting the video and audio signals into a signal to be reproduced on the screen, and a display unit for reproducing the video and audio signals converted by the video decoder.

Features of the recording device using a hard disk of the present invention is equipped with a camera interface device on the PVR, a TV recording device using a hard disk that is currently being used, to record the image data input from the camera to the hard disk and to observe it when necessary By having the ability to add the functionality of home security devices.

Hereinafter, a recording apparatus using a hard disk of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings in detail as follows.

2 is a block diagram showing a recording apparatus using a hard disk according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, the recording apparatus using the hard disk of the first embodiment includes a tuner 210, a TV decoder 211, an image processing unit 212, a first mux unit 213, and a signal compression unit ( 214, a hard disk interface 215, a decompression unit 216, a second mux unit 217, a display unit 218, and a hard disk drive (HDD) 219.

Each configuration of the recording apparatus using the hard disk of the first embodiment will be described below.

First, the tuner 210 receives an analog broadcast or a digital broadcast. If there is only a recording function of the currently produced digital TV, the tuner 210 may be configured only with a digital tuner, and if you want to add an existing analog TV recording function, configure an analog tuner separately.

In the case of a general PVR, an analog TV signal and a digital TV signal can be received at the same time. A tuner and a TV decoder are used for this purpose. In the case of a tuner, an analog tuner and a digital tuner can be used separately or shared.

The TV decoder 211 converts an analog or digital broadcast signal received from the tuner 210 into a video and audio signal. At this time, an analog decoder is required for the analog signal received from the analog tuner, and a channel decoder or a digital decoder is required for the digital signal received by the digital tuner.

In the case of the TV decoder 211, the functions of the analog decoder and the digital decoder are completely different and are configured using separate components.

In this case, the analog decoder receives analog broadcast signals such as NTSC (National Television System Committee-US method) / PAL (Western Europe other than France) / SECAM (France, Middle East, etc.) and analog video signals in YPbPr or RGB format. In the case of analog decoder with built-in A / D converter, it also provides digital video in YCbCr or RGB format.

When an analog video signal is input to the tuner 210 from the outside, in the case of an analog decoder without an A / D converter, a digital image must be made and processed separately using an A / D converter. It can be shared with digital signal from.

The image processor 212 converts an image signal applied from a camera capable of sensing an external environment into a format (video and audio signal) such as a TV signal or applies appropriate image processing as necessary. That is, the image processor 212 converts and compresses an analog signal into a digital signal.

The first mux unit 213 selectively stores the video and audio signals in the HDD 219 so as to separately store or simultaneously store the TV signals input from the tuner 210 and the video and audio signals input from the camera. )

In the case of an image generated by an analog TV, the image may be applied to the signal compression unit 214 via the first mux unit 213 or directly applied to the display unit 218 to reproduce the image.

On the other hand, in the case of the image generated in the digital TV may be directly stored in the HDD 219, decompressed via the decompression unit 216, and then through the second mux unit 217 to the display unit 218 Is applied and reproduced.

In this case, the first mux unit 213 stores or directly displays the image data input from the analog TV or the image data input from the camera to the HDD 219. In the case of a digital TV, the digital TV is directly transmitted to the hard disk interface 215 without being passed through the first mux unit 213 and stored in the hard disk or de-compressor 216 as necessary. Is directly transmitted to and reproduced in the display unit 218.

The signal compression unit 214 compresses the video and audio signals as necessary before storing the video and audio signals in the hard disk drive 219. It is a function of MPEG encoder of common PVR device.

That is, the signal compressor 214 compresses an input image and receives digital image data such as YCbCr and outputs bitstream image data. The compression rate is generally adjustable and can usually be compressed to a few minutes or tens of minutes. This allows the video data of the analog TV or the video data input from the camera to be stored in the hard disk drive (HDD) 219 for many hours.

The hard disk interface 215 stores the input video and audio signals in the HDD 219 or reads the video and audio signals stored in the HDD 219.

That is, the hard disk interface 215 stores the input image data in the form of a bit stream in the HDD 219 and extracts a desired image and provides it to the decompression unit 216 when the user needs it. It plays a role.

The decompressor 216 restores the compressed video and audio data read from the hard disk drive 219. A video decoder function in a typical PVR device converts a digital signal into an analog signal.

The decompressor 216 receives the compressed image in the form of a bitstream and restores the original image.

The second mux unit 217 connects the video and audio data stored in the HDD 219 to the display unit 218 or selectively directs the video and audio data not passed through the HDD 219. 218).

Since the second mux unit 217 directly receives the image of the first mux unit 213 and provides the image to the display unit 218, the second mux unit 217 does not store a broadcast signal or a camera image in the HDD 219 using this function. It can also be used to see directly. In addition, the decompression unit 216 may restore and display the bitstream image stored in the HDD 219.

The display unit 18 reproduces the video and audio signals on the screen.

3 is a block diagram showing a recording apparatus using a hard disk according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in Fig. 3, the recording apparatus using the hard disk with the security function of the second embodiment includes an image processor 301, an analog TV tuner 314, an analog decoder 315, an MPEG encoder 316, and a DTV tuner ( 317, a channel decoder 318, a hard disk interface 319, a hard disk 320, a video decoder 331, and a display unit 332.

