KR20070030713A - Information processing apparatus and method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

An information processing apparatus for controlling reproduction of a plurality of recorded contents recorded when being distributed from a predetermined place among a plurality of distribution sources to which a predetermined channel is assigned to each of them. When the time is specified by the user and the channel to be reproduced is specified by the user, the recorded content of the channel to be reproduced, in which the reproduction start absolute time is included in the recording time zone, of the recorded content is set to the reproduction start absolute time. Disclosed is an information processing apparatus including reproduction control means for controlling reproduction to be reproduced from a corresponding position.

Information processing, device, method, program, record, recording, playback, distribution, absolute time

Description

Information processing apparatus and method, and program {INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS AND METHOD, AND PROGRAM}

1 is a functional block diagram showing a functional configuration example of an information processing system to which the present invention is applied.

2 to 4 are diagrams showing examples of program information tables of A channel, B channel, and C channel.

5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a past program table corresponding to the program information table of FIGS. 2 to 4.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an external configuration example of the surface of a remote controller which instructs the recording and playback apparatus shown in FIG.

7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a channel selection image.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining an example of the continuous playback processing of the recording / playback apparatus or personal computer shown in FIG.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining an example of the continuous playback process of FIG. 8, and is a diagram showing a concrete example of the recorded contents of the recording / playback apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a recorded program reproduced by the television receiver or personal computer shown in FIG.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart for explaining a detailed example of a playback start instruction process during the continuous playback process in FIG.

12 is a diagram illustrating an example of a channel selection image.

FIG. 13 is a detailed example of the playback start instruction process during the continuous playback process in FIG. 8, illustrating a different example from that in FIG. 11.

14 and 15 are diagrams for explaining an example of the playback start instruction process shown in FIG. 11 or FIG. 13, showing a specific example of recording contents of the recording and playback device of FIG. 1.

16 to 20 are flowcharts for explaining an example of a program playback process during the continuous playback process of FIG.

21 and 22 are diagrams showing different examples of an image to be displayed on the television receiver or personal computer of FIG. 1.

23 is a functional block diagram showing a functional configuration example of a conventional recording and reproducing apparatus.

FIG. 24 is a functional block diagram briefly showing a functional configuration example of a recording / playback apparatus to which the present invention of FIG. 1 is applied, in contrast with the functional configuration shown in FIG.

25 to 30 are diagrams showing different examples of playback images to be displayed on the personal computer and the like of FIG.

31 and 32 are diagrams for explaining a user operation to be executed when the reproduction synchronization is established between the personal computer and the recording and reproducing apparatus shown in FIG.

33 is a functional block diagram showing a detailed functional configuration example of a communication unit of the recording and playback apparatus shown in FIG. 1 when the personal computer and the recording and playback apparatus shown in FIG. 1 perform playback synchronization.

34 and 35 are diagrams for explaining different specific processing examples performed to establish the reproduction synchronization between the personal computer and the recording and reproducing apparatus shown in FIG.

36 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a personal computer for executing a program to which the present invention is applied.

Cross Reference of Related Applications

The present invention relates to an object related to Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-265376, filed with Japanese Patent Office on August 13, 2005, and Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-290316, filed with Japanese Patent Office on October 3, 2005. The entire contents of these applications are incorporated herein by reference.

The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, a method, and a program, and more particularly, to an information processing apparatus, a method, and a program for allowing a user to select a recorded content from a plurality of recorded contents.

Recently, recording and reproducing apparatuses such as hard disk video recorders, which can record and reproduce video signals and audio signals of broadcast programs, particularly broadcast programs, have become quite popular. In addition, a recording and reproducing apparatus capable of performing various processes using program information of a broadcast program, for example, so-called EPG (Electronic Program Guide) information, has also been proposed and commercially available. A recording and reproducing apparatus of this type is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 9-9193, 2001-313878, or 2001-8122.

In recent years, an increase in the recording allowance amount of the recording and reproducing apparatus as described above is remarkable. Therefore, many broadcast programs can be recorded (recorded) in this type of recording and reproducing apparatus. If such a large number of recorded programs are not properly managed, there is a problem that it becomes difficult to find a recorded broadcast program or the like that the user wants to reproduce. Note that the recorded broadcast program is hereinafter referred to simply as a recorded program.

Therefore, in order to solve this problem, the inventor of the present invention has invented a device for managing the recording contents of a recording / playback apparatus using a past program table, and has filed a patent in Japan as the application number 2004-138594. It was. The past program table is a table generated using program information of a broadcast program broadcast in the past, and a program column indicating a broadcast program broadcast in the past is displayed in a table form. In Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-138594, the program column indicates a recorded program. Note that a specific example of the past program table will be described later with reference to FIG. 5.

With the apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-138594, a user can perform a selection operation of a recorded program to be reproduced using the above-described past program table.

However, in the apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-138594, the user selects another program by re-displaying the past program table to find another program to be played next during or after the program is played, and then selects a playback screen. It requires an operation to recover. Therefore, with a simpler operation than the above-described operation, it is possible to anticipate a request for selecting a recording program or the like to be reproduced from among a plurality of recording programs.

In addition, the request for a simple selection operation as described above can be expected not only for a broadcast program but also for various contents.

Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an information processing apparatus, a method, and a program, which can more easily perform the selection of desired recording contents such as recorded contents to be reproduced from among a plurality of recorded contents.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an information processing apparatus for controlling reproduction of a plurality of recorded contents recorded when being distributed from a predetermined place among a plurality of distribution sources to which a predetermined channel is assigned, respectively. When the playback start absolute time indicating the playback start time is specified by the user and the playback target channel is specified by the user, the playback start channel includes the playback start absolute time in the recording time zone. There is provided an information processing apparatus including reproduction control means for controlling recorded content to be reproduced from a position corresponding to the reproduction start absolute time.

The information processing apparatus is further characterized in that, when the second channel is designated by the user as the playback target channel at a predetermined timing during reproduction of the first recorded content of the first channel, the playback control means is arranged at the predetermined timing. A time obtained by converting a playback position of the first recorded content into the absolute time is set to the playback start absolute time, and the playback start absolute time is included in the recording time zone in the first recorded content. And switching to the second recorded content of the second channel so as to control the second recorded content to be played back from a position corresponding to the playback start absolute time.

In this case, the reproduction control means can receive a command from a predetermined operation means, and if the command indicates that the second channel has been designated by the user, control can be performed according to the command.

The operation means may include a first operation element for outputting a first command for moving the order up one and a second operation element for outputting a second command for moving the order down one, and the reproduction control means. May assign a predetermined order to the channel corresponding to the distributor and manage the order, and when the first operation element is operated by the user, the first command is the first order of the predetermined order. If it is determined that the channel immediately after one channel is the second channel and the corresponding control is performed, the second command is the predetermined command when the second operation element is operated by the user. A channel immediately preceding the first channel of the sequence is designated as the second channel and determined to be a command for performing a corresponding control.

The information processing apparatus, when the content that was being distributed at the absolute start time of reproduction from the distribution source corresponding to the reproduction target channel is not recorded, the reproduction control means indicates that the recorded content of the reproduction target does not exist. And control playback of other content for presentation to the user.

Alternatively, when the information processing apparatus does not record the content being distributed at the playback start absolute time from the distribution source corresponding to the playback target channel, the playback control means causes the playback start absolute time to be recorded in the recorded content. Search for the other recorded content recorded in the recording time zone, and when the search is successful, control the reproduction of the other recorded content.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, an information processing method of an information processing apparatus for controlling reproduction of a plurality of recorded contents recorded when being distributed from a predetermined place among a plurality of distribution sources to which a predetermined channel is assigned to each, And a program for causing a computer to control reproduction of a plurality of recorded contents recorded when distributed from a predetermined place among a plurality of distribution sources to which a predetermined channel is assigned to each. In the program, when the reproduction start absolute time indicating the reproduction start time is specified by the user, and when a channel to be reproduced is designated by the user, the reproduction includes the reproduction start absolute time in the recording time zone among the recorded contents. And controlling the recorded content of the target channel to be reproduced from a position corresponding to the absolute reproduction start time.

In the information processing apparatus and method and the program, reproduction of a plurality of recorded contents recorded when being distributed from a predetermined place among a plurality of distribution sources to which a predetermined channel is assigned to each is controlled. In particular, in the control, when the reproduction start absolute time indicating the reproduction start time is designated by the user, and when a channel to be reproduced is designated by the user, the reproduction start absolute time is included in the recording time zone among the recorded contents. The recorded content of the playback target channel is played back from a position corresponding to the playback start absolute time.

The information processing apparatus and method and the program can be used to control the reproduction of the recording contents designated by the user among the plurality of recording contents. In particular, as a user, the operation required for the control can be made simpler than ever.

Before describing the preferred embodiments of the present invention in detail, the correspondence between some features described in the appended claims and specific components of the preferred embodiments is described below. However, this description is only for confirming that the specific component which supports this invention as described in the Claim is disclosed in description of the Example of this invention. Thus, although a particular component described in the description of the embodiment is not described as one of the features in the following description, it does not mean that the specific component does not correspond to the feature. On the contrary, even if a particular component is described as a component corresponding to one of the features, it does not mean that the component does not correspond to any other feature other than the component.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of recording contents recorded when a predetermined channel is allocated to a plurality of distribution destinations (e.g., distributed from a predetermined place among broadcasting stations broadcasting a broadcast program described later) As an information processing device (for example, the recording / playback apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1) that controls playback, a playback start absolute time (for example, playback timing indicated by an absolute time described later) indicating a playback start time is a user. If the playback target channel is specified by the user (for example, such an operation is performed by a user who operates the remote controller 6 shown in Fig. 1), The recorded content of the playback target channel whose playback start absolute time is included in the recording time zone is re-started from a position corresponding to the playback start absolute time. An information processing apparatus is provided that includes a reproduction control means (e.g., a reproduction control unit 17 shown in Fig. 1) for controlling to be generated.

The information processing apparatus is further characterized in that, when the second channel is designated by the user as the reproduction target channel at a predetermined timing during reproduction of the first recorded content of the first channel, the reproduction control means causes the reproduction control means to perform at the predetermined timing. Set a time obtained by converting a playback position of the first recorded content to the absolute time to the playback start absolute time, and wherein the playback start absolute time is included in the recording time zone in the first recorded content; Controlling playback of the second recorded content from a position corresponding to the playback start absolute time by switching to the second recorded content of the second channel (for example, FIG. 16 during the program playback process of FIGS. 16 to 20). A series of processes shown in FIG.

In this case, the reproduction control means receives a command from a predetermined operation means (e.g., the remote controller 6 shown in Fig. 1), and the command is transmitted by the user. If it indicates that it is specified, control is performed according to the command.

The operation means includes a first operation element (for example, Ch + button 58 shown in FIG. 6) for outputting a first command for moving the order forward and a second command for moving the order one backward. And a second operating element (Ch-button 59 shown in FIG. 6) for outputting, wherein the reproduction control means is arranged in a predetermined order (for example, the past program table of FIG. 5) in the channel corresponding to the distribution destination. Order in the horizontal direction), and when the first operating element is operated by the user, the first command is a channel immediately after the first channel in the predetermined order. Is designated as the second channel and determined to be a command for performing a corresponding control, but when the second operating element is operated by the user, the second command is directly to the first channel in the predetermined order. Front channel Designated as the second channel and determined to be to perform a corresponding control command.

The information processing apparatus, when the content that was being distributed at the absolute playback start time is not recorded from the distribution destination corresponding to the playback target channel, the playback control means informs the user that there is no recorded content to be played back. It is configured to control the playback of other content (eg, the image of FIG. 21) for presentation.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, an information processing apparatus for controlling reproduction of a plurality of recorded contents recorded when being distributed from a predetermined place among a plurality of distribution destinations to which a predetermined channel is assigned to each of them (for example, FIG. An information processing method for the recording / playback apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1, and a computer (for example, the personal computer 2 shown in FIG. 1) allow a plurality of distribution destinations to which predetermined channels are assigned, respectively. A program is provided for controlling reproduction of a plurality of recorded contents recorded when being distributed from any one of the following. In the program, when the reproduction start absolute time indicating the reproduction start time is specified by the user, and when a reproduction target channel is specified by the user, the reproduction includes the reproduction start absolute time in the recording content included in a recording time zone. And controlling the recorded contents of the target channel to be reproduced from a position corresponding to the reproduction start absolute time (for example, the program reproduction processing of FIGS. 16 to 20).

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described.

1 is a functional block diagram showing a functional configuration example of an information processing system to which the present invention is applied.

Referring to Fig. 1, the illustrated information processing system includes a recording / playback apparatus 1 to which a personal computer 2, a television receiver 5, an antenna 7, and the like are connected.

In addition, the recording / playback apparatus 1 can establish a connection to the service providing server 3 via the network 4 and enjoy various services provided from the service providing server 3. The personal computer 2 can also establish a connection to the service providing server 3 via the network 4 and enjoy various services provided from the service providing server 3.

Note that the form of the network 4 is not particularly limited and, for example, the Internet or the like may be employed. In other words, it is possible to omit the network 4. In other words, each of the recording / playback apparatus 1 and the personal computer 2 can communicate directly with the service providing server 3 without intervening the network 4.

The recording and reproducing apparatus 1 is configured to simultaneously receive different broadcast programs that are examples of content broadcasts broadcasted at the same time zone from a plurality of broadcast stations. Specifically, for example, the recording / playback apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes eight tuner sections 11-1 to 11-8, an encoding section 12, and a HDD (Hard Disk Drive). Including (13), it is possible to simultaneously receive eight broadcast programs broadcast from eight broadcast stations.

Note that in the following description, when the eight tuner parts 11-1 to 11-8 do not need to be distinguished from each other individually, these are collectively referred to as the tuner part 11.

In addition, although the number of the tuner parts 11 incorporated in the recording / reproducing apparatus 1 in FIG. 1 is eight, in fact, it is not specifically limited to what was shown in FIG. 1, and can be arbitrary numbers.

The tuner unit 11 demodulates the broadcast wave of the television broadcast of the terrestrial or satellite wave received by the antenna 7, and encodes a video signal and an audio signal obtained as a result of the modulation as digital signals. It supplies to (12).

Specifically, for example, a broadcast propagation of a channel designated by the recording control unit 14 or the recording control unit 36 of the personal computer 2 described later, and more specifically, a broadcast program broadcast from a broadcasting station to which the channel is assigned. When the radio wave is received by the antenna 7, the corresponding tuner unit 11 demodulates the broadcast radio wave. The tuner section 11 supplies the video and audio signals obtained as a result of the modulation to the encoding section 12 in the form of digital signals.

As such, while a broadcast program is broadcast from a broadcast station, note that in the following description, for the sake of brevity, the expression that the broadcast program is broadcast from a channel (to which the broadcast station is assigned) is broadcast. For example, an expression such as "a broadcast program broadcast from channel A" is used in the following description.

In addition, in the following description, the digital signal output from the tuner part 11, ie, the digital video signal and audio signal which comprise a predetermined broadcast program are collectively called content data.

The encoding unit 12 uses the content data supplied from one of the tuner units 11 independently of other content data supplied from the other tuner unit 11, for example, in a moving picture expert group (MPEG) scheme. Encode or compress code. The encoding unit 12 stores the encoded content data in the HDD 13. It should be noted that the coded content data output from the encoding unit 12 is referred to as compressed content data.

That is, the file containing the compressed content data is stored in the HDD 13. In the following description, it should be noted that the operation "the compressed content data is stored in the HDD 13" is expressed as "a broadcast program (corresponding to the compressed content data) is recorded". In other words, when it is not necessary to distinguish a broadcast program and the content data or compressed content data constituting the broadcast program separately from each other, such a broadcast program, content data, or compressed content data is simply called a broadcast program. In addition, the broadcast program recorded as mentioned above is called a recording program, and the compressed content data stored in the HDD 13 etc., ie, the compressed content data stored in the HDD 13, etc. is also called a recording program hereafter.

The recording (recording) unit of the HDD 13, that is, the data included in one file, is not necessarily one broadcast program, but is exactly the broadcast content of a predetermined channel specified by one recording reservation. . The broadcast content may include one or more broadcast programs. In addition, the broadcast content does not necessarily need to include all the broadcast programs, but may include only a part of the broadcast program. Therefore, one file recorded on the HDD 13 may include a single broadcast program broadcast from a predetermined channel or may include two or more broadcast programs broadcast from that channel.

In the following description, note that the same file as just mentioned is called a video capsule. In particular, the video capsule includes at least a portion of one or more broadcast programs as compressed content data. In the following description, for the sake of brevity, it should be noted that one video capsule includes the entirety of one given broadcast program.

In addition, program information of a broadcast program broadcast in the past from the relevant broadcasting station is also stored in the HDD 13. In this embodiment, EPG information is also stored.

This EPG information is provided, for example, from the service providing server 3 connected to the network 4 in this embodiment. Therefore, the recording / playback apparatus 1 of FIG. 1 includes a communication unit 15 and an EPG acquisition unit 16. The communication unit 15 controls communication with the service providing server 3 via the network 4. The EPG acquisition unit 16 properly acquires EPG information of the broadcast program via the network 4 and the communication unit 15 and stores it in the HDD 13.

Note that the obtaining method of the program information is not limited to the above-mentioned specific method but may be any method. For example, program information is extracted from the vertical blanking period of the terrestrial television broadcast signal received by the antenna 7 or program information is extracted from the television broadcast signal of the satellite wave received by the antenna 7. It is also possible to employ a method.

