Patent ID: 6441979
Filing Date: 2002-08-27
Classification: G11B,H04N

Abstract:
A digital information recording apparatus for selecting and recording a signal from a plurality of digital information signals having different transmission rates, comprising:selecting means for selecting a signal to be recorded from said plurality of digital information signals having different transmission rates; identifier signal generator means for generating an identifier signal indicating contents of the selected signal; encoding means for conducting an interleaving process for the selected signal, forming blocks thereof by adding a synchronizing code, an identification code, and an error correction code thereto, and performing a time-base process and a modulation for the signal, thereby converting the signal into two channels of recording signals; recording means including a first magnetic head and a second magnetic head which are arranged respectively at predetermined positions close to each other on a rotary drum and which respectively have azimuth angles respectively having opposing polarities, the first and second heads respectively recording the two channels of recording signals on two tracks on a magnetic tape, the recording means further including a third magnetic head and a fourth magnetic head which are arranged respectively at predetermined positions being close to each other and opposing to the positions of the first and second magnetic heads with an angle of 180Â° on the rotary drum and which respectively have the azimuth angles respectively having opposing polarities, the third and fourth heads respectively recording the two channels of recording signals on two tracks on the magnetic tape; servo means for controlling a rotation speed of the rotary drum and a feed speed of the magnetic tape, wherein: when recording a first digital information signal having a first transmission rate, said encoding means adds the identifier signal indicating contents of the first digital information signal as one of the identification code thereto, thereby converting the signal into the two channels of recording signals having a fixed recording rate; said servo means drives the rotary drum to rotate at a fixed rotation speed and the magnetic tape to be fed at a first feed speed; and said recording means records the two channels of recording signals on four tracks in one rotation of the rotary drum by alternately using the first and second magnetic heads and the third and fourth magnetic heads; and when recording a second digital information signