Recording apparatus, recording program, and recording method

• US 20030099460A1
• Filed: 11/27/2002
• Published: 05/29/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 11/29/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Kawasaki, Masahiro, Imada, Masayuki, Horie, Masahiro, Suetomo, Toru, Hori, Ryuichi
• Granted Patent: US 7,254,318 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 386/329
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/213 Read-only discs
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/216 Rewritable discs
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/218 Write-once discs
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/2516 Hard disks
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/2525 Magneto-optical [MO] discs
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/2545 CDs
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/2562 DVDs [digital versatile discs]; Digital video discs; MMCDs; HDCDs
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/2575 DVD-RAMs
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/455 said record carriers being in one device and being used as primary and secondary/backup media, e.g. HDD-DVD combo device, or as source and target media, e.g. PC and portable player
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/034 on discs G11B27/036, G11B27/038 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/329 on a disc [VTOC]
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/34 Indicating arrangements indicating means incorporated in magazine or cassette G11B23/046 and G11B23/0875; indicating measured values in general G01D
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/36 Monitoring, i.e. supervising the progress of recording or reproducing for digital recording G11B20/00 and s.gr.; for monitoring, testing or measuring of TV recorders of the type covered by H04N5/76 and subgroups, see H04N17/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/115 Selection of the code volume for a coding unit prior to coding
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/149 by estimating the code amount by means of a model, e.g. mathematical model or statistical model
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/15 by monitoring actual compressed data size at the memory before deciding storage at the transmission buffer
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/152 by measuring the fullness of the transmission buffer
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/162 User input
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/172 the region being a picture, frame or field
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/42 characterised by implementation details or hardware specially adapted for video compression or decompression, e.g. dedicated software implementation H04N19/635 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/61 : in combination with predictive coding
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/625 : using discrete cosine transform [DCT]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4147 : PVR [Personal Video Recorder] H04N5/76 takes precedence ; arrangements for broadcast with accumulation-type receivers H04H20/40
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42646 : for reading from or writing on a non-volatile solid state storage medium, e.g. DVD, CD-ROM
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4334 : Recording operations recording of a television signal H04N5/76; arrangements for recording or accumulating broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/27
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4402 : involving reformatting operations of video signals for household redistribution, storage or real-time display details of conversion of video standards at pixel level H04N7/01; video transcoding H04N19/40; adapting incoming signals to the display format of the display terminal G09G5/005; media handling at the source in data packet switching networks H04L65/764
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/440209 : for formatting on an optical medium, e.g. DVD
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8045 : using predictive coding

Abstract

Disclosed is a recording apparatus for recording a plurality of audio-visual contents stored in a HD to a writable DVD. A drive controller 15 copies at least one of the contents stored in the HD to the DVD. If the available capacity of the DVD left after the copying falls short to copy a remaining content, the remaining content is re-encoded prior to being recorded in the DVD. The bit rate to be allocated to the remaining content upon re-encoding is calculated from the available capacity of the DVD and the reproduction time of the remaining content to be re-encoded.

Claims

1. A recording apparatus for writing a plurality of contents stored in a first recording medium to a second recording medium that is smaller in capacity than the first recording medium, each content being obtained by encoding moving pictures, the recording apparatus comprising:

a first duplicating unit operable to copy at least one of the contents to the second recording medium; and

a second duplicating unit operable to re-encode a remaining one of the contents to reduce a size thereof, and to write the re-encoded content to the second recording medium, wherein

a bit rate to be allocated to the remaining content upon re-encoding is determined based on

(i) a residual capacity of the second recording medium that is left after subtracting, from a current capacity, a size of the content to be copied by the first duplicating unit, and

(ii) a reproduction time of the remaining content to be re-encoded by the second duplicating unit.

2. The recording apparatus of claim 1, further comprising

a detecting unit operable to detect a bit rate allocated to each of the contents stored in the first recording medium, wherein

the remaining content to be re-encoded by the second duplicating unit is a content whose bit rate exceeds a predetermined indicator, and

the indicator is determined based on

(i) the residual capacity of the second recording medium, and

(ii) a total reproduction time of the contents stored in the first recording medium other than the content to be copied by the first duplicating unit.

3. The recording apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a detecting unit operable to detect a bit rate allocated to each of the contents stored in the first recording medium;

a display unit operable to display a degradation ratio for the remaining content to be re-encoded, the degradation ratio being a ratio between the detected bit rate and the bit rate to be allocated; and

a receiving unit operable to receive, after the degradation ratio is displayed, a user input instructing whether to perform the re-encoding, wherein

the second duplicating unit performs the re-encoding only in response to the user input instructing to do so.

