Video recording apparatus

• US 7,426,332 B2
• Filed: 10/06/2004
• Issued: 09/16/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 10/08/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Funai Electric Co., Ltd. (Funai Electric Holdings Company Limited)
• Original Assignee: Funai Electric Co., Ltd. (Funai Electric Holdings Company Limited)
• Inventors: Kanehira, Takaharu
• Primary Examiner(s): Miller; John W.
• Assistant Examiner(s): ONUAKU, CHRISTOPHER O
• Application Number:
  US10/958,645
• Publication Number:
  US 20050111830A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,441 Days
• Field of Search: 386/46, 386/83, 386/125, 386/126, 725/25, 725/58, 725/59, 725/60, 725/61, 725/134, 725/135, 369/67, 369/30.36, 369/30.02, 380/258, 380/262
• US Class Current: 386/291
• 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 5/7755 the recorder being connected to, or coupled with, the antenna of the television receiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/781 on disks or drums

Abstract

A video recording apparatus includes: a recording and reproducing unit that records and reproduces a program onto and from a recording medium; a program reserving unit that provides a reservation of the program for programmed recording of the program in one of a plurality of modes including “overwrite after reproduction” mode; and a control unit that controls the recording and reproducing unit, wherein the control unit controls, in accordance with the reservation made by the program reserving unit, the recording and reproducing unit to record the program in either of a free area and a recorded area that is permitted to overwrite of the recording medium, wherein the control unit controls the recording and reproducing unit to prohibit overwriting a recorded program in a case where the recorded program is recorded in the “overwrite after reproduction” mode and a reproduction of the recorded program being unfinished.

Claims

1. A recording and reproducing apparatus comprising:

a program reserving unit for reserving recording of a broadcast program;

a recording and reproducing unit, which enables a periodically broadcast periodic broadcast program reserved via said program reserving unit to be recorded on a recording medium so as to enable said periodic broadcast program recorded on said recording medium to be reproduced;

a first control unit, which controls recording operation of said recording and reproducing unit; and

a second control unit, which controls reproducing operation of said recording and reproducing unit;

wherein when causing said program reserving unit to set a recording method so as to overwrite after reproduction in the course of recording a reserved periodic broadcast program onto a recording medium, in the case where data previously recorded earlier than said periodic broadcast program finished with a reproduction process still remains in said recording medium, said first control unit causes data of the presently available periodic broadcast program to be recorded via overwriting onto an area previously recorded with said data, and then, said first control unit sets a reproduction unfinished domain in the controlling area of said recorded data so as to designate the actual reproduction state;

whereas in the case where said recorded data finished with a reproduction process does not exist on said recording medium, said first control unit enables data of the presently available periodic broadcast program to be recorded in a vacant area of said recording medium, and then, sets an overwrite after reproduction mode as per said recording method and further sets a reproduction unfinished mode so as to designate the actual reproduction state in the controlling area of said recorded data,

wherein when reproducing data recorded from a periodic broadcast program so as to overwrite after reproduction in the controlling area, said second control unit displays a screen message for confirming whether an act of overwriting against said recorded data is approvable or not, and simultaneously, when a viewer approves the act of overwriting, in the case where recorded data other than the corresponding periodic broadcast program identical to the recorded data finished with a reproduction process still exists on a recording medium, said second control unit deletes either the reproduction finished recorded data or said other recorded data from said recording medium

wherein when said other data has been deleted, a reproduction finished mode is set so as to designate the reproduction state of the above reproduction finished recorded data;

wherein, if the viewer approves the act of overwriting, if the above-referred other recorded data finished with a reproduction process dose not exist on said recording medium, said second control unit sets a reproduction finished notice so as to designate the actual reproduction state of the reproduction finished recorded data,

wherein said first control unit prohibits any operation that may cause data of any program other than the data of said periodic broadcast program to be recorded via an overwriting against a data recorded area accommodating data of said previously recorded periodic broadcast program in the state specified by its recording method to overwrite after reproduction in the controlling area and further in the state in which the actual reproduction state of said periodic broadcast program has been designated as the reproduction finished state.

2. A recording and reproducing method available for a recording and reproducing apparatus including a program reserving unit for reserving the recording of a broadcast program and a recording and reproducing unit for recording a periodically broadcast program reserved by said program reserving unit on a recording medium and also for reproducing said periodic broadcast program recorded on said recording medium, said recording and reproducing method comprising;

causing said program reserving unit to set said program recording method by specifying so as to overwrite after reproduction;

determining whether data recorded earlier than the presently available periodic broadcast program for designating an actual reproduction state of said data which has already finished a reproduction process still exists on said recording medium or not at the time of causing said recording and reproducing unit to record said periodic broadcast program complete with setting of its recording method specifying so as to overwrite after reproduction onto said recording medium;

setting a reproduction unfinished notice for designating the reproduction state in a controlling area for controlling data of the presently available periodic broadcast program recorded via an overwriting process in an area provided for recording said data in the case where said recorded data finished with a reproduction process still exists on said recording medium;