The recording control unit 14 controls the encoding unit 12 and the HDD 13 in accordance with a recording command to control the recording operation of the broadcast program. The recording command may be provided from the service providing server 3 via the network 4 or from the personal computer 2 via the communication unit 19. The above-described recording operation includes not only the operation of actually recording the signal but also the operation of setting the recording reservation and managing the setting contents. The setting of the recording reservation and the management operation of the setting contents mentioned above are referred to as recording reservation management operation hereinafter.

The recording control unit 14 also generates or updates the program information table of FIGS. 2 to 4 as appropriate during the control of the recording operation. In order to generate or update the program information table, the recording control unit 14 uses the EPG information of the broadcast program stored in the HDD 13 and its own control contents. It should be noted that the program information table of Figs. 2 to 4 is recorded in the HDD 13, for example.

2 to 4 show an example of a program information table for each of A channel, B channel, and C channel.

In each of the program information tables of FIGS. 2 to 4, one row corresponds to one broadcast program broadcast from channels A to C, and includes the following information.

In particular, in each of the program information tables in Figs. 2 to 4, the "channel" item describes the name of the channel on which the broadcast program corresponding to the row to be noted is broadcasted. Note that the broadcast program corresponding to the row to be noted is hereinafter referred to as a noticed program. In addition, the start time of the program of interest is described in the item of "start time", and the end time of the program of interest is described in the item of "end time". In the item of "program name", the name of the program of interest is described. For example, in the present embodiment, it is noted that the information contained in these items uses information included in the EPG information of the program of interest. That is, in this embodiment, the start time and end time of the program of interest do not represent the time when the broadcast was actually started or the time when the broadcast was actually terminated, but the broadcast time and the broadcast station are scheduled to start the broadcast. Schedule the end of and indicate each of the times. Note that it is also possible to employ the former start time and end time, in fact, the start time and the end time of the broadcast as the description values of the items of "start time" and "end time", respectively.

Also, in each of the program information tables shown in Figs. 2 to 4, when a program of interest is recorded in the HDD 13, that is, when a video capsule containing the program of interest is stored in the HDD 13, the video capsule is stored. An identifier for specifying the is described in the item of " moving picture ID ". The identifier may be, for example, a file name, hereinafter referred to as a video ID according to the name of the item in FIGS. 2 to 4.

In the program information table of the B channel of FIG. 3, there is a description of nothing in the item of "Video ID", that is, in the item "Video ID" in the line where "Program 3C" is described as the "program name". Note that nothing is described. This indicates that a broadcast program named "Program 3C" is not recorded.

Referring back to FIG. 1, the playback control unit 17 according to the playback command provided from the remote controller 6, the playback command provided from the personal computer 2 through the communication unit 19, and the like, the decoding unit 18 and the HDD. (13) to control the reproduction operation of the broadcast program. The playback command provided from the remote controller 6 includes a command for channel switching or program switching described later.

Specifically, for example, the reproduction control unit 17 may generate the past program table shown in FIG. 5 in the form of image data based on the program information table described above with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4. Can be. This image data is provided to the decoding unit 18. As a result, the decoding unit 18 causes the television receiver 5 to display the past program table corresponding to the image data.

In this case, for example, a past program table as shown in Fig. 5 is displayed on the television receiver 5. Next, the past program table shown in FIG. 5 will be described.

The past program table includes a program column or display area similar in form to a television program column of a newspaper, which is a paper medium. In particular, the past program table includes a program field for each channel, each representing a recorded program, and each arranged in an area representing a time zone in which a corresponding program is recorded. This time zone just mentioned is hereinafter referred to as the recording time zone. Therefore, each program column is displayed in the vertical direction indicating the length of the recording time zone.

In the program column of a recorded program, a thumbnail image of a moving picture or still picture and a title or program name of the recorded program are displayed. Note that thumbnails are not displayed in the program column of a recording program having a short recording time as needed. This is because a program column of a recording program having a short recording time does not have a length or size large enough to display thumbnails.

In particular, for example, the past program table of FIG. 5 shows an example of the past program table corresponding to the program information table of FIGS. 2 to 4 as described above.

Specifically, a column of the A channel is configured based on the program information table of the A channel shown in FIG.

In the column of this A channel, a program column indicating "Program 1A" recorded in the time zone from 23:00 to 23:15 is displayed in the third row from the top in FIG. From this, it can be seen that a broadcast program titled " 1A " Note that a broadcast program of a predetermined title is expressed only by the predetermined title. Similarly, program fields indicating "Program 1B" to "Program 1E" included in the program information table of the A channel of FIG. 2 are also displayed in the corresponding recording time zones, respectively.

On the other hand, a column of the B channel is configured based on the program information table of the B channel of FIG. 3.

In the column of this B channel, the program column which shows "program 3A" recorded in the time slot from 23:00 to 23:25 is displayed by the 3rd line from the top in FIG. From this, it can be seen that "program 3A" broadcast from the B channel is recorded in the recording time zone. Similarly, program fields indicating "program 3B", "program 3D", and "program 3E" included in the program information table of the B channel of FIG. 3 are also displayed in the corresponding recording time zones, respectively. Therefore, it can be seen that "Program 3B", "Program 3D", and "Program 3E" are recorded.

In contrast, in the column of the B channel, the program field is not displayed in the region representing the time zone from 23:50 to 0:15. From this, it can be seen that "program 3C" broadcast from the B channel during this time period, that is, the broadcast program corresponding to the fifth row from the top in FIG. 3 is not recorded.

Moreover, based on the program information table of the C channel of FIG. 4, the column of a C channel is comprised.

In the column of this C channel, the program column which shows "program 4A" recorded in the time zone from 22:54 to 23:29 is shown by the 3rd line from the top in FIG. From this, it can be seen that "program 4A" broadcast from the C channel is recorded in the recording time zone. Similarly, the program columns indicating "Program 4B" to "Program 4E" included in the program information table of the C channel of FIG. 4 are also displayed in the corresponding time zones, respectively. Therefore, it can also be recognized that "Program 4B" to "Program 4E" are recorded.

In this case, the user can select, for example, the program field of the recorded program to be played back in the past program table by operating the remote controller 6 shown in FIG.

Referring back to FIG. 1, the reproduction control unit 17 recognizes the operation contents of the remote controller 6 in this case, and controls the reproduction of the recorded program indicated by the program field selected by the user according to the recognition result.

More specifically, in Fig. 5, when the program field indicating "Program 1E" of the A channel is selected, the playback control unit 17 reads from the HDD 13 a video capsule to which "1E" is assigned as the moving picture ID. To provide the readout video capsule to the decoding unit 18.

The reproduction control unit 17 instructs the decoding unit 18 to reproduce the program 1E in the form of compressed content data contained in the video capsule from the head. As a result, the decoding unit 18 decodes the compressed content data of the program 1E included in the video capsule, and provides the television receiver 5 with the video signal and the audio signal corresponding to the program 1E obtained as a result of the decoding. Thus, "program 1E" is reproduced from the television receiver 5. In particular, an image corresponding to "Program 1E" is displayed on the screen of the television receiver 5, and audio corresponding to "Program 1E" is output from a speaker or the like of the television receiver 5.

For example, some users know a favorite broadcast program as a broadcast program such as a drama that is broadcasted at the same time zone every week, and know a broadcast time zone of the favorite broadcast program. When such a user tries to play a recorded program of the favorite broadcast program, a user may feel troublesome to perform a series of operations for displaying the past program table and selecting the program field of the favorite broadcast program in the past program table. . In such a case, a user may request to perform a playback instruction operation of a favorite broadcast program in a simpler operation than a playback instruction operation using a past program table.

In order to satisfy this need, the inventor of the present invention has invented a method as described below. In particular, according to the method, the user specifies an absolute time indicating the playback timing at which playback is to start and a channel desired to be played back. This absolute time is hereinafter referred to as playback start absolute time, and a channel desired for playback is hereinafter referred to as a playback target channel. In response to the instruction, the apparatus reproduces, among the plurality of recorded programs, the recorded program of the reproduction target channel having the recording time zone including the reproduction start absolute time from the position corresponding to the reproduction start absolute time. Techniques for implementing a series of processes as just described were invented by the inventor of the present invention. This technique mentioned is hereinafter referred to as absolute time-specified reproduction technique.

Here, the absolute time means the time at which the device recorded the broadcast program, for example, the month, day, hour, and minute. In the present embodiment, since the recording / playback apparatus 1 records each program using the program information tables of Figs. 2 to 4, the recording and reproducing apparatus 1 are specified by "start time" and "end time" of the program information table. The time specified based on the time zone is the absolute time.

In other words, assuming that the times managed by the recording / playback apparatus 1, the broadcasting station, and the like all coincide with each other, the time, for example, month, day, hour, And minutes, or time included in the broadcast time zone where the program is scheduled to be broadcast, for example, month, day, hour, and minute can be regarded as absolute time.

However, since the time managed by the recording / playback apparatus 1, the broadcasting station, and the like does not necessarily coincide, in this embodiment, the time managed by the recording / playback apparatus side is adopted as the absolute time. That is, in this embodiment, the time managed by the recording / playback apparatus is used as the time zone at the time when the recording / playback apparatus actually records the broadcast program.

Hereinafter, in order to clearly indicate the value of a certain time expressed in absolute time, the time when the head position of the program is recorded, that is, the "start time" of the program information table of FIGS. Hereinafter, the recording start absolute time. Similarly, the time when the tail end position of the program is recorded, that is, the "end time" in the program information table of FIGS.

The absolute time designation and reproduction technique as described above is applied to, for example, the recording / playback apparatus 1 of FIG. 1 and the personal computer 2 described later. In particular, the user can operate the remote controller 6 to designate the absolute start time of playback and the channel to be played back. Details thereof will be described later with reference to FIGS. 7 and 11 to 13. In response to the above operation, the playback control unit 17 selects, among the plurality of recorded programs recorded on the HDD 13, the recorded program of the playback target channel whose recording time zone includes the playback start absolute time at the playback start absolute time. Control to reproduce from the corresponding position is performed.

Specifically, assume, for example, that "August 30, 0:05" is designated as the playback start absolute time by the user, and the A channel is designated as the playback target channel.

In this case, the playback control unit 17 refers to the program information table of the A channel of FIG. 2 on the HDD 13, and includes a recorded program including "0:05" in the recording time zone, that is, 23 in the program information table. &Quot; Program 1E " having a recording time zone of: 57 to 0:15 is determined as a playback target.

Next, the playback control unit 17 reads from the HDD 13 a video capsule specified by the moving picture ID of " program 1E ", i.e., " 1E ", and provides the video capsule to the decoding unit 18. To control.

The reproduction control unit 17 instructs the decoding unit 18 to reproduce the program 1E in the form of compressed content data included in the video capsule from the absolute time "0:05".

However, note that the decoding unit 18 performs the processing based on the relative time with respect to the reference time 00:00 provided by the top position of the content of the recorded program. Note that in order to avoid confusion with the absolute time, the relative time at which content playback starts is described below.

The reproduction control unit 17 specifies or arithmetically calculates a reproduction start position based on the absolute reproduction start time, and instructs the decoding unit 18 to reproduce the reproduction target program from the reproduction start position. For example, the reproduction control unit 17 arithmetically calculates the difference between the reproduction start absolute time and the recording start absolute time, which is the "start time" of the program information table, and specifies the result of the arithmetic operation as the reproduction start position. Specifically, for example, in the above-described case, since the recording time zone of the reproduction program "Program 1E" is "23:57 to 0:15", the absolute recording start time is "23:57". As described above, The absolute start time of reproduction is "0:05". Therefore, the difference "0:08" is determined as the reproduction start position.

Therefore, the decoding unit 18 decodes the compressed content data of the video capsule to which "1E" is assigned as the moving picture ID, by the MPEG method or the like. Then, the decoding unit 18 determines the position 8 minutes after the beginning of the program 1E obtained by decoding, that is, the position "0:08" of the program 1E), the reproduction start position, and from the reproduction start position, Playback, that is, output from the television receiver 5 is performed.

In addition, as described above in the technical problem to be achieved by the present invention, when the past program table as described above is used, the user may change the past program table to find another program to be played next during or after the program is being played. After displaying again to select another program, an operation to restore the playback screen is required. Therefore, with a simpler operation than the above-described operation, it is possible to easily anticipate a request for selecting a recorded program or a program to be reproduced from among a plurality of recorded programs.

In order to meet the needs just mentioned, absolute time-specified reproduction techniques can be applied.

Specifically, for example, the user may designate only the playback target channel without displaying the past program table to find another program to play next during or after the playback of one program. That is, the user will only perform the channel switching operation.

In this case, when the apparatus, i.e., the recording / playback apparatus 1, detects the switching of the channel during the playback of the program, it converts the playback position of the program at the time of the switching operation into absolute time, and the absolute time as a result is never started. It is regarded as time. Note that the time obtained by the transformation is hereinafter referred to as changeover instruction absolute time. On the other hand, when the device detects a channel switching operation after the end of playback of the program, the apparatus sets the absolute end time of recording of the program, which is the "end time" in the program information tables of Figs. Consider. Thereafter, as described above, the apparatus records the recorded program of the playback target channel after the switching, which includes the playback start absolute time equal to the switching instruction absolute time or the end time in the recording time zone, that is, the position corresponding to the playback start absolute time, that is, Control to reproduce from the reproduction start position.

Note that details of the above-described series of processes will be described later with reference to FIGS. 16 to 20 and the like.

In this way, the user may not want to display the past program table to find another recorded program to play next while the program is being played or after the end of the play, but only the next channel to be used, that is, the program being played. It is only necessary to perform a simple operation of specifying a channel different from that of the broadcasted channel.

In addition, the user can more easily perform the channel switching operation of the above-described recorded program by using the remote controller 6 having an external configuration as shown in FIG. 6, for example.

Specifically, FIG. 6 shows an example of the external appearance of the surface or the operating surface of the remote controller 6.

Referring to Fig. 6, a plurality of buttons are arranged on the surface of the remote controller 6, and predetermined functions are assigned to each. In order to avoid duplication of explanation, only the buttons to which functions related to the absolute time designation reproduction technique are assigned will be described. In other words, although two or more functions may be assigned to some of the buttons described below, only the functions related to the absolute time designation reproduction technique will be described below.

The buttons 51 each of which numbers 1 to 12 are printed are assigned a function for designating a predetermined one channel. For example, if channel A is assigned to a button printed with 1, the user can press the button to perform channel A designation, that is, selection or switching. Therefore, the button 51 is called Ch button 51 below. Incidentally, in the following description, when the "Ch button 51 is pressed", the description means that one of the twelve buttons in which the numbers 1 to 12 are printed respectively is pressed.

Therefore, if the user wants to find another recorded program to play next time without displaying the past program table during the progress of the program play or after the end of the play, the user needs to select the selected channel to be switched, that is, the program being played. It simply performs a simple operation of pressing the Ch button 51 to which a channel different from the broadcasted channel is assigned.

An example of the processing of the recording / playback apparatus 1 to be performed in response to the user operation as described above, that is, the pressing operation of the Ch button 51, is the case after that when it is determined to be YES in the processing of step S64 of FIG. Note that the processing will be described later.

The button 52 is assigned a function of switching the power supply state of the recording / playback apparatus 1. Therefore, hereinafter, button 52 is referred to as power button 52.

The button 53 is assigned a function of designating a recorded program broadcasted from the same channel in time before the program or content currently being reproduced. On the other hand, the button 54 is assigned a function for designating a recorded program broadcasted from the same channel later in time, i.e., next to a program or content currently being reproduced. Therefore, the button 53 is thus referred to as a preceding button 53 and the button 54 as a success button 54. Note that the processing example of the recording / playback apparatus 1 in the case where the previous button 53 is pressed will be described later as the processing after that is determined to be YES in the processing of step S77 of FIG. On the other hand, the processing example of the recording / playback apparatus 1 when the next button 54 is pressed will be described later as the processing after that is determined to be YES in the processing of step S84 in FIG.

The button 55 is assigned a function of issuing a playback command of the program to the recording / playback apparatus 1. The button 56 is assigned a function of issuing a pause command of the program being reproduced to the recording / playback apparatus 1. The button 57 is assigned a function for issuing the stop command of the program being reproduced to the recording / playback apparatus 1. Therefore, hereinafter, button 55 is referred to as playback button 55, button 56 is called pause button 56, and button 57 is called stop button 57.

The processing example of the recording / playback apparatus 1 in the case where the stop button 57 is pressed during the playback of the recording program will be described later as the processing thereafter when the determination is YES in the processing of step S95 of FIG. Please note.

The button 58 is assigned a function for switching the playback target channel to one channel moved in the + direction with respect to the channel of the program or content currently being played. Therefore, the button 58 is hereinafter referred to as Ch + button 58. Here, the + direction means a direction from left to right in the past program table shown in FIG. 5, for example. Naturally, the + direction may in some cases be the reverse direction of the above direction. Thus, for example, when the channel of the currently playing program is the A channel, when the Ch + button 58 is pressed once, the playback target channel is switched to the B channel. When the Ch + button 58 is pressed again, the playback target channel is switched to the C channel.

