JP2003036652A - Recording / reproducing apparatus and recording / reproducing method - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Problem] A recorded program cannot be easily shown to other people. SOLUTION: A recording unit records a broadcasted program as a file in a first directory of a recording medium (HDD108). Link information storage means stores link information for viewing the recorded program in a second directory different from the first. The link information is read from the second directory of the recording medium (HDD 108) by a reproducing unit. The program recorded in the first directory is reproduced using the read link information.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for recording / reproducing a broadcast program, and more particularly to a recording / reproducing apparatus capable of easily showing a recorded program to another person.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a recording / reproducing apparatus, a VTR, D
Examples include VD-RAM and DVD-RW. Among these recording / reproducing apparatuses, in the recording / reproducing apparatus provided with a plurality of recording media,
The user decides which recording medium to record.

Such a recording / reproducing apparatus is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-173240, "Recording Information Management Device and Recording Information Management Method", and in this document, a user designates a medium in advance for recording. be able to.

However, in order to show a recorded program or the like to others in the home, there is a problem that the recording medium usually needs to be delivered or erased by mistake.

[0005]

As described above, in the conventional recording / reproducing apparatus, in order to show a recorded program or the like to other persons in the home, it is usually necessary to transfer the recording medium or to make an error. However, there was a problem that the recorded program was erased, and the recorded program could not be easily shown to others.

The present invention provides a recording / reproducing apparatus capable of easily showing a recorded program to another person without normally delivering a recording medium or erasing a program recorded by mistake. The purpose is to

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, recording means for recording a broadcasted program as a file in a first directory of a recording medium, and the recorded program Link information storage means for storing link information for viewing in a second directory different from the first directory, and reading the link information from the second directory of the recording medium, and using the read link information. And a reproducing unit for reproducing the program recorded in the first directory.

In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, the recording means records the broadcast program as a file in the first directory of the recording medium,
The link information storage means stores the recorded link information for viewing the recorded program in a second directory different from the first directory, and the reproduction means stores the link information from the second directory of the recording medium. Is provided, and the program recorded in the first directory is reproduced using the read link information.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of a recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the structure of a recording / reproducing apparatus.

In FIG. 1, a recording / reproducing apparatus 10 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 101, a ROM 102, and a RAM 10.
3, infrared communication control unit 104, hard disk drive interface (HDD I / F) 107, hard disk drive (HDD) 108, display 109, speaker 110, tuner 111, various switches 112, audio processing unit 113 , Video processing unit 114
It consists of

A central processing unit (CPU) 101 controls the recording / reproducing apparatus 10 as a whole. The CPU 101 has a RO
M102, RAM103, infrared communication controller 104, H
DDI / F107, display 109, speaker 1
10, a tuner 111, various switches 112, an audio processing unit 113, and a video processing unit 114 are connected.

The ROM 102 is a read-only non-volatile memory, and stores various programs executed by the CPU 101 and necessary data.

The RAM 103 provides an execution area, a work area, a temporary storage area necessary for the CPU 101 to execute the program execution processing, and an area for storing various data necessary for executing the program.

The infrared communication control section 104 is a light receiving section and a control section for communicating commands and data required for various operations of the recording / reproducing apparatus 10 via a dedicated remote controller and infrared rays, and a remote controller protocol. A modulation unit for performing optical modulation according to the above is provided. This modulator is the same as that of the conventional remote control light receiving device and is not shown in FIG. 1 because it is not an essential part of the present invention.

A hard disk drive interface (HDD I / F) 107 controls the HDD 108 and inputs / outputs various digital data.

The display 109 is a display device such as a flat panel such as a cathode ray tube (CRT) or a liquid crystal, and displays a program received by the tuner 111 or an interface image with the user created by the CPU. .

The speaker 110 is a speaker for reproducing voice as sound.

The tuner 111 is a tuner for receiving TV broadcasting and selecting a predetermined channel.

The various switches 112 are used for the recording / reproducing apparatus 10.
Various switches for controlling the.

