JP2008078905A - Content output apparatus, program, and content output method - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided are a content output device, a program, and a content output method that can reduce the amount of data to be output to a content output destination and can view a continuation of the content whose viewing has been interrupted on a mobile terminal.
Storage means for storing content, display control means for reading content from the storage means and displaying it on a display device, scheduled viewing end time acquiring means for acquiring a scheduled viewing end time, and content at a scheduled viewing end time Content viewing end position calculating means for calculating the viewing end position, and content output means for reading out the content after the viewing end position calculated by the content viewing end position calculating means from the storage means and outputting it to the content output destination. .
[Selection] Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a content output device, a program, and a content output method, and more particularly to a content output device, a program, and a content output method for outputting content to a content output destination such as a portable terminal.

Hard disk recorders that have become popular in recent years can record TV programs for a long time of several tens of hours by recording TV programs on a large-capacity hard disk instead of tape media such as VHS (Video Home System). . Similarly, a PC (Personal Computer) equipped with a TV tuner can record a TV program for a long time.
On the other hand, a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone is being equipped with a function for viewing video content as standard. Mobile terminals for viewing video content on the go are also increasing. By outputting video content recorded from a hard disk recorder or a PC to these portable terminals, it becomes possible to view home content on the go.

Music distribution services that download music content to mobile terminals via the Internet are also becoming popular. Music content downloaded on a PC is temporarily output to a flash memory card and the flash memory card is inserted into a portable terminal, so that the downloaded music can be enjoyed on the go. Alternatively, a portable music player that can directly output content by connecting a PC and a portable terminal with a USB (Universal Serial Bus) cable has been commercialized.
In general, since the storage capacity of a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone is smaller than that of a hard disk recorder or PC, it is impossible to output all recorded data to the mobile terminal. Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for selecting only chapters that have not yet been reproduced from video content recorded in a hard disk recorder and outputting them to a mobile terminal.

In addition, uncompressed video content and high bit rate music content cannot be played as they are on a mobile device, so the content must be transcoded according to the format and bit rate that can be played back on the mobile device. The method to do is common. Since it takes time to output transcodes and data, Patent Document 2 discloses a technology for performing content compression and output in parallel while reproducing content received from broadcast waves or streaming from the Internet on a hard disk recorder. It is disclosed.
JP 2006-12225 A JP 2004-253882 A

  When a user views content on a mobile terminal when going out, it is necessary to transcode the content to be viewed on the mobile terminal in advance according to the playback capability and storage capacity of the mobile terminal and output the content to the mobile terminal. This work usually takes time, and in order to finish this work before going out, transcoding and output must be advanced systematically. Generally, the part that seems to be necessary is estimated in advance and output is finished, but if that estimation is lost, the part that has already been viewed is output to the mobile terminal, or conversely the necessary content is not output Occurs. If the technology described in Patent Document 1 is used, it is possible to prevent the output of the content of the already viewed part, but the content viewed after the output is wasted.

  Here, it is time for the user to go out while viewing the content on the hard disk recorder, and when the viewing is interrupted and the continuation of the content is viewed on the mobile terminal at the destination, the time to go out is known in advance. Since it is possible to calculate the position of the content that can be viewed by the time when the user is out, the content can be transcoded and output to the mobile terminal for the necessary time thereafter. In this way, the portable terminal can be taken out and taken out immediately after the viewing on the hard disk recorder is interrupted without unnecessarily consuming the storage capacity of the portable terminal.

However, even when the user's time to go out is determined in advance, if fast-forward playback is performed during viewing of content, the range that needs to be output to the mobile terminal is behind the initially determined position. It will shift. In the case of a temporary stop, it will be shifted forward. It is also conceivable that the time when the user goes out is changed while viewing the content. In this case as well, it is necessary to change the range in which content is output to the mobile terminal.
As described above, in the conventional technology, a predetermined part of the content is output or all the content from the beginning of the content is output to the mobile terminal, so the content of the part that the user does not view is output to the mobile terminal. Therefore, there is a problem that the amount of data output from the hard disk recorder as the content output device to the portable terminal as the content output destination is large.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a content output device that can reduce the amount of data to be output to a content output destination and can view the continuation of the content whose viewing has been interrupted on a mobile terminal. And providing a program and a content output method.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems. The present invention relates to storage means for storing content, display control means for reading content from the storage means and displaying it on a display device, and scheduled viewing end time. A viewing end scheduled time acquisition means for acquiring a content viewing end position calculating means for calculating a content viewing end position at the scheduled viewing end time, and a portion after the viewing end position calculated by the content viewing end position calculating means. Content output means for reading the content from the storage means and outputting it to a content output destination.
In the present invention, the storage means stores the content, reads the content from the storage means, causes the display control means to display the content on the display device, the scheduled viewing end time acquisition means acquires the scheduled viewing end time, and the content at the scheduled viewing end time The content viewing end position calculating means calculates the content viewing end position, and the content output means reads out the content after the viewing end position calculated by the content viewing end position calculating means from the storage means and outputs the content to the content output destination. did.
Accordingly, by setting the time when the user goes out as the scheduled viewing end time, the content after the scheduled viewing end time can be output to the user's mobile terminal that is the content output destination. The content viewed on the device can be continuously viewed on the mobile terminal.

Further, according to the present invention, the content output unit reads out the content of a portion after a predetermined time from the viewing end position from the storage unit and outputs it to the content output destination.
In the present invention, even when the time when the user goes out is a predetermined time earlier, the content of the part that the user could not watch on the display device can be output to the user's mobile terminal. It is possible to prevent a part of the content from being viewed.

Further, according to the present invention, the content viewing end position calculating means calculates the content viewing end position at a time past a predetermined time from the scheduled viewing end time.
In the present invention, even if the user pauses the content to be displayed on the display device for a predetermined time, the portion of the content that the user cannot view on the display device due to the pause is output to the user's mobile terminal. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the user from being able to view part of the content.

Further, according to the present invention, the content viewing end position calculating means calculates the content viewing end position a plurality of times, and if the newly calculated viewing end position is different from the previously calculated viewing end position, the content viewing end position calculating means The content of the portion after the calculated viewing end position and not yet output to the content output destination is read from the storage means and output to the content output destination.
In the present invention, the viewing end position can be newly calculated even when the scheduled viewing end time is advanced, and the portion after the newly calculated viewing end position is still output to the content output destination. Since it is possible to read out the content of the part that does not exist from the storage means and output it to the content output destination, even when the time when the user goes out is changed, the user wastes unviewed content on the mobile terminal Can be sent without.