On the other hand, the button 59 is assigned a function of switching the channel to be reproduced to a channel moved by one in the-direction with respect to the channel of the program or content currently being played. Therefore, hereinafter, button 59 is referred to as Ch − button 59. Here, the − direction means the reverse direction of the + direction, that is, the direction from right to left in the past program table shown in FIG. 5, for example. Naturally, the − direction may in some cases be the reverse of the above direction. Thus, for example, when the Ch-button 59 is pressed once when the channel of the currently playing program is the C channel, the playback target channel is switched to the B channel. In addition, when the Ch − button 59 is pressed again, the playback target channel is switched to the A channel.

Therefore, when the user wants to find another program to be played next without displaying the past program table while the program is in progress or after the end of the playback, the user can replace the Ch button 51 with the Ch button 51 described above. (58) or Ch-button 59 can be performed by a simple operation of pressing the program several times until the desired channel program is played.

The processing example of the recording / playback apparatus 1 to be executed in response to the user operation as described above, that is, the pressing operation of the Ch + button 58, is determined after the case where YES is determined in the processing of step S66 of FIG. Note that the processing will be described later. The processing example of the recording / playback apparatus 1 to be executed in response to the pressing operation of the Ch-button 59 will be described later as the subsequent processing in the case where it is determined as YES in the processing of step S68 of FIG.

The buttons 60 to 63 are assigned a function for switching the absolute time of the operation target, for example, the above-described reproduction start absolute time, from the currently set or displayed time to another time.

Specifically, the button 60 is assigned a function for switching the date of the absolute time of the operation target to a date one day after the current date is set or displayed, that is, a date shifted by one day in the + direction. . On the other hand, the button 61 is assigned a function of switching the date of the absolute time of the operation target from the current date setting or the displayed date to a date one day before, that is, a day shifted by one day in the-direction. It is. Therefore, hereinafter, button 60 is referred to as date + button 60 and button 61 is referred to as date-button 61.

In addition, the button 62 has a time (for example, hour: minute) of the absolute time of the operation target different from the time currently set or displayed by a predetermined unit, for example, one minute. The function of switching to time, that is, time shifted by one unit in the + direction is assigned. On the other hand, in the button 63, the time (for example, hour: minute) of the absolute time of the operation object is transferred in time by a predetermined unit, for example, one minute, from the time currently set or displayed. The function of switching to another time, that is, time shifted by one unit in the − direction, is assigned. Therefore, hereinafter, button 62 is referred to as time + button 62 and button 63 is referred to as time-button 63.

Therefore, the user can easily designate the desired absolute time as the reproduction start absolute time, for example, by repeating the pressing operation of the date + button 60 to the time-button 63.

The button 64 is assigned a function of issuing, for example, the display command of the image 71 shown in FIG. 7 to the recording / playback apparatus 1.

The user can use this image 71 to perform an operation of specifying a recorded program to be reproduced. For example, after the user selects a desired channel, the user may perform an operation of designating a recorded program to be played back among the recorded programs of the desired channel. Therefore, hereinafter, such an image 71 is referred to as a channel selection image 71. In addition, according to this designation, the button 64 of the remote controller 6 of FIG. 6 which is pressed to display the channel selection image 71 is hereinafter referred to as channel selection button 64.

The channel selection image 71 includes a display of the message " select by channel " and a display area 81 below this message. In the display area 81, the name of the channel currently designated or selected as the playback target channel by the user is displayed. In the example of FIG. 7, A ch is displayed in the display area 81.

Note that the user can change the playback target channel by performing a pressing operation of a predetermined button of the remote controller 6 while the channel selection image 71 as described above is displayed. Description of which button was pressed among the buttons is omitted. In this case, the channel name of the channel to be reproduced after the change is displayed in the display area 81.

The display area 82 is displayed below the display area 81, and displays the program name of the playback target program currently designated or selected by the user. In FIG. 7, the program 1E is displayed in the display area 82.

Note that the user can change the playback target program by performing a pressing operation of a predetermined button of the remote controller 6 while the channel selection image 71 as described above is displayed. Description of which button was pressed among the buttons is omitted. In this case, the program name of the reproduction target program after the change is displayed in the display area 82.

The display area 83 is displayed on the lower left side of the display area 82, and the above-described reproduction start absolute time is displayed on this display area 83. In FIG. 7, 00:05 on August 22, 2005 is displayed. In addition, the display area 84 is displayed on the right side of the display area 83, that is, on the right side below the display area 82. In the display area 84, the time lengths of the above-described playback start position and the playback target program to be played back from the playback start position, that is, the recorded program having the program name currently displayed in the display area 82, are sequentially displayed. In particular, in Fig. 7, 0:08 is indicated as 0:08 as the reproduction start position and 0:18 as the time length before and after "/", respectively.

Note that the image of the program being reproduced before the pressing operation of the channel selection button 64 shown in Fig. 6 is displayed as the background image superimposed on the display areas 81 to 84 described above. In Fig. 7, the background image is an image of a bear.

Below the display areas 81 to 84 described above, among the buttons of the remote controller 6 shown in FIG. 6, a display 85 to brief description of the operation of the buttons that can be operated on the channel selection image 71 is provided. 87) is arranged. That is, the user can recognize from the contents of these displays 85 to 87 that the channel selection image 71 can be performed without reading the instruction manual.

Specifically, the user, by the contents of the display 85, repeats the pressing operation of the date + button 60 or the date-button 61 of the remote controller 6 shown in FIG. It can be appreciated that it is possible to simply specify or change the desired date as the date in the.

In addition, the user repeats the pressing operation of the time + button 62 or the time-button 63 of the remote controller 6 shown in FIG. As the time, it can be recognized that the desired time can be simply designated or changed.

In addition, the user presses a button printed as "determined" from among the buttons of the remote controller 6 shown in FIG. 6 according to the contents of the display 87 to display the viewpoint of the time of the channel selection image 71. It can be appreciated that playback according to the content can be performed. Note that the button printed "determined" above is referred to as a decision button hereinafter. In addition, when the decision button is pressed, for example, in the present embodiment, the program reproduction processing of Figs. 16 to 20 to be described later is executed.

In this manner, the user can easily perform the operation of instructing the reproduction start based on the specification of the reproduction start absolute time, that is, the reproduction start instruction operation, by using the channel selection image 71. Note that a detailed example of the processing of the playback control unit 17 of the recording / playback apparatus 1 of FIG. 1 for the playback start instruction operation will be described later with reference to FIGS. 11 to 15 and the like. In addition, the process of the reproduction control part 17 in this case is called a reproduction start instruction process hereafter.

 Referring back to FIG. 1, the recording and playback device 1 includes a communication unit 19 that controls communication with the personal computer 2 in addition to the same components or blocks as the playback control unit 17 described above.

The personal computer 2, for example, is provided from the service providing server 3 via the network 4, and generates a predetermined recording command and issues it to the recording / playback apparatus 1 in response to various information or instructions from a user. can do. In addition, the personal computer 2 can realize the same functions as those of the tuner unit 11 and the encoding unit 12, that is, the functions except the broadcast program reception and recording function, among the various functions described above of the recording / playback apparatus 1. Can be.

For this reason, the personal computer 2 includes the main control unit 31, the operation unit 32, the communication unit 33, the HDD 34, the other communication unit 35, the recording control unit 36, the reproduction control unit 37, and the reproduction unit. (38) is included.

The main controller 31 controls the entire operation of the personal computer 31. When performing such control, the main control part 31 appropriately uses the operation content of the operation part 32 by a user.

The communication unit 33 controls the communication with the communication unit 19 of the recording / playback apparatus 1.

The HDD 34 stores various information necessary for the main control unit 31 to perform control, and stores the HDD 13 of the recording / playback apparatus 1, which includes a video capsule, EPG information, a program information table, and the like. You can also remember a copy of the contents.

The communication unit 35 controls communication with the service providing server 3 via the network 4.

The recording control section 36 controls the recording operation of the HDD 13 of the recording / playback apparatus 1 or the HDD 34 of the personal computer 2. For example, as described above, the recording control section 36 is provided according to various information provided through the communication section 35 from the service providing server 3 to the network 4 or the operation section 32 and the main control section 31. According to a user's instruction provided through, a predetermined recording command including a recording reservation command may be generated. The recording control unit 36 may issue a recording command to the recording / playback apparatus 1 via the communication unit 33.

The reproduction control unit 37 reproduces the predetermined recording program in the HDD 13 of the recording / playback apparatus 1 or the HDD 34 of the personal computer 2 based on the playback command from the operation unit 32 or the like. The part 38 is controlled. The command from the operation unit 32 or the like includes the following channel switching command or program switching command. In addition, the reproduction control unit 37 may control the reproduction unit 38 to display the past program table described above with reference to FIG. 5 and the like. In particular, while the playback control unit 17 of the recording / playback apparatus 1 controls the playback operation of the television receiver 5, the playback control unit 37 is similar to the playback operation of the playback control unit 17 of the recording / playback apparatus 1. The reproducing operation of the reproducing section 38 is performed.

In other words, in the present embodiment, the recording program in the HDD 13 of the recording / playback apparatus 1 or the HDD 34 of the personal computer 2 is connected to an arbitrary television receiver 5 and the personal computer 2. It can be played back from the playback section 38 of the personal computer 2, such as a built-in display or speaker.

It should be noted that an example of an image used in reproducing or displaying a recorded program on the display of the reproducing section 38, that is, a reproduced image, will be described later with reference to FIGS. 25 to 30.

Now, with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 8 etc., the reproduction process of the recording / reproducing apparatus 1 of FIG. 1 is demonstrated. Although details will be described later, in the playback processing shown in FIG. 8, once playback is started in response to a user's playback start instruction operation, the power button 52 of the remote controller 6 shown in FIG. 6 is then pressed. Note that until the losing, regeneration is performed continuously. Therefore, in the following description, the reproduction processing of FIG. 8 is particularly referred to as continuous reproduction processing.

In step S1, the playback control unit 17 of the recording and playback apparatus 1 determines whether or not the power button 52 has been pressed.

If it is determined in step S1 that the power button 52 is pressed, this continuous playback process is terminated. Then, the power supply state of the recording / playback apparatus 1 is switched from the on state to the off state.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step S1 that the power button 52 is not pressed, the process proceeds to step S2.

In step S2, the reproduction control unit 17 determines whether or not the channel select button 64 shown in Fig. 6 is pressed.

If it is determined in step S2 that the channel select button 64 has not been pressed, the process returns to step S1 and subsequent processing is repeated. That is, in the step before the reproduction start, unless the power button 52 is pressed, the processes of steps S1 and S2 are repeated until the channel select button 64 is pressed, and this continuous reproduction process is in a standby state. .

After that, when the channel select button 64 is pressed, it is determined as YES in step S2, and the processing advances to step S3. In this case, as described above, the user can perform the reproduction start instruction operation by using the channel selection image 71 shown in FIG. Therefore, the reproduction start instruction processing corresponding to such a reproduction start instruction operation is executed as the process of step S3. Note that a detailed example of the reproduction start instruction processing will be described later with reference to FIGS. 11 to 15 and the like.

If a predetermined program is designated by the user as a result of the playback start instruction process of step S3, the process proceeds to step S4. In step S4, the reproduction control unit 17 determines the indicated program as the reproduction target program.

Next, in step S5, the reproduction control unit 17 controls the process of controlling the television receiver 5 to reproduce the reproduction target program. This reproduction processing is referred to as program reproduction processing hereinafter. Details of the program reproduction processing will be described later with reference to FIGS. 16 to 20 and the like.

As will be described later, when the reproduction of the reproduction target program ends, the program reproduction processing in step S5 ends (see step S62 in FIG. 16), and the processing proceeds to step S6.

In step S6, the playback control unit 17 refers to the program information table of the same channel as the playback target program on the HDD 13. Then, in step S7, the reproduction control unit 17 sorts the program information table in ascending order of the recording start time in the absolute time format.

When the program information table is arranged in advance according to the recording start time as in the program information table described above with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4, the process of step S7 can be omitted. 2 to 4, the recording start time is merely shown as the "start time."

Subsequently, in step S8, the playback control unit 17 selects a recorded program having a recording start time (absolute time) equal to or later than the recording end time (absolute time) of the current playback target program. Determine whether the table is included.

Therefore, as another program broadcasted at an absolute time after the current playback target program, if another program on the same channel as the current playback target program is not recorded on the HDD 13, it is determined as NO in step S8. In this case, the processing returns to step S1 and the processing thereafter is repeated. That is, when the reproduction of the current reproduction target program is finished, the reproduction of the television receiver 5 is once terminated, and this continuous reproduction processing is in a standby state. Note that the other program described above is referred to as another recording program in the following.

On the other hand, when one or more other recorded programs are recorded on the HDD 13, it is determined as YES in step S8, and the processing proceeds to step S9.

In step S9, the playback control unit 17 determines the best recorded program as the playback target program from one or more other recorded programs. Here, the best recorded program is a recorded program whose recording start time (absolute time) is closest to the recording end time (absolute time) of the program to be reproduced so far (including the same time). After that, the process returns to step S5 and the subsequent processes are repeated. That is, the other recorded program determined as the playback target program by the process of step S9 is played back on the television receiver 5.

In this way, when a plurality of recorded programs exist for the same channel, the playback control unit 17 executes the continuous playback process as described above. Therefore, a plurality of recorded programs can be reproduced in succession.

Specifically, for example, among the programs scheduled to be broadcast in the time zones 00:00:00 to 04:00:00 on August 31, 2005, the program names shown in FIG. 9 are "1-A", "2-A". Assume that there are recorded programs on the HDD 13, "1-B", "3-A", and "1-C".

More precisely, the broadcast content actually broadcasted from Ach in the time zones 00:00:00 to 01:00:00 on August 31, 2005 is recorded as a program of the program name "1-A". Hereinafter, the program of the program name "1-A" is called the program "1-A".

Similarly, the broadcast content actually broadcasted from B ch in the time period 00:00:00 to 01:00:00 on August 31, 2005 is recorded as a program of program name "2-A". Hereinafter, the program of the program name "2-A" is called the program "2-A".

The broadcast contents actually broadcasted from Ach during the time of 01:00:00 to 02:00:00 on August 31, 2005 are recorded as a program of the program name "1-B". Hereinafter, the program of the program name "1-B" is referred to as program "1-B".

The broadcast content actually broadcasted from Cch in the time zone of 00:00:00 to 01:00:00 on August 31, 2005 is recorded as a program of program name "3-A". Hereinafter, the program of the program name "3-A" is referred to as program "3-A".

The broadcast content actually broadcasted from Ach in the time zones 03:00:00 to 04:00:00 on August 31, 2005 is recorded as a program of the program name "1-C". Hereinafter, the program of the program name "1-C" is called the program "1-C".

Specifically, if the broadcast of A ch was performed as scheduled, the broadcast content actually broadcasted from A ch at the time of 00:00:00 to 01:00:00 on August 31, 2005, in the whole program "1-A". to be. Similarly, the whole program "1-B" is a broadcast program actually broadcasted from A ch in the time zone 01:00:00 to 02:00:00 on August 31, 2005.

However, if, for example, a baseball program preceding in time than the program "1-A" has been extended for a certain time and broadcasted on A ch, the latter part of the preceding program and the first part of the program "1-A" are not available. In the time zone of 00:00:00 to 01:00:00 of the day, the broadcast contents actually broadcast from A ch.

In this case, the user thinks that the entire program " 1-A " is recorded, but there is a problem that the latter part of the program " 1-A " is not actually recorded.

However, in this case, the latter part of the program "1-A" and the first part of the program "1-B" are from A ch in the time zone of 01:00:00 to 02:00:00 on August 31, 2005. Note that the broadcast content is actually broadcasted and recorded as the program "1-B". Therefore, when viewed from the entire recording contents of the HDD 13, the entire program "1-A" is recorded. In this manner, by recording a plurality of programs that are continuous in time, the above-described problem can be solved.

However, in this case, when the user performs the playback instruction operation of the program "1-A", A is in the time zone of 01:00:00 to 02:00:00 on August 31, 2005 according to the conventional playback process. Only broadcast contents actually broadcast from ch are reproduced. That is, according to the conventional reproducing process, only the first half of the program "1-A" is reproduced. Therefore, in the case of using the conventional recording and reproducing apparatus which executes the conventional reproducing process, when the user wants to watch the latter part of the program "1-A", the reproduction instruction operation of the program "1-B" must be separately performed. A new problem arises that requires complicated operation.

Therefore, in order to solve this new problem, in the present embodiment, the recording / playback apparatus 1 executes a continuous playback process. In particular, when the continuous playback process of FIG. 8 is executed, the broadcast content actually broadcasted from A ch in the time zones 00:00:00 to 01:00:00 on August 31, 2005, and 01 on August 31, 2005. The broadcast contents actually broadcasted from A ch during the time period from 00:00 to 02:00:00 are continuously reproduced. As a result, the entire program " 1-A " is reproduced in succession, thereby solving the new problem as described above.

Specifically, when the "designated program" in the process of step S4 of FIG. 8 is the program "1-A", 00:00:00 on August 31, 2005 by the program reproduction process of the next step S5. The broadcast content actually broadcasted from A ch is reproduced in the time slot 01:00:00.

In the next step S6, with reference to the program information table of A ch, which is different from the one shown in Fig. 2, but not shown, the processing of step S7 may be performed by the program "1-A" and the program "1-" as necessary. B ", and the program" 1-C ".

