Recording and reproducing apparatus and recording medium

• US 6,763,182 B1
• Filed: 03/30/2000
• Issued: 07/13/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Miyagi, Shiro, Endo, Katsumi
• Primary Examiner(s): Chevalier, Robert
• Application Number:
  US09/538,813
• Time in Patent Office: 1,566 Days
• Field of Search: 386/124, 386/125, 386/126, 386/107, 386/117, 386/118, 386/45, 386/38, 386/46, 386/40, 386/52, 386/55, 386/68, 386/1, 386/4, 386/6, 386/27, 386/33, 386/109, 386/111, 386/112, 348/222.1, 348/231.5, 348/207.99
• US Class Current: 386/224
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/60 Solid state media
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/61 wherein solid state memory is used for storing A/V content
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/10 Indexing; Addressing; Timing or synchronising; Measuring tape travel
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/2195 with temporary storage before final recording or on play-back, e.g. in a frame buffer
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32122 in a separate device, e.g. in a memory or on a display separate from image data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2101/00 Still video cameras
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/212 Selecting different recording or reproducing modes, e.g. high or low resolution, field or frame
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/216 Arrangements for recording on different types of storage medium, e.g. IC card or magnetic tape; Recording on a plurality of storage media
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/772 the recording apparatus and the television camera being placed in the same enclosure
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/907 using static stores, e.g. storage tubes or semiconductor memories H04N5/91 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/7921 for more than one processing mode
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8042 involving data reduction
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8047 using transform coding

Abstract

Digital data of plural categories need to be reproduced chronologically in a simplified manner. A memory card can be mounted on or dismounted from a digital camera device and records the digital data of plural categories. The data of the respective categories are stored under a dedicated sub-directory. In recording, the digital camera device generates serial numbers in the data recording sequence, without dependency upon the categories, and records the digital data with the filename including the serial number. In reproduction, the digital data is reproduced in the sequence of the serial numbers included in the filename without dependency upon the categories.

Claims

1. A recording apparatus for recording digital data on a recording medium comprising:

(a) data processing circuitry for processing digital data in a plurality of processing modes;

(b) control circuitry for recording digital data from said data processing circuitry in one of a plurality of directories on said recording medium, wherein each one of said plurality of directories corresponds to one of said processing modes, and

(c) wherein said control circuitry records a file name with each discrete recording of said digital data, said file name comprising a sequential number assigned in time sequence regardless of the directory in which said discrete recording of said digital data is recorded.

2. The recording apparatus of claim 1, wherein said recording medium is removably attached to said recording apparatus.

3. The recording apparatus as set forth in claim 2, wherein said file name further comprises characters indicating in which processing mode said discrete recording of said digital data was processed.

4. The recording apparatus as set forth in claim 2, wherein said recording apparatus determines the previously recorded file names of the digital data recorded on said recording medium before recording on said recording medium, and uses said previously recorded file names to generate a new file name to be assigned.

5. The recording apparatus of claim 4, further comprising a memory circuit for storing the previously recorded file names.

6. The recording apparatus as set forth in claim 5, further comprising a mode switch for engaging a particular one of said processing modes.

7. The recording apparatus set forth in claim 6, wherein one of said processing modes is compressing said digital data in to a JPEG format.

8. The recording apparatus set forth in claim 6, wherein one of said processing modes is compressing said digital data into an MPEG format.

9. A reproducing apparatus for reproducing digital data from a recording medium comprising:

(a) data processing circuitry for processing discrete recordings of said digital data in a plurality of processing modes;

(b) reproducing circuitry for reproducing said discrete recordings of said digital data recorded in a plurality of directories corresponding to said processing modes from said medium;

(c) wherein said reproducing circuitry is capable of reproducing said discrete recordings of said digital data in an order in accordance with the sequential numbers in the file names of said discrete recordings of said digital data.

10. The reproducing apparatus as set forth in claim 9, wherein said recording medium is attached to said reproducing apparatus.

