Recording medium comprising a plurality of different languages which are selectable independently of each other

• US 5,850,500 A
• Filed: 05/23/1997
• Issued: 12/15/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/1995
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation), Toshiba Corporation
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Endoh, Kenjiro, Hirayama, Koichi, Miyano, Yuichi, Nakai, Masatoshi
• Primary Examiner(s): Olms, Douglas W.
• Assistant Examiner(s): VINCENT, DAVID ROBERT
• Application Number:
  US08/861,824
• Time in Patent Office: 571 Days
• Field of Search: 386/39, 386/44, 386/45, 386/75, 386/95-99, 386/101, 386/104-106, 386/125-6, 369/47, 369/48, 434/307 A
• US Class Current: 386/243
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 1/361 Recording/reproducing of accompaniment for use with an external source, e.g. karaoke systems
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 1/363 using optical disks, e.g. CD, CD-ROM, to store accompaniment information in digital form
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2240/036 File multilingual, e.g. multilingual lyrics for karaoke
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 19/02 Control of operating function, e.g. switching from recording to reproducing
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/1251 for continuous data, e.g. digitised analog information signals, pulse code modulated [PCM] data
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/2562 DVDs [digital versatile discs]; Digital video discs; MMCDs; HDCDs
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/105 of operating discs
• 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: H04N 5/775 between a recording apparatus and a television receiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/85 on discs or drums
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/945 for signals recorded by pulse code modulation
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8042 involving data reduction
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8063 using time division multiplex of the PCM audio and PCM video signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8216 using time division multiplex
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8227 the additional signal being at least another television signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8233 the additional signal being a character code signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8244 involving the use of subcodes
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/888 for signals recorded by pulse code modulation

Abstract

A reproduction apparatus is designed to select and decode speech and subtitles (characters) in a given language from a disk on which various types of information are recorded in different languages. This system arrangement makes it possible to standardize the manufacture of disks and reproduction apparatuses world-wide, resulting in a reduction in production cost. In a disk 100, various types of information are recorded in different languages along with video information. A reproduction apparatus selects information in a given language from the reproduced information using a data string processing section 203, a system control section 204, and an operator section 205, and supplies the selected pieces of information to each of a video processing section 206, a subtitle decoder 211, and an audio processing section 213.

Claims

1. A medium comprising:

a management area; and

a data area,

wherein said management area and said data area record information, said management area recording control information representing an arrangement of information recorded in said data area, said data area recording a plurality of data units, each of said data units including a group comprising;

data unit sub-code information which contains control information related to a corresponding data unit,

video information arranged in a reading direction,

two or more pieces of sub-picture information to be added to said video information, each piece of sub-picture information being related to said video information, and

two or more pieces of audio information, each piece of audio information being related to said video information;

wherein said medium also records information including;

user-selectable menu items including characters or symbols of different languages, said user-selectable menu items being presented by said subpicture information,

user-selectable subtitle items including characters of different languages, said user-selectable subtitle items being presented by said subpicture information, and

user-selectable voice items including speech of different languages, said user-selectable voice items being presented by said audio information; and

wherein any combination of said languages of the user-selected menu Item, user-selected subtitle item, and user-selected voice item is available independently of each other for use by a user of said medium.

2. The medium of claim 1, wherein at least one of said management area and said data area contains reproducible first and second user selective menu information items,

said second user selective menu information item being reproducible depending on a selection of the first user selective menu information item,

said second user selective menu information item including selection information on a piece of audio or sub-picture information, said piece of audio or sub-picture information being reproducible depending on a selection of the second user selective menu information item.

3. The medium of claim 1, wherein said management area includes language codes respectively corresponding to predetermined content codes, and wherein said predetermined content codes include a specific code indicating a combination of different sound sources.

4. The medium of claim 2, wherein said management area includes language codes respectively corresponding to predetermined content codes, and wherein said predetermined content codes include a specific code indicating a combination of different sound sources.