Television audiovisual, recording and reproducing apparatus using personal computer, method of supplying power to PC card, and PC card

• US 6,804,300 B1
• Filed: 09/12/2000
• Issued: 10/12/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 12/27/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Hoshino, Kiyoshi, Inoue, Kanji, Kaseno, Osamu, Oku, Tadahiro, Kamio, Hiroyuki, Kusumoto, Tatsuji
• Primary Examiner(s): DIEP, NHON THANH
• Application Number:
  US09/660,190
• Time in Patent Office: 1,491 Days
• Field of Search: H04/N.712, 375/240.1, 348/231, 348/232, 348/233, 348/722, 348/552, 348/515, 710/2, 710/52, 710/72, 710/73
• US Class Current: 375/240.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4143 embedded in a Personal Computer [PC]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/426 Internal components of the client ; Characteristics thereof H04N5/44 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42661 for reading from or writing on a magnetic storage medium, e.g. hard disk drive
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4312 involving specific graphical features, e.g. screen layout, special fonts or colors, blinking icons, highlights or animations
• 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 21/4425 Monitoring of client processing errors or hardware failure
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4436 Power management, e.g. shutting down unused components of the receiver power management in computer systems G06F1/3203; hibernate or awake process in computer systems G06F9/4418
• 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 21/482 End-user interface for program selection broadcast systems using EPGs H04H60/72
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/485 End-user interface for client configuration
• 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 5/781 on disks or drums
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8042 involving data reduction

Abstract

A television audiovisual apparatus using a personal computer comprises an audio/video I/O interface including a television tuner, disposed in the personal computer, and an information compression/decompression unit for compressing audio/video signals input through the audio/video I/O interface in accordance with the MPEG2 specifications to store the compressed audio/video signals in a large capacity storage disposed in the personal computer, and for decompressing compressed audio/video signals in accordance with the MPEG2 specifications.

Claims

1. A recording and reproducing apparatus using a personal computer, comprising:

a personal computer including an expansion slot; and

a PCMCIA card inserted into said expansion slot of said personal computer and configured to send externally a video signal and an audio signal to said personal computer,

wherein said personal computer includes a recording and reproducing unit configured to record and reproduce a signal input thereto through said PCMCIA card in and from a large capacity storage medium, a PCMCIA card detector configured to detect a mounting state of said PCMCIA card in said expansion slot, a recording reserve setting unit configured to set a recording reserve, and a reset unit configured to display a warning or cancel a recording reserve in response to said PCMCIA card detector detecting that said PCMCIA card has detached when said recording reserve has been set.

2. The recording and reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the PCMCIA card detector checks whether or not a recording start time is reached, and when the recording start time reached, it again checks the mounting state of the PCMCIA card.

3. The recording and reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording reserve setting unit displays a new reserve window to prepare again for reserve settings after displaying the warning.

4. The recording and reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the PCMCIA card compresses the video signal based on MPEG2 specifications without compressing the audio signal, and transmits the compressed video signal and the non-compressed audio signal to the personal computer.

5. The recording and reproducing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the personal computer compresses the non-compressed audio signal in accordance with specifications of MPEG1 layer 2 and multiplexes the compressed video signal and audio signal in sync with each other and stores the multiplexed signal in the storage medium.

6. A recording and reproducing apparatus using a personal computer, comprising:

a personal computer including an expansion slot; and

a PCMCIA card inserted into said expansion slot of said personal computer and configured to send externally a video signal and an audio signal to said personal computer,

wherein said personal computer includes a recording and reproducing unit configured to record and reproduce a signal input thereto through said PCMCIA card in and from a large capacity storage medium, a PCMCIA card detector configured to detect a mounting state of said PCMCIA card in said expansion slot, a recording reserve setting unit configured to set a recording reserve, and a reset unit configured to check whether or not said PCMCIA card is normally mounted by said PCMCIA card detector immediately before executing the reserved recording set by said recording reserve setting unit to display a warning and cancel the recording reserve when abnormal mounting of said PCMCIA card is detected.

7. The recording and reproducing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the PCMCIA card detector checks whether or not a recording start time is reached, and when the recording start time is reached, it again checks the mounting state of the PCMCIA card.

8. The recording and reproducing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the recording reserve setting unit displays a new reserve window to prepare again for reserve settings after displaying the warning.

9. The recording and reproducing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the PCMCIA card compresses the video signal based on MPEG2 specifications without compressing the audio signal, and transmits the compressed video signal and the non-compressed audio signal to the personal computer.

10. The recording and reproducing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the personal computer compresses the non-compressed audio signal in accordance with specifications of MPEG1 layer 2 and multiplexes the compressed video signal and audio signal in sync with each other and stores the multiplexed signal in the storage medium.

11. A recording and reproducing apparatus comprising:

a personal computer including an expansion slot and a storage; and

a PCMCIA card inserted into the expansion slot of the personal computer and configured to send a video signal and an audio signal to the personal computer,

wherein the personal computer includes means for recording and reproducing a signal input thereto through the PCMCIA card in and from the storage, means for detecting a mounting state of the PCMCIA card in the expansion slot, means for setting a recording reserve, and means for providing a warning or canceling a recording reserve in response to the detecting means detecting that the PCMCIA card has detached when the recording reserve has been set.

12. A recording and reproducing apparatus comprising:

a personal computer including an expansion slot and a storage; and

a PCMCIA card inserted into the expansion slot of the personal computer and configured to send a video signal and an audio signal to the personal computer,

wherein the personal computer includes means for recording and reproducing a signal input thereto through the PCMCIA card in and from the storage, means for detecting a mounting state of the PCMCIA card in the expansion slot, means for setting a recording reserve, means for checking whether or not the PCMCIA card is normally mounted in the expansion slot immediately before executing the reserved recording, means for canceling the recording reserve and providing a warning when the PCMCIA card fails to be mounted normally in the expansion slot.