In this case, it is determined as YES in the process of step S8, and the program "1-B" is determined as the reproduction target program by the process of step S9. Therefore, in the next program processing of step S5, the broadcast contents actually broadcasted and recorded as the program "1-B", that is, A in the time zone of 01:00:00 to 02:00:00 on August 31, 2005. The broadcast content actually broadcast from ch is reproduced. As a result, the entire program "1-A" is reproduced continuously.

Thereafter, in the next step S6, the program information table of A ch is referred again, and the program "1-A", the program "1-B", and the "program 1-C" are processed by the process of step S7 as necessary. Sorted by "." However, since the alignment is actually performed by the processing of step S7 in the preceding operation cycle, the processing of step S7 after the second time is unnecessary.

In this case, it is determined as YES by the process of step S8, and the program "1-C" is determined as the playback target recording program by the process of step S9. Therefore, in the next program processing of step S5, the actual broadcast contents recorded as the program "1-C", that is, A ch in the time zone of 03:00:00 to 04:00:00 on August 31, 2005. The broadcast program actually broadcasted from is played back.

Specifically, the program "1-B" and the program "1-C" which are discontinuous in the actual broadcast time zone are reproduced continuously. More precisely, as described above, poultry may be out of the scheduled broadcast time zone due to the extension of baseball broadcasts, etc., and therefore 01:00:00 to 02:00:00 on August 31, 2005. The broadcast content actually broadcasted from A ch in the time zone and the broadcast content actually broadcasted from A ch in the time zones 03:00:00 to 04:00:00 on August 31, 2005 are reproduced in succession.

In other words, from the broadcast contents actually broadcasted from A ch during the time period 01:00:00 to 02:00:00 on August 31, 2005, that is, the recorded contents recorded as the program "1-B". , When the broadcast contents actually broadcasted from A ch during the time of 03:00:00 to 04:00:00 on August 31, 2005, that is, the recorded contents recorded as the program "1-C" The scene or frame reproduced on the receiver 5 becomes discontinuous. Therefore, the user may feel discomfort.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, in order to notify the user that the broadcast content has changed from the recorded content recorded as the program "1-B" to the recorded content recorded as the program "1-C", the playback control unit 17 displays the display. (presentation) is presented to the television receiver 5. This presentation is performed not only when switching from the program "1-B" to the program "1-C", but also when switching between all programs. Note that any presentation method can be used for the presentation. For example, the presentation method of displaying the program name after switching on the screen of the television receiver 5 shown in FIG. 10 may be employed for a certain period of time after the program is switched or until an erase instruction is made by the user. . In particular, Fig. 10 shows the change from the program "1-B" to the program "1-C", and therefore "1-C" is displayed as the program name. In this case, the recording start time 2005/08/31 03:00:00 is displayed in absolute time.

Incidentally, in the present embodiment, the recording contents of the HDD 13 are managed through the program information table for the individual channels as shown in Figs. 2 to 4, but the table as shown in Fig. 9 without classifying the channels is classified. Other forms of management may be employed. In such a case, the playback control unit 17 can execute the following processing as the continuous playback process.

Specifically, the reproduction control unit 17 can execute a process of "filtering the information (rows) of the program of the same channel as the current reproduction target program in the table of FIG. 9 or the like, instead of the process of step S6 of FIG. have. Next, instead of the process of step S7 of FIG. 8, the reproduction control unit 17 can execute a process of "aligning the filtered information in ascending order of recording start time". Note that other processing can be adopted as it is, corresponding processing of the continuous playback processing in FIG.

Specifically, for example, when the current playback target program is the program "1-A", the program which is the information of the 1st row, the 3rd row, and the 4th row of the table of FIG. 9 by the process mentioned above. Information of "1-A", information of program "1-B", and information of program "1-C" are filtered and sorted in that order.

In the above, the continuous reproduction process of FIG. 8 was outlined. Next, details of the reproduction start instruction processing of step S3 will be described as details of the continuous reproduction processing.

11 shows a detailed example of the playback start instruction process.

In step S21, the playback control unit 17 shown in FIG. 1 displays, on the television receiver 5, a channel selection screen having information on the recorded program of the playback target channel among the recorded programs whose designated absolute time is included in the recording time zone. To control. The information about the recorded program includes the program name, the designated absolute time, the designated playback start position, the program information, and the like.

Here, the designated absolute time is a time designated or displayed as the reproduction start absolute time by the user. However, only in the process of the first step S21, for example, in this embodiment, the channel registered as the initial value becomes the playback target channel, and the predetermined recording start time of one of the recorded programs of the playback target channel is specified absolute. It is adopted as time.

For example, in the present embodiment, the channel selection image 71 described above with reference to FIG. 7 is displayed by the process of step S21. In this case, the playback target channel is displayed in the display area 81 in step S21 "information about the recording program of the playback target channel in which the specified absolute time is included in the recording time zone". On the other hand, the program name is displayed in the display area 82, and the designated absolute time is displayed in the display area 83 as the reproduction start absolute time. The designated playback start position is displayed in the display area 84 along with the length of time of the program as the playback start position corresponding to the playback start absolute time. Note that in the example of FIG. 7, the display of program information is omitted.

In step S22, the reproduction control unit 17 determines whether to issue a reproduction instruction.

For example, in the present embodiment, when the decision button of the remote controller 6 in Fig. 6 is pressed, it is determined that a playback instruction has been issued in step S22, and the playback start instruction ends. Specifically, the process of step S3 of FIG. 8 ends, and the process proceeds to step S4.

Specifically, for example, when the decision button of the remote controller 6 is pressed in the display state of Fig. 7, program 1E is " designated program " seen in step S4. Thereafter, the program 1E is determined as the program to be reproduced by the process of step S4, and the position 8 minutes after the beginning of the program 1E (display of the display area 84 in FIG. 7) by the program reproduction process of step S5. Content playback].

On the other hand, when the decision button of the remote controller 6 in Fig. 6 is not pressed, it is determined in step S22 that no playback instruction has been issued, and the process proceeds to step S23.

In step S23, the reproduction control unit 17 determines whether or not a change operation of the channel to be reproduced has been performed.

Specifically, as described above, while the channel selection image 71 of FIG. 7 is displayed, the user can change the channel of the playback object by performing a pressing operation of a predetermined button of the remote controller 6. Note that the description of which button was pressed is omitted. Therefore, when such a pressing operation is made, it is determined in step S23 that a change operation of the reproduction target channel has been performed, and the processing proceeds to step S24.

In step S24, the playback control unit 17 references the HDD 13 with the program information table of the channel to be reproduced after the change. The process then proceeds to step S25.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S23 that the change operation of the reproduction target channel has not been performed, the process of step S24 is not executed. In other words, the playback target channel is not changed. Therefore, reference is made to the program information table of the current playback target channel, and in this state, the process proceeds to step S25.

In step S25, the reproduction control unit 17 sorts the program information table in ascending order of the recording start time (absolute time). However, if the program information tables of Figs. 2 to 4 described above are arranged in ascending order of the recording start time, the process of step S25 can be omitted.

In step S26, the reproduction control unit 17 determines whether or not the change operation of the designated absolute time has been performed.

As described above, the user can repeat the pressing operation of the date + button 60 to the time-button 63 of the remote controller 6 in FIG. 6 to thereby designate the desired time as the designated absolute time designated as the playback start absolute time. Can be specified simply. Therefore, when such a pressing operation is performed, it is determined in step S26 that an update operation of the designated absolute time has been performed, and the processing proceeds to step S27.

In step S27, the reproduction control unit 17 updates the designated absolute time. The process then proceeds to step S28.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step S26 that the update operation of the designated absolute time has not been performed, the process of step S27 is not executed. In other words, the specified absolute time is not updated. Thus, the process proceeds to step S28.

In step S28, the playback control unit 17 searches the program information table for the recorded program whose designated absolute time is included in the recording time zone. Then, in step S29, the playback control unit 17 determines whether or not a recorded program exists from the result of the search.

If it is determined in step S29 that the recorded program exists, the process returns to step S21 and the subsequent processing is repeated. Specifically, the display contents of the television receiver 5 are updated to a channel selection image having information about the recorded program retrieved by the process of step S28. However, if it is determined as NO in the process of step S23 and NO is determined in the process of step S26, that is, if neither the change operation of the playback target channel nor the update operation of the designated absolute time is performed, the channel selection after the update is selected. The display contents of the image are the same as before the update. That is, no special update is performed.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step S29 that no recorded program exists, the reproduction control unit 17, in step S30, contains a channel selection image that includes the message "No program is playable", more specifically, for example. The channel selection image 71 shown in FIG. 12 is controlled to be displayed on the television receiver 5. After that, the process returns to step S23 and the subsequent processes are repeated.

FIG. 13 shows playback start instruction processing different from that described above with reference to FIG.

Since the processes of steps S41 to S49 of FIG. 13 are the same as the processes of steps S21 to S29 of FIG. 11, respectively, description thereof is omitted here to avoid duplication.

That is, the playback start instruction process of FIG. 13 differs from the playback start instruction process of FIG. 11 only in the subsequent processes in the case where it is determined by the process of step S49 that no recorded program exists.

Specifically, in the playback start instruction process of FIG. 13, when it is determined that the recorded program does not exist by the process of step S49, the playback control unit 17 does not display "no program that can be played back". Instead, the reproduction control unit 17 retrieves the next recorded program from the program information table in step S50, and then returns to the processing of step S49 to repeat the subsequent processing. Specifically, in this case, it is determined as YES by the process of step S49, and the display contents of the television receiver 5 then have information about the next recorded program retrieved by the process of step S50 by the process of step S41. The channel selection image is updated. In this case, for example, it should be noted that the recording start time of the next recorded program searched by the process of step S50 is employed as the designated absolute time.

Specifically, among the programs broadcast in the time zones 01:00:00 to 06:00:00 on September 2, 2005, the recorded programs A, B, and C shown in FIG. 14 are stored in the HDD 13. Assume that it exists. Here, for the sake of brevity, it is assumed that a program such as a baseball program is broadcast as scheduled without any extension.

The recorded program A is a program broadcast from A ch in the time zone of 01:00:00 to 03:00:00 on September 2, 2005. The recorded program B is a program broadcast from B ch in the time zone of 02:00:00 to 04:00:00 on September 2, 2005. The recorded program C is a program broadcasted from A ch during the time of 04:30:00 to 06:00:00 on September 2, 2005.

In this case, A ch is designated by the user as the playback target channel, and the absolute time in the time zone of 01:00:00 to 03:00:00 on September 2, 2005 is designated as the specified absolute time, that is, playback start time. Assuming that it is specified as the time, the channel selection image for the recording program A is displayed.

Subsequently, when an update operation for designating a predetermined time within a time zone of 03:00:00 to 04:30:00 on September 2, 2005 as the designated absolute time is performed, in the example of FIG. 11, in step S30 The channel selection image including the message "There is no playable program" is displayed by the process. On the other hand, in the example of FIG. 13, the recording program C is searched by the process of step S50, and it determines with YES by the process of step S49. Thereafter, the channel selection image for the recorded program C is displayed by the process of the next step S41.

In addition, an update operation for specifying a predetermined time within a time zone of 03:00:00 to 04:00:00 on September 2, 2005 as a designated absolute time is performed, and the change which changes the playback target channel to B ch. When the operation is performed, the recorded program B is searched by the processing of step S28 in the example of FIG. 11 and by the processing of step S48 in the example of FIG. Then, it is determined as YES by the process of step S29 or step S49, and the channel selection image for the recording program B is displayed by the process of the next step S21 or step S41.

For example, among the programs broadcast in the time zones 01:00:00 to 06:00:00 on September 2, 2005, the recording programs A, C, and D shown in FIG. 15 are present in the HDD 13. Assume that Also here, for the sake of brevity, it is assumed that a program such as a baseball program was broadcast as scheduled without any extension.

The recorded programs A, C, and D are all programs broadcast from A ch. Among them, the recorded programs A and C are also shown in FIG. On the other hand, the recording program D is a program broadcasted from A ch in the time zone of 03:00:00 to 04:00:00 on September 2, 2005. In other words, the recorded programs A and D are programs broadcast from A ch continuously in time.

In this case, A ch is designated by the user as the playback target channel, and the absolute time within the time zone of 01:00:00 to 03:00:00 on September 2, 2005 is designated as the absolute time, that is, playback start time. When specified as the designated time, the channel selection image for the recording program A is displayed very similarly to the example of FIG.

However, thereafter, even if an update operation is performed with a specified absolute time after 03:00:00 on September 2, 2005, the update time is 04:00:00 on September 2, 2005. Note that in the earlier case, the recorded program D is searched for by the processing of step S28 of FIG. 11 or the processing of step S48 of FIG. Then, it is determined as YES in the processing of the next step S29 or step S49, and the channel selection image for the recorded program D is displayed by the processing of the next step S21 or the step S41.

In addition, even if an update operation is performed that specifies a time after 03:00:00 on September 2, 2005 as the designated absolute time, the update time is 04:00:00 to 04: on September 2, 2005. In the case of a time within the time zone of 30:00, in the example of FIG. 11, the channel selection image including the message "There is no playable program" is displayed by the process of step S30. On the other hand, in the example of FIG. 13, the recording program C is searched by the process of step S50, and it is determined as YES by the process of step S49. In the next step S41, the channel selection image for the recorded program C is displayed.

In addition, even if an update operation is performed that specifies a time after 03:00:00 on September 2, 2005 as the designated absolute time, the update time is 04:30:00 to 06 on September 2, 2005. In the case of a time within the time zone of: 00: 00, the recorded program C is searched by the processing of step S28 in the example of FIG. 11 and by the processing of step S48 in the example of FIG. Then, it is determined as YES by the processing in the next step S29 or S49, and the channel selection image for the recorded program C is displayed in the processing in the next step S21 or S41.

As described above, in the present embodiment, since the reproduction control unit 17 executes the reproduction start instruction processing of FIG. 11 or FIG. 13, the user can execute an intuitive reproduction start instruction operation based on the absolute time.

A detailed example of the program reproduction processing in step S5 of the continuous reproduction processing of FIG. 8 will now be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 16 to 20.

It should be noted that in the program reproduction processing of FIGS. 16 to 20, the channel switching instruction operation is performed by the Ch button 51, Ch + button 58, and Ch − of the remote controller 6 described above with reference to FIG. 6. Is performed by a pressing operation on at least one of the buttons 59. In addition, the program switching operation, which is an instruction operation for switching the channel to the previous channel or the next channel in time, is performed on at least one of the previous button 53 and the next button 54 of the remote controller 6 described above with reference to FIG. It is performed by pressing operation. Note that among the buttons of the remote controller 6, the buttons other than the previous button 53 and the next button 54, and the channel selection button 64 and the stop button 57 are collectively called other buttons.

Referring to Fig. 16, in step S61, the reproduction control unit 17 controls the television receiver 5 to reproduce the reproduction target program from a predetermined reproduction start position.

In the processing of the first meeting step S61, that is, in the processing of step S61 executed immediately after the processing of step S4 in FIG. 8, the playback target program determined by the processing of step S4, that is, the program designated to be reproduced by the playback start instruction processing of step S3. Is played. At that time, the reproduction start position corresponds to the reproduction start absolute time which is the designated absolute time of FIG. 11 or FIG. 13 specified in the reproduction start instruction process of step S3. The position corresponding to the reproduction start absolute time is given as a value obtained by converting the time of the beginning of the program into a relative time relative to the reference time 00:00.

On the other hand, in the processing of step S61 executed after the processing of step S94 of FIG. 19 to be described later, the reproduction target program determined by the processing of step S94, that is, the program designated to be reproduced by the reproduction start instruction processing of step S93 described later, is reproduced. The reproduction start instruction process of step S93 is the same as that of the flowchart of FIG. 11 or FIG. 13 described above. In such reproduction, the reproduction start position is given as a position corresponding to the reproduction start absolute time which is the designated absolute time in FIG. 11 or FIG. 13 specified by the reproduction start instruction process of step S93. The position corresponding to the reproduction start absolute time is given as a value obtained by converting the time of the beginning of the program into a relative time relative to the reference time 00:00.

In step S62, the reproduction control unit 17 determines whether or not the reproduction of the program has ended. The term “recorded program” is not used here because a program currently being broadcast may be played (see step S91 in FIG. 18 to be described later).

When the reproduction of the program has ended, it is determined as YES in step S62, and the current program reproduction processing ends. That is, the process of step S5 of FIG. 8 ends, and the process proceeds to step S6.

On the other hand, if the program is still being reproduced, it is determined as NO in step S62, and the processing proceeds to step S63.

In step S63, the playback control unit 17 determines which button of the remote controller 6 has been pressed.

If it is determined in step S63 that no button of the remote controller 6 has been pressed, the process returns to step S62 and subsequent processing is repeated. That is, the loop processing of steps S62 (NO) and S63 (NO) is repeated until one of the buttons of the remote controller 6 is pressed, or in other words, until the reproduction of the program is finished, that is, during the reproduction of the program. do. Therefore, this program reproduction process is in a waiting state.

Then, if one of the buttons of the remote controller 6 is pressed, it is determined as YES in the processing of step S63, and the processing proceeds to step S64.

In step S64, the reproduction control unit 17 determines whether or not the Ch button 51 shown in Fig. 6 is pressed.