The function of the recording apparatus using the hard disk of the second embodiment will be described below.

First, the image processing unit 301 will be described. The analog / digital converters 311,..., 312 that receive analog signals from a plurality of cameras for sensing an external environment and convert them into digital signals may include: Frame eliminators 312, ..., 322 for reducing the number of frames, and an image processor 313 for applying image processing to the digital signals output from the respective frame eliminators 312, ..., 322. .

That is, the image processing unit 301 converts the analog signal recognized from the camera into the same format as the broadcast signal and outputs the same.

The tuner and the decoder are analog TV tuners 314 for receiving analog TV signals, analog decoders 315 for converting the analog TV signals into video and audio signals, and the analog video and audio signals respectively. An MPEG encoder 316 for converting and compressing a signal into a digital signal, comprising: a digital tuner 317 for receiving a digital TV signal with respect to the digital TV signal, and a channel decoder for converting the digital TV signal into a video and audio signal ( 318).

The hard disk drive 320 stores a video and audio signal compressed by the image processor 313 or a video and audio signal directly from the analog and channel decoders 315 and 318.

The hard disk interface 319 reads the video and audio signals applied from the video processor 313 or the analog and channel decoders 315 and 318 to the HDD 320 and stores the stored video and audio signals. The HDD 320 serves to export again.

The decompression unit 331 restores the compressed video and audio data, and the display unit 332 reproduces the restored video and audio data on the screen.

In the case of a digital TV decoder, image data in the form of a bit stream is output after system decoding, and the decompression unit such as the video decoder 331 may be stored in the HDD 320. It can also be displayed directly.

The recording apparatus using the hard disk of the second embodiment is characterized by using an MPEG encoder. The MPEG encoder performs digital conversion and signal compression on an analog TV signal and an analog signal photographed from a camera.

4 is a block diagram showing a recording apparatus using a hard disk having a security function according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 4, the recording apparatus using the hard disk having the security function of the third embodiment dedicated to digital broadcast reception includes an image processor 400, an image compressor 404, a DTV tuner 405, and a channel decoder 406. And a hard disk interface 407, a hard disk 408, a video decoder 409, and a display unit 410.

That is, the image processing unit 401 has the same configuration as that of the image processing unit 301 of the second embodiment shown in FIG. It converts to the same format and outputs it.

Since the tuner and the decoder are dedicated to digital reception, only the DTV tuner 405 for receiving a digital signal and the channel decoder 406 for converting the digital signal into a video and audio signal are included. Therefore, processing of analog TV signals is not required separately, and expensive MPEG encoders do not have to be used.

The signal output from the image processor 401 is a signal that is not compressed, and compresses an image signal through the image compressor 404.

The hard disk drive 408 stores a video and audio signal by receiving a video and audio signal compressed by the video compression unit 404 or a signal from the channel decoder 406.

The hard disk interface 409 reads video and audio signals applied from the video compression unit 404 or the channel decoder 406 to the hard disk drive 408, and reads the stored video and audio signals to the hard disk drive. At 408, it exports again.

The video decoder 409 restores the compressed video and audio data, and the display unit 410 reproduces the restored video and audio data on the screen.

When using a PVR for both a digital TV receiver and an analog TV reception, as shown in FIG. 3, by using the MPEG encoder 316, camera signal processing and analog TV signal processing can be shared. However, as shown in FIG. 4, when only a digital TV receiver is used and no analog TV signal is input, an expensive MPEG encoder does not need to be used, and a large amount of video is stored even when stored on a hard disk using only the frame elimination function described above. Data can be saved.

However, in this case, as shown in FIG. 4, only a low cost and simple structure video compressor may be used instead of the MPEG encoder, and in this case, a larger amount of video may be stored.

5 is a block diagram showing a high-priced image processing unit of the present invention, Figure 6 is a block diagram showing a low-cost image processing unit of the present invention.

The difference between the image processor shown in FIG. 5 and the image processor shown in FIG. 6 is the presence or absence of a motion detector. The motion detector has a time information function for indicating a time at which actual motions are generated from multiple cameras.

Each image processing unit may be replaced with an image processing unit in the recording apparatus using the hard disk of the first, second and third embodiments described above.

The expensive image processing unit shown in FIG. 5 is provided with a plurality of analog / digital converters 501, 511, 511 for digitally converting an analog signal from a camera that recognizes an external environment, and from each analog / digital converter. A plurality of motion detectors 502,..., 512 for detecting the time at which the actual change occurred by receiving the output digital signal; and a plurality of frame eliminators 503 for removing the frame except for the frame where the actual motion has occurred. ..., 513, and an image processor 504 for receiving a video signal from each frame eliminator and performing signal processing.

In contrast, as shown in FIG. 6, the low-cost image processing unit includes an analog mux 601 for receiving an analog signal selectively from a camera that recognizes an external environment, an analog / digital converter 602 for digitally converting the selected analog signal, and And a frame remover 603 that receives the digital signal output from the analog / digital converter 602 to reduce the frame to a predetermined compression ratio, and an image processor 604 that receives and processes the image signal from the frame remover.

