KR20030097032A - Mpeg player - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: An MPEG player is provided to connect a home theater system to an MPEG player as an external player for maximizing the high definition screen quality and digital sound provided by MPEG compression format and store a plurality of files to the external player. CONSTITUTION: An MPEG player includes a CPU(109) for controlling entire system operation, a media signal processing part(120), an optical disc drive(105), a front panel(102), and an analogue conversion/output part(130). The CPU reads multimedia data from an optical disc drive or an HDD(104) to transmit digital A/V data to the media signal processing part via a PCI bus interface, and carries out operation according to user's commands input by the front panel or a remote control part(101). The media signal processing part releases the compression of the multimedia data transmitted from the CPU to generate/output A/V signals. The A/V signals output from the media signal processing part are converted to analogue signals to be output via output terminals to an external TV by the analogue conversion/output part.

Description

ＭＰＥＧ Player {MPEG PLAYER}

The present invention relates to an MPEG player having an output function to an external TV and a speaker, and more particularly, a multimedia data file compressed by DivX format, an MP4 audio format, and a JPEG image compression method, which is an MPEG4 video format, is stored. The present invention relates to an external MPEG player for reproducing video and audio data from an optical disc and outputting the same to an externally connected TV and a speaker.

The technology of compressing multimedia video began in 1992 with the release of the MPEG1 specification, which is currently used in VCDs (Video CDs). MPEG1 only provided stereo sound at a resolution of 352 x 288 due to its low compression rate.However, MPEG2 method, released in 1995, is a standard adopted by current DVD (Digital Vedio Disk). Digital Theater Systems) provides excellent sound system. The DivX format, on the other hand, basically adds the AVI file playback capability to the MPEG4 standard, which enables multimedia data files to be played in high resolution with the best compression ratio for recording a movie on a single CD.

DivX playing in the MPEG player according to the present invention does not mean a technology developed so that it can be played only within 48 hours in a dedicated player using a special encryption system for rental DVDs in Circuit City of the United States, Microsoft's MPEG4 codec This code refers to the codec that hackers hacked and is also called the Open DivX codec since the source code is open to the public. The DivX codec is based on the compression standard of MPEG4 and has the advantage of reducing video in the format used for MPEG2 DVD to one tenth of the original.

However, users of such multimedia data files generally use the method of playing after viewing the PC monitor after installing the required MPEG4 codec, audio filter and software type player on the PC. There is a problem that the limited video and audio media such as PC monitor and PC speaker do not maximize the effect of listening.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide an external MPEG player that plays a multimedia data file stored in an optical disc or an auxiliary memory device and outputs it to an external TV and a speaker connected to the player. And high quality multimedia contents.

1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an MPEG player according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a process of entering information into a playback mode according to a file format by reading information of an optical disc when an optical disc storing multimedia data is inserted into an MPEG player.

3 is a flowchart showing a startup procedure when the MPEG player is powered on according to an embodiment of the present invention;

4 illustrates a screen of a browser for searching / selecting a file on an optical disc or an auxiliary storage device.

For this purpose, the present invention provides an optical disc drive 105 for reading compressed multimedia data from an optical disc; A front panel 102 composed of a user command input button and a display window; Reads the compressed multimedia data from the optical disc drive 105 and transfers it to a media signal processor, processes a user command input from the front panel 102, and displays the current state of the player in the front panel 102 and externally. A central processing unit 109 for outputting to a TV screen; A media signal processor (120) for generating and outputting video and audio signals by decompressing the compressed multimedia data transmitted from the central processing unit (109); It provides an MPEG player comprising a; analog conversion and output unit 130 for converting the video and audio signals output from the media signal processor to an analog signal and output to an external TV.

In addition, the communication port for connecting to an external computer, and the auxiliary storage device 104, which can store the compressed multimedia data downloaded through the communication port and the compressed multimedia data read from the optical disk, characterized in that it further comprises Provides an MPEG player.

The apparatus further includes an EPROM 107 in which the software used in the central processing unit 109 is stored, and the software stored in the EPROM 107 is upgraded using a CD-ROM capable of starting itself. Provides an MPEG player.

Further, further comprising a remote control unit 101 having a user command input button, wherein the central processing unit 109 processes the user command input from the remote control unit 101 to provide.

The present invention relates to a device for converting and reproducing various types of multimedia data stored by a user on an optical disc in a desired output form. The multimedia data may be classified into moving picture compressed data, music compressed data, and still picture compressed data. Examples of the video compressed data include MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG4, and the like. Examples of the music compressed data include MP3, AAC, AC-3, and JPEG.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a block diagram of an MPEG player according to the present invention.

The central processing unit 109 controls the overall operation of the MPEG player, the main function of which is to read the multimedia data from a data storage device such as an optical disk drive 105 or HDD 104 to convert digital video and audio data into a PCI bus interface. It sends to the media signal processor 120, and generates a processing control signal suitable for the media signal processor 120. In addition, when there is an additional data file such as a subtitle provided with the video file, the OSD (On Screen Display) processor of the media signal processor 120 provides control information for displaying the subtitle on the screen together with the processing of the video data. Send to (124). In addition, the central processing unit 109 performs the operation according to the user command in a predetermined order according to the user's command input to the front panel 102 or the remote control unit 101.