Further, the present invention transmits an instruction to the content output destination so as to delete the content of the portion displayed on the display device by the display control means from the content output by the content output means to the content output destination. Deletion instruction means is provided.
In the present invention, since the content of the portion displayed on the display device can be deleted from the user's portable terminal, an empty area of the memory of the portable terminal can be secured.

Further, according to the present invention, the deletion instructing unit deletes the content before the viewing end position calculated by the content viewing end position calculating unit from the content output by the content output unit to the content output destination. An instruction is transmitted to the content output destination.
In the present invention, the content before the viewing end position calculated by the content viewing end position calculating means among the content output by the content output means to the content output destination can be deleted from the user's mobile terminal. An empty area of the terminal memory can be secured.

Further, according to the present invention, the deletion instructing unit is configured to delete the unviewed content output by the content output unit to the content output destination from the content near the end position of the content. Send instructions.
In the present invention, the user's portable terminal is instructed to delete the content not yet viewed output to the content output destination with priority from the portion close to the end position of the content. It is possible to delete a part of the content close to the end position of the content, and to secure an empty area in the memory of the portable terminal.

The present invention further includes transcoding means for transcoding the content before outputting the content from the content output means to the content output destination.
In the present invention, since the content is transcoded before the content is output from the content output means to the content output destination, the data suitable for display on the display device is changed from the data suitable for display on the display device. Content can be converted.

Further, the present invention provides a viewing stop position information acquisition unit that acquires viewing stop position information that is a position where the display control unit stops the content displayed on the display device, and the viewing stop position information acquisition unit includes the viewing stop position. Viewing position information transmitting means for transmitting the viewing stop position information to the content output destination when the position information is acquired.
In the present invention, the viewing stop position information, which is the position at which the content to be displayed on the display device is stopped, is transmitted to the user's mobile terminal or the like, so that the mobile terminal can reliably view the content from a position during viewing. it can.

  Further, the present invention provides a computer, a storage unit for storing content, a display control unit for reading content from the storage unit and displaying it on a display device, a scheduled viewing end time acquiring unit for acquiring a scheduled viewing end time, Content viewing end position calculating means for calculating the viewing end position of the content at the scheduled viewing end time, and reading out the content after the viewing end position calculated by the content viewing end position calculating means from the storage means and outputting the content It is made to function as a content output means to output first.

  Further, according to the present invention, the storage unit stores the content, reads the content from the storage unit, causes the display control unit to display the content on the display device, the scheduled viewing end time acquisition unit acquires the scheduled viewing end time, and the viewing end The content viewing end position calculating means calculates the content viewing end position at the scheduled time, and the content after the viewing end position calculated by the content viewing end position calculating means is read from the storage means to the content output destination. The output means outputs.

  In the content output device, the program, and the content output method according to the present invention, the amount of data to be output to the content output destination can be reduced, and the continuation of the content whose viewing has been interrupted can be viewed on the mobile terminal.

(First embodiment)
First, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a first embodiment of the present invention. The present embodiment includes a content output device 1, a TV 2, a cradle 3, and a mobile terminal 4.

The content output device 1 is, for example, a hard disk recorder, and outputs a video signal of content stored in a built-in hard disk or the like to the TV 2 connected to the content output device 1 via the video cable 9. Thereby, TV-2 displays a content on a display screen based on the video signal output from the content output device 1. TV-2 is a television receiver. The content output device 1 is connected to the mobile terminal 4 via the cradle 3, and the cradle 3 outputs the content recorded on the hard disk built in the content output device 1 to the mobile terminal 4. The mobile terminal 4 is a terminal possessed by a user such as a mobile phone or a PDA (Personal Digital Assistants, personal digital assistant).
When content is output from the content output device 1 to the portable terminal 4, an output method with physical contact such as cradle connection or other cable connection shown in the figure may be used, or wireless using infrared rays or the like. An output method may be used.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the content output apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The content output apparatus 1 is also referred to as a storage unit 10 (also referred to as storage unit), a decoding unit 11, a transcoding unit 12 (also referred to as transcoding unit), and a data output control unit 13 (content output unit, viewing stop position information transmission unit). ), State control unit 14, remote control signal receiving unit 15 (also referred to as scheduled viewing end time acquisition unit and viewing stop position information acquisition unit), content selection unit 16, output result display unit 17, decryption unit 18, and encryption unit 19. It consists of The function of each part will be described below. In FIG. 2, transmission / reception of signal data between the content output device 1, the TV 2, and the mobile terminal 4 is indicated by arrows, and input of a remote control signal is also indicated by dotted arrows.

  The storage unit 10 is a large-capacity storage such as a hard disk, and stores content such as video and audio. If the content is video, it is stored in a compression format such as MPEG2 (Moving Picture Experts Group phase 2). As a content storage method, for example, a digital broadcast tuner is connected to store broadcast content, that is, to record, or from an external storage device using a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk, disk on which digital signals are recorded at a high density). For example, a method of accumulating the output DVD content can be used.

The decoding unit 11 receives a control command from the state control unit 14, reads the content stored in the storage unit 10 via a decoding unit 18 (described later), and performs a decoding process. The decoded data is sent to the TV 2 connected to the content output apparatus 1 by the video cable 9 and displayed.
The transcoding unit 12 transcodes the content before outputting the content from the data output control unit 13 to the portable terminal 4. That is, the transcoding unit 12 reads content data from the storage unit 10, transcodes the content data into a format that can be viewed on the mobile terminal 4, and then controls the data output of the transcoded data via the encryption unit 19 (described later). The data is transmitted from the unit 13 to the mobile terminal 4. For example, when the content data is in the MPEG2 format and the format that can be viewed on the mobile terminal 4 is MPEG4 (Moving Picture Experts Group phase 4), the transcoding process is performed from MPEG2 to MPEG4. This refers to processing that performs conversion. Transcoding includes not only changes in format but also changes in resolution and bit rate. Note that the transcoded data is sent not only to the mobile terminal 4 but also to the storage unit 10. Further, when data that does not require transcoding is recorded in the storage unit 10, transcoding processing may not be performed, or data suitable for viewing the mobile terminal 4 may be acquired from an external device or the like. good. Re-encoding by performing the transcoding described above is called transcoding.

