Recording and reproducing apparatus for recording digital broadcast compression-coded data of video signals of a multiplicity of channels

• US 6,445,872 B1
• Filed: 11/23/1998
• Issued: 09/03/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 05/24/1996
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Iida, Makoto, Sano, Nobuya
• Primary Examiner(s): Christensen, Andrew
• Assistant Examiner(s): CHIEU, PO LIN
• Application Number:
  US09/194,232
• Time in Patent Office: 1,380 Days
• Field of Search: 386/1, 386/33, 386/46, 386/83, 386/109, 386/111-112, 725/134, 725/142, 725/153, 725/133, 725/141, 725/68
• US Class Current: 386/291
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/10 Digital recording or reproducing
• 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 21/426 Internal components of the client ; Characteristics thereof H04N5/44 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4263 involving specific tuning arrangements, e.g. two tuners
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4325 by playing back content from the storage medium reproduction of recorded television signals H04N5/76; reproduction of recorded television signals H04N9/79
• 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 21/4583 Automatically resolving scheduling conflicts, e.g. when a recording by reservation has been programmed for two programs in the same time slot
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47214 for content reservation or setting reminders; for requesting event notification, e.g. of sport results or stock market stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; notification of incoming messages in packet switching networks H04L51/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4882 for displaying messages, e.g. warnings, reminders arrangements for providing short real-time information to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1895
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/775 between a recording apparatus and a television receiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8042 involving data reduction
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8227 the additional signal being at least another television signal

Abstract

A bit stream which is a data string including coded data of a multiplicity of channels is output from a tuner section 22, and a recording channel selection section 23 selects coded data of a desired channel from the bit stream and output by configuring the data string. The data string output from the recording channel selection section 23 is recorded to and reproduced from a magnetic tape of a recording and reproducing section 24 by a rotary head. The coded data of the data string reproduced from the recording and reproducing section 24 is discompression-encoded by an MPEG2 decoder 25 and a video signal is output.

Claims

1. A digital broadcast recording and reproducing apparatus for receiving and recording a digital broadcast signal of which a data string including compression-coded data of video signals of a multiplicity of channels is modulated and transmitted, said digital broadcast recording and reproducing apparatus comprising:

a plurality of tuner sections each for demodulating the received digital broadcast signal into a data string including coded data corresponding respectively to a multiplicity of channels;

recording channel selection means for selection coded data corresponding to one or more channels to be recorded from the data string including the coded data corresponding to a multiplicity of channels which data string is demodulated by said tuners;

magnetic recording and reproducing means for recording and reproducing the data string selected by said recording channel selection means onto and from magnetic tape by a rotary head;

reproducing channel selection means for selecting coded data corresponding to one channel from the data string reproduced by said magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus, and outputting a formed data string;

a decoder for decompression-decoding coded data of the data string output from said reproducing channel selection means, and outputting a video signal;

timer-recording setting means capable of timer-recording setting of programs on a plurality of channels whose time periods partly or wholly overlap; and

magnetic tape transport speed switching means for switching the transport speed of said magnetic tape when the number of channels whose time periods overlap changes while the magnetic recording and reproducing means is performing recording in accordance with the timer-recording setting means, wherein when the maximum number of channels recordable under the condition of a predetermined rotation speed of the rotary head of the magnetic recording and reproducing means is M (M being a positive integer), in the case where the number of channels to be recorded is N (N being a positive integer equal to or lower than M), the rotary head is rotated at the predetermined rotation speed, and N times of recording is performed every M times of scanning by the rotary head.

2. A digital broadcast recording and reproducing apparatus in accordance with claim 1 characterized in that said magnetic recording and reproducing means performs recording with the identification signal being changed immediately before the number of channels to be recorded is changed.

3. A digital broadcast recording and reproducing apparatus in accordance:

with claim 1 characterized in that said timer-recording setting means comprises means for providing an alarm, when the number of set channels whose time periods overlap exceeds the maximum number of channels that can be simultaneously recorded by the recording and reproducing means.

4. A digital broadcast recording and reproducing apparatus in accordance with claim 1 characterized in that when the number N of channels to be recorded is a divisor of the maximum number M of recordable channels, said magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus transports the magnetic tape at a constant speed that is N/M the speed when the number of channels to be recorded is the maximum number M of recordable channels arid performs recording once every M/N times of scanning by the rotary head.