11. The reproducing apparatus as set forth in claim 10, wherein said file names further comprises characters indicating in which processing mode a discrete recording of said digital data was processed.

12. The reproducing apparatus as set forth in claim 10, wherein said reproducing apparatus determines the previously recorded file names of said discrete recordings of said digital data recorded on said recording medium before reproducing said discrete recordings said digital data.

13. The reproducing apparatus of claim 10, further comprising a memory circuit for storing the previously recorded file names which are reproduced.

14. The reproducing apparatus as set forth in claim 10, further comprising one or more direction switches for directing said reproducing apparatus to reproduce the discrete recording of said digital data corresponding to the file name which is either the next or the previously sequentially numbered file name.

15. The reproducing apparatus set forth in claim 10, wherein one of said processing modes is expanding said digital data out of a JPEG format.

16. The recording apparatus set forth in claim 10, wherein one of said processing modes is expanding said digital data out of a MPEG format.

23. The recording method of claim 16, wherein one of said processing modes is compressing said digital data into a MPEG format.

17. A recording medium comprising,

(a) discrete recordings of digital data in a plurality of directories, each particular directory corresponding to a particular processing mode that a discrete recording of said digital data was processed with, and

(b) wherein said recording medium further comprises file names comprising sequential numbers assigned in time sequence with said discrete recordings of said digital data regardless of which one of said directories said discrete recordings of said digital data is in.

18. A recording method for recording digital data on a recording medium comprising the steps of:

(a) processing digital data in one of a plurality of processing modes;

(b) recording processed digital data in one of the plurality of directories in said recording medium, wherein each one of the plurality of directories corresponds to one of said plurality of processing modes; and

(c) recording a file name comprising a sequential number assigned in a chronological fashion independent of which processing mode processed the digital data.

19. The recording method as set forth in claim 18, wherein said file name further comprises characters indicating the processing mode.

20. The recording method as set forth in claim 18, further comprising the step of reproducing the file names recorded on said recording medium before the recording and determining the next file name to be assigned.

21. The recording method as set forth in claim 20, further comprising the step of sorting the file names reproduced in accordance with said sequential number, selecting the highest number and assigning the next number.

22. The recording method of claim 18, wherein one of said processing modes is compressing said digital data into a JPEG format.

24. A reproducing method for reproducing digital data from a recording medium, wherein the digital data is recorded as discrete recording in a plurality of directories, with file names containing sequential numbers assigned to the filenames chronologically, comprising the steps of:

(a) reproducing in volatile memory the file names of the discrete recordings of the digital data recorded on the recording medium;

(b) sorting the file names in the order of the sequential numbers in the file names irrespective of what processing mode the corresponding discrete recording of digital data had been processed in;

(c) processing a discrete recording of the digital data in one of a plurality of processing modes, wherein the discrete recording was determined to correspond to either the previous or next file in the sorted file names compared to a previously displayed discrete recording of digital data;

(d) displaying the discrete recordings of the digital data in the order they were processed.

25. The reproducing method of claim 24, wherein said file name further comprises characters indicating the processing mode.

26. The reproducing method of claim 24, wherein one of said processing modes is expanding said digital data out of a JPEG format.

27. The reproducing method of claim 24, wherein one of said processing modes is expanding said digital data out of a MPEG format.

28. A reproducing method for reproducing digital data from a recording medium, wherein the digital data is recorded as discrete recording in a plurality of directories, with file names containing sequential numbers assigned to the filenames chronologically, comprising the steps of:

(a) selecting which processing mode of digital data to display;

(b) reproducing in volatile memory the file names of the discrete recordings of the digital data recorded on the recording medium;

(c) sorting the file names first by the processing mode used to process the corresponding digital data; and

then by the order of the sequential numbers in the file names;

(c) processing a discrete recording of the digital data in the selected processing mode, wherein the discrete recording was determined to have been processed in the selected processing mode, and to correspond to either the previous or next file in the sorted file names compared to a previously displayed discrete recording of digital data;

(d) displaying the discrete recordings of the digital data in the order they were processed.