In step S64, when it is determined that one of the Ch buttons 51 is pressed, the reproduction control unit 17 corresponds to the channel designated by the Ch button 51, that is, the channel assigned to the Ch button 51. The program information table is referred to by the HDD 13. Then, processing proceeds to step S70. However, the processing after step S70 will be described later.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step S64 that the Ch button 51 is not pressed, the process proceeds to step S66.

In step S66, the reproduction control unit 17 determines whether or not the Ch + button 58 of Fig. 6 is pressed.

If it is determined in step S66 that the Ch + button 58 is pressed, the reproduction control unit 17 displays the program information table of the next channel in the + direction with respect to the channel of the program currently being reproduced, in step S67. ). In this case, the next channel is the channel shown on the right in the past program table. The process then proceeds to step S70. The processing after step S70 will be described later.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step S66 that the Ch + button 58 is not pressed, the process proceeds to step S68.

In step S68, the reproduction control unit 17 determines whether or not the Ch-button 59 of Fig. 6 is pressed.

If it is determined in step S68 that the Ch − button 59 is not pressed, the process proceeds to step S77 of FIG. The processing after step S77 will also be described later.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step S68 that the Ch − button 59 is pressed, in step 69, the playback control unit 17 HDDs the program information table of the next channel in the − direction with respect to the channel of the currently playing program. See (13). In this case, the next channel is the channel shown on the left in the past program table. The process then proceeds to step S70.

In this way, when the process of step S65, S67, or S69 is complete | finished, a process progresses to step S70. Specifically, when a switching instruction of a channel is issued in response to a pressing operation on one of the Ch button 51, the Ch + button 58, or the Ch-button 59, the program information table of the channel designated by the switching instruction is displayed. Reference, the process proceeds to step S70.

In step S70, the reproduction control unit 17 searches for a program in which the switching instruction absolute time is included in the recording time zone from the program information table. Here, as described above, the switching instruction absolute time is the reproduction of the program being played at the time when a push operation to any one of the Ch button 51, the Ch + button 58, or the Ch-button 59 is made. The time obtained by converting the position to absolute time.

In step S71, the reproduction control unit 17 determines whether or not the program whose switching instruction absolute time is included in the recording time zone exists in the program information table, from the result of the search in step S70.

If it is determined in step S71 that such a program does not exist, the reproduction control unit 17 informs the television receiver 5 that there is no "playable program" message as shown in FIG. 21 in step S72. Control to display the containing image. After that, the process returns to step S62 and the subsequent processes are repeated.

Note that in the case where it is determined in step S71 that no program exists, it means that the program is not recorded on the HDD 13. Therefore, if the row itself corresponding to the program whose switching instruction absolute time is included in the recording time zone is not included in the program information table, even if the corresponding row as described above is included in the program information table, the " movie ID " Even if "is not described in that row, it is determined in step S71 that no program exists.

Specifically, for example, it is assumed that the program information table of the B channel of FIG. 3 is referred to by the processing of steps S65, S67, or S69, and the switching instruction absolute time is a predetermined time between 23:50 and 0:15. do. In this case, "program 3C" corresponding to the fifth row of the program information table of the B channel of FIG. 3 corresponds to a program in which the switching instruction absolute time is included in the recording time zone. However, since the "movie ID" of "program 3C" is not described, that is, "program 3C" is not recorded on the HDD 13, it is determined in step S71 that no program exists. Thus, for example, the image of FIG. 21 is displayed on the television receiver 5 in step S72.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step S71 that a program exists, the process proceeds to step S73.

Here, in the case where it is determined in step S71 that a program exists, a corresponding row is included in the program information table, and a "movie ID" is described in that row, that is, the program in the HDD 13. This means that it is recorded.

In step S73, the playback control unit 17 designates the switching instruction absolute time as the playback start absolute time.

Then, when the reproduction of the program is terminated before the pressing operation of any of the Ch button 51, the Ch + button 58, or the Ch button 59 is performed, the absolute end time of the recording is changed to the switching instruction absolute time. Is considered. That is, in such a case, the recording end absolute time is designated as the reproduction start absolute time by the process of step S73.

In step S74, the reproduction control unit 17 acquires the moving image ID of the program found by the processing in step S70, that is, the moving image ID of the program whose switching instruction absolute time (= reproduction start absolute time) is included in the recording time zone.

In step S75, the playback control unit 17 specifies the playback start position of the recorded program of the moving picture ID acquired by the process of step S74, that is, the program found by the process of step S70, based on the absolute playback start time.

In step S76, the reproduction control unit 17 reproduces the playback start position specified by the processing of step S75 for the recorded program of the moving picture ID acquired by the television receiver 5 in the processing of step S74, that is, the program retrieved by the processing of step S70. Control to play from.

After that, the process returns to step S62 and the subsequent processes are repeated.

Specifically, for example, suppose that the user wants to switch the playback target program to the recorded program of the B channel when a part of the "program 1A" of the A channel is being played at the absolute time "23:10".

In this case, conventionally, the user needs to display the past program table of FIG. 5 on the screen of the television receiver 5 and perform a series of operations for selecting the program field of "Program 3A" in the past program table. there was.

In contrast, in the present embodiment, since the recording / playback apparatus 1 can execute program playback processing,

During playback of "Program 1A", simply perform the simple operation of pressing the Ch + button 58 or pressing the button to which the B channel is assigned among the Ch buttons 51. 3A ".

In addition, the recording / playback apparatus 1 can continuously switch the recording programs of different channels recorded at the same time in response to the channel switching instruction operation by the user. Thus, when recorded programs of different channels are recorded at the same time, the user may feel as if they are zapping watching the recorded program back in the past.

Specifically, for example, when the Ch + button 58 is pressed, the program information table for the B channel of FIG. 3 is referred to by the processing of step S67. On the other hand, when the Ch button 51 to which the B channel is assigned is pressed, the program information table of the B channel of FIG. 3 is referred to in the processing of step S65.

In this case, when the portion of "Program 1A" of the A channel is being reproduced at "23:10" in absolute time, the Ch + button 58 or the Ch button 51 is pressed. Therefore, the absolute time of the switching instruction is "23:10".

Therefore, the program in which the "switching instruction absolute time" 23:10 "is included in the recording time zone is" program 3A "corresponding to the third row of the program information table of the B channel in Fig. 3. Therefore, the process of step S70 is performed. By this, the " program 3A " is retrieved and determined to be YES in the processing of step S71, and the processing proceeds to step S73.

Therefore, "23:10" is designated as the reproduction start absolute time in the processing of step S73, and "3A" is obtained as the moving picture ID by the processing of step S74.

Here, since the recording time zone of "Program 3A" is "23:00 to 23:25", the recording start absolute time is "23:00", and as described above, the playback start absolute time is "23:10". The difference " 0: 10 " between the recording start absolute time and the playback start absolute time is specified as the playback start position.

Then, by the process of step S76, the playback is started from the part of "Program 3A" whose playback start position is "0:10", that is, from 10 minutes from the beginning.

In the above, the process when the channel switching instruction operation is performed during the program reproduction processing, that is, the Ch button 51, the Ch + button 58, and the Ch − button 59 of the remote controller 6 shown in FIG. 6. The processing in the case where at least one of them is pressed has been described.

The remaining processing of the program reproduction processing will be described below. The remaining processing is a program switching instruction, i.e., a program before or after the playback target program in time, by a pressing operation on at least one of the previous button 53 and the next button 54 of the remote controller 6 shown in FIG. It may be a process executed when an instruction to switch to is issued. Alternatively, the remaining processing is performed when the channel selection button 64 of the remote controller 6 is pressed, when the stop button 57 of the remote controller 6 is pressed, or other buttons of the remote controller 6. It may be a process executed when one is pressed.

In these cases, as described above, it is determined as NO by the processing in step S68, and the processing proceeds to step S77 in FIG.

Referring to Fig. 17, in step S77, the playback control unit 17 determines whether the previous button 53 has been pressed.

If it is determined in step S77 that the previous button 53 is not pressed, the process proceeds to step S84 in FIG. Note that the processing after step S84 will be described later.

In contrast, when it is determined in step S77 that the previous button 53 is pressed, the process proceeds to step S78.

In step S78, the reproduction control unit 17 determines whether the switching instruction absolute time is a time within 5 seconds from the recording start absolute time. Although a period of 5 seconds is employed here, the period is not particularly limited to 5 seconds and any time may be employed.

In step S78, when it is determined that the switching instruction absolute time is not a time within 5 seconds from the recording start absolute time, that is, when the playback position of the currently playing program is a position 5 seconds later from the beginning, the process proceeds to step S79. do.

In step S79, the reproduction control unit 17 controls the television receiver 5 to reproduce the program currently being reproduced again from the beginning of the program. Thereafter, the process returns to step S62 of FIG. 16 and the process thereafter is repeated.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step S78 that the switching instruction absolute time is less than 5 seconds from the recording start absolute time, that is, when the playback position of the currently playing program is within 5 seconds from the beginning, the process is step S80. Proceed to

In step S80, the reproduction control unit 17 retrieves from the program information table the preceding program of the program currently being reproduced.

Here, the previous program of the program currently being played may be a program that was played just before time or a program broadcast in the past than a program currently being played. However, for the sake of brevity, the previous program of the currently playing program means a program broadcast just before time for the currently playing program.

In step S81, the reproduction control unit 17 determines, from the result of the search in step S80, whether the previous program, here the immediately preceding program, of the program currently being reproduced is present in the program information table.

If it is determined in step S81 that no previous program exists, the process proceeds to step S79. In other words, the program currently being played is played again from the beginning.

Here, in the case where it is determined in step S81 that the previous program does not exist, as in the case of step S71 shown in Fig. 16, when the row itself corresponding to the previous program is not included in the program information table or the next It may include such cases. Specifically, even when a corresponding row is included in the program information table, even when a "video ID" is not described in the corresponding row, that is, even when the immediately preceding program is not recorded on the HDD 13, In step S81, it is determined that no previous program exists.

On the other hand, in the case where it is determined in step S81 that the program exists, it is the case that a corresponding row is included in the program information table as in the case of step S71, and "movie ID" is described in the corresponding row. In this case, that is, the previous program is recorded on the HDD 13. In such a case, it is determined that the previous program exists, and the process proceeds to step S82.

In step S82, the reproduction control unit 17 acquires the moving image ID of the program retrieved by the process of step S80, that is, the previous program of the program currently being reproduced, here the previous program.

In step S83, the reproduction control unit 17 retrieves the recorded program of the moving picture ID acquired by the television receiver 5 in the processing of step S82, that is, the program retrieved as the previous program of the program currently being reproduced by the processing of step S80, Control to play from the beginning.

Thereafter, the process returns to step S62 of FIG. 16 and the process thereafter is repeated.

In this way, when the user wants to play the previous program of the currently playing program, and the currently playing program has been played for 5 seconds or more, the user presses the previous button 53 once to play the currently playing program again from the beginning. Then, the previous button 53 is pressed once again within 5 seconds.

In the above, the process in the case where the previous button 53 was pressed was demonstrated. On the other hand, when one of the next button 54, the channel selection button 64, the stop button 57, or the other button is pressed, the following processing is executed.

In this case, it is determined as NO in the processing in step S77, and the processing proceeds to step S84 in FIG.

Referring to Fig. 18, in step S84, the reproduction control unit 17 determines whether the next button 54 is pressed.

If it is determined in step S84 that the next button 54 is not pressed, the process proceeds to step S92 in FIG. Note that the processing after step S92 will be described later.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step S84 that the next button 54 is pressed, the reproduction control unit 17 searches for the next program of the program currently being reproduced from the program information table in step S85.

The program next to the program currently being played may be a program broadcast immediately after the time of the program currently being played, or a program broadcast later in time than the program currently being played. Here, for the sake of brevity, the next program after the currently playing program means a program broadcast immediately after the time of the currently playing program.

In step S86, the reproduction control unit 17 determines, from the result of the search in step S85, whether the next program currently being reproduced, here immediately after, is present in the program information table.

If it is determined in step S86 that the next program does not exist, the process proceeds to step S89.

Here, when it is determined in step S86 that the next program does not exist, it may be the case that the row itself corresponding to the immediately preceding program is not included in the program information table or the following case. Specifically, even when a corresponding row is included in the program information table, or when the "video ID" is not described in the corresponding row, that is, when the program immediately after the HDD 13 is not recorded, In step S86, it is determined that the following program does not exist.

If the program currently being reproduced is a program currently being broadcast, that is, if the program currently being reproduced is not a recorded program of the HDD 13, it is determined in step S86 that the next program does not exist.

Therefore, when it is determined in step S86 that the next program does not exist, in step S89, the reproduction control unit 17 determines whether or not the program currently being reproduced is a recorded program.

If it is determined in step S89 that the program currently being reproduced is a recorded program, the reproduction control unit 17 controls the television receiver 5 to reproduce the recorded program currently being reproduced as it is in step S90. Thereafter, the process returns to step S62 of FIG. 16 and the process thereafter is repeated.

In order to make the user recognize that the program currently being played is a recorded program, in step S89, when it is determined that the program currently being played is a recorded program, the playback control unit 17 determines that the television receiver 5 is currently present in step S90. Note that the recorded program being played can be controlled to be played back from the head, for example.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step S89 that the program currently being played is not a recorded program, the playback control unit 17 controls the television receiver 5 to play back the currently playing broadcast program, that is, the program currently being broadcast. . Thereafter, the process returns to step S62 of FIG. 16 and the process thereafter is repeated.

Also, in the program information table, a row corresponding to the next program of the currently playing program is included, and a "movie ID" is described in the corresponding row, that is, the next program is recorded on the HDD 13. If so, in step S86, it is determined that the following program exists. Thus, the process proceeds to step S87.

In step S87, the reproduction control unit 17 acquires the moving image ID of the program retrieved by the processing of step S85, that is, the program next to the program currently being reproduced, here immediately after.

In step S88, the playback control unit 17 leads the recorded program of the moving picture ID acquired by the television receiver 5 in the processing of step S87, that is, the program searched as the next program of the program currently being reproduced in the processing of step S85. Control to play from.

Thereafter, the process returns to step S62 of FIG. 16 and the process thereafter is repeated.

The processing in the case where the next button 54 is pressed is as described above. On the other hand, when one of the channel select button 64, the stop button 57, or the other button is pressed, the next process is executed.

Specifically, it is determined as NO in the processing in step S84, and the processing proceeds to step S92 in FIG.

Referring to Fig. 19, in step S92, the reproduction control unit 17 determines whether or not the channel select button 64 of Fig. 6 is pressed.

If it is determined in step S92 that the channel select button 64 is not pressed, the process proceeds to step S95 in FIG. 20. Note that the processing after step S95 will be described later.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step S92 that the channel select button 64 is pressed, the reproduction control unit 17 executes the reproduction start instruction processing according to the flowchart described above with reference to FIG. 11 or 13 in step S93. do. Next, in step S94, the reproduction control unit 17 determines the program designated by the reproduction start instruction process as the reproduction target program. Thereafter, the processing returns to step S61 in FIG. 16 and the subsequent processing is repeated.

The processing in the case where the channel select button 64 is pressed is as described above. On the other hand, when one of the stop button 57 or the other button is pressed, the following processing is executed.

Specifically, it is determined as NO by the processing in step S92, and the processing proceeds to step S95 in FIG.

Referring to Fig. 20, in step S95, the reproduction control unit 17 determines whether the stop button 57 of Fig. 6 is pressed.

If it is determined in step S95 that the stop button 57 is not pressed, the reproduction control unit 17 executes a process corresponding to one of the other buttons pressed in step S96. Thereafter, the processing returns to step S62 shown in FIG. 16 and the subsequent processing is repeated.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step S95 that the stop button 57 is pressed, the process proceeds to step S97.

In step S97, the reproduction control unit 17 refers to the HDD 13 with the program information table of the channel being reproduced so far, more precisely, the channel of the program still being reproduced at this point in time.

In step S98, the reproduction control unit 17 searches for a program in which the time two minutes before the stop instruction time is included in the recording time zone from the program information table. Here, the stop instruction absolute time is a time when the stop button 57 is pressed, more precisely, a time managed as the current time in the recording / playback apparatus 1 at the timing when the stop button 57 is pressed. . That is, as a result of pressing the stop button 57, playback of the program that has been played so far is stopped. However, the absolute time indicating the stop time in the program is not called the stop instruction time.

In step S99, the reproduction control unit 17 determines from the result of the search in step S98 whether a program whose time two minutes before the stop instruction time is included in the recording time zone exists in the program information table.

If it is determined in step S99 that a program exists, the process proceeds to step S100.

Here, in the case where it is determined in step S99 that the program exists, it is the case that the corresponding row is included in the program information table as in the case of step S71 shown in Fig. 16, and the corresponding row is " movie " ID "is described, that is, the program is recorded on the HDD 13. Specifically, considering that the time based on the search in step S98 is "time two minutes before the stop instruction time", generally, a broadcast program currently being broadcast from the same channel as the channel that has been reproduced so far is recorded. If so, it is determined in step S99 that the program exists.

In step S100, the playback control unit 17 designates the time two minutes before the stop instruction time as the playback start absolute time.

In step S101, the reproduction control unit 17 includes a program retrieved by the process of step S98, that is, a program in which a time two minutes before the stop instruction time (= reproduction start absolute time) is included in the recording time zone, generally the current broadcast program. Get the video ID of the.

In step S102, the reproduction control unit 17 reproduces the currently broadcast program as a recorded program of the moving picture ID acquired by the process of step S101, that is, the program retrieved by the process of step S98, based on the absolute playback start time. Specifies the starting position.