Each of the image processing units performs an analog / digital conversion of an analog image signal input from a camera and performs other necessary image processing. In addition, it can process video signals and audio signals recognized from multiple cameras, perform A / D conversion and various image processing functions, and perform an interface function between the camera and the PVR device.

If necessary, multiple cameras can be interfaced. In this case, multiple cameras can be output at the same time. However, in most cases, it is not necessary to output several cameras at the same time, and the camera output is provided as the output of the image processor only at the allotted time by allocating a predetermined period to each camera. To this end, a frame deciator is provided in each camera to provide only necessary images periodically.

By using the frame eliminator, various various functions can be performed. In general, a video image has a frame rate (frame rate, frames / s) of 30 or 60 frames per second, thereby naturally composing a video.

However, in case of crime prevention, it is not necessary to process a large amount of data of about 30 frames or 60 frames per second, and enough necessary information can be obtained from image data of about 1 frame per second or 1 frame per 5 seconds.

In addition, when the camera image data is used for recording, there is an advantage that the recording time can be significantly increased by significantly lowering the frame rate of the image input to the hard disk using a frame remover. If you can record about 10 hours without using the frame eliminator, you can record about 30 times as much as 300 times by saving the image one frame per second with the frame eliminator. There is an advantage that users can record as long as they want.

Therefore, if the user is away from home for a long time, this function can be used to perform the security recording function for the required period. Also, since the security disk does not require a large amount of hard disk, the recording of the TV channel and the security recording are performed at the same time. It is possible to carry out.

If you use the PVR for security purposes, in most cases there will be no movement and still images will be input continuously. In this case, if the image is continuously saved, only the hard disk memory is wasted. In this case, the input image is stored only when there is motion, and when not, the hard disk can be used more effectively.

As shown in FIG. 5, the expensive image processor receives an analog image signal from a plurality of cameras and converts the analog image signal into a digital image signal by the A / D converters 501,..., 511.

The motion detector 502 temporarily stores the input image therein in units of frames, and checks whether the continuously input image is different from the previous image. If there is no difference, the first stored image is sufficient, so the frame remover is informed about it so that the image without motion is removed and not output. When the motion is detected, the frame remover 503 informs the information.

The frame remover 503 may continuously output an image and store the image to the hard disk drive (HDD), or may store the image at several frames per second as necessary. In addition, when there is a movement, a function of storing the time at which the movement occurs may be provided so that the time of occurrence of the problem may be known when a problem occurs later.

In addition, in a situation where a motion is detected, if a function of storing an image through the Internet is provided as necessary, it is possible to prepare for destruction or loss of the PVR device.

In a low-cost system, as shown in FIG. 6, by sharing the image processing unit, the amount of hardware required can be reduced and can be implemented at a relatively low cost.

That is, in this case, the camera input image is sequentially selected using the analog mux 601, and the analog signal is converted into a digital signal by the A / D converter 602, and the frame remover 603 is used at an appropriate frame rate. By making and outputting, the image processing unit can be simplified and a PVR device (recording device using a hard disk) having a security function can be implemented at low cost.

The PVR security device of the present invention as described above has the following effects.

First, it is possible to implement a home security system at a low cost by equipping a PVR (Personal Video Recorder), a home TV recording device using a hard disk, which is currently being used, with an appropriate video processing function.

Second, it can be used as home security device by compressing and storing camera image using MPEG encoder device which is basically used in PVR.

Third, even if you use a limited hard disk using a frame eliminator has the advantage that it can be recorded for a long time.

Claims (5)

A tuner unit for receiving a TV signal from a TV; A TV decoder for converting the TV signal into a video and audio signal; A hard disk storing the video and audio signals; A camera for sensing an external environment; An image processor which processes the image and audio information received from the camera and outputs a signal having the same format as the image and audio signal output from the TV decoder to the hard disk; A video decoder receiving the video and audio signals from the hard disk and converting the video and audio signals into a signal to be reproduced on a screen; And a display unit for reproducing the video and audio signals converted by the video decoder. The recording apparatus of claim 1, wherein the tuner unit and the TV decoder unit are configured as separate tuners and decoders according to analog TV signals or digital TV signals received from the TV. The analog TV signal is processed through an analog tuner and an analog TV decoder, and the analog video and audio signals output through the analog TV decoder are converted into a compressed digital signal by providing an MPEG decoder. Recording device using a hard disk, characterized in that applied to the hard disk. The image processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the image processor An analog / digital converter for converting an analog signal from the camera into a digital signal; A frame eliminator for reducing the number of frames of the digital signal; And an image processor configured to apply image processing to the digital signal output from the frame remover. The image processing apparatus of claim 3, wherein the image processor An analog / digital converter for receiving an analog signal from a plurality of cameras and converting the analog signal into a digital signal; A motion detector having time information for generating motion for each camera; A frame remover for reducing the number of frames of each digital signal; And an image processor configured to apply image processing to the digital signal output from the frame eliminators.