JP2008005258A - Recording / reproducing apparatus, image signal transmitting apparatus, recording / reproducing method, image signal transmitting method, and data structure - Google Patents

Abstract

To prevent viewers from losing the sense of reality of a program, and to prevent CM viewers from seeing commercials at all for CM sponsors.
An image signal recorded on a recording medium includes program contents P1, P2, advertisement contents C1, C2, C3, and alternative contents S1, S2, S3. The alternative contents S1, S2, and S3 are associated with the advertisement contents C1, C2, and C3, respectively, and the reproduction times are shorter than the advertisement contents C1, C2, and C3, respectively. When a high-speed playback operation such as a frame advance operation is performed during normal playback of the advertisement contents C1, C2, and C3, the alternative contents S1, S2, and S3 are played back.
[Selection] Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to an image signal recording / reproducing apparatus, an image signal transmitting apparatus, a recording / reproducing method, an image signal transmitting method, and a data structure including program content and advertisement content.

  A technique has been proposed in which a CM (Commercial Message) recorded together with a program is easily skipped when a program recorded on a recording medium such as a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk) or HDD (Hard Disk Drive) is viewed. For example, Patent Document 1 proposes a technique of detecting a CM during reproduction and automatically skipping the CM, and Patent Document 2 proposes a technique of not recording the CM itself during recording. However, according to these technologies, the viewer does not watch the CM at all when viewing the recorded program, which is a great disadvantage for the CM sponsor. In particular, since a long-time program is often viewed after recording, there is a high possibility that the viewer will not see the CM using the frame advance function or the skip function.

  For this reason, Patent Document 3 proposes a technique in which a descrambling signal for a subsequent program is inserted at the end of each CM so that the subsequent program cannot be unscrambled unless all the CMs are viewed. However, in Patent Document 3, since the viewer is forced to watch the CM, the realism of the program being watched is lost, and the total program viewing time including the CM cannot be shortened. It will cause great pain to the viewer. Therefore, from the viewpoint of balancing the interests of the viewer and the CM sponsor, the viewer who wants to skip the CM is to perform the frame advance by manual operation when viewing the recorded program. It is considered best to see

  Also, as a technique for enabling viewers to quickly grasp the contents of video software such as dramas in a short time by fast-forwarding, frame-by-frame, etc., Patent Document 4 discloses a change position of image data of video software such as a program. A technique for extracting a representative image based on change information and generating a summary of video software has been proposed. Further, Patent Document 5 proposes a method of detecting a change in a screen cut of an input video signal and selecting a screen at a specific time position within one cut as a digest screen. It is conceivable to apply this to CM, for example, to create a CM digest and play it back when sending frames.

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 4-62525 JP-A-2005-86434 JP 2003-61063 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-232828 JP-A-9-270997

  However, in the methods of Patent Documents 4 and 5, since screens that are not determined in advance by the broadcasting station side such as the CM producer are automatically extracted from the existing video data, the joints between the extracted screens are used. It is difficult to make the viewers fit well so as not to make the viewer feel uncomfortable. In addition, it takes a lot of time and effort to automatically extract a screen predetermined by the broadcasting station from existing video data. In particular, in order to create a summary that can grasp the contents of short contents of 1 to 2 minutes or less like commercials, it is necessary to add detailed flags to select the screen used for digest, It will be very time consuming.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a recording / reproducing apparatus and a recording / reproducing method in which a viewer does not lose the sense of reality of a program and a CM sponsor does not view a CM at all by a viewer. It is.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide an image signal transmitting apparatus and an image signal transmitting method that do not require a troublesome work related to CM on the broadcasting station side.

  Still another object of the present invention is to provide a data structure suitable for use in the recording / reproducing apparatus and the image signal transmitting apparatus.

  The recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention includes: a receiving unit that receives an image signal including program content, advertising content, and alternative content that is associated with the advertising content and has a shorter playback time than the advertising content; and the receiving unit receives A recording means for recording the image signal on the recording medium, an extraction means for selectively extracting any one of the advertising content and the alternative content from the image signal recorded on the recording medium in accordance with a command from the user, A reproduction unit that reproduces the advertisement content and the alternative content extracted by the extraction unit.