In step S103, the playback control unit 17 records the current broadcast program as a recorded program of the moving picture ID acquired by the television receiver 5 in the processing of step S101, that is, the program retrieved by the processing in step S98. Control is performed so that playback is started from the playback start position of the program specified by the processing, that is, two minutes before the stop instruction time in absolute time.

Thereafter, the process returns to step S62 of FIG. 16 and the process thereafter is repeated.

It should be noted that in the example of Fig. 20, the "time two minutes before the stop instruction time" is employed as the time on which the search is based in the process of step S98, that is, the time designated as the reproduction start absolute time by the process of step S100. The time on which the search is based is not limited to the example of FIG. 20, and any time may be employed unless it is later than the stop instruction time. In other words, it is also possible to employ the stop instruction time as it is as the reproduction start absolute time.

The processing after the determination as YES in step S99 is as described above. On the other hand, when it is determined as NO in step S99, the following processing is executed.

Specifically, when it is determined as NO in step S99, the reproduction control unit 17 determines whether or not all program information tables, that is, all program information tables for all channels, are referred to in step S104.

Here, when it is determined as NO in step S99, that is, when it is determined that no program exists, the program is not recorded on the HDD 13 as in the case of the process of step S71 shown in FIG. Means. Therefore, not only the row itself corresponding to the program "time two minutes before the stop instruction time is included in the recording time zone" is included in the program information table, but also when the corresponding row is included in the program information table. In the case where "movie ID" is not described in the corresponding row, it is determined in step S99 that no program exists. Specifically, considering that the time based on the search in step S98 is "time two minutes before the stop instruction time", in general, the current broadcast program of the same channel as the channel that has been played so far is being recorded. If no, or even if it is recording, if no "movie ID" is assigned to the current broadcast program, it is determined in step S99 that the program does not exist.

If it is determined in step S104 that not all the program information tables have been referred to yet, in step S106, the reproduction control unit 17 refers to the program information table of the next channel. In this case, the next channel is the "channel in the +1 direction" in step S67 in FIG. 16 or the "channel in the -1 direction" in step S69. Thereafter, the processing returns to step S98 and the subsequent processing is repeated. Specifically, the program information table of the channel where the current broadcast program is recorded, in other words, until the program information table containing the information of the program "the time two minutes before the stop instruction time is included in the recording time zone" is referred to. Until this reference is made, the loop processing of steps S98, S99 (NO), S104 (NO), and S106 is repeatedly executed. Then, after referring to the program information table of the channel as described above, the recorded program in which the current broadcast program of the channel, more precisely, two minutes before the stop instruction time is included in the recording time zone, is divided into two minutes of the stop instruction time. Play from the previous time.

However, if there is no program information table containing information of the program "generally included in the recording time zone two minutes before the stop instruction time", that is, the current broadcast program, that is, the current broadcast for any channel. If a program is not being recorded, it is determined in step S104 that all program information tables have been referenced, and the process proceeds to step S105.

In step S105, the playback control unit 17 performs an image in which the television receiver 5 includes the message "There is no playable program" as shown in FIG. 21, for example, as in the case of step S72 (FIG. 16). Control to display. Thereafter, the process returns to step S62 of FIG. 16 and the process thereafter is repeated.

Since the program reproducing process as described above is executed, not only before reproducing the program but also when the program is reproducing, the user presses the reproducing start instruction operation, that is, the channel selection button 64 of the remote controller 6. By pressing, the playback start instruction operation of another recorded program can be performed using the channel selection image 71 shown in FIG.

If a program recording process as described above is executed to play a predetermined recorded program, and the stop button 57 shown in FIG. 6 is pressed during playback of the recorded program, playback of the recorded program is stopped and the current broadcast is performed. Playback of the program is started. More precisely, the playback of the current broadcast program once recorded on the HDD 13, that is, the playback of the recorded program, starts from the time when the stop button 57 is pressed, that is, a position corresponding to two minutes before the stop instruction time. Is initiated. That is, the display content of the television receiver 2 at the present time is exactly the broadcast content broadcast two minutes before the present time.

Therefore, when a program reproduced by the television receiver 5 is changed from a predetermined recorded program to a current broadcast program which is a recorded program, the scene or frame reproduced by the television receiver 5 becomes discontinuous, and the user feels discomfort. I can feel it.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, in order to notify the user that the program reproduced by the television receiver 5 has changed from the predetermined recorded program to the current broadcast program which is the recorded program, the reproduction control unit 17 notifies the fact of the television receiver ( 5) to present. In this case, the presentation technique is not particularly limited. For example, as shown in Fig. 22, the television receiver 5 displays the program name after switching, that is, the program name of the current broadcast program, for a predetermined time after the program is changed or until an erase instruction is issued by the user. The presenting method of displaying on the screen can be adopted. Specifically, FIG. 22 shows an example in the case where the program to be reproduced is changed to the current broadcast program having the program name of "1E". Therefore, 2005) / 08/30 23:58:34 is indicated as "1E" as the program name and the absolute playback start time (in the example of FIG. 20, two minutes before the stop instruction time).

In the above, the example of the program reproduction process was demonstrated with reference to FIGS.

However, it should be noted that the program reproduction processing is not limited to the example of FIGS. 16 to 20. For example, when it is determined that the program does not exist by the processing of step S71 of Fig. 16, the processing of step S72 is not executed, that is, the image as shown in Fig. 21 is not displayed, and another channel, for example, is not present. After executing the process of referring to the program information table of the adjacent channel, the process returns to step S70. In this case, the recording and playback apparatus 1 sequentially switches the playback target channels until another program of another channel whose switching instruction absolute time is included in the recording time zone is found, and each time the playback target channel is switched, step The loop processing of the processing of S70 to S72 is repeatedly executed. If such other program is found, the recording and playback device 1 determines that the program exists in step S71. Next, the recording / playback apparatus 1 can execute the processing of steps S73 to S76 to control the reproduction of the other program.

The channel switching instruction operation associated with the program reproduction processing described above is the same operation as the channel switching instruction operation of the current broadcast program which is conventionally performed by the television receiver 5 on a daily basis. Therefore, the channel switching instruction operation is considered to be a user interface (UI) that is easy for the user to understand. Therefore, the user can switch the recorded program to be played back only by performing a channel switching instruction operation felt as a natural operation similar to the conventional operation, without using the past program table described above with reference to FIG. Can be.

Further, in the time zone of 19:00 to 22:00, which is defined as so-called golden time, there is a high possibility that a program that a user or viewer is interested can be broadcast from each broadcasting station. Therefore, the user can easily search for a program that the user is interested in among the recorded programs broadcast from the broadcasting station in the main time zone only by performing the above-described very simple channel switching instruction operation.

In addition, the program reproducing process will be described below in comparison with the conventional process.

FIG. 23 shows a simplified functional block diagram of a conventional recording and reproducing apparatus 91. FIG.

Referring to Fig. 23, the conventional recording and reproducing apparatus 91 shown includes switches 94 and 95 capable of controlling the switching to perform the following processing. Specifically, the conventional recording / reproducing apparatus 91 records (records) the broadcast program received by the antenna 92 on a recording medium 96 such as a video tape recorder when the switch 94 is switched to the recording side. can do. On the other hand, the conventional recording / reproducing apparatus 91 can reproduce the recorded program recorded on the recording medium 96 from the television receiver 93 when the switch 94 is switched to the side during reproduction. In addition, when the switch 95 is switched to the current broadcast side, the conventional recording and reproducing apparatus 91 can reproduce the current broadcast program currently received by the antenna 92 from the television receiver 93 as it is.

In this case, the conventional recording / reproducing apparatus 91 switches the current broadcast program currently received by the antenna 92 when the switch 94 is switched to the recording side and the switch 95 is switched to the current broadcast side. The current broadcast program can be reproduced from the television receiver 93 while recording (recording) the recording medium 96. That is, the user can record the current broadcast program in the conventional recording and reproducing apparatus 91 while watching the current broadcast program.

However, the conventional recording and reproducing apparatus 91 has a first problem of not being able to record a plurality of current broadcast programs, and watching the recorded program while recording the current broadcast program of a predetermined channel or broadcasting station (tracking reproduction). There are several problems, including the second problem of not being able to perform chasing reproduction.

Therefore, in order to solve the above problems, the recording / playback apparatus 1 of this embodiment has a functional configuration as shown in FIG. More specifically, a functional block diagram of the functional configuration of the recording / reproducing apparatus 1 of FIG. 1 is shown in FIG. 24 for easy comparison with the functional configuration of the conventional recording / reproducing apparatus 91 of FIG. 23. Referring to FIG. 24, the recording / playback apparatus 1 of the present embodiment includes a path connected to the television receiver 5, that is, a path indicated as “playback” in FIG. 24, and a path for recording of the current broadcast program, that is, Since the path marked "current broadcast" is separately provided in FIG. 24, the above-described problem can be solved.

More specifically, in the recording / playback apparatus 1 of this embodiment having the functional configuration as described above, a plurality of current broadcast programs can be recorded on the HDD 13 or another recording medium such as a semiconductor medium as described later. have. In other words, the first problem described above can be solved.

In addition, in the recording / playback apparatus 1 of this embodiment having the functional configuration as described above, the recording program in the HDD 13 is recorded on the TV receiver while recording the broadcast program received by the antenna 7 on the HDD 13. 5) can be played back. At this time, not only one program but also a plurality of programs can be set as programs to be recorded and reproduced.

In this case, since separate paths are used for recording and reproducing, it appears that the current broadcast program cannot be viewed while the current broadcast program is being recorded. However, the recorded portion of the current broadcast program, i.e., the portion broadcast immediately before and recorded immediately before, may allow the user to enjoy the current broadcast program even if there is some time lag during the recording of the current broadcast program. . That is, the above-described second problem can be solved.

In other words, the second problem can be solved by whether the processing at the time of reproduction is the finished content distributed in the past, the program already broadcasted in the present embodiment, the content currently being distributed, that is, the program currently broadcasted, It means that the user can watch without being particularly aware whether it is the current broadcast program.

The reproduction processing of the recording and reproducing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, which can solve the first and second problems as described above, will be further described from another viewpoint.

For example, although the program table as shown in Fig. 5 has been described as the past program table, in consideration of the present state in which EPG information of a program that is to be broadcasted in the future can be easily obtained, not only the past program table but also the previous program table It is also possible to generate. Here, the full program table includes information about all programs already broadcasted in the past, current broadcast programs, and programs scheduled for broadcast in the future.

In the previous program table in the example of FIG. 5, for example, assume that 00:30:00 on Tuesday, August 30, is the current time. In this case, in the C channel, "program 4D" becomes the current broadcast program. It is also assumed that the current broadcast programs of all channels are being recorded. In addition, on all channels, it is assumed that the broadcast as scheduled is broadcast in the past, now broadcast, and in the future, without any extension of a program such as a baseball program.

Then, for example, while the user plays back the C channel at a position corresponding to 23:57:00 on Tuesday, August 30, that is, during playback of the previously recorded program "Program 4C", It is assumed that you want to watch the recording contents recorded one hour ago, that is, the recording contents of 22:57:00, which are broadcast contents of the C channel one hour ago. In this case, the user can immediately watch or play the "program 4A" including 22:57:00 in the broadcast time zone or the recording time zone by performing a simple operation of pressing the appropriate button of the remote controller 6. Can be.

Here, the points to note are the following points. Specifically, some conventional recording and reproducing apparatus can perform reproduction of the recording program "4A" in this case. However, it should be noted that the conventional recording and reproducing apparatus as described above can reproduce only from the head position of the recording program " 4A ", that is, from 22:54 in absolute time. However, the playback start position desired by the user is not the start position of the recording program "4A", but corresponds to 22:57:00, which is one hour before 23:57:00 on Tuesday, August 30th. Location. Therefore, even when using the conventional recording and reproducing apparatus, there is a problem that a user cannot watch a program from a position actually desired by himself. On the other hand, when the recording / playback apparatus 1 of the present embodiment is used, the desired absolute time can be easily designated as the playback start absolute time by using the remote controller 6 or the like. Specifically, in the above-described example, 22:57:00, which is one hour before 23:57:00 on August 30 (Tuesday), can be easily designated as the playback start absolute time. Therefore, the above problem can be solved.

Further, by assigning a function for designating an hour before, an hour after, etc. to a predetermined button of the remote controller 6, the user can perform the above-mentioned operation more simply.

Further, in the case where the above-described operation is possible, for example, the user plays back the portion of the recording position of 23:57:00 on Tuesday, August 30 of the broadcast content of the C channel, that is, the recording program "4C". During playback, when a switch to the A channel is to be performed, the recording program " 1D including 23:57:00 in the broadcast time zone or the recording time zone is simply performed by simply pressing the appropriate button on the remote controller 6. "Can be immediately viewed or reproduced from the position corresponding to 23: 57:00 in absolute time.

In this manner, the user can select a program that is broadcast on a different channel in the past even by the same operation as that of the channel switching instruction operation for the existing broadcast program. In particular, the user who is the viewer can perform the operation as described above while remembering the entire program table in his head.

In other words, the recording / playback apparatus 1 of the present embodiment can reproduce television broadcast programs, video contents, and the like, and record (record) the contents currently being distributed on a recording medium such as the HDD 13. Hereinafter, the currently distributed content is referred to as currently distributed content. Therefore, the user is not particularly aware of whether the content has been distributed in the past or the current distributed content, and the user can play, stop, pause, or quickly operate the same operation as the conventionally performed operation on the current distributed content. Playback control such as forwarding and rewinding can be performed.

In addition, even if the user does not actually watch the content when the content is distributed, the user can always watch the content that has not been watched at any time later when the user desires. At this time, the recording / playback apparatus 1 of the present embodiment can manage various information of recorded contents such as a distribution source such as a name, a recording time zone, a channel, and display the information as an entire program table. Therefore, the user can perform an operation conscious of the previous program table, including the operation when the previous program table is not displayed.

In the case of using the conventional recording and reproducing apparatus 91 shown in Fig. 23, while viewing the current broadcast program of a predetermined channel, the viewer can switch the viewing target program only to the current broadcast program of another channel. That is, the user cannot change the playback time (absolute time) and switch the viewing target program to a program of a predetermined channel that has already been broadcast in the past. On the other hand, in the case of using the recording / playback apparatus 1 of the present embodiment as shown in FIG. 24 or the like, even while viewing the current distribution contents of a predetermined distribution source, the user can switch the viewing target content to the current distribution content of another distribution source or view the content. The target can be converted to other content previously distributed by the same or different distributors. In addition, this manipulation can be performed with exactly the same sense.

For example, if the stop button 57 of the remote controller 6 is pressed while playing predetermined content, the recording / playback apparatus 1 of the present embodiment stops playing the predetermined content. In this case, the recording / playback apparatus 1 corresponds to a part of the predetermined content as close to the current distribution content as possible, that is, two minutes before the stop instruction time that is the time when the stop button 57 is pressed in the example of FIG. 20. To play the part. Therefore, the user can watch the content as he is watching the current distribution content.

Specifically, in the above-described example, the C channel is reproduced at a position of 00:30:00 on Tuesday, August 30, and 23:57:00 on Tuesday, August 30. That is, "program 4C" is being played back. In this case, when the stop button 57 is pressed, playback starts from the position 23:55:00 in the current program "Program 4D" of the C channel. As a result, the user can watch the same when watching the current broadcast.

In summary, in the recording / playback apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, in accordance with the stop operation, playback of already recorded content such as a recorded program is stopped, and recording of the current broadcast program or the like of the same distribution source or the same channel is performed. The playback of already recorded content such as a program corresponds to the time of the stop operation time itself, which is the time when the stop operation is performed, or the time of the vicinity thereof, or more precisely, the time managed by the recording / playback apparatus 1 as the current time. Can start from the location of the content. In other words, the recording and reproducing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment seamlessly reproduces the contents of the current distribution from the reproduction of the already recorded contents by using repetitive recording by pattern reservation or so-called panning. You can switch seamlessly. Therefore, when the program being played is the current broadcast program, it is possible to seamlessly switch the part of the playback object from the part already broadcasted in the past to the part which is being played back or closer to the part currently being played.

In contrast, in the conventional recording / reproducing apparatus 91 of FIG. 23, when the playback of the recording program of the recording medium 96 is stopped, only the switch 95 is switched to the current broadcast side to switch to playback of the current broadcast program. It is possible. In this case, the television receiver 93 reproduces a large number of current broadcast programs of channels which are not related to the channel of the recorded program in which playback is stopped.

However, many users are often familiar with the channel or broadcast station of the recorded program so as to deliberately watch the recorded program after recording. In other words, many users are familiar with the broadcast contents of a channel, that is, the contents of a program column constituting a column of the channel in all program tables. Therefore, many users have a characteristic that can be easily imagined without looking at the entire program table. Therefore, from such a characteristic, many users require to play the current broadcast program of the same channel as the channel of the recorded program which stopped playback.

In view of this characteristic, therefore, the recording / playback apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, under the condition of being recorded, that is, any time if recording is performed, when the playback is switched to the current distribution content, the content that has been played so far. It is configured to switch playback to current distribution content of the same distributor as the distributor or channel of.

In the above, various examples of the program reproduction processing of the recording / playback apparatus 1 of this embodiment have been described from various viewpoints.

