Image recording/reproducing apparatus

• US 7,209,631 B2
• Filed: 05/22/2001
• Issued: 04/24/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 05/16/1995
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hitachi Maxell Limited (Maxell, Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Nishijima, Hideo, Okamoto, Kaneyuki, Tada, Yukinobu, Kijima, Masayuki
• Primary Examiner(s): Boccio; Vincent F.
• Application Number:
  US09/861,663
• Publication Number:
  US 20010046368A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,163 Days
• Field of Search: 386/45, 386/46, 386/52, 386/55, 386/80, 386/81
• US Class Current: 386/250
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/65 wherein solid state memory is used for storing indexing information or metadata
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/90 Tape-like record carriers
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/107 of operating tapes
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/11 by using information not detectable on the record carrier
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/22 Means responsive to presence or absence of recorded information signals
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/28 by using information signals recorded by the same method as the main recording G11B27/22 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/324 Duty cycle modulation of control pulses, e.g. VHS-CTL-coding systems, RAPID-time code, VASS- or VISS-cue signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/782 on tape
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 358/908 Pause control, i.e. "commercial killers"

Abstract

A video recording/reproducing apparatus capable of discriminating commercial message portions even when a broadcasting mode is the same. A magnetic head records television broadcasting signals to a magnetic tape and reproduces the television broadcasting signals from this magnetic tape. When the television broadcasting signals are reduced by recording/reproducing apparatus, an audio-free portion detector detects audio-free portions from audio signals in the television broadcasting signals. Commercial message (CM) portion detector detects the commercial message portions in the television broadcasting signals by the time intervals among a plurality of audio-free portions detected by the audio-free portion detector, and a CM information memory circuit stores the information of the recording positions of the commercial message portions detected by this commercial message portion detector to the magnetic tape. When the television broadcasting signals are reproduced from the magnetic tape, reproduction is carried out while the commercial message portions are skipped, at the recording positions of the commercial message portions to the magnetic tape, on the basis of the information of the recording positions of the commercial message portions to the magnetic tape that are stored in the memory circuit.

Claims

1. An apparatus for recording/reproducing program material including audio and video signals, comprising:

a recording/reproducing device which records audio and video signals in a recording medium, and reproduces audio and video signals from a recording medium; and

a controller which controls said recording/reproducing device to skip over a recorded portion of said medium in which time intervals between changing points of said audio or video signals correspond to a predetermined time interval and occur at least two times consecutively, and to reproduce a recorded portion of said medium at a standard reproduction speed wherein only a single time interval between changing points corresponds to a predetermined time interval.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said changing points are points at which the video signal level changes to a black or white level.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said changing points are points at which the audio signal level is lower than a predetermined level.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said changing points are points at which the audio signal level is approximately zero.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said changing points are points at which the audio signal level is approximately zero and the video signal level changes to a black or white level.

6. A method of reproducing audio and video signals, comprising:

reproducing at a standard reproduction speed a portion of said medium where a time interval between changing points of said audio and video signals corresponds to a predetermined time interval, and occurs alone; and

skipping over at a high reproduction speed a portion of said medium where time intervals between said changing points correspond to a predetermined time interval, and occur at least two times consecutively.

7. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said changing points are points at which the audio signal level is lower than a predetermined level and the video signal level changes to a black or white level.

8. An apparatus for recording/reproducing audio and video signals, said apparatus comprising:

a receiver which receives said audio and video signals;

a recording/reproducing device which records received audio and video signals in a recording medium, and reproduces said audio and video signals from the recording medium; and

a controller which, during reproduction of said audio and video signals from the recording medium, controls said recording/reproducing device to skip over portions of said medium wherein a time interval between one pair of changing points of said audio and video signals or a sum of adjacent time intervals between two or more pairs of the changing points corresponds to a predetermined time interval, and the predetermined time intervals occur at least two times consecutively.

9. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said changing points are points at which the audio signal level is lower than a predetermined level and the video signal level changes to a black or white level.

10. An apparatus for recording/reproducing program material including commercial message portions on a tape, comprising:

a recording/reproducing device which records said program material and tape position information indicative of a tape position on oblique tracks of the tape, and reproduces said program material and said tape position information from said oblique tracks;

a control pulse read/write device which writes pulse signals at a constant interval on a control track of the tape, and reads said pulse signals from said control track;

a detector which detects said commercial message portions;

a memory which stores commercial position information indicative of a position of the commercial message portions on the tape; and

a controller which controls said recording/reproducing device to start a skip reproduction of commercial message portions at a tape speed which is higher than a normal reproduction speed, based on said commercial position information read out from said memory and said tape position information reproduced from said oblique tracks, and to stop said skip in accordance with a number of pulse signals read out from said control track.

11. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said recording/reproducing device records a tape identification information which identifies the tape on said oblique tracks, and said memory stores said tape identification information with said commercial position information.

12. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said detector identifies portions of said program material as commercial message portions, wherein time intervals between changing points of said program material correspond to a predetermined time interval and occur at least twice consecutively.

13. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said changing points are fade-out portions of said program material.

14. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said changing points are points at which the audio signal level of said program material is approximately zero.

15. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said changing points are points at which the video signal level of said program material changes to a black or white level.