  In another aspect, the recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention includes a receiving unit that receives an image signal including program content, advertising content, and alternative content that is associated with the advertising content and has a shorter reproduction time than the advertising content. Recording means for recording the image signal received by the receiving means on a recording medium, normal playback operation of the content included in the image signal recorded on the recording medium, and high-speed playback of the content faster than normal playback A user input unit in which a playback operation and a playback stop operation for stopping playback of content are selectively performed by a user, and when the user performs the normal playback operation on the user input unit, recording is performed on the recording medium. The program content and advertisement content included in the received image signal are normally played back in sequence, and the program content is played back normally. When the user performs the high-speed playback operation on the user input unit, the program content being normally played back is played back at high speed, and during the normal playback of advertisement content, the user performs the high-speed playback on the user input unit. When a playback operation is performed, a playback unit that normally plays back alternative content included in the image signal recorded on the recording medium is provided.

  The recording / reproducing method of the present invention includes a receiving step for receiving an image signal including program content, advertising content, and alternative content associated with the advertising content and having a shorter playback time than the advertising content, and receiving in the receiving step. A recording step of recording the recorded image signal on a recording medium, and an extraction step of selectively extracting any one of the advertisement content and the alternative content from the image signal recorded in the recording step in accordance with a command from the user; A reproduction step of reproducing the advertisement content and the alternative content extracted in the extraction step.

  In another aspect, the recording / reproducing method of the present invention includes a receiving step of receiving an image signal including program content, advertising content, and alternative content associated with the advertising content and having a shorter reproduction time than the advertising content; A recording step for recording the image signal received in the reception step on a recording medium, and a program content and an advertisement included in the image signal recorded on the recording medium when a normal playback command for the content included in the image signal is given. If a high-speed playback command is given that causes content to be normally played back in sequence and the content to be played at a higher speed than normal playback during normal playback of the program content, the program content being played back at normal speed is If a high-speed playback command is given during playback, the image recorded on the recording medium will be displayed. And a reproduction step for normal playback alternative content included in the signal.

  According to the above configuration, the alternative content that is played as a substitute for the advertising content has a shorter playback time than the advertising content, so that the viewer does not lose the realism of the program being watched, and the total There is an advantage that the program viewing time can be shortened. In addition, since the alternative content is normally reproduced when the viewer tries to reproduce the advertisement content at high speed, the CM sponsor can avoid a situation in which the CM is not viewed by the viewer at all. There are advantages.

  In the present invention, the program content, the advertisement content, and the alternative content may be either a moving image or a still image, or may be accompanied by sound. The “high-speed playback” may be any playback that is performed at a higher speed than normal playback, and is at least one of so-called frame advance, fast forward, rewind (fast reverse), and the like. One included.

  In the recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention, when the image signal includes a plurality of advertisement contents and the same number of alternative contents as the plurality of advertisement contents between two program contents adjacent to each other, When normal playback of the alternative content is started, it is preferable that the alternative content is normally played back continuously until the playback of the alternative content associated with the advertisement content arranged immediately before the next program content is completed. As a result, the user who desires high-speed playback of all advertising content is not forced to perform high-speed playback operations over and over.

  In the recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention, when the user performs the normal reproduction operation on the user input unit, the reproduction unit replaces the image signal recorded on the recording medium with program content, advertisement content, and the like. Data analysis means for separating content, program content output from the data analysis means, and first storage area for temporarily storing the advertisement content as being played back in different time zones, and It is preferable to include a memory having a second storage area in which the alternative content is temporarily stored as being played back within a time zone in which the advertisement content stored in the first storage area is played back. As a result, the content can be reproduced smoothly.

  In the recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention, it is preferable that the recording unit records the image signal received by the receiving unit on the recording medium so that the alternative content is reproduced within a time zone in which the advertisement content is reproduced. . As a result, the advertising content and the alternative content are recorded at the same time-axis location, so that it is possible to quickly switch between the reproduction of the advertising content and the reproduction of the alternative content.

  In the recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention, the reproducing means is the last screen of the alternative content after the reproduction time of the alternative content ends and until the user performs a normal reproduction operation or a reproduction stop operation on the user input unit. It is preferable to play the alternative content so that is output as a still image. Thereby, the commercial effect can be increased.

  The image signal transmitting apparatus according to the present invention includes an image signal generating unit that generates an image signal including program content, advertising content, and alternative content that is associated with the advertising content and has a shorter playback time than the advertising content; Transmitting means for transmitting the image signal generated by the signal generating means.

  An image signal transmission method of the present invention includes an image signal generation step of generating an image signal including program content, advertising content, and alternative content that is associated with the advertising content and has a shorter playback time than the advertising content; A transmission step of transmitting the image signal generated in the signal generation step.

  According to the above configuration, since the broadcast station side such as the CM producer only needs to prepare alternative content to be played instead of the advertisement content, it is very troublesome for the broadcast station side to add a detailed flag. There is an advantage that it becomes unnecessary.