The voice processing unit 113 performs voice input / output processing.

The video processing unit 114 includes a sync signal separation process,
Since it is the same as the video processing unit of a conventional television device that performs horizontal / vertical separation processing, the detailed configuration (for example, display memory, display controller, input / output control unit, power supply unit, etc.) is shown in FIG. Is omitted.

The user previously creates a plurality of HD directories for each user, for example, father, mother, brother, sister, brother, sister of the family.
Create on D108. This directory is HDD10
8 can be designated as a storage destination when recording a program, and for example, a file system directory is used. This directory is sometimes called a folder.

When recording a program received by the tuner 111 of the recording / reproducing apparatus 10 in the HDD 108, the user can specify a directory as a save destination. The program recorded in this way is a file,
It is saved in the directory specified by the user.

Next, the operation of the user to link the recorded file recorded in his directory to the directory of another person as described above will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of a user to link a recorded file recorded in his / her directory to another person's directory.

In FIG. 2, the user selects a directory in which a program desired to be linked is recorded from the directory selection screen as shown in FIG. 4 (step 21).

Next, the user displays a program list in the directory, which is a list of programs stored in the directory selected in step 21, by operating the remote controller and various switches 112 (step 22). This is for example
It is displayed by pressing the "List of programs in directory" button.

Next, the user selects a program to be linked by using, for example, the selection cursor 50 shown in FIG. 5 (a) (step 23), and the remote controller and various switches 112 displayed as "link" are displayed. Press the button. Then it becomes a mode to specify the link destination.

Next, the user selects a directory to link to (step 24).

Next, after selecting the directory in step 24, the link is set by pushing a button such as a remote controller or various switches 112 displayed as "OK" (step 25). In reality, the link information is stored in the linked directory of the HDD 21.

This link information can be used only for reading the file of the link source and, for example, the file of the link source cannot be deleted using this link information. Therefore, the link source file is not deleted by mistake.

A link is set up as described above.

Next, the operation for viewing the program linked as described above will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart for explaining the operation when viewing a linked program.

In FIG. 3, the user selects a directory from the directory selection screen as shown in FIG. 4, for example (step 31).

Next, the user displays a list of programs in the directory (step 32). This is displayed, for example, by pressing the "list of programs in directory" button.

Next, the user selects the linked program using, for example, the selection cursor 50 shown in FIG. 5B (step 33).

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a user interface screen displayed on the display 109 when the user specifies a program.

Next, the user can reproduce and watch the program by pressing a button such as a remote controller or various switches 112 displayed as "Play" (step 3).
4).

As described above, the program of link information can be viewed.

Even if the user finishes viewing and deletes the link information from his / her directory, the file at the link source is not accidentally deleted.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a user interface screen displayed on the display 109 when the user specifies a directory.

In FIG. 4, reference numeral 20 indicates a directory, and in FIG. 4, six directories are displayed.
Reference numeral 21 in FIG. 4 indicates a cursor selected by the user. The user can specify an arbitrary directory by operating this cursor using the remote controller, various switches 112, or the like.

When the user creates a new directory, the user can create a new directory by selecting the directory labeled "New" at the bottom right with the cursor.

For example, when the father records a program using an EPG or the like, the user interface screen shown in FIG.
Specify a "father's" directory. This designation method is performed by, for example, aligning the cursor with the "father's" directory and pressing the "OK" button on the remote controller or various switches 112.

In this way, for example, four programs have been recorded, and in order to view the recorded four programs, the program shown in FIG.
In the user interface screen shown in, specify the "father's" directory.

Specify (open) the "father's" directory
Then, as shown in FIG. 5A, a list of the four programs recorded in the "father's" directory is displayed.

Now, my dad has finished watching the program,
Suppose you want to show the contents of this program to your mother, and about the program to your brother.

In such a case, the father presses the "link button" on the remote controller or the various switches 112 to link the program to the directory of his mother and the program to the directory of his brother.