4. The recording apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a display unit operable to display time required for re-encoding the remaining content, the time required for re-encoding being equal to reproduction time of the remaining content; and

a receiving unit operable to receive, after the reproduction time is displayed, a user input instructing whether to perform the re-encoding, wherein

the second duplicating unit performs the re-encoding only in response to the user input instructing to do so.

5. The recording apparatus of claim 1, further comprising

a receiving unit operable to receive a user input specifying a content, among the plurality of contents stored in the first recording medium, to be recorded without any image degradation,

the content to be copied by the first duplicating unit is the user-specified content, and

the remaining content to be re-encoded by the second duplicating unit is a content other than the user-specified content.

6. The recording apparatus of claim 5, further comprising

a detecting unit operable to detect a bit rate allocated to each of the contents stored in the first recording medium, wherein

the remaining content to be re-encoded by the second duplicating unit is a content other than the user-specified content and whose bit rate exceeds a predetermined indicator,

the indicator is determined based on

(i) the residual capacity of the second recording medium, and

(ii) a total reproduction time of the contents stored in the first recording medium other than the content to be copied by the first duplicating unit, and

the residual capacity of the second recording medium is obtained by subtracting the size of the user-specified content from the current capacity.

7. The recording apparatus of claim 1, further comprising

a receiving unit operable to receive a user input specifying a space size to be preserved in the second recording medium, wherein

the current capacity of the second recording medium is obtained by subtracting in advance the specified space size.

8. The recording apparatus of claim 1, wherein

the number of contents stored in the first recording medium is n, and

the number of contents to be written to the second recording medium is m, n and m each being an integer greater than 1 and satisfying n>

m,

the recording apparatus further comprising;

a generating unit operable to generate nCm different combinations of m contents out of the n contents; and

a calculating unit operable to calculate, for each of the nCm combinations, a ratio between a total size of m contents included in the combination and the residual capacity of the second recording medium, wherein

the content to be copied by the first duplicating unit and the remaining content to be re-encoded by the second duplicating unit are included in a combination with a highest ratio among the nCm combinations.

9. The recording apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

an extracting unit operable to sequentially extract the contents stored in the first recording medium; and

a judging unit operable to judge whether the residual capacity of the second recording medium is larger than the size of an extracted content, wherein

the extracted content is the content to be copied by the first duplicating unit, and

the copying is performed only when the residual capacity of the second recording medium is judged to be larger than the size of the extracted content.

10. The recording apparatus of claim 9, wherein

each time the first duplicating unit performs the copying, the residual capacity of the second recording medium is decreased by a size of the copied content,

the extracted content is the remaining content to be re-encoded by the second duplicating unit, and

the re-encoding is performed only when the residual capacity of the second recording medium after the decrease is judged to be smaller the size of the extracted content.

11. The recording apparatus of claim 10, wherein

the extracting unit extracts the contents in order of priorities assigned to each content,

the recording apparatus further comprising:

a receiving unit operable to receive a user input specifying the content to be copied by the first duplicating unit; and

a detecting unit operable to detect a content whose bit rate allocated thereto is below a predetermined indicator, wherein

the indicator is determined based on

(i) the residual capacity of the second recording medium that is left after subtracting a size of the user-specified content, and

(ii) a total reproduction time of the contents stored in the first recording medium other than the content to be copied by the first duplicating unit, and

the user-specified content has a highest priority and the content detected by the detecting unit has a second highest priority.

12. A program run by a computer for writing a plurality of contents stored in a first recording medium to a second recording medium that is smaller in capacity than the first recording medium, each content being obtained by encoding moving pictures, the program comprising:

a first duplicating step of copying at least one of the contents to the second recording medium; and

a second duplicating step of re-encoding a remaining one of the contents to reduce a size thereof, and writing the re-encoded content to the second recording medium, wherein

a bit rate to be allocated to the remaining content upon re-encoding is determined based on

(i) a residual capacity of the second recording medium that is left after subtracting, from a current capacity, a size of the content to be copied in the first duplicating step, and

(ii) a reproduction time of the remaining content to be re-encoded in the second duplicating step.

13. The program of claim 12, further comprising

a detecting step of detecting a bit rate allocated to each of the contents stored in the first recording medium, wherein

the remaining content to be re-encoded in the second duplicating step is a content whose bit rate exceeds a predetermined indicator, and

the indicator is determined based on

(i) the residual capacity of the second recording medium, and

(ii) a total reproduction time of the contents stored in the first recording medium other than the content to be copied in the first duplicating step.