  The image signal transmitting apparatus according to the present invention further includes storage means for storing program content, advertisement content, and alternative content of the advertisement content, and association means for associating the advertisement content and the alternative content stored in the storage means. It's okay. At this time, the image signal generation means generates an image signal using the association result by the association means. As a result, the image signal can be easily generated by the image signal generating means.

  The data structure of the present invention is a data structure of an image signal used for playback on a playback device, and is associated with program content, advertising content played back in a different time zone from the program content, and advertising content. And the alternative content whose reproduction time is shorter than the said advertisement content is included.

  Thereby, it is possible to provide a data structure suitable for use in the recording / reproducing apparatus and the image signal transmitting apparatus.

  In the data structure of the present invention, it is preferable that the alternative content is associated with the advertising content as being played back within the time zone when the advertising content is played back. As a result, the advertising content and the alternative content are located at the same time axis location, and it is possible to quickly switch between the reproduction of the advertising content and the reproduction of the alternative content in the recording / reproducing apparatus.

  Furthermore, in the data structure of the present invention, it is preferable that an end flag is disposed at the playback end position of the alternative content associated with the advertising content played immediately before the program content. This makes it possible to reliably detect the playback end position of the alternative content.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a television broadcast digital recording / playback device operated by a viewer who is a user and a TV monitor connected thereto. In FIG. 1, the digital recording / reproducing device 10 has a CPU 11 that controls the operations (including reception, reproduction, and recording operations) of each unit connected to each other via a bus line 19. The digital recording / reproducing device 10 may be used to include operations related to reproduction such as channel selection operation, recording operation, and reproduction operation (fast forward, fast reverse, and reproduction stop) of a TV broadcast channel desired to be viewed. ), A user input unit 12 for performing various operations by the user such as a recording reservation operation and a recording reservation confirmation operation. Specifically, the user input unit 12 includes a touch panel provided with a plurality of buttons or a plurality of sensing areas that can be pressed by the user. The user input unit 12 is a main body housing of the digital recording / reproducing device 10 and a remote controller (not shown) that is separate from the main body housing and can communicate with the main body wirelessly (infrared) or by wire. (Not shown) may be provided on both of them, or may be provided on only one of them.

  The image signal receiving unit 13 is an image / audio signal (hereinafter simply referred to as “image signal”) that is wirelessly transmitted from the broadcast antenna and received by the reception antenna or wired from the wired broadcast facility via a cable. A broadcast signal input interface (not shown). When receiving a TV broadcast reception command from the CPU 11 based on a recording operation to the user input unit 12 or the like, the image signal receiving unit 13 starts receiving an image / audio signal. The image signal receiving unit 13 performs processing such as channel selection and amplification of the received image / sound signal.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing an example of the data structure of the image signal among the image / sound signals received by the image signal receiving unit 13 in the present embodiment. The audio signal has the same data structure as the image signal, but the description thereof is omitted here.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the image signal received by the image signal receiving unit 13 includes program content and advertisement content sandwiched between two program content adjacent to each other. In the example of FIG. 2, the three advertising contents C1, C2, and C3 are arranged between the program content P1 and the program content P2 so that they are located in different time zones and adjacent ones are continuous without interruption. Yes. Therefore, during normal playback of the recorded image signal, the program content P1, the three advertisement contents C1, C2, C3, and the program content P2 are successively played back in this order.

  Each advertisement content is associated with an alternative content having a reproduction time shorter than that of the advertisement content as being reproduced within a time zone during which each advertisement content is reproduced. Specifically, the alternative content S1 is associated with the advertising content C1, the alternative content S2 is associated with the advertising content C2, and the alternative content S3 is associated with the advertising content C3 as being reproduced within the same time period. The magnitude relationship between the playback times of the two contents associated with each other is C1> S1, C2> S2, and C3> S3. In addition, the advertising content and the alternative content associated therewith are located at the same time axis location.

  As will be described later, the alternative content is reproduced when the user who is viewing the recorded advertisement content performs a frame advance operation (or fast forward operation or fast reverse operation) and is output as an image from the TV monitor 16. Is. Further, when the alternative content is accompanied by an audio signal, it is also output as audio related to the alternative content from a speaker (not shown) provided in the TV monitor 16. In general, alternative content includes moving and / or still images of the same product (or another product with the same sponsor) included in the associated advertising content (and also audio associated with these images). May be included). Note that the playback direction during the fast reverse operation is not the reverse direction, but is the same as during normal playback.