setting an overwrite after reproduction format as a method for recording data of the presently available periodic broadcast program in a vacant area of said recording medium;

wherein said “

overwrite after reproduction”

format is set within the controlling area of said recorded data, and a reproduction unfinished notice is set so as to designate the reproduction state in the case where the recorded data finished with a reproduction process does not exist on said recording medium;

determining whether recorded data finished with a reproduction process for designating the reproduction state exists in said recording medium or not, wherein when causing said recording and reproducing unit to reproduce recorded data of a periodic broadcast program pertaining to the reservation of said program as per its recording method specified so as to overwrite data after a reproduction, wherein after reproducing said recorded data, a screen message is displayed so as to confirm whether overwriting against said recorded data is approvable or not, and then, if the viewer approves an act of overwriting, other recorded data of a periodic broadcast program identical to said recorded data finished with a reproduction process is discerned whether or not said recorded data finished with a reproduction process in the manner of designating its reproduction state still exists on said recording medium;

setting a reproduction finished notice so as to designate the reproduction state of recorded data finished with a reproduction Process;

wherein, if it is determined that the above-referred other data still exists on said recording medium, either said reproduction finished recorded data or said other recorded data is deleted from said recording medium, whereas when said other data has been deleted, the reproduction finished notice is generated;

setting a reproduction finished notice for designating the reproduction state of said recorded data finished with a reproduction process when absence of said other data from said recording medium has been determined; and

prohibiting to record any data corresponding to any program other than the corresponding periodic broadcast program in a specific area predetermined for the recording of data of a predetermined periodic broadcast program pertaining to the reserved program entered via the recording method specifying so as to overwrite after reproduction in the controlling area and a notice for notifying of a reproduction finished mode to be set.

3. A recording and reproducing apparatus comprising:

a recording and reproducing unit for recording and reproducing a program onto and from a recording medium;

a program reserving unit for reserving recording of a program; and

a control unit for controlling a function of said recording and reproducing unit,

wherein when causing said recording and reproducing unit to record a reserved periodic broadcast program onto said recording medium as per the instructions of said program reserving unit to implement its recording method so as to overwrite after reproduction, said control unit records data of said periodic broadcast program in a vacant area of said recording medium or in a recording area (of said recording medium) free from prohibition of overwriting;

wherein, when causing said recording and reproducing unit to reproduce recorded data of said periodic broadcast program pertaining to said program reservation as per its recording method specifying so as to overwrite after reproduction, said control unit deletes said recorded data finished with said reproduction process from said recording medium so that the unit number of said data recorded from said periodic broadcast program finished with a reproduction process will become less than the predetermined unit number.

4. The recording and reproducing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein when causing the unit number of said recorded data finished with a reproduction of a periodic broadcast program pertaining to the reservation of said program as per said recording method specifying so as to overwrite after reproduction to be less than the predetermined unit number, said control unit determines whether other recorded data other than the reserved program identical to the reproduction finished recorded data still exists on said recording medium or not, and then, if it is determined that said recorded other data exists on said recording medium, said control unit deletes said recorded data finished with a reproduction process or deletes said recorded other data from said recording medium.

5. The recording and reproducing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said program reserving unit is capable of setting the number of the recorded data reproducible times for the data of a periodic broadcast program that can be recorded on a recording medium periodically, and

wherein said control unit handles the reproduced recorded data as data finished with a reproduction process at the time of enabling the reproducing means to reproduce the data recorded via a periodic broadcast program pertaining to the reserved program as per the instructions of said recording method to overwrite after reproduction.

6. The recording or reproducing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein when said recording method causes said reproducing means to reproduce data recorded from a periodic broadcast program pertaining to the reserved program as per its recording method specifying so as to overwrite after reproduction, said control unit determines the instructions of a viewer, and then, in conformity with the viewer'"'"'s instructions, handles said recorded data as data finished with a reproduction process or data reproduction unfinished.

7. The recording and reproducing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein when all the data recorded from a periodic broadcast program pertaining to the reserved program as per the recording method specifying so as to overwrite after reproduction has been reproduced, said control unit handles said recorded data as data finished with a reproduction process, whereas when only part of said recorded data has been reproduced, said control unit does not handle said recorded data as data finished with a reproduction process.

8. The recording and reproducing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said control unit prohibits overwriting of any data other than new data recorded from an identical reserved program in any area provided for storing the reproduction finished recorded data recorded via the reserved program as per said recording method specifying so as to overwrite after reproduction.

9. The recording and reproducing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein when said recording method enables said recording and reproducing unit to record data of a periodic broadcast program pertaining to the reserved program as per said recording method specifying so as to overwrite after reproduction, said control unit secures a specific recording area having a size larger than that is held by the data recorded from said periodic broadcast program as the area available for recording data of the corresponding periodic program.