The data output control unit 13 reads out the content after the viewing end position calculated by the content viewing position calculation unit 33 (described later in FIG. 3) of the state control unit 14 from the storage unit 10 and outputs the content to the mobile terminal 4. Further, the data output control unit 13 causes the mobile terminal 4 to delete the content that has already been viewed, monitors the available capacity of the mobile terminal 4, and outputs data according to the capacity of the mobile terminal 4. .
Further, the data output control unit 13 transmits the viewing stop position information to the portable terminal 4 when the remote control signal receiving unit 15 acquires the viewing stop position information. Thereby, in the portable terminal 4, the content before the viewing stop position can be deleted as being viewed by the user, and an empty area of the memory of the portable terminal 4 can be secured.
The configuration of the data output control unit 13 will be described later.

  The state control unit 14 receives playback control commands such as content playback, stop, fast forward, and rewind from the remote control signal receiving unit 15 and controls the state of the decoding unit 11. Also, the viewing end position is set by the user. Further, the current playback position on the playback time axis of the content is acquired from the decoding unit 11, the transcoding start position is determined from the viewing end position and the playback position set by the user, and the storage unit 10 and the data output control The state of the unit 13 is controlled. The configuration of the state control unit 14 will be described later.

The remote control signal receiving unit 15 receives an infrared signal of a remote control operated by the user, acquires a command from the infrared signal, and outputs the command to the state control unit 14. The remote control signal receiving unit 15 acquires, for example, a scheduled viewing end time as a command and notifies the state control unit 14 of it.
The scheduled viewing end time may be manually input by the user to the content output apparatus 1 or may be automatically set from schedule information or the like. Alternatively, the user may obtain the departure time of a train scheduled to be boarded from the transfer guidance service on the Internet, calculate the required time to the boarding station, and set the scheduled viewing end time.

In addition, the remote control signal receiving unit 15 has, as commands, for example, viewing stop position information that is a position where the playback control unit 30 (described later in FIG. 3) stops the content displayed on the TV 2 and the command is viewing stop position information. And information indicating that it is.
Note that the communication method of the remote controller is not limited to infrared, but Bluetooth (registered trademark), a wireless method, or the like may be used.

The content selection unit 16 outputs the content list in the storage unit 10 to the TV 2. The user selects content to be viewed from the list and reproduces it. This process will be described later.
The output result display unit 17 displays the output result of the content to the mobile terminal 4 on the TV 2 when the content is stopped. This displays results such as whether the content could be output to the mobile terminal 4 as instructed by the user, and how many minutes of content could be output to the mobile terminal 4.
The decryption unit 18 reads the encrypted content data from the storage unit 10, performs a decryption process, and sends it to the decode unit 11. Since it is not necessary to perform decryption processing on the unencrypted content, the data read from the storage unit 10 is sent directly to the decoding unit 11.
The encryption unit 19 performs an encryption process on the content data transcoded by the transcoding unit 12 and sends it to the data output control unit 13. Content that does not need to be encrypted is sent directly from the transcoding unit 12 to the data output control unit 13.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the state control unit 14 of the content output apparatus 1 (FIG. 2) according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The state control unit 14 includes a playback control unit 30 (also referred to as a display control unit), a viewing unit 31, a scheduled viewing end time setting unit 32, a content viewing position calculation unit 33 (also referred to as a content viewing end position calculation unit), and an output data position. A setting unit 34 and an end time monitoring unit 35 are included. The function of each part will be described below.

The reproduction control unit 30 reads the content from the storage unit 10 and displays it on the TV 2. Specifically, the reproduction control unit 30 performs accumulation control by controlling the state of the decoding unit 11 when receiving a reproduction control command such as reproduction, stop, fast forward, and rewind of content from the remote control signal reception unit 15. Processing such as playback, stop, fast forward, rewind, etc. of the content read from the unit 10 and displayed on the TV 2 is performed.
The viewing unit 31 acquires the content playback control signal from the decoding unit 11 and monitors the current playback position on the playback time axis of the content.
The scheduled viewing end time setting unit 32 sets the scheduled viewing end time input by the user.
The content viewing position calculation unit 33 views the content based on the scheduled viewing end time, the playback position time that is an elapsed time from the start time of the content, and the content playback position that is the position where the content is played back at the playback position time. The end position is calculated.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a method in which the content viewing position calculation unit 33 according to the first embodiment of the present invention calculates the content viewing end position at the scheduled viewing end time. As shown in FIG. 4, the content data is A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T , U, V, W, X, Y, Z files (parts). Each part is a file with a length of 2 minutes 30 seconds.
On the time (upper diagram in FIG. 4) axis, the content viewing start time t1 is 14:40 (14:40), the current playback time position t2 is 14:50, and the scheduled viewing end time t3 is It is assumed that it is 15:05. In the content data (middle diagram of FIG. 4) axis, the content is composed of files indicated by A, B, C,..., Z, and each part is a file of 2 minutes 30 seconds as described above. is there. Therefore, at the time when the reproduction position time t2 is 14:50, the files A, B, C, and D have already been viewed, but the files E, F,. E, F,..., J are contents presumed to be viewed immediately. Then, at 15:05, which is the scheduled end time for viewing t3, the files A, B,..., J are already viewed as scheduled, and the viewing ends. However, prior to that, starting with file I, files I, J, K,..., Q are output to portable terminal 4. Output files I, J, K,..., Q instead of files K,..., Q and output files I and J in excess, considering the case of fast-forwarding etc. To send to. Also, only the files I, J,..., Q, not the files I, J,..., Z, are output to the mobile terminal 4 because the number of output files is the capacity of the memory of the mobile terminal 4 It is because it is limited by. On the content playback time (lower diagram in FIG. 4) axis, the content viewing start position p1, the content playback position p2, and the viewing end position p3 corresponding to the content viewing start time t1, the playback time position t2, and the scheduled viewing end time t3 are , 0: 0, 0:10, 0:25.

  In FIG. 4, the time at the content playback position p2 is the playback position time t2 (14:50). The time from the playback position time t2 (14:50) to the scheduled viewing end time t3 (15:05) is calculated, and the content is advanced from the content playback position p2 (0:10) for the calculated time (15 minutes). Let (0:25) be the content viewing end position p3.