  Furthermore, the reproduction start times of the alternative contents S1, S2, and S3 are the same as the reproduction start times of the advertisement contents C1, C2, and C3, respectively. Therefore, the alternative contents S1, S2, and S3 can be reproduced only in the same time zone as the advertisement contents C1, C2, and C3 are reproduced, respectively. The three alternative contents S1, S2, S3 are normally reproduced continuously in this order until the reproduction of the alternative content S3 is finished, and the alternative contents associated with the advertising content C3 arranged immediately before the program content P2 When the reproduction of S3 is finished, a pause state described later is set.

  An end (END) flag is placed at the playback end position of the alternative content S3 that is positioned most recently among the three alternative contents S1, S2, and S3, that is, associated with the advertising content C3 that is played immediately before the program content P2. Is arranged. As will be described later, this end flag is provided to detect the playback end position of the alternative content S3. Note that the image reproduced last in the alternative content S3 is the image most important in the alternative content S3 and considered by the sponsor to appeal to the viewer (for example, an image including a product photo and name). It has become. Thereby, as described later, the advertising effect can be increased.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the image / audio signal that has been subjected to processing such as channel selection and amplification in the image signal receiving unit 13 is sent to the drive unit 15 in accordance with instructions from the CPU 11 based on various operations to the user input unit 12. It is recorded as a digital signal on the included DVD or HDD, or displayed on the TV monitor 16 (in addition, sound is output from a speaker (not shown)). The drive unit 15 includes an optical pickup for reading / writing image / audio signals from / to a DVD and a magnetic head for reading / writing image / audio signals from / to a hard disk. The data structure of the image signal recorded on the recording medium of the drive unit 15 is the same as that described with reference to FIG.

  The output control unit 14 receives a command from the CPU 11 and determines whether or not to output the image / audio signal output from the image signal receiving unit 13 to the TV monitor 16. Control which one of them. Further, as will be described later, the output control unit 14 monitors the playback position of the image signal in the memory unit 18 during playback of the recorded content.

  The digital recording / reproducing device 10 also includes a data analysis unit 17. When the content included in the image / audio signal stored in the drive unit 15 is reproduced (when a reproduction operation is performed on the user input unit 12), the image / audio signal which is a digital signal is received from the drive unit 15. The data is sent to the data analysis unit 17. The data analysis unit 17 analyzes the image / audio signal sent from the drive unit 15 and classifies the image / audio signal into program content, advertisement content, and alternative content based on the result. Then, the program content and the advertising content are temporarily stored in the first storage area 18a of the memory unit 18 as the ones that are adjacent to each other in different time zones and are continuously played back. The content is temporarily stored in the second storage area 18b of the memory unit 18. At this time, the substitute content stored in the second storage area 18b includes association information with the advertisement content stored in the first storage area 18a (that is, to which advertisement content in the first storage area 18a (Information indicating whether it corresponds) is attached. The association information here may be, for example, information relating to the time period in which the alternative content is reproduced or the playback order of the alternative content after the end of the previous program content. Due to this association information, the advertisement content stored in the first storage area 18a and the alternative content stored in the second storage area 18b have the same time position for reproduction. The second storage area 18b has a smaller capacity than the first image area 18a.

  A specific reproduction operation will be described. It means that the user performs a normal reproduction operation on the user input unit 12 (in this embodiment, an operation performed by the user on the user input unit 12 in order to reproduce the program content at the same speed as when broadcasting, In general, this means that the play button is pressed), and the program content and advertisement content temporarily stored in the first storage area 18a of the memory unit 18 are output control units that receive instructions from the CPU 11 In accordance with the control of No. 14, the TV monitor 16 (and speakers) are sequentially supplied so as to be played back at normal speed (normal playback), and output without interruption until the end of playback. During the reproduction of the content, the CPU 11 monitors whether the content being reproduced is program content or advertisement content via the output control unit 14.

  When the user performs a high-speed playback operation (meaning any one of frame advance, fast forward, and fast reverse operations in the present embodiment) on the user input unit 12, the CPU 11 via the output control unit 14 Information about whether the content being reproduced is program content or advertising content, as well as information about which program content or advertising content is acquired. As a result, if the content being reproduced is a program content, the program content temporarily stored in the first storage area 18a of the memory unit 18 is normally reproduced in accordance with the control of the output control unit 14 in response to an instruction from the CPU 11. Are sequentially supplied to and output from the TV monitor 16 (and speakers) so as to be reproduced at a higher speed (high-speed reproduction).