14. The program of claim 12, further comprising:

a detecting step of detecting a bit rate allocated to each of the contents stored in the first recording medium;

a display step of displaying a degradation ratio for the remaining content to be re-encoded, the degradation ratio being a ratio between the detected bit rate and the bit rate to be allocated; and

a receiving step of receiving, after the degradation ratio is displayed, a user input instructing whether to perform the re-encoding, wherein

the re-encoding in the second duplicating step is performed only in response to the user input instructing to do so.

15. The program of claim 12, further comprising:

a display step of displaying time required for re-encoding the remaining content, the time required for re-encoding being equal to reproduction time of the remaining content; and

a receiving step of receiving, after the reproduction time is displayed, a user input instructing whether to perform the re-encoding, wherein

the re-encoding in the second duplicating step is performed only in response to the user input instructing to do so.

16. The program of claim 12, further comprising

a receiving step of receiving a user input specifying a content, among the plurality of contents stored in the first recording medium, to be recorded without any image degradation,

the content to be copied in the first duplicating step is the user-specified content, and

the remaining content to be re-encoded in the second duplicating step is a content other than the user-specified content.

17. The program of claim 16, further comprising

a detecting step of detecting a bit rate allocated to each of the contents stored in the first recording medium, wherein

the remaining content to be re-encoded in the second duplicating step is a content other than the user-specified content and whose bit rate exceeds a predetermined indicator,

the indicator is determined based on

(i) the residual capacity of the second recording medium, and

(ii) a total reproduction time of the contents stored in the first recording medium other than the content to be copied in the first duplicating step, and

the residual capacity of the second recording medium is obtained by subtracting the size of the user-specified content from the current capacity.

18. The program of claim 12, further comprising

a receiving step of receiving a user input specifying a space size to be preserved in the second recording medium, wherein

the current capacity of the second recording medium is obtained by subtracting in advance the specified space size.

19. The program of claim 12, wherein

the number of contents stored in the first recording medium is n, and

the number of contents to be written to the second recording medium is m, n and m each being an integer greater than 1 and satisfying n>

m,

the program further comprising;

a generating step of generating nCm different combinations of m contents out of the n contents; and

a calculating step of calculating, for each of the nCm combinations, a ratio between a total size of m contents included in the combination and the residual capacity of the second recording medium, wherein

the content to be copied in the first duplicating step and the remaining content to be re-encoded in the second duplicating step are included in a combination with a highest ratio among the nCm combinations.

20. The program of claim 12, further comprising:

an extracting step of sequentially extracting the contents stored in the first recording medium; and

a judging step of judging whether the residual capacity of the second recording medium is larger than the size of an extracted content, wherein

the extracted content is the content to be copied in the first duplicating step, and

the copying is performed only when the residual capacity of the second recording medium is judged to be larger than the size of the extracted content.

21. The program of claim 20, wherein

each time the copying in the first duplicating step is performed, the residual capacity of the second recording medium is decreased by a size of the copied content,

the extracted content is the remaining content to be re-encoded in the second duplicating step, and

the re-encoding is performed only when the residual capacity of the second recording medium after the decrease is judged to be smaller the size of the extracted content.

22. The program of claim 21, wherein

the contents is extracted in the extracting step in order of priorities assigned to each content,

the program further comprising:

a receiving step of receiving a user input specifying the content to be copied in the first duplicating step; and

a detecting step of detecting a content whose bit rate allocated thereto is below a predetermined indicator, wherein

the indicator is determined based on

(i) the residual capacity of the second recording medium that is left after subtracting a size of the user-specified content, and

(ii) a total reproduction time of the contents stored in the first recording medium other than the content to be copied in the first duplicating step, and

the user-specified content has a highest priority and the content detected in the detecting step has a second highest priority.

23. A recording medium storing a program according to any one of claims 12-22.

24. A recording method for writing a plurality of contents stored in a first recording medium to a second recording medium that is smaller in capacity than the first recording medium, each content being obtained by encoding moving pictures, the recording method comprising:

a first duplicating step of copying at least one of the contents to the second recording medium; and

a second duplicating step of re-encoding a remaining one of the contents to reduce a size thereof, and writing the re-encoded content to the second recording medium, wherein

a bit rate to be allocated to the remaining content upon re-encoding is determined based on

(i) a residual capacity of the second recording medium that is left after subtracting, from a current capacity, a size of the content to be copied in the first duplicating step, and

(ii) a reproduction time of the remaining content to be re-encoded in the second duplicating step.