The content viewing position calculation unit 33 performs the calculation of the content viewing end position a plurality of times every predetermined time (for example, 1 minute), and the newly calculated viewing end position is different from the previously calculated viewing end position. In this case, the content of the portion after the newly calculated viewing end position and not yet output to the content output destination is read from the storage unit 10 and output to the mobile terminal 4. This process will be described with reference to FIG. Here, a case where the content viewing position calculation unit 33 performs the calculation of the content viewing end position twice will be described. A case will be described in which the viewing end position of the content calculated for the first time is p3 and the viewing end position of the content calculated for the second time is p4.
When the content viewing position calculation unit 33 calculates the first content viewing end position p3, the content output device 1 sends to the portable terminal 4 files (K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z) are read from the storage unit 10 and output to the portable terminal 4.
Here, since the viewing end position p4 calculated for the second time is different from the viewing end position p3 calculated for the first time, the content viewing position calculation unit 33 uses the files (G , H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z) and are still being output to the content output destination The contents of the missing file (G, H, I, J) are read from the storage unit 10 and output to the portable terminal 4. The files E and F may be output with a margin.
As a result, even when the scheduled viewing end time is advanced, a new viewing end position can be calculated, and the file after the newly calculated viewing end position is not yet output to the content output destination. Since the content of the file can be read from the storage unit 10 and output to the content output destination, even if the time when the user goes out is changed, the user can view the content that has not been viewed on the TV 2. It can be transmitted to the portable terminal 4 without waste.

Returning to FIG. 3, the output data position setting unit 34 determines the output data start and end positions of the viewing content. The capacity limitation of data output is limited by designation by the user or limited according to the capacity of the external device. The output data includes data recorded in the storage unit 10 and transcoded data.
The end time monitoring unit 35 instructs to stop the display of the content on the TV 2 when the playback position time reaches the scheduled viewing end time.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the data output control unit 13 of the content output apparatus (FIG. 2) according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The data output control unit 13 includes a content output unit 40, an already viewed content deletion instruction unit 41, an available capacity monitoring unit 42, a capacity securing unit 43 (also referred to as a deletion instruction unit), a viewing stop position information transmission unit 44, an external device connection. The monitoring unit 45 is configured. In FIG. 5, transmission and reception of signals and data with the data output control unit 13 and the transcoding unit 12 (the encryption unit 19 is omitted), the storage unit 10, the state control unit 14, and the output result display unit 17 are indicated by arrows, Transmission and reception of signals and data with the portable terminal 4 are also indicated by arrows.
The content output unit 40 outputs the content data stored in the storage unit 10 or the content data transcoded by the transcoding unit 12 to the mobile terminal 4.
The already-viewed content deletion instruction unit 41 instructs the mobile terminal 4 to delete if there is content data that has already been viewed on the mobile terminal 4.
The available capacity monitoring unit 42 monitors the memory capacity of the mobile terminal 4.

  The capacity securing unit 43 acquires information on the memory capacity of the mobile terminal 4, and the data output control unit 13 outputs the information to the mobile terminal 4 when the memory available capacity of the mobile terminal 4 set in advance by the user falls below. An instruction is transmitted to the portable terminal 4 so as to delete the content of the file displayed on the TV 2 by the playback control unit 30. As a result, the content of the file displayed on the TV 2 can be deleted from the user's portable terminal 4, so that an empty area of the memory of the portable terminal 4 can be secured.

  As an example, the capacity securing unit 43 causes the mobile terminal 4 to delete the content of the file before the viewing end position calculated by the content viewing position calculating unit 33 from the content output by the data output control unit 13 to the mobile terminal 4. Send instructions. Further, when deleting, the content is deleted in order from the content far from the viewing end position.

When the content stops, the viewing stop position information transmission unit 44 acquires viewing stop position information that is information on the viewing stop position at that time, and transmits the viewing stop position information to the mobile terminal 4.
The external device connection monitoring unit 45 monitors whether or not an external device is connected to the content output apparatus 1 and outputs the monitoring result to the output result display unit 17.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing processing of the state control unit 14 of the content output apparatus (FIG. 2) according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
The content output device 1 and the portable terminal 4 are connected via a cradle 3. When the content output device 1 is turned on, a list of contents stored in the storage unit 10 is displayed on the screen of the TV 2 through the content selection unit 16 (FIG. 2). The user operates the remote controller to select content to view.
The viewing unit 31 (FIG. 3) of the state control unit 14 acquires viewing content information, which is information about content that the user desires to view (step S101). Next, based on the user's operation, the state control unit 14 sets a scheduled viewing end time at which viewing of the content is stopped (step S102). For example, if the time when the user goes out is determined, the time when the user goes out is set as the scheduled viewing end time. As a method for setting the scheduled viewing end time, it is possible to select a method of setting an absolute time such as what hour and minute and a method of setting a relative time such as how many hours and minutes after the current time. It is also possible to register the user's schedule in the content output apparatus 1 in advance, read it from the schedule, and set it automatically. At this time, the scheduled viewing end time setting unit 32 (FIG. 3) executes the processing for setting the scheduled viewing end time in step S102.
Note that the order of the viewing content information acquisition process in step S101 and the scheduled viewing end time setting process in step S102 can be reversed.

  When the user presses the playback button on the remote controller, the state control unit 14 (FIG. 2) starts playback of the content (step S103). If it is unviewed content, playback will start unconditionally from the beginning, but if the content has been viewed halfway in the past, you can select whether to play from the beginning or from where you last stopped viewing You may do it. At this time, the reproduction control unit 30 performs a content reproduction start process in step S103. Note that the user can also reset the scheduled viewing end time while viewing the content. Therefore, the processing for setting the scheduled viewing end time in step S102 and the content playback start processing in step S103 are performed. It is also possible to reverse the order.

Then, the viewing unit 31 outputs an initialization command to the data output control unit 13 (step S104). Thereby, the process in the data output control part 13 is started. The viewing unit 31 acquires the playback position information of the viewing content from the decoding unit 11 (step S105).
Then, the output start position and output end position of the content data output to the transcode unit 12 are designated. Specifically, the output data position setting unit 34 designates the output start position and output end position of the content data output to the transcoding unit 12 (step S106).