  On the other hand, if the content being reproduced is advertising content, it is stored in the second storage area 18b of the memory unit 18 as being to be reproduced in the same time zone as the advertising content according to the control of the output control unit 14 in response to the instruction from the CPU 11. The temporarily stored alternative contents are sequentially supplied to the TV monitor 16 (and speakers) and output so as to be normally reproduced.

  When normal playback of the alternative content (substitute content S3 in the example of FIG. 2) immediately before the start of the subsequent program content is finished without starting another playback operation after the normal playback of the alternative content is started, The digital recording / reproducing apparatus 10 is in a pause state in a state where a reproduction signal is output so that the screen is displayed on the TV monitor 16. In this paused state, the subsequent program content can be cueed, so that when the user performs a normal reproduction operation on the user input unit 12 thereafter, the next program content can be viewed immediately. According to the present embodiment, since the next program content can be cued reliably at the time of frame advance, there is an advantage that the user can save time. In addition, a large advertisement effect can be obtained by using the product image and name as described above to be displayed on the TV monitor 16 in this pause state. In particular, since the user is staring at the TV monitor 16 at this time, a greater advertising effect can be expected than simply displaying the advertising content. That is, the profit is great for both the user and the sponsor.

  Next, details of the reproducing operation of the digital recording / reproducing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  First, in step S1, the CPU 11 repeatedly determines whether or not a reproduction operation has been performed on the user input unit 12. If a reproduction operation has been performed (S1: YES), the process proceeds to step S2. In step S2, the CPU 11 determines whether or not the reproduction operation to the user input unit 12 is a normal reproduction operation. In the case of a normal playback operation (S2: YES), in step S3, program content and advertisement content temporarily stored in the first storage area 18a of the memory unit 18 from the drive unit 15 via the data analysis unit 17 are stored. Then, under the control of the output control unit 14, it starts to be sequentially output to the TV monitor 16 as being normally reproduced, and then returns to step S1.

  If it is not a normal reproduction operation (S2: NO), in step S4, the CPU 11 determines whether or not the reproduction operation to the user input unit 12 is a high-speed reproduction operation. If it is not a high speed reproduction operation (S4: NO), it is determined that the operation is a reproduction stop operation, and the reproduction operation is terminated. If it is a high-speed playback operation (S4: YES), the process proceeds to step S5. In step S5, the CPU 11 determines whether or not normal reproduction is currently being performed, that is, whether or not normal reproduction of program content and advertisement content started in step S3 is continuing. If it is determined that normal playback is not being performed, that is, playback is stopped or high-speed playback is being performed (S5: NO), the process returns to step S1. On the other hand, if it is determined that normal reproduction is being performed (S5: YES), the process proceeds to step S6.

  In step S <b> 6, the CPU 11 determines via the output control unit 14 whether the program content or the advertising content is currently being normally reproduced. If the program content is being normally reproduced (S6: YES), in step S7, the program content temporarily stored in the first storage area 18a of the memory unit 18 is reproduced at high speed according to the control of the output control unit 14. Thus, the TV monitor 16 starts to be sequentially supplied, and then returns to step S1.

  If the advertisement content is being normally reproduced (S6: NO), in step S8, the CPU 11 acquires position information of the advertisement content being normally reproduced via the output control unit. In step S <b> 9, the alternative content associated with the advertisement content that is being normally reproduced is extracted from the second storage area 18 b of the memory unit 18 and output to the TV monitor 16 according to the control of the output control unit 14. Thereby, the normal reproduction of the alternative content starts.

  Next, in step S <b> 10, the CPU 11 determines whether or not a reproduction operation has been performed on the user input unit 12. And when reproduction | regeneration operation is not performed (S10: NO), it transfers to the process of step S11. In step S11, the CPU 11 determines whether or not the playback position of the alternative content has reached the end flag. If the playback position has not reached the end flag (S11: NO), the process returns to step S10. If the playback position has reached the end flag (S11: YES), the process proceeds to step S12. In step S12, the digital recording / reproducing apparatus 10 is in a pause state in a state where a reproduction signal is output so that the final screen of the alternative content in which the end flag is arranged is displayed on the TV monitor 16. Then, the process returns to step S1. This pause state is continued until the next step S3 is reached or the reproduction is ended from step S4.

  On the other hand, when a reproduction operation is performed during normal reproduction of the alternative content (S10: YES), the process proceeds to step S13. In step S13, the CPU 11 determines whether or not the reproduction operation to the user input unit 12 is a normal reproduction operation. If it is a normal playback operation (S13: YES), in step S14, the advertising content temporarily stored in the first storage area 18a of the memory unit 18 from the drive unit 15 via the data analysis unit 17 (during normal playback) , Which are associated with the alternative content) started to be sequentially output to the TV monitor 16 as normally reproduced under the control of the output control unit 14, and then returns to step S1.