By the way, although the above-described continuous playback processing and the like have been described with reference to FIG. 8 as a processing example of the recording / playback apparatus 1 of FIG. 1, the recording / playback apparatus 1 of FIG. 1 is also referred to as the processing of the personal computer 2. It can be adopted.

In this case, the reproduction control part 37 of the personal computer 2 shown in FIG. 1 displays the image 101 shown in FIG. 25 as the reproduction image for display of a reproduction program, for example. It can be displayed on a unit or the like.

Referring to FIG. 25, the image 101 includes an area 111 and another area 112. The region 111 is used to display an image constituting a playback program. The area 112 is used as a GUI area for performing user instruction operation of various reproduction control of the reproduction program. Therefore, the user can perform the same operation as that performed by the remote controller 6 by operating various software buttons and the like in the area 112 using a mouse or the like of the operation unit 32.

For example, the user can designate the playback start position of the playback program by moving the slider 122 to a predetermined position in the bar by using a mouse or the like.

In other words, while the playback program is being played back and the corresponding video is displayed in the area 111, if the movement operation of the slider 122 is not performed, the position of the slider 122 indicates the current playback position of the playback program. Indicates. The specific playback position is displayed in the area 121 on the left side of the slider 122.

The display form of the playback position in this area 121 is the relative time, that is, the time with respect to the head position of the playback program defined at reference time 00:00 as shown in FIG. 25 or the absolute time as shown in FIG. 26. Can be. The user can select any of the above two display forms at any time by performing a predetermined operation using a mouse or the like.

As described above, the user can designate the playback start position of the playback program by moving the slider 122 to a predetermined position in the bar using a mouse or the like. At that time, for example, in this embodiment, as shown in Fig. 27 or 28, a display 123 indicating a position in the playback program is presented in the vicinity of the slider 122. As shown in Figs. Note that the display 123 is referred to as a playback start desired position display 123 hereinafter, and this playback start desired position display 123 is shown above the slider 122 in the example of FIG. 27 or FIG. 28. The display mode of the playback start desired position display 123 is also an absolute time having a value obtained by converting the playback start position itself as shown in FIG. 27 or the playback start position as shown in FIG. 28 to absolute time as shown in FIG. It can be time. The user can freely select any of the display forms at any time by performing a predetermined operation using a mouse or the like. Thus, the user can perform an intuitive playback instruction operation using absolute time as in the case of the remote controller 6.

The continuous playback process in this case is performed as follows. Specifically, instead of the processing of steps S1 to S4 of FIG. 8 based on the operation of the remote controller 6, various processes such as a reproduction start instruction process corresponding to various operations on the area 112 of the image 101 are executed. do. Thereafter, the loop processing of steps S5 to S9 is executed.

In addition, in the program reproduction processing of step S5, instead of the processing corresponding to the pressing operation of the button of the remote controller, the processing corresponding to various operations on the area 112 of the image 101 is executed.

The playback image to be displayed on the display unit of the playback unit 38 of the personal computer 2 and the like is not particularly limited to the image 101 of FIGS. 25 to 28, and any playback image can be employed. Specifically, for example, the reproduced image 201 as shown in FIG. 29 may be employed.

Referring to FIG. 29, the reproduced image 201 includes an area 211 corresponding to the area 111 of the image 101 shown in FIG. 25 and the like, an area 112 of the image 101 shown in FIG. 25, and the like. Corresponding areas 212-1 and 212-2. In particular, an image constituting a playback program is displayed in the area 211. The area 212 is used as a GUI area in which a user instruction operation for controlling playback of a playback program is to be performed. Specifically, a user operates the remote controller 6 by operating various software buttons and the like in the area 212 using the mouse of the operation unit 32 and the like in the same manner as in the area 112. Can be operated.

The playback image 201 also includes an area 213 on which thumbnails of playback programs are displayed. This area 213 includes a slider 214 indicating the playback position of the playback program, the specific playback position of which is displayed in the area 215.

The display form of the reproduction position in this area 215 may also be a relative time as shown in FIG. 29 and an absolute time as shown in FIG. The user can freely select any display form at any time by performing a predetermined operation using a mouse or the like.

As described above, in the information processing system of FIG. 1, each of the recorded programs in the HDD 13 or the HDD 34 of the personal computer 2 is a display unit and a speaker of the television receiver 5 and the personal computer 2. It can be reproduced from any of the reproducing sections 38 including the like.

Therefore, the playback control unit 17 of the recording and playback apparatus 1 and the playback control unit 37 of the personal computer 2 execute appropriate communication processing therebetween, so that the playback unit 38 and the television of the personal computer 2 are executed. Synchronous reproduction for the same program by the receiver 5 can be implemented.

From the viewpoint of the user's operation, the synchronous reproduction as described above means that the user such as stop, fast forward, rewind, shift play, pause, etc. can perform a playback instruction operation or a playback control instruction operation of a desired program. This means that the remote control 6 can be performed while looking at (5), and that such operations can be performed by using the operation part 32 such as a mouse while watching the playback part 38 of the personal computer 2. do. In addition, from the user's viewing point of view,

It means that the user can watch the playback program on the television receiver 5 and also on the playback section 38 such as the display unit of the personal computer 2.

Therefore, the following 1st effect-the 5th effect can be acquired from the above description.

Specifically, in general, the television receiver 5 has a lower resolution than the playback unit 38 such as the display of the personal computer 2, and the display amount of the list of contents of the plurality of recorded programs such as the past program table of FIG. That is, the number of items of the recorded program that can be displayed at one time is limited. Here, the item about the contents of the recorded program is a display list in the past program table of FIG. 5. Therefore, when the user performs the playback instruction operation of the desired recorded program using the remote controller 6 while watching the television receiver 5, from the list of items for the contents of the few recorded programs displayed on the television receiver 5, It was difficult to find the desired recording program.

On the other hand, since the reproducing section 38 such as the display of the personal computer 2 has a higher resolution than the television receiver 5, it is possible to increase the display amount of the item list of the contents of the plurality of recorded programs. That is, many items about the contents of the recorded program can be displayed at once. As a result, the user can obtain the first effect of improving the listability and easily finding the desired recorded program. Hereinafter, this first effect is called a glanceability enhancement advantage.

On the other hand, when the user performs the reproduction instruction operation of the desired recorded program by using the remote controller 6 while watching the television receiver 5, it is difficult or very difficult to input text into the remote controller 6. As a result, it is difficult to perform a filtering or searching operation based on a character string.

In contrast, the operation unit 32 of the personal computer 2 generally includes a mouse or a keyboard. Therefore, the user can easily perform filtering or searching based on the character string by using the mouse or the keyboard. Therefore, the second effect that the user can easily find a desired recorded program can be achieved. Note that the above-described second effect is called a searchability enhancement advantage.

As described above, the recorded program is recorded in the HDD 13 or the like shown in Fig. 1 in the form of compressed content data compressed by the MPEG method or the like. Therefore, in order to reproduce the recorded program, decoding processing for the compressed content data is required.

The decoding process is performed by the reproduction control unit 37 in the personal computer 2. However, the reproduction control unit 37 is often configured as software executed by the CPU (Central Processing Unit) itself. In this case, when the performance of the CPU falls, more time is required for the decoding process. Therefore, for example, when a recorded program is composed of a video having a high resolution and a large amount of information, it is difficult to reproduce the video smoothly. In addition, depending on the combination of the video type and the CPU, the frame may be missed from the video and normal playback cannot be expected.

On the other hand, since the decoding unit 18 of the recording / playback apparatus 1 is often composed of dedicated hardware, it is always possible to always expect normal playback. That is, by leaving the hardware of the recording and reproducing apparatus 1 with respect to the reproduction of the video, a third effect that can expect clean reproduction can be achieved. Hereinafter, such a third effect is referred to as a CPU performance dependency elimination effect.

As described above, in the present embodiment, playback starts from the specified position by specifying a specific time which may be an absolute time or a relative time that sets the head position of the recording program to be played back as the reference time 00:00. Can be done.

In the case of performing such a reproduction instruction operation, the user must perform a complicated and time-consuming operation as described later. Specifically, when the remote controller 6 is used, the channel selection image 71 of FIG. 7 is displayed, and the date change button 85 and the time change button 86 in the channel selection image 71 are pressed. Thereafter, the user starts the date + button 60 to the time shown in Fig. 6 until the reproduction start absolute time or the designated absolute time displayed on the display area 83 in the channel selection image 71 is displayed at the desired time. -Press and hold the appropriate button of the button (63). When the desired time is reached, the decision button of the remote controller 6 in the channel selection image 71 is pressed.

On the other hand, when using the personal computer 2, the user may perform the simple operation which moves the slider 122 in the image 101 of FIGS. 25-28 by the operation part 32, such as a mouse.

Specifically, when the user wishes to perform such a complicated reproduction instruction operation, a personal computer 2 which can be operated quite simply as an operation device may be used.

On the other hand, when the user wants to perform a simple playback control operation, which is an instruction operation such as pause, fast forward, rewind, stop, etc., as described above, the remote controller 6 which can be handled casually can be used.

Therefore, as described above, according to the type of operation, the fourth effect of selectively using the remote controller 6 and the personal computer 2 can be achieved. Note that the fourth effect is hereinafter referred to as operability improvement effect.

In this case, it is possible for both the remote controller 6 and the personal computer 2 to adopt a technique that accepts the same operation. However, in the present embodiment, the remote controller 6 is operated when the personal computer 2 is operating on the side. Employs a different technology that does not allow Hereinafter, the technique mentioned later is called an exclusive operation technique.

In addition, the user can use two display units including the display of the reproduction unit 38 and the television receiver 5. Therefore, while playing back a predetermined program on the television receiver 5 side, the user uses the personal computer 2 as the manipulator tool to select a program different from the predetermined program or to select a playback start position of another program. You can perform the operation you specify. When such an operation is performed, reproduction of a predetermined program in the television receiver 5 is not disturbed. In other words, the image necessary for the operation is not particularly displayed. Therefore, the fifth effect can be expected that the operation as described above does not disturb other users who are watching the predetermined program on the television receiver 5. Note that the fifth effect is hereinafter referred to as a double display apparatus effect.

Hereinafter, two specific examples will be described with reference to the flow of the user's operation for obtaining various effects as described above.

In the first embodiment, the personal computer 2 is used when the user selects a playback target program and performs a playback instruction operation for instructing the playback start of the playback target program. However, when performing a reproduction control operation on the reproduction target program, the remote controller 6 is used. In this example, the operation by the personal computer 2 is unnecessary after the reproduction target program is reproduced. In this example, at least four of the five effects described above can be achieved except for the dual display device effect.

Specifically, for example, the user may use the mouse of the operation unit 32 of the personal computer 2, the display unit of the playback unit 38 of the personal computer 2, or the like as described above with reference to FIG. 5. Display the table.

Next, the user finds a program field of a reproduction target program among a plurality of program columns constituting the past program table, and places the mouse pointer over the program column of the reproduction target program. Then, the user performs a right click operation. As a result, for example, as shown in Fig. 31, the display color of the program column of the playback target program changes, and the menu 251 is displayed to the right of the program column of the playback target program. In the example of FIG. 31, the display color of the program column of the "program 4D" of the C channel changes to gray.

In this state, the user selects "playback on TV" in the menu 251 using a mouse or the like. In this way, the playback start of the playback target program is input.

The series of user operations described above constitutes a playback instruction operation.

When the reproduction instruction operation as described above is performed, the reproduction target program is reproduced by the television receiver 5. Therefore, after that, the user appropriately performs the reproduction control operation using the remote controller 6.

In contrast to the first embodiment described above, the second embodiment is as follows. Specifically, the user uses the personal computer 2 when selecting a playback target program and issuing an instruction for starting playback of the playback target program. This is the same as the first embodiment. However, in the case of performing the reproduction control operation on the reproduction target program, unlike the first specific example, the user uses the personal computer 2. According to this example, among the above-mentioned five effects, four effects except the operability improvement effect can be achieved at least.

Specifically, for example, the reproduction instruction operation itself is exactly the same as in the case of the first embodiment. However, when such a reproduction instruction operation is performed, in the second embodiment, the reproduction target program is reproduced by the reproduction unit 38 such as the display of the personal computer 2. That is, for example, a video constituting a playback target program is displayed in the region 111 of the image 101 of FIG.

Therefore, the user displays the menu 261 shown in FIG. 32, for example, on the image 101 using the operation part 32, such as a mouse of the personal computer 2. FIG.

Next, the user selects or checks "Display on TV" in the menu 261 using a mouse or the like. As a result, the reproduction target program is further started on the television receiver 5 side. At this time, the display content of the area 111 of the image 101 on the personal computer 2 side is not particularly limited, and the fixed message of continuously displaying the video constituting the program to be reproduced or displaying "on TV" is displayed. You can mark

Thereafter, the user appropriately performs the reproduction control operation by using the image 101 on the personal computer 2.

If the selection or check of "display on TV" is maintained in the menu 261, the reproduction target program can be reproduced from the beginning on the television receiver 5 side at the next reproduction instruction operation.

As described above, when the user wants to perform the playback control operation using the remote controller 6, the user basically adopts the first embodiment, and the user wants to perform the playback control operation using the personal computer 2. What is necessary is just to employ | adopt a 2nd specific example basically.

However, in the present embodiment, even if the second embodiment is adopted, the reproduction control operation by the remote controller 6 becomes possible or allowed when the communication between the personal computer 2 and the recording / playback apparatus 1 is interrupted. It is composed. In this embodiment, when the user finishes the processing of the playback control section 37 of the personal computer 2, communication is interrupted. In this case, when the playback control section 37 is composed of software, the corresponding software is terminated. . In addition, when canceling the selection of "display on TV" in the menu 261, that is, removing the check mark on "display on TV", communication is interrupted. An example of specific communication will be described later with reference to FIGS. 34 and 35.

Now, in the information processing system of FIG. 1, when a user operation is performed on the personal computer 2 side, that is, the playback control of the television receiver 5 is subjectively controlled on the playback control unit 37 side of the personal computer 2. The communication processing between the recording / playback apparatus 1 and the personal computer 2 in the case of executing the program will be described.

Such a communication process is realized by the reproduction control unit 37 of the personal computer 2 and the reproduction control unit 17 of the recording and reproducing apparatus 1 performing communication via the respective communication unit 33 and the communication unit 19. do. In this embodiment, the information transmitted by the communication is mainly as described below.

Specifically, an operation command is issued (transmitted) from the playback control section 37 of the personal computer 2 to the playback control section 17 of the recording / playback apparatus 1. As such operation commands, for example, a play command, a stop command, a fwd command, a rew command, a lang (housewife's voice switching) command, and a pause are paused. Etc. are used.

More precisely, for example, in the present embodiment, the communication unit 19 on the recording / playback apparatus 1 side includes a command communication unit 19-1 and a state communication unit 19-2 as shown in FIG. have. The command communication unit 19-1 receives the operation command itself issued or transmitted from the reproduction control unit 37 of the personal computer 2, and interprets the operation command. Thereafter, the command communication unit 19-1 issues a command, which is an analysis result, to the reproduction control unit 17 of the recording and reproducing apparatus 1.

Therefore, the reproduction control unit 17 executes the processing according to the command from the command communication unit 19-1. The reproduction control unit 17 also provides the command communication unit 19-1 with a predetermined return value in response to the operation command from the reproduction control unit 37 of the personal computer 2. As a result, the command communication unit 19-1 transmits the return value to the reproduction control unit 37 via the communication unit 33 of the personal computer 2.

In this way, the command communication unit 19-1 of the communication unit 19 is a mediator of an operation command between the playback control unit 17 of the recording / playback apparatus 1 and the playback control unit 37 of the personal computer 2. It has the function as

On the other hand, the state communication unit 19-2 of the communication unit 19 receives the notification notify provided from the playback control unit 17 of the recording / playback apparatus 1 through the communication unit 33 of the personal computer 2. 37). Specifically, the state communication unit 19-2 has a function of maintaining a state notification connection between the playback control unit 17 of the recording / playback apparatus 1 and the playback control unit 37 of the personal computer 2. Have In this case, when the reproduction processing state of the reproduction target program or the state of the recording / playback apparatus 1 itself changes, the playback control section 17 of the recording / playback apparatus 1 is controlled by the state communication section 19-2. Through the status notification connection, the notification notify is transmitted to the reproduction control section 37 via the communication section 33 of the personal computer 2. Note that the state of the reproduction process of the reproduction target program is also referred to as the content state.

 The notification notify may be, for example, a playtime displaying a relative time indicating a current playback position of a program to be played back by the recording / playback apparatus 1, an audiomode indicating switching between audio modes (stereo, mono, housewife), It may be a state indicating a change in state, a warning indicating an occurrence of an abnormality such as a power state is off. The notification playtime is transmitted at regular intervals, for example at 1 second intervals in this embodiment. On the other hand, the notification state includes a play indicating a change to the play state, a fwd indicating a change to the fast forward state, a rew indicating a change to the rewind state, a pause indicating a change to the pause state, and a stop state. Stop indicating the change of, the last indicating that the current playback position of the program to be played back by the recording / playback apparatus 1 has reached the end, the ready indicating that the command can be repaired after completion of the ready state, and the like. have.

The playback control section 37 of the personal computer 2 reflects the contents of the notification notify on a playback image such as the image 101 shown in FIG. 25 reproduced by the playback section 38 immediately upon receiving any notification notify. . Thereby, synchronization between the television receiver 5 and the reproduction unit 38 with respect to the reproduction state of the reproduction target program can be established.