  Then, the reproduction control unit 30 (FIG. 3) determines whether or not a reproduction control signal has been received (step S107). If a reproduction control signal has been received (YES in step S107), it is determined whether or not the reproduction control signal is a stop signal (step S108). If the playback control signal is a stop signal (YES in step S108), the playback control unit 30 instructs the viewing unit 31 to stop the data output control unit 13 and the storage unit 10 (step S111). If the playback control signal is not a stop signal (NO in step S108), playback control processing such as fast forward, rewind, and pause is performed according to the received playback control signal (step S109). Since the playback position is changed when the playback control process is performed, the viewing unit 31 acquires the playback control signal again, and accordingly changes the data output start position and the output end position.

  When the content playback position is the viewing end position (YES in step S110), reading of the content from the storage unit 10 is stopped, and the end time monitoring unit 35 instructs the viewing unit 31 to stop processing (step S111). ). In the content stop process in step S111, the viewing unit 31 receives the stop signal and issues a stop process command to the data output control unit 13 and the storage unit 10. Thus, the content stop process is completed.

The output data position setting unit 34 (FIG. 3) acquires the viewing end position information, determines the output start position and output end position of the content data, instructs the storage unit 10 to output the content data, In response to the instruction, the transcode unit 12 transcodes the content data from the output start position to the output end position.
As for the output start position of content data, the position of a certain amount of content data (content data calculated as already viewed) is set as the output start position before the end viewing position (on the content viewing start position side). Note that a certain amount of content data is taken before the viewing end position when the user performs an operation such as pausing during viewing, and when the content viewing end position is shifted forward, the output of the insufficient content data is performed. This is to reduce the frequency of performing. The output start position is located behind (the content end position) from the viewing content playback position. Subsequently, for the output end position of the content data, the output end position is determined by calculating the content data amount that can be output from the data capacity designated by the user or the memory capacity of the portable terminal 4. When there is sufficient capacity, the content end position is set as the output end position.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a viewing end position, a data output start position, a data output end position setting method, and a process after receiving a reproduction control signal according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the upper part of FIG. 7 (a), the viewing start time of the content is 14:40 and the viewing end position is 15:05, which is the beginning of the content as shown in the middle of FIG. 7 (a). If reproduction is started from the content data A, it is set as a viewing end position (immediately before K) at a position of 25 minutes on the content reproduction time axis.
A data output start position (immediately before I) is set based on the viewing end position. The data output end position (immediately before R) is set in accordance with the set data output amount.

In the example of FIG. 7, the content reproduction position at this time is set immediately before the content data E, and the user performs fast-forwarding for a time corresponding to the file E at this point and skips the content data E. As shown in the lower part of FIG. 7A, after fast-forwarding, the content playback position is changed immediately before the content data F, and accordingly, the viewing end position is changed immediately before the file L. The data output start position is changed immediately before J, and the data output end position is changed immediately before S.
FIG. 7B shows content data stored in the memory of the mobile terminal 4. In the upper part of FIG. 7B, files I, J,..., Q are stored when fast-forwarding is not performed, and files J, K,.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing processing of the data output control unit 13 of the content output apparatus (FIG. 2) according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
At the start of content reproduction, an initialization command is received from the state control unit 14, the data output control unit 13 (FIGS. 2 and 5) is initialized, and a series of processes in FIG. 8 is started.
First, the external device connection monitoring unit 45 determines whether or not the content output device 1 and the mobile terminal 4 are connected (step S201). If not connected (NO in step S201), an error is returned to the state control unit 14, an alert message is displayed on the TV-2 screen (step S202), and the portable terminal 4 is connected to the content output device 1. Prompt the user to connect. On the other hand, if connected (YES in step S201), it is determined whether or not a content viewing stop instruction signal has been received (step S203).
When the stop processing instruction signal is received from the state control unit 14 (YES in step S203), the viewing stop position information transmitting unit 44 transmits the viewing stop position information to the portable terminal 4 (step S204). By starting the reproduction of the content based on the viewing stop position information obtained on the mobile terminal 4 side, it is possible to view the continuation of the content being viewed on the mobile terminal 4. The data output control unit 13 repeats the following processing until a content viewing stop signal is received.
First, if there is content data received from the transcoding unit 12, the content data is transmitted to the mobile terminal 4 (step S205). This is a process in which the content output unit 40 transmits the content data within the viewing range setting sent from the transcoding unit 12 or the storage unit 10 to the portable terminal 4.
Next, if there is content data that has already been viewed on the mobile terminal 4, a process of deleting is performed (step S 206). The content data that has already been viewed is generally not viewed by the user on the mobile terminal 4. Therefore, unnecessary data is deleted by the process of step S206, and the memory of the portable terminal 4 can be used efficiently.

  Next, processing when the storage capacity of the mobile terminal 4 becomes small due to content data output will be described. As described above, the content that has already been viewed is deleted from the storage of the mobile terminal 4 as needed, but there may be cases where it is not possible to secure a free space necessary for outputting new content. It is determined whether or not the free capacity of the portable terminal 4 is less than a predetermined capacity required for output (step S207). If it is less than the predetermined capacity (YES in step S207), it is determined whether content data estimated to be already viewed exists in the content data output to the portable terminal 4 (step S208). Here, the content data estimated to be already viewed means a portion temporally before the viewing end position calculated by the content viewing end position calculation unit 33.

If there is content data presumed to be viewed (YES in step S208), the data is deleted from the memory of the portable terminal 4 (step S209).
When there is no content data estimated to be already viewed (NO in step S208), an output range between the output start position and the output end position of the content data is acquired and compared with the content data in the mobile terminal 4. Then, it is determined whether content data other than the output range exists (step S210).

  If there is content data outside the output range (YES in step S210), the content data is deleted from the memory of the portable terminal 4 (step S211). In this case, it is preferable to delete preferentially from the content data that is separated in time from the content viewing end position. If there is no content data other than the output range (NO in step S210), it is determined whether or not a content viewing stop instruction signal has been received (step S212). If a content viewing stop processing instruction signal is received (YES in step S212), the process proceeds to step S204. On the other hand, if a content viewing stop processing instruction signal has not been received (NO in step S212), the processing in steps S208, S210, and S212 is repeated to determine whether content data other than the output range exists. Always monitor for.