The media signal processor 120 includes a decompressor and a decoder capable of decompressing a file of a format supported by the MPEG player according to the present invention. According to the embodiment of Fig. 1, a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) decoder, an MPEG video decompressor and an audio decompressor are provided. The multimedia media signal processor 120 restores (decodes) compressed video and audio data, which are multimedia data sent from the central processing unit 109, and stores the decoded video and audio data in the memory 109 connected to the media signal processor 120 (FIG. 1). In the embodiment, SDRAM is used as a memory. Next, in case of video, data is transferred from the memory in which the restored video data is stored to the NTSL / PAL encoder 131 or the video digital-analog converter 132 (DAC) of the analog conversion and output unit 130, and to the audio. If is transmitted to the audio DAC (133). In addition, in addition to the restored video screen, the media signal processing unit 120 further includes an OSD processing unit 124 for configuring a graphic screen for user convenience. The media signal processing unit 120 receives a graphic screen configured by a program from the central processing unit 109 and converts analog signals. / To the output unit 130. Meanwhile, the central processing unit 109 and the media signal processing unit 130 may be connected to the PCI bus interface 110 to transmit a large amount of digital data.

The analog conversion / output unit 130 converts the digital video data transmitted from the media signal processing unit 120 into analog and outputs the image to be viewed on a TV. In the case of audio data, the audio DAC 133 converts the analog data. Output through a speaker. As shown in FIG. 1, the TV output includes analog composite video, S-VHS output, and digital output for component video. The audio output includes stereo analog output and digital S / PDIF output. There is this.

The front panel 102 is composed of predefined user command operation buttons and an LCD or LED for knowing the current state of the system. The operation button is connected to the central processing unit 109 or directly through a UART (universal asynchronous receiver / transmitter) 103, and the central processing unit 109 always checks the on / off state of the operation button. Find out which operation button the user pressed. In addition, the current state of the system is displayed on the playback screen of the LCD, LED or TV to determine whether the user's desired command is being performed properly. 4 illustrates an example of an OSD screen when browsing multimedia files stored on an optical disc or a hard disc, which will be described later.

The remote control unit 101 is composed of a transmitter and a receiver, and the transmitter is driven by a battery like a conventional home appliance, and transmits a predetermined code for each user operation button to the receiver through an infrared LED. The receiver extracts an operation button code from the infrared signal transmitted through the UART 103 or directly connected to the central processing unit 109 and sends it to the central processing unit 109.

The user command of the MPEG player according to the present invention includes (i) playback start and pause, stop, ii) play the next file and play the previous file, and iii) skip forward and skip backward at regular intervals. Speed playback and fast speed playback such as 2X, 8X, and the like.

Meanwhile, the MPEG player according to the present invention includes an optical disk drive 105 as a multimedia data input device, and the optical disk drive 105 is connected to the central processing unit 109 and the IDE interface 106 to connect an optical disk such as a CD or a DVD. Even if you use, you can implement so that there is no problem in compatibility.

In addition, the MPEG player according to the present invention may have a built-in auxiliary memory device such as a hard disk drive (HDD) 104, and store multimedia digital data files read from an optical disc or an external computer 140 on the built-in HDD 104. If you do, you can play them without an optical disc when you need them. In this case, the HDD 104 may be controlled and controlled by a hard disk controller connected to the central processing unit 109 to store and read compressed files, and the user may install his / her favorite multimedia files therein. ) Can be saved and selectively viewed using a file management program.

The data input means of the MPEG player according to the present invention includes a method of downloading a file from the external computer 140 through the data communication port built into the MPEG player, in addition to the above-described optical disc or HDD 104. In this case, it may also include a function that can be stored after playing directly on the HDD 104, without going through the storage process on the optical disk. Connection to an external computer can be done using a wireless LAN or wired connection via an ADSL modem. In addition, there is a need for a power supply for supplying the power required for the entire MPEG player.

Looking at the software side, Realtime OS or Linux may be used as an operating system embedded in the central processing unit 109, and the operating system program controls the operation of the entire MPEG player. Meanwhile, an erasable and programmable read only memory (EPROM) 107 connected to the central processing unit 109 includes a drive and an application for driving application software. In order to upgrade the application in the future, the application stored in the EPROM 107 is configured to upgrade from a CD-ROM without a separate network or communication line. That is, when a CD-ROM including a separate boot program is detected, the CD-ROM is automatically started as a boot program on the CD-ROM. The boot program reads a specific ROM image file from the CD and upgrades the EPROM.

Next, an operation of an MPEG player according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a process of entering information in a play mode according to a file format by reading information of an optical disc when an optical disc storing multimedia data is inserted into an MPEG player.