Hereinafter, with reference to FIG. 34 and FIG. 35, the specific example of the communication process performed between the playback control part 17 of the recording / playback apparatus 1 and the playback control part 37 of the personal computer 2 is demonstrated.

34 shows communication when the user performs a playback instruction operation by using the personal computer 2, that is, when playback on the television receiver 5 side is executed by the playback control unit 37 of the personal computer 2 independently. A processing example is shown.

Referring to FIG. 34, in step S101, the playback control unit 37 of the personal computer 2 issues a command locktv for acquiring a reproduction right by the television receiver 5, and the communication unit 19 of the recording / playback apparatus 1. Command communication unit 19-1. Note that various types of information transmitted between the reproduction control unit 37 and the reproduction control unit 17 are transmitted through the communication unit 33, but the following description omits description of such intervention of the communication unit 33.

In step S102, the command communication unit 19-1 issues the command locktv, which is the result of the command locktv analysis, to the reproduction control unit 17. FIG.

As a result, in step S103, the reproduction control unit 17 provides the command communication unit 19-1 of the communication unit 19 with a return value ok indicating that the command locktv has been accepted. In step S104, the command communication unit 19-1 transmits the return value ok) to the reproduction control unit 37.

Although not shown in Fig. 34, when another program is played back on the television receiver 5 by playback control such as playback software of another personal computer, the playback control unit 17 substitutes the error value as the return value instead of the return value ok. It returns to the reproduction control part 37. In this case, the playback control on the television receiver 5 is prohibited for the playback control section 37 (playback software or the like) of the personal computer 2 that attempted playback control later.

The result of acquiring the reproduction right is obtained in response to the command locktv, i.e., the return value ok or the error value immediately returned to the reproduction control section 37 in most cases. However, when another program is being reproduced on the television receiver 5 side at that time, time for the end processing of the other program is required. Therefore, the reproduction control section 37 does not execute the process immediately after acquiring the return value ok, but waits for the notification ready to be sent.

Specifically, when the reproduction control unit 17 finishes the execution of other program termination processing or the like and completes the preparation, in step S105, the reproduction control unit 17 provides the notification ready to the state communication unit 19-2. In step S106, the state communication unit 19-2 transmits the notification ready to the reproduction control unit 37.

In this way, when the notification ready is transmitted to the reproduction control section 37, the reproduction control section 37 can substantially execute the reproduction control on the television receiver 5. Therefore, in step S107, the reproduction control unit 37 transmits a reproduction command play for the reproduction target program to the command communication unit 19-1. In step S108, the command communication unit 19-1 issues the command play, which is the result of the analysis of the command play, to the reproduction control unit 17.

In step S109, the playback control unit 17 provides the command communication unit 19-1 with a return value ok indicating that the command play has been accepted. In step S110, the command communication unit 19-1 transmits the return value ok to the reproduction control unit 37.

In addition, the playback control unit 17 controls the playback on the television receiver 5 of the playback target program in accordance with the instruction play. Therefore, in step S111, the reproduction control unit 17 provides the notification state = play indicating the change to the state communication unit 19-2 of the communication unit 19. In step S112, the state communication unit 19-2 transmits a notification state = play to the reproduction control unit 37.

In addition, in step S113, the reproduction control unit 17 provides the notification playtime to the state communication unit 19-2. In step S114, the state communication unit 19-2 transmits the notification playtime to the reproduction control unit 37.

In the example of Fig. 34, it should be noted that although the notification playtime is transmitted only once, it is actually transmitted periodically, and in this embodiment, it is transmitted at one second intervals as described above.

In addition, in step S115, the reproduction control unit 17 provides the notification audiomode to the state communication unit 19-2 for notification of the audio mode. In step S116, the state communication unit 19-2 transmits this notification audiomode to the reproduction control unit 37.

Although in the example of Fig. 34, the notification audiomode is transmitted only once, it is actually transmitted every time the voice mode is changed.

In the meantime, when the reproduction control operation by the operation unit 32 of the personal computer 2 is executed, the reproduction control unit 38 executes commands corresponding to the reproduction control operation, for example, stop, fwd ( Fast forward, rew (rewind), lang (speech), pause (pause), etc. are issued as in command play. However, a specific example of issuing the command fwd will be described later with reference to FIG. 35.

On the other hand, when a state changes on the recording / playback apparatus 1 side, a notification statat indicating the state change is transmitted from the playback control section 17 to the playback control section 37.

For example, when playback ends to the end of the playback target program, the state of the content changes to the stopped state. In this case, in step S117, the reproduction control unit 17 provides the state communication unit 19-2 with the notification state indicating the change. In step S118, the state communication unit 19-2 sends the notification state = stop to the reproduction control unit 37.

In this way, after the reproduction of the program to be reproduced is finished, if there is no other program to be reproduced, the reproduction control unit 37 issues a command unlocktv to the command communication unit (1) in order to give up the right to reproduce the television receiver 5 in step S119. 19-1). In step S120, the command communication unit 19-1 issues a command unlocktv, which is the result of the command unlocktv analysis, to the reproduction control unit 17. FIG.

In step S121, the reproduction control unit 17 provides the command communication unit 19-1 with a return value ok indicating that the command unlocktv has been accepted. In step S122, the state command communication unit 19-2 transmits the return value ok to the reproduction control unit 37.

On the other hand, in the case where playback of another program is continuously controlled after the reproduction of the reproduction target program is ended, the reproduction control section 37 repeatedly executes the processing after step S107. In other words, the playback control section 37 issues a command play for another program.

Now, as a reproduction control operation by the operation unit 32 of the personal computer 2 while the reproduction target program is being reproduced on the television receiver 5, for example, a processing example in which a fast forward instruction operation is performed This will be described with reference to FIG. 35.

Although not shown in FIG. 35, when the same processing as that of steps S101 to S110 in FIG. 34 is executed, in step S201 and step S202, the notification state = play is reproduced in step S111 and step S112 in FIG. 34, respectively. Is transmitted to the playback control unit 37.

Specifically, the processing after step S203 in FIG. 35 shows another specific example of the processing executed after step S112 in FIG. 34.

In the example of Fig. 35, as described above, the fast forward instruction operation is performed to the user. In this case, in step S203, the reproduction control unit 37 transmits the fast forward command fwd to the command communication unit 19-1. In step S204, the command communication unit 19-1 issues the command fwd, which is the result of the analysis of the command fwd, to the reproduction control unit 17. FIG.

In step S205, the reproduction control unit 17 provides the command communication unit 19-1 with a return value ok indicating that the command fwd has been accepted. In step S206, the command communication unit 19-1 transmits the return value ok to the reproduction control unit 37.

The playback control unit 17 also controls the fast forwarding of the playback target program in accordance with the command fwd. Thus, the state of the content changes to a fast forward state. In this case, in step S207, the reproduction control unit 17 provides the state communication unit 19-2 with notification state = fwd indicating the change. In step S208, the state communication unit 19-2 sends the notification state = fwd to the reproduction control unit 37.

In step S209, the reproduction control unit 17 provides the notification playtime to the state communication unit 19-2. In step S210, the state communication unit 19-2 transmits the notification playtime to the reproduction control unit 37.

After that, the reproduction control unit 17 periodically transmits the notification playtime at intervals of 1 second in this embodiment. However, if fast forward is being performed, the playtime notified at 1 second intervals increases with the speed of the fast forward.

Specifically, for example, it is assumed that 5 minutes and 30 seconds are notified as the playtime by the processing of steps S209 and S210. In addition, it is assumed that the speed of fast forward is 20 times normal speed.

In this case, the time obtained by adding 20 seconds to the reproduction time playtaime at the time of notification by the processing of steps S209 and S210 by the processing of the next step S211 and step S212 after 1 second, here 5 minutes and 50 seconds is reproduced as the notification playtime. It is transmitted to the control part 37.

Similarly, in the processing of steps S213 and S214 following one second later, the time obtained by adding 20 seconds to the reproduction time playtaime delivered by the processing of the previous steps S211 and S212, where 6 minutes and 10 seconds is the notification playtime, the playback control unit ( 37).

On the other hand, whenever the reproduction control part 37 receives the notification of the reproduction time playtaime, the reproduction image displayed on the reproduction part 38 based on the reproduction time of the received notification, for example, the image 101 of FIG. ) Are displayed in order. Specifically, the playback control section 37 updates the display contents of the area 121 shown in FIG. 25 and the position of the slider 122 in order to correspond to the notified playback time. By this update, the reproduction control unit 37 can synchronize with the reproduction state of the television receiver 5.

Then, if the instruction operation for normal playback is performed by the user, in step S215, the playback control section 37 transmits a playback command play to the command communication section 19-1. In step S216, the command communication unit 19-1 issues the command play, which is the result of the analysis of the command play, to the reproduction control unit 17.

In step S217, the reproduction control unit 17 provides the command communication unit 19-1 with a return value ok indicating that the command play has been accepted. In step S218, the command communication unit 19-1 transmits the return value ok to the reproduction control unit 37.

In addition, the playback control unit 17 controls the playback of the playback target program at the normal speed in accordance with the command play. As a result, the state of the content changes from the fast forward state to the playback state again. Therefore, in step S219, the playback control unit 17 provides the state communication unit 19-2 with notification state = play indicating the change. In step S220, the state communication unit 19-2 transmits a notification state = play to the playback control unit 37.

It has nothing to do with the fast-forward operation, but the user has terminated the processing of the playback control section 37 of the personal computer 2, or removes the check of "Display on TV" in the menu 261 of FIG. Is assumed to be off). When the reproduction control part 37 is comprised by software, the software is complete | finished and the process of the reproduction control part 37 is complete | finished.

In this case, in step S221, the reproduction control unit 37 transmits a command unlocktv to the command communication unit 19-1 for giving up the reproduction right to the television receiver 5. In step S222, the command communication unit 19-1 issues a command unlocktv, which is the result of the analysis of the command unlocktv, to the reproduction control unit 17.

In step S223, the playback control unit 17 provides the command communication unit 19-1 with a return value ok indicating that the command unlocktv has been accepted. In step S224, the command communication unit 19-1 transmits the return value ok to the reproduction control unit 37.

In this case, unlike the example of Fig. 34, the reproduction in the television receiver 5 of the reproduction target program is continued as it is. Thus, after the processing of step S224 in the example of FIG. 35, the user can perform the reproduction control operation on the reproduction target program using the remote controller 6.

By the way, the above-described series of processes may be executed by hardware or by software. When executing a series of processes by software, when the program which comprises the software is integrated in dedicated hardware, various functions can be performed by installing a computer or various programs, for example, general purpose Is installed from a program recording medium.

36 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a personal computer for executing the above-described series of processes by a program. Specifically, all or part of the recording / playback apparatus 1 described above with reference to FIG. 1 (for example, the playback control unit 17 described above) may be configured as the personal computer shown in FIG. For the same reason, the personal computer 2 shown in FIG. 1 can be configured like the personal computer shown in FIG.

Referring to Fig. 36, the CPU (Central Processing Unit) 301 executes various processes in accordance with a program stored in a ROM (Read Only Memory 302 or a storage unit 308.) The CPU 301 executes. Programs, data, etc. to be stored are appropriately stored in a RAM (Random Access Memory) The CPU 301, the ROM 302, and the RAM 303 are connected to each other by a bus 304.

The CPU 301 is also connected to the input / output interface 305 via the bus 304. The input / output interface 305 is connected to an input unit 306 including a keyboard, a mouse, a microphone, and the like, and an output unit 307 including a display unit, a speaker, and the like. The CPU 301 executes various processes in accordance with the command input from the input unit 306. The CPU 301 then outputs the processing result to the output unit 307.

The storage unit 308 made of a hard disk or the like is connected to the input / output interface 305 and stores a program or various data to be executed by the CPU 301. The communication unit 309 communicates with an external device via a network such as the Internet or a local area network (LAN).

The program may be acquired via the communication unit 309 and stored in the storage unit 308.

The drive 310 is connected to the input / output interface 305. When a removable medium such as a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, or a semiconductor memory is appropriately mounted to the drive 310, the drive 310 drives the removable medium 311. At that time, the drive 310 acquires a program, data, and the like recorded in the removable medium 311. The acquired program or data is transferred to and stored in the storage unit 308 as necessary.

In addition, when the removable medium 111 is mounted in the drive 310, the removable medium 111 may be driven to record data or the like on the removable medium 111.

A program recording medium having a program installed in a computer and recorded in a state executable by the computer is, for example, a magnetic disk (including a flexible disk) and an optical disk [CD-ROM (Compact) as shown in FIG. Disc-read only memory), a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc)], a magneto-optical disc, a semiconductor memory, or the like. Otherwise, the program recording medium may be constituted by a ROM 302 in which a program is temporarily or permanently stored, a hard disk embedded in the storage unit 308, or the like. The program is stored in the program recording medium using a wired or wireless communication medium such as a LAN, the Internet, or a digital satellite broadcast via the communication unit 309, which is an interface such as a router or a modem, as necessary.

In addition, although the recording designation of content is HDD in the above-mentioned example, the example mentioned above is not specifically limited. For example, the removable medium 311 or the like may be used as the recording destination.

In the present specification, the step of describing a program stored in the program recording medium may be performed in a time series according to the order described, but is not necessarily to be processed in time series, and includes a process executed in parallel or separately. It is.

In addition, in this specification, the term "system" is used to refer to the entire apparatus composed of a plurality of devices or devices.

Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described using specific terms, it can of course be changed and modified without departing from the spirit or scope of the claims.

Using the information processing apparatus, method, and program of the present invention described above, it is possible to control reproduction of recording contents designated by a user among a plurality of recording contents. In particular, the user has the advantage that the operation required for the control can be made simpler than ever.

Claims (9)

An information processing apparatus for controlling reproduction of a plurality of recorded contents recorded when being distributed from a predetermined place among a plurality of distribution sources to which a predetermined channel is assigned to each, When the reproduction start absolute time indicating the reproduction start time is specified by the user and the reproduction target channel is specified by the user, recording of the reproduction target channel in which the reproduction start absolute time is included in the recording time zone of the recorded contents. Playback control means for controlling content to be played back from a position corresponding to the playback start absolute time; Information processing apparatus comprising a. The method of claim 1, When a second channel is designated by the user as the reproduction target channel at a predetermined timing during reproduction of the first recorded content of the first channel, the reproduction control means causes the first recording at the predetermined timing. Setting the time obtained by converting the playback position of the content to the absolute time to the playback start absolute time, and setting the content to be played back in the first recorded content in the first recording content of the second channel. 2. The information processing apparatus which switches to the recorded content and controls to reproduce the second recorded content from a position corresponding to the absolute reproduction start time. The method of claim 2, And the reproduction control means receives a command from a predetermined operation means and performs control according to the command if the command indicates that the second channel has been designated by the user. The method of claim 3, The operating means includes a first operating element for outputting a first command for moving the order up one and a second operating element for outputting a second command for moving the order one down, The reproduction control means assigns a predetermined order to the channel corresponding to the distributor and manages the order, and when the first operation element is operated by the user, the first command is performed in the predetermined order. If it is determined that the channel immediately after the first channel is the second channel and the corresponding control is performed, the second command is the predetermined command when the second operating element is operated by the user. And assigning a channel immediately preceding the first channel in the order of the second channel to the second channel and performing a corresponding control. The method of claim 1, // If the content that was being distributed at the absolute start time of playback is not recorded from the distribution source corresponding to the playback target channel, the playback control means is for presenting to the user that there is no recorded content to be played back. An information processing apparatus for controlling the reproduction of other content. The method of claim 1, When the content that was being distributed at the absolute playback start absolute time is not recorded from the distribution source corresponding to the playback target channel, the playback control means is recorded in the recording time zone that includes the absolute playback start time in the recorded content. An information processing apparatus which searches for other recorded contents and controls reproduction of the other recorded contents when the search is successful. An information processing method of an information processing apparatus for controlling reproduction of a plurality of recorded contents recorded when being distributed from a predetermined place among a plurality of distribution sources each having a predetermined channel assigned thereto, When the reproduction start absolute time indicating the reproduction start time is specified by the user and the reproduction target channel is specified by the user, recording of the reproduction target channel in which the reproduction start absolute time is included in the recording time zone of the recorded contents. Controlling content to be played back from a position corresponding to the absolute start time of playback; Information processing method comprising a. A program for causing a computer to control reproduction of a plurality of recorded contents recorded when being distributed from a predetermined place among a plurality of distribution sources each having a predetermined channel assigned thereto, When the reproduction start absolute time indicating the reproduction start time is specified by the user and the reproduction target channel is specified by the user, recording of the reproduction target channel in which the reproduction start absolute time is included in the recording time zone of the recorded contents. Controlling content to be played back from a position corresponding to the absolute start time of playback; Program comprising a. An information processing apparatus for controlling reproduction of a plurality of recorded contents recorded when being distributed from a predetermined place among a plurality of distribution sources each having a predetermined channel assigned thereto, When the reproduction start absolute time indicating the reproduction start time is specified by the user and the reproduction target channel is specified by the user, recording of the reproduction target channel in which the reproduction start absolute time is included in the recording time zone of the recorded contents. A playback control unit configured to control content to be played back from a position corresponding to the playback start absolute time Information processing apparatus comprising a.

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