  If it is not the normal reproduction operation (S13: NO), in step S15, the CPU 11 determines whether or not the reproduction operation to the user input unit 12 is a high-speed reproduction operation. If it is a high-speed playback operation (S15: YES), the process returns to step S10 without performing any processing. In the flowchart of FIG. 3, it is assumed that only one of the frame advance operation, the fast forward operation, and the fast reverse operation is performed as the high speed reproduction operation. If it is not a high speed reproduction operation (S15: NO), it is determined that the operation is a reproduction stop operation, the reproduction operation of the alternative content is terminated, and the process returns to step S1. As a result, content image data is not supplied from the memory unit 18 to the TV monitor 16.

  When a high-speed playback operation such as frame advance is performed using the digital recording and playback device 10 described above, alternative content with a playback time shorter than that of the advertising content is played instead of the advertising content. There is an advantage that the realism of the program being played is not lost, and the total program viewing time can be shortened. In addition, since the alternative content is played when the viewer tries to play the advertising content at high speed, it is possible for the CM sponsor to avoid a situation in which the viewer does not watch the CM at all. There is.

  Further, in the digital recording / reproducing apparatus 10, as can be understood from going from step S9 to step S11 through step S10, it is determined whether or not the end flag arranged in the final alternative content has been reached. When normal playback of any one of the content alternatives starts, the alternative content is normally played continuously until the playback of the alternative content associated with the advertisement content arranged immediately before the next program content is finished. . Therefore, a user who desires high-speed playback of all advertising content is not forced to perform high-speed playback operations many times.

  In addition, the digital recording / reproducing apparatus 10 includes the data analysis unit 17 that analyzes the image signal and the memory unit 18 that stores the content in different areas according to the analysis result of the data analysis unit 17. It becomes possible to carry out smoothly.

  Further, in the digital recording / reproducing apparatus 10, the image signal received by the image signal receiving unit 13 is recorded on the recording medium of the drive unit 15 so that the alternative content is reproduced within the time period when the advertising content is reproduced. Therefore, the advertising content and the alternative content are located at the same time axis place, and it is possible to quickly switch between the reproduction of the advertising content and the reproduction of the alternative content.

  In addition, in the digital recording / reproducing apparatus 10, the last screen of the alternative content remains stationary after the playback time of the alternative content ends and until the user performs a normal playback operation or a playback stop operation on the user input unit 12. Since it is output as an image, the commercial effect can be increased.

  Next, an image signal transmitting apparatus according to the present embodiment which is a broadcasting facility in a broadcasting station that creates a broadcast signal received by the digital recording / reproducing device 10 will be described with reference to FIG. 4 which is a schematic block diagram thereof.

  The image signal transmission device 20 illustrated in FIG. 4 includes a CPU 21 that controls the operation of each unit connected to each other via a bus line 29. In addition, the image signal transmission device 20 includes a CM input unit 22 to which advertisement content created by the sponsor side and alternative content (reproduction time shorter than the advertisement content) are input. Specifically, the CM input unit 22 is a disk drive such as a DVD drive or a card-type recording medium reading device (card slot) such as a semiconductor memory card.

  The advertisement content input from the CM input unit 22 is temporarily stored in the first storage area 23a of the memory unit 23, and the alternative content is temporarily stored in the second storage area 23b of the memory unit 23. The program content is input to the image signal transmission device 20 from a program input unit 24 provided separately from the CM input unit 22. The input program content is temporarily stored in the first storage area 23 a of the memory unit 23.

  The CM editing unit 25 associates the advertisement content stored in the first storage area 23 a of the memory unit 23 with the alternative content stored in the second storage area 23 b of the memory unit 23. Specifically, information indicating which advertising content the alternative content corresponds to is assigned to the alternative content.

  The image signal generation unit 26 generates an image signal including these as a broadcast signal from the program content, the advertisement content, and the alternative content stored in the memory unit 23 using the association result by the CM editing unit 25. In the image signal generated by the image signal generation unit 26, the advertising content and the alternative content are associated with each other, and the reproduction time of the alternative content is shorter than the reproduction time of the advertising content. That is, the data structure of the image signal generated by the image signal generation unit 26 is the same as that shown in FIG.

  The transmission unit 27 transmits the image signal generated by the image signal generation unit 26 as a broadcast signal from the broadcast antenna.