As a method of establishing this link, the link information is actually stored in the linked directory of the HDD 21.

This link information can be used only for reading the link source file, and for example, the link source file cannot be deleted using this link information. Therefore, the link source file is not deleted by mistake.

In the above, the program recorded by the father was linked to the directory of another person, but the program recorded by another person may be linked to the directory of the father. Here, it is assumed that the younger brother links the program recorded in the "younger brother" directory himself to the father's directory.

Thereafter, when the father opens the "for father" directory to watch the program, as shown in FIG. 5 (b), the younger brother can select the program placed in the "for father" directory as the program. You can see that In the <Recommend from other people> column on the right side of the screen, there is a display saying “Because of my younger brother”, so you can see that the younger brother has recommended the link.

The father can view this program by moving the cursor 50 to this program and pressing the play button.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5 (b), for programs to which the father has previously linked to the "mother" directory in order to show it to the mother, "to mother" is displayed as the link destination, For programs linked to the "for older brother" directory, "for older brother" is displayed as the link destination, indicating that the link is established.

In FIG. 5 (b), the father linked the program to the "mother" directory in order to show it to the mother. For example, after this, the mother views the program using the link information. . Then, the display "to mother" in FIG. 5 (b) is displayed in a shaded manner so that the mother can see that it has been watched, so that the watched / not watched can be displayed in a distinguishable manner. May be.

Thus, the father can know whether the mother has watched or not watched.

In addition, for example, a mother may want to watch this program and keep it. In this case,
You may want to be able to copy the file itself from the original dad's directory instead of a link. As a result, even if the father deletes the program, since the program file remains in the mother's directory, the mother can always watch the program.

In this way, the user can view the desired program. Further, recording and storing of a desired program in a desired directory can be realized by a method similar to the case where a conventional BS digital tuner with a built-in HDD stores and stores the program in the HDD. Is omitted.

[0061]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Since the link information is recorded in the directory of the person who wants to see the recorded program, the recorded program can be easily shown to other people.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of a recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining an operation in which a user links a recorded file recorded in his directory to another person's directory.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining an operation when viewing a linked program.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a user interface screen displayed on a display 109 when a user specifies a directory.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a user interface screen displayed on a display 109 when a user specifies a program.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 ... Recording / reproducing apparatus, 101 ... CPU, 102 ... RO
M, 103 ... RAM, 104 ... Infrared communication control unit, 10
7 ... HDD I / F, 108 ... HDD, 109 ... Display, 110 ... Speaker, 111 ... Tuner, 11
2 ... Various switches, 113 ... Audio processing unit, 114 ... Video processing unit.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued Front Page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification Code FI Theme Coat (Reference) H04N 5/91 F Term (Reference) 5C053 FA23 FA30 KA01 KA24 LA06 LA07 5D044 AB05 AB07 BC01 CC04 DE17 DE49 DE57 EF05 5D110 AA13 BB06 DA01 DA11 DD11

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. Recording means for recording a broadcasted program as a file in a first directory of a recording medium, and link information for viewing the recorded program in a second directory different from the first directory. Link information storage means for storing, and reproduction means for reading out the link information from the second directory of the recording medium and reproducing the program recorded in the first directory using the read link information. A recording / reproducing apparatus comprising: 2. The recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a deleting unit that deletes the link information read from the second directory of the recording medium. 3. A selection image creating means for creating a selection image for selecting a program recorded in the recording medium from a file of the program recorded in a predetermined directory and the link information. The recording / reproducing apparatus, wherein the reproducing means reproduces the program selected by the selected image. 4. The recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein a directory of a link destination based on link information is displayed on the selected image. 5. The recording means records the broadcast program as a file in a first directory of a recording medium, and the link information storage means stores the link information for viewing the recorded program as the first information. Is stored in a different second directory, the reproducing means reads the link information from the second directory of the recording medium, and the read link information is used to record the link information in the first directory. A recording / reproducing method characterized by reproducing a program.