5. A digital broadcast recording and reproducing apparatus in accordance with claim 1 characterized in that when the number N of channel to be recorded is not a divisor of the maximum number M of recordable channels, said magnetic recording and reproducing means performs M times of recording every M times of scanning by the rotary head and records the data string output from the recording channel selection means in N times of scanning thereof.

6. A digital broadcast recording and reproducing apparatus in accordance with claim 1 characterized in that N in said magnetic recording and reproducing means is six or four.

7. A digital broadcast recording and reproducing apparatus for receiving and recording a digital broadcast signal of which a data string including compression-coded data of video signals of a multiplicity of channels is modulated and transmitted, said digital broadcast recording and reproducing apparatus comprising:

a plurality of tuner sections each for demodulating the received digital broadcast signal into a data string including coded data corresponding respectively to a multiplicity of channels;

a plurality of recording channel selection means each for selecting coded data corresponding to one or more channels to be recorded from the data string including the coded data corresponding to a multiplicity of channels which data string is demodulated by said tuners;

data string composition means for composing the coded data corresponding to a plurality of channels selected by said plurality of recording channel selection means into one data string;

magnetic recording and reproducing means for recording and reproducing the data string composed by said data string composition onto and from magnetic tape by a rotary head;

reproducing channel selection means for selecting coded data corresponding to one channel from the data string reproduced by said magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus, and outputting a formed data string;

a decoder for decompression-decoding coded data of the data string output from said reproducing channel selection means, and outputting a video signal; and

magnetic tape transport speed switching means for switching the transport speed of said magnetic tape in accordance with the number of channels to be recorded wherein the magnetic recording and reproducing means sets the transport speed of the magnetic tape to a speed proportional to the number of channels to be recorded and, when the maximum number of channels recordable under the condition of a predetermined rotation speed of the rotary head of the magnetic recording and reproducing means is M, (M being a positive integer), in the case where the number of channels to be recorded is N, (N being a positive integer equal to or lower than M), the rotary head is rotated at the predetermined rotation speed, and N times of recording is performed every M times of scanning by the rotary head.

9. A digital broadcast recording and reproducing apparatus in accordance with claim 7 characterized in that when the number N of channels to be recorded is a divisor of the maximum number M of recordable channels, said magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus transports the magnetic tape at a constant speed that is N/M the speed when the number of channels to be recorded is the maximum number M of recordable channels, and performs recording once every M/N times of scanning by the rotary head.

10. A digital broadcast recording and reproducing apparatus in accordance with claim 9 characterized in that when the number N of channels to be recorded is not a divisor of the maximum number M of recordable channels, said magnetic recording and reproducing means performs M times of recording every M times of scanning by the rotary head, and records the data string output from the recording channel selection means in N times of scanning thereof.

8. A digital broadcast recording and reproducing apparatus for receiving and recording a digital broadcast signal of which a data string including compression-coded data of video signals of a multiplicity of channels is modulated and transmitted, said digital broadcast recording and reproducing apparatus comprising:

a plurality of tuner sections each for demodulating the received digital broadcast signal into a data string including coded data corresponding respectively to a multiplicity of channels;

a plurality of recording channel selection means each for selecting coded data corresponding to one or more channels to be recorded from the data string including the coded data corresponding to a multiplicity of channels which data string is demodulated by said tuners;

data string composition means for composing the coded data corresponding to a plurality of channels selected by said plurality of recording channel selection means into one data string;

magnetic recording and reproducing means for recording and reproducing the data string composed by said data sting composition onto and from magnetic tape by a rotary head;

reproducing channel selection means for selecting coded data corresponding to one channel from the data string reproduced by said magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus, and outputting a formed data string;

a decoder for decompression-decoding coded data of the data string output from said reproducing channel selection means, and outputting a video signal; and

magnetic tape transport speed switching means for switching the transport speed of said magnetic tape in accordance with the number of channels to be recorded,

said magnetic recording and reproducing means comprising timer-recorder setting means capable of timer-recording setting of programs on a plurality of channels whose time periods partly or wholly overlap, and when the number of channels whose time periods overlap changes while the magnetic recording and reproducing means is performing recording in accordance with the timer-recording setting means, the transport speed of the magnetic tape is switched,

said time-recording setting means comprising means for providing an alarm when the number of channels whose time periods overlap exceeds the maximum number of channels that can be simultaneously recorded by the recording reproducing means.

11. A digital broadcast recording and reproducing apparatus in accordance with claim 8 characterized in that M in said magnetic recording and reproducing means is six or four.