  A method for transmitting an image signal by the image signal transmitting apparatus 20 of the present embodiment will be briefly described. First, the CM editing unit 25 associates the advertising content stored in the first storage area 23 a of the memory unit 23 with the alternative content stored in the second storage area 23 b of the memory unit 23. Next, the image signal generation unit 26 generates an image signal including these as a broadcast signal from the program content, the advertisement content, and the alternative content stored in the memory unit 23 using the association result by the CM editing unit 25. . When the CM editing unit 25 temporarily stores advertisement content and / or alternative content, the image signal generation unit 26 stores the advertising content and / or alternative content stored in the CM editing unit 25. An image signal may be generated using the image signal. Then, the transmission unit 27 transmits the image signal generated by the image signal generation unit 26 from the broadcast antenna.

  When the image signal is transmitted by the image signal transmitting apparatus 20 described above, the broadcast station side such as the CM producer only needs to prepare alternative content to be reproduced instead of the advertisement content, and thus the broadcast station side is detailed. There is an advantage that a very troublesome work such as adding a flag is unnecessary.

  The image signal transmission device 20 includes a CM editing unit 25 that associates the advertising content with the alternative content, and a memory unit 23 that temporarily stores the program content, the advertising content, and the alternative content. The image signal generation unit 26 can easily generate the image signal.

  The data structure according to the present embodiment shown in FIG. 2 is a data structure suitable for use in the digital recording / reproducing apparatus 10 and the image signal transmitting apparatus 20 described above. In this data structure, since the alternative content is associated with the advertising content as being played back within the time period when the advertising content is played back, the playback of the advertising content on the digital recording / reproducing device 10 and the It is possible to quickly switch between playback. In this data structure, since the end flag is arranged at the playback end position of the alternative content associated with the advertising content played immediately before the program content, the end of playback of the alternative content can be reliably detected. It becomes possible.

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various design changes can be made to the above-described embodiments as long as they are described in the claims. It is possible to apply. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the alternative content can be reproduced only during the normal reproduction of the advertising content. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the alternative content can be reproduced from the reproduction stopped state according to the user input operation. Either advertising content or alternative content may be extracted from the image signal.

  In the embodiment described above, advertising content and alternative content are so-called in both the image signal recorded in the drive unit 15 of the digital recording / reproducing device 10 and the image signal transmitted by the image signal transmitting device 20. Although recorded at the same time base location, the present invention is not limited to this, and in the image signal transmitted by the image signal transmitting apparatus 20, the alternative contents S1, S2, and S3 are the advertisement contents C1, C2, and C3, respectively. It may only be associated with.

  In the above-described embodiment, the end flag is arranged only for the last alternative content S3. However, the end flag is arranged for all the alternative contents so that the pause state is set at the end of reproduction of each alternative content. Good.

  In the above-described embodiment, the pause state is set after the reproduction of the last alternative content S3 is completed. However, the present invention is not limited to this, for example, after the reproduction of the last alternative content S3 is completed. Normal playback of subsequent program content may be started, or playback may be stopped.

  In the user input unit 12, the normal playback operation and the high-speed playback operation do not necessarily have to be performed with different operation buttons. For example, pressing a button during normal playback may be a high-speed playback operation, and release of pressing the button may be a normal playback operation.

It is a schematic block diagram of the digital recording and reproducing machine of the television broadcast which a user operates. It is the figure which showed typically an example of the data structure of an image signal among the image / sound signals which the image signal receiving part contained in the digital recording / reproducing apparatus shown in FIG. 1 receives. 3 is a flowchart showing a reproducing operation of the digital recording / reproducing apparatus shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of an image signal transmitting apparatus that creates a broadcast signal received by the digital recording / reproducing apparatus shown in FIG. 1.

Explanation of symbols

10 digital recording / reproducing machine 11 CPU (recording means, reproducing means, extracting means)
12 user input unit 13 image signal receiving unit (receiving means)
14 Output control unit (reproduction means)
15 Drive unit (recording medium, recording means)
16 TV monitor 17 Data analysis unit (extraction means, reproduction means)
18 Memory part (extraction means, reproduction means)
18a First storage area 18b Second storage area 19 Bus line 20 Image signal transmission device 21 CPU (image signal generation means)
22 CM input unit (image signal generating means)
23 Memory part (storage means)
23a First storage area 23b Second storage area 24 Program input section 25 CM editing section (association means)
26 Image signal generator (image signal generator)
27 Transmitter (Transmitter)
29 Bus line

Claims (14)