When the user inserts the optical disk storing the multimedia data into the optical disk drive 105 (201), the central processing unit 109 first scans the media information of the optical disk (202) and reads the stored file / track type and quantity information. It is. Magneto-optical media types supported by the MPEG player according to the present invention include CD / CD-R / CD-RW / DVD / DVD-R / DVD + R / DVD-RW / DVD-RAM.

When there is one file format, that is, when an optical disc composed of one type of file such as music or movie is inserted, the playback mode is performed immediately without going through the separate mode selection screen 205 (203).

If it is composed of one type of file and the user has specified the auto play option in advance, it is switched to the auto play mode, otherwise it is in the manual play mode (203, 204).

The auto play mode scans files stored on the optical disc according to the date, name, or other priority set by the user, and automatically reads and plays the files with the highest priority. In this mode, playback starts automatically in the video playback mode, MP3 playback mode, CD playback mode, or photo playback mode in accordance with the file format (204, 208).

In the manual play mode, a mode selection screen appears on the front panel 102, in which the playable file format obtained by scanning the media information of the optical disc is displayed on the screen (205), and the user selects the remote control unit ( The selection button on the 101 selects a file browser of a desired mode (206). The next step is a step in which the selected browser is displayed (207), which is a browser for selecting a file to play and only the corresponding file is selected and displayed. The user selects a file to be played using the operation buttons of the remote control unit 101 or the front panel 102 through these browsers, and the player switches to the mode for playing the file format (208). .

The memory selected automatically or manually as described above is read by the central processing unit 109 from the optical disk through the IDE interface 106, divided into video data, audio data, and text data, and is connected to the central processing unit 109. (For example, DRAM) 108 respectively. The data stored in the memory 108 is transmitted to the corresponding portions of the media signal processor 120 through the PCI bus interface 110. That is, the video data is sent to the MPEG video decompressor 123, the audio data is sent to the audio decompressor 125, and the text data is sent to the OSD processor 124. The media signal processing unit 120 decompresses the input data and transmits it to the conversion / output unit 130, and the conversion / output unit 130 converts it into an analog signal so that it can be output through a TV or an audio system. . When there is a subtitle like a movie when playing a video, the subtitle is created as a text file and displayed at the same time as the movie screen in synchronization with the video and audio.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a startup procedure when the MPEG player is powered on according to an embodiment of the present invention.

When the power of the MPEG player is turned on, it is first checked whether an optical disc is inserted (302). If the optical disc is in the inserted state, it is checked whether the power is turned off during the existing playback (303). If the optical disc is being played back, the playback starts from the previously played portion (306). If a new optical disc is inserted, the process starts with the media information scan 202 of FIG. If the optical disc is not inserted, a message such as "Please insert a disc" is displayed on the screen (305).

4 shows an example of a browser screen for searching / selecting files on the optical disc and the auxiliary storage device. In the "Folder Information" section, the name of the currently selected folder is displayed. In addition, the "File Information" section displays the folders and files in the currently selected folder. Folders, DivX files, MP3 files, and photo files can be classified and displayed as different icons, and the currently playing file is displayed in a separate color. It can be displayed for the convenience of the user. The "playback information" section displays the current playback time and the total playback time of the currently playing file when switching to the file browser from the currently playing state.

According to the present invention, the user can watch the downloaded video or music files in a limited multimedia PC environment after installing the player software and the necessary codec and the player on the PC when the multimedia file is played. It is composed of an external player that connects to a home theater system such as an amplifier and an amplifier, so that it can maximize and enjoy the high definition and digital sound that the original MPEG compression format can provide. The advantage is that multiple files can be stored on this external player and played back by a convenient navigation interface. In addition, it is possible to enjoy DVD-level multimedia files by using multimedia files such as DivX format and MP3, which are available on the Internet.

Claims (4)

In an MPEG player for playing compressed multimedia data stored on an optical disc, An optical disc drive for reading compressed multimedia data from the optical disc; A front panel comprising a user command input button and a display window; The center for reading the compressed multimedia data from the optical disc drive and transferring the compressed multimedia data to the media signal processing unit, processing a user command input from the front panel, and displaying the current state of the player on the display window of the front panel and an external TV screen. Arithmetic processing unit; A media signal processor for generating and outputting video and audio signals by decompressing the compressed multimedia data transmitted from the central processing unit; And an analog conversion and output unit for converting the video and audio signals output from the media signal processing unit into an analog signal and outputting them to an external TV through an output terminal. The method of claim 1, The MPEG player further includes a communication port for connecting to an external computer, an auxiliary memory device capable of storing compressed multimedia data downloaded through the communication port and compressed multimedia data read through the optical disc drive. And the central processing unit reads and outputs multimedia data from the auxiliary memory device. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The MPEG player further includes an EPROM in which software used in the central processing unit is stored, and the software stored in the EPROM is upgraded by using a CD-ROM capable of starting itself. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The MPEG player further comprises a remote control unit having a user command input button, wherein the central processing unit processing the user command input from the remote control unit.