In FIG. 7, as described above, the content reproduction position is immediately before E, and content data from I to Q is output to the memory of the mobile terminal 4. At this time, if the user fast-forwards and skips the file E, the content playback position is changed immediately before F after fast-forwarding, and accordingly, the viewing end position is changed immediately before L. The data output start position is changed immediately before J, and the data output end position is changed immediately before S. Further, the content data I is erased and the content data R is added to the memory of the portable terminal 4.
If the content data is output to the mobile terminal 4 and the memory of the mobile terminal 4 has free space, the content is output again in step S205 in FIG. 8, and the above processing is continued until the viewing of the content is stopped.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing processing of the transcoding unit 12 of the content output apparatus (FIG. 2) according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The transcoding unit 12 receives the information of the transcode start position and end position set by the state control unit 14 via the storage unit 10 (step S251).
Then, the transcoding is sequentially performed from the start position of the designated range (step S252). However, when data that has already been transcoded exists in the storage unit 10 or the portable terminal 4, transcoding is not performed on the content data.
Then, the data transcoded in step S252 is transmitted to the data output control unit 13 (step S253).

In the first embodiment described above, as shown in FIG. 4, the data output control unit 13 performs the files (K, L) after the viewing end position p3 calculated by the content viewing position calculation unit 33 of the state control unit 14. , M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z) are read from the storage unit 10 according to the memory of the mobile terminal 4 and the mobile terminal 4 Output to. However, the processing of the data output control unit 13 is not limited to this.
For example, the data output control unit 13 sets the files (G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, and the like after the time t4 past a predetermined time (for example, 10 minutes) from the viewing end position p3. P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z) content may be read from the storage unit 10 and output to the portable terminal 4. By performing such a process, even if the time when the user goes out is advanced by a predetermined time (for example, 10 minutes), the content of the part that the user could not watch on TV-2 is displayed on the user's mobile terminal. 4 can be prevented from being unable to view a part of the content (G, H, I, J) by the user.

  In addition, the content viewing position calculation unit 13 may calculate the content viewing end position p4 at a time t4 that is past a predetermined time (for example, 10 minutes) from the scheduled viewing end time t3. By performing such processing, even if the user pauses the content to be displayed on the TV · 2 for a predetermined time (for example, 10 minutes), the user cannot view the content on the TV · 2 due to the pause. Since the contents of the file (G, H, I, J) can be output to the user's portable terminal 4, it is possible to prevent the user from being able to view part of the contents.

  According to the first embodiment of the present invention described above, by setting the time when the user goes out as the scheduled viewing end time, the content of the portion after the scheduled viewing end time is set as the portable terminal of the user who is the content output destination. 4, the user can continuously view the content that was being viewed on TV 2 on the mobile terminal 4.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the first embodiment, the case has been described in which the content output apparatus 1 storing content data is a hard disk recorder. However, the user feels that he / she wants to continue watching the content being viewed on the go using the mobile terminal 4 when he / she is watching VOD (Video On Demand) as well as the accumulated content. There is. In the second embodiment, a content output apparatus in the case of VOD viewing will be described.

  FIG. 10 is a schematic configuration diagram of the second embodiment of the present invention. In the second embodiment, a hard disk recorder with a VOD tuner is used as the content output device 5. The content output device 5 displays the content provided from the VOD service provider terminal 7 managed by the VOD service provider via the network 6 on the TV 2 connected to the content output device 5. Similar to the first embodiment, the content output device 5 is connected to the mobile terminal 4 via the cradle 3, and outputs the content transmitted from the VOD tuner included in the content output device 5 to the mobile terminal 4. The content output device 5 may include a terrestrial digital tuner instead of the VOD tuner. In that case, the user is viewing the content of the digital terrestrial television broadcast, and the content being viewed is continuously viewed on the go using the mobile terminal 4.

  FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the content output apparatus 5 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. Regarding the components of the second embodiment, the same components as those of the content output device 1 (FIG. 2) according to the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted. The content output device 5 is different from the content output device 1 according to the first embodiment in that the content output device 5 includes a VOD tuner 20 and a VOD tuner 21 connected to the network 6.

The VOD tuner 20 is a digital tuner related to the distribution of content data to the mobile terminal 4, and acquires content data of a portion that requires transcoding according to an instruction from the transcoding unit 12.
The VOD tuner 21 is a digital tuner related to distribution of content data to the TV · 2, and acquires content data to be viewed according to an instruction from the TV · 2.
In the first embodiment, content data is acquired from the storage unit 10, but in the second embodiment, content data is acquired from the VOD service provider terminal 7 through the network 61 and the VOD tuners 20 and 21. To do. Since the content output device 5 includes two VOD tuners, the user can transmit VOD content data to the portable terminal 4 while viewing the VOD content.

  In the first embodiment, the content output device 1 performs transcoding of content to be output to the mobile terminal 4. However, in the second embodiment, the VOD service provider terminal 7 is for the mobile terminal 4. Alternatively, pre-transcoded data may be provided. In this case, the content data transmitted from the VOD tuner 20 does not need to be transcoded by the transcoding unit 12, and the content data instructed by the storage unit 10 to the VOD tuner 20 is directly transmitted to the data output control unit 13. To do. However, if the content data needs to be encrypted, the content data is transmitted to the data output control unit 13 through the encryption unit 19.

(Third embodiment)
Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the first embodiment, the case where the content output device is a hard disk recorder has been described, and in the second embodiment, the case where the content output device is a hard disk recorder with a VOD tuner has been described. Currently, the DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) standard has risen and DLNA-compatible devices are increasing in household appliances. With this DLNA standard, it is expected that the world where all appliances are connected to the home network in the home will be expanded. In the third embodiment, a case will be described in which a content output apparatus that is assumed to support DLNA is used.

  FIG. 12 is a schematic configuration diagram of the third embodiment of the present invention. In the third embodiment, a DLNA-compatible content output device 60 is used as the content output device. The content stored in the DLNA compatible content server 62 is displayed on the TV 63 connected via the home network 61. Similarly to the first embodiment, the content output device 60 is connected to the mobile terminal 4 via the cradle 3, and the content stored in the DLNA compatible content server 62 is transferred to the network 61 and the content output device 60. Can be output to the portable terminal 4 via.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a content output device 60 according to the third embodiment of the present invention. The content output device 60 includes a storage unit 70, a transcoding unit 71, a data output control unit 72, a state control unit 73, a remote control signal receiving unit 74, an output result display unit 75, an encryption unit 76, and a reproduction position monitoring unit 77. Has been. The function of each part will be described below.
The storage unit 70 temporarily stores the content data transmitted from the DLNA content server 62 and temporarily stores the transcoded content data. If content data instructed to be output by the state control unit 73 does not exist in the storage unit 70, the storage unit 70 requests the DLNA content server 62 for necessary content data. If the content instructed by the state control unit 73 does not need to be transcoded, the content data is directly transmitted to the data output control unit 72.

The transcoding unit 71 transcodes the content data temporarily stored in the storage unit 70 into a format that can be viewed on the mobile terminal 4. The transcoded data is sent to the portable terminal 4 through the data output control unit 72. The data to be transcoded may be output directly from the DLNA content server 62 without using the storage unit 70.
The data output control unit 72 outputs content data to the mobile terminal 4, deletes already viewed content of the mobile terminal 4, monitors the available capacity of the mobile terminal 4, outputs data according to the capacity of the mobile terminal 4, and views Transmit stop position information. The configuration and operation of the data output control unit 72 are the same as those in the block diagram (FIG. 5) and the flowchart (FIG. 8) in the data output control unit 13 according to the first embodiment. Those descriptions are omitted.

  The state control unit 73 uses the remote control signal receiving unit 74 to set the content viewing end time set by the user or the end time set by the user transmitted from the TV 63 corresponding to the DLNA connected to the home network 61. A signal is received to set a content viewing end position. Further, the current playback position on the playback time axis of the content is acquired from the playback position monitoring unit 77, the transcoding start position and end position are determined from the scheduled viewing end time and playback position set by the user, and stored. The unit 70 and the data output control unit 72 are controlled. The configuration of the state control unit 73 will be described later.

The remote control signal receiving unit 74 receives the infrared signal of the remote control operated by the user, interprets the infrared signal as a command, and notifies the state control unit 73 of the received infrared signal. Note that the communication system of the remote controller is not limited to infrared, but Bluetooth (registered trademark), a wireless system, or the like can be used instead.
The output result display unit 75 displays the output result of the content to the mobile terminal 4 on the TV 63 when the content is stopped. This displays results such as whether the content could be output to the mobile terminal 4 as instructed by the user, and how many minutes of content could be output to the mobile terminal 4.

The encryption unit 76 performs encryption processing of the content data transcoded by the transcoding unit 71 and sends it to the data output control unit 72. Content that does not need to be encrypted is sent directly from the transcode unit 71 to the data output control unit 72.
The playback position monitoring unit 77 monitors the playback position of the content data transmitted from the DLNA content server 62 when the content data is played back on the TV 63 that supports DLNA. In addition, when playback control such as fast-forward, rewind, and pause is performed by the user and a change occurs in the playback position, a playback control signal after changing the viewing content is sent to the state control unit 73.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the data output control unit 73 of the content output apparatus (FIG. 13) according to the third embodiment of the present invention. The state control unit 73 includes a viewing unit 80, a scheduled viewing end time setting unit 81, a content viewing position calculation unit 82, an output data position setting unit 83, and an end time monitoring unit 84. The function of each part will be described below.
The viewing unit 80 acquires the content playback control signal from the playback position monitoring unit 77 and monitors the current playback position on the playback time axis of the content.
The scheduled viewing end time setting unit 81 sets the scheduled viewing end time input by the user.

The content viewing position calculation unit 82 views the content based on the scheduled viewing end time, the playback position time that is an elapsed time from the start time of the content, and the content playback position that is the position where the content is played back at the playback position time. The end position is calculated.
The output data position setting unit 83 determines the output data start position and end position of the viewing content. The capacity limitation of data output is limited by designation by the user or limited according to the capacity of the external device.
The end time monitoring unit 84 instructs to stop the display of content on the TV 2 when the current time reaches the scheduled viewing end time.

  FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing processing of the state control unit 14 of the content output apparatus (FIG. 2) according to the third embodiment of the present invention. The content output device 60 and the portable terminal 4 are connected via the cradle 3. The user sets the end time when the content output device 60 is turned on and the user views the content.

  First, the user operates the remote control of the TV 63 corresponding to DLNA, and sets the scheduled viewing end position of the content to be viewed by the scheduled viewing end time setting unit 81 (step S301). For example, if the time when the user goes out is determined, the time that can be viewed up to that time is set. As a method for setting the end time, a method of setting an absolute time such as what hour and minute and a method of setting a relative time such as how many hours and minutes after the current time can be selected. It is also possible to register a schedule in advance, read from the schedule, and set it automatically. Note that the user can also set the viewing end position while viewing the content.

Then, the viewing unit 80 acquires information about the content to be viewed (step S302).
Then, the viewing unit 80 outputs an initialization command to the data output control unit 72 (step S303). As a result, the data output control unit 72 starts processing.
Then, the viewing unit 80 acquires the playback position information of the viewing content from the playback position monitoring unit 77 (step S304).
Then, the content viewing position calculation unit 82 performs content viewing end position designation processing, and the output data position setting unit 83 performs content data output start position and output end position designation processing to be output to the transcoding unit. Performed (step S305).

The output data position setting unit 83 acquires information about the scheduled viewing end time, determines the output start position and output end position of the content data, and instructs the storage unit 70 to output from the output start position to the end position of the content data. . Regarding the output start position of content data, the position of a certain amount of content data (content data estimated to be already viewed) is set as the output start position before the scheduled end time of viewing (content viewing start position side).
The output start position is located behind the viewing content playback position (content end position side). As for the content data output end position, the output end position is determined by calculating the content data amount that can be output from the data capacity specified by the user or the memory capacity of the portable terminal 4. When there is sufficient capacity, the content end position is set as the output end position.

  When playback control such as fast-forward, rewind, and pause is performed by the user and a change occurs in the playback position, it is determined whether or not a playback control signal after changing the viewing content is received from the playback position monitoring unit 77. (Step S306). When the reproduction control signal is received (YES in step S306), it is determined whether or not the reproduction control signal is a stop signal (step S307). If the playback control signal is a stop signal (YES in step S307), the playback control unit 30 instructs the viewing unit 31 to stop the data output control unit 13 and the storage unit 10 (step S310). If the playback control signal is not a stop signal (NO in step S307), playback control such as fast forward, rewind, and pause is executed according to the received playback control signal (step S308). Since the playback position is changed when the playback control process is executed, the viewing unit 31 acquires the playback control signal, and changes the data output start position and output end position accordingly.

When the viewing end time is reached (YES in step S309), content viewing is stopped, and the end time monitoring unit 35 instructs the viewing unit 31 to stop processing (step S310). In the content stop processing in step S310, the viewing unit 31 receives the stop signal and issues a stop processing command to the data output control unit 13 and the storage unit 10. Thus, the content stop process is completed.
If the content output device according to the embodiment of the present invention is used, even if the user performs playback control in the middle of the content, the mobile terminal can surely view the content from the middle. In addition, since the minimum content can be transferred from the content output device to the mobile terminal, the memory of the mobile terminal can be used effectively.

  In the embodiment described above, the storage unit, decoding unit, transcoding unit, data output control unit, status control unit, remote control signal receiving unit, content selection unit, output result display unit in FIGS. , Recording the decryption unit, the function of the encryption unit or a program for realizing a part of these functions on a computer-readable recording medium, and causing the computer system to read the program recorded on the recording medium, The content output device may be controlled by executing the control. Here, the “computer system” includes an OS and hardware such as peripheral devices.

  The “computer-readable recording medium” refers to a storage device such as a flexible medium, a magneto-optical disk, a portable medium such as a ROM and a CD-ROM, and a hard disk incorporated in a computer system. Further, the “computer-readable recording medium” dynamically holds a program for a short time, like a communication line when transmitting a program via a network such as the Internet or a communication line such as a telephone line. In this case, it is also assumed that a server that holds a program for a certain time, such as a volatile memory inside a computer system that serves as a server or client. The program may be a program for realizing a part of the functions described above, and may be a program capable of realizing the functions described above in combination with a program already recorded in a computer system.

  The embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and includes designs and the like that do not depart from the gist of the present invention.

It is a schematic block diagram of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the content output device 1 by the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the state control part 14 of the content output device 1 (FIG. 2) by the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the method for the content viewing position calculation part 33 by the 1st Embodiment of this invention to calculate the content viewing end position in the scheduled viewing end time. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the data output control part 13 of the content output device (FIG. 2) by the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process of the state control part 14 of the content output device (FIG. 2) by the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the setting method of the viewing end position by the 1st Embodiment of this invention, a data output start position, the data output end position, and the process after reception of a reproduction control signal. It is a flowchart which shows the process of the data output control part 13 of the content output device (FIG. 2) by the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process of the transcoding part 12 of the content output device (FIG. 2) by the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic block diagram of the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the content output device 5 by the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic block diagram of the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the content output device 60 by the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the data output control part 73 of the content output device (FIG. 13) by the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process of the state control part 14 of the content output device (FIG. 2) by the 3rd Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1, 5 ... content output device, 2 ... TV, 3 ... cradle, 4 ... mobile terminal, 7 ... VOD service provider terminal, 9 ... video cable, 10, 70 ..Storage unit, 11... Decoding unit, 12, 71... Transcoding unit, 13, 72... Data output control unit, 14, 73. Signal receiving unit, 16 ... content selection unit, 17, 75 ... output result display unit, 18 ... decryption unit, 19, 76 ... encryption unit, 20, 21 ... VOD tuner, 30 ... Playback control unit, 31 ... Viewing unit, 32 ... Expected viewing end time setting unit, 33 ... Content viewing position calculation unit, 34 ... Output data position setting unit, 35 ... End time monitoring unit, 40... Content output unit, 41. Listening content deletion instructing unit, 42... Usable capacity monitoring unit, 43... Capacity securing unit, 44 .. viewing stop position information transmitting unit, 45... External device connection monitoring unit, 62. Corresponding content server, 63... DLNA compatible TV, 77.

Claims (11)

Storage means for storing content;
Display control means for reading content from the storage means and displaying the content on a display device;
A scheduled viewing end time acquisition means for acquiring a scheduled viewing end time;
Content viewing end position calculating means for calculating a content viewing end position at the scheduled viewing end time;
Content output means for reading the content of the portion after the viewing end position calculated by the content viewing end position calculating means from the storage means and outputting it to a content output destination;
A content output apparatus comprising:   2. The content output according to claim 1, wherein the content output unit reads the content of a portion after a predetermined time after the viewing end position from the storage unit and outputs the content to a content output destination. apparatus.   The content output apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the content viewing end position calculating unit calculates a content viewing end position at a time past a predetermined time from the scheduled viewing end time.   The content viewing end position calculation means calculates the content viewing end position a plurality of times, and if the newly calculated viewing end position is different from the previously calculated viewing end position, the newly calculated viewing end position 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the content of a subsequent portion that has not yet been output to the content output destination is read from the storage unit and output to the content output destination. 5. The content output device described.   Deletion instructing means for transmitting an instruction to the content output destination so as to delete the part of the content displayed by the display control means on the display device among the contents output to the content output destination by the content output means. The content output device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein   The deletion instructing unit sends the content output destination to the content output destination so as to delete the portion of the content output by the content output unit to the content output destination before the viewing end position calculated by the content viewing end position calculating unit. The content output apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the instruction is transmitted.   The deletion instructing unit transmits an instruction to the content output destination so as to delete the unviewed content output by the content output unit to the content output destination from a portion of the content close to the end position of the content. 6. The content output apparatus according to claim 5, wherein   8. The content output apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising transcoding means for transcoding the content before outputting the content from the content output means to the content output destination. Viewing stop position information acquisition means for acquiring viewing stop position information, which is a position where the display control means stops the content to be displayed on the display device;
Viewing stop position information transmitting means for transmitting the viewing stop position information to the content output destination when the viewing stop position information acquiring means acquires the viewing stop position information;
The content output device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, further comprising: Computer
Storage means for storing content;
Display control means for reading content from the storage means and displaying the content on a display device;
A scheduled viewing end time acquisition means for acquiring a scheduled viewing end time;
Content viewing end position calculating means for calculating a content viewing end position at the scheduled viewing end time;
Content output means for reading the content of the portion after the viewing end position calculated by the content viewing end position calculating means from the storage means and outputting it to a content output destination;
Program to function as. The storage means stores the content,
The content is read from the storage means and displayed on the display device by the display control means,
The scheduled viewing end time acquisition means acquires the scheduled viewing end time,
Content viewing end position calculating means calculates the content viewing end position at the scheduled viewing end time;
A content output method, wherein the content after the viewing end position calculated by the content viewing end position calculating means is read from the storage means, and the content output means outputs to the content output destination.

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