Receiving means for receiving an image signal including program content, advertising content, and alternative content associated with the advertising content and having a shorter playback time than the advertising content;
Recording means for recording the image signal received by the receiving means on a recording medium;
Extraction means for selectively extracting either advertising content or alternative content from the image signal recorded on the recording medium according to a command from a user;
A recording / reproducing apparatus comprising: reproducing means for reproducing advertisement content and alternative content extracted by the extracting means. Receiving means for receiving an image signal including program content, advertising content, and alternative content associated with the advertising content and having a shorter playback time than the advertising content;
Recording means for recording the image signal received by the receiving means on a recording medium;
A normal playback operation of content included in the image signal recorded on the recording medium, a high-speed playback operation for performing playback of content at a higher speed than normal playback, and a playback stop operation for stopping playback of content are performed by the user. A user input section that is selectively performed;
When the user performs the normal playback operation on the user input unit, the program content and the advertisement content included in the image signal recorded on the recording medium are normally played back sequentially, and the user can When the high-speed playback operation is performed on the user input unit, the program content being normally played back is played back at high speed, and the user performs the high-speed playback operation on the user input unit during normal playback of advertisement content. A recording / reproducing apparatus comprising: reproducing means for normally reproducing alternative content included in the image signal recorded on the recording medium.   When the image signal includes a plurality of advertisement contents between two program contents adjacent to each other and the same number of substitute contents as the plurality of advertisement contents, the reproduction means starts normal reproduction of any of the substitute contents 3. The recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the alternative content is normally reproduced continuously until the reproduction of the alternative content associated with the advertisement content arranged immediately before the next program content is completed. The reproducing means includes
A data analysis unit that separates an image signal recorded on the recording medium into program content, advertisement content, and alternative content when the user performs the normal reproduction operation on the user input unit;
A first storage area temporarily stored as a program content output from the data analysis means and an advertisement content to be played back at different times, and an advertising content stored in the first storage area 4. The recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising: a memory having a second storage area in which the alternative content is temporarily stored as being played back within a time zone in which the content is played back. 5. .   5. The recording unit according to claim 2, wherein the recording unit records the image signal received by the receiving unit on the recording medium so that the alternative content is reproduced within a time zone in which the advertisement content is reproduced. The recording / reproducing apparatus of any one of Claims.   The reproduction means outputs the final screen of the alternative content as a still image after the reproduction time of the alternative content ends and until the user performs a normal reproduction operation or a reproduction stop operation on the user input unit. 6. The recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the alternative content is reproduced. Image signal generation means for generating an image signal including program content, advertising content, and alternative content associated with the advertising content and having a shorter playback time than the advertising content;
An image signal transmitting apparatus comprising: a transmitting unit that transmits the image signal generated by the image signal generating unit. Storage means for storing program content, advertising content and alternative content of the advertising content;
An association means for associating the advertising content stored in the storage means with the alternative content,
The image signal transmitting apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the image signal generating unit generates an image signal using a result of association by the association unit. A receiving step of receiving an image signal including program content, advertising content, and alternative content associated with the advertising content and having a shorter playback time than the advertising content;
A recording step of recording the image signal received in the receiving step on a recording medium;
An extraction step of selectively extracting any one of the advertisement content and the alternative content from the image signal recorded in the recording step according to a command from the user;
A recording / reproducing method comprising: a reproducing step of reproducing the advertisement content and the alternative content extracted in the extraction step. A receiving step of receiving an image signal including program content, advertising content, and alternative content associated with the advertising content and having a shorter playback time than the advertising content;
A recording step of recording the image signal received in the receiving step on a recording medium;
When a normal playback instruction for content included in an image signal is given, program content and advertising content included in the image signal recorded on the recording medium are normally played back sequentially, and during normal playback of program content, When a high-speed playback command for performing high-speed content playback is given, program content being normally played back is played back at high speed, and when high-speed playback commands are given during normal playback of advertisement content, A recording / reproducing method comprising: a reproducing step of normally reproducing alternative content included in an image signal. An image signal generating step for generating an image signal including program content, advertising content, and alternative content associated with the advertising content and having a shorter playback time than the advertising content;
And a transmission step of transmitting the image signal generated in the image signal generation step. A data structure of an image signal provided for reproduction on a reproduction device,
Program content,
Advertising content played in a different time zone from the program content, and
A data structure characterized by including alternative content that is associated with advertising content and has a shorter playback time than the advertising content.   13. The data structure according to claim 12, wherein the alternative content is associated with the advertising content as being played back within a time zone when the advertising content is played back.   14. The data structure according to claim 12, wherein an end flag is arranged at a reproduction end position of the alternative content associated with the advertising content reproduced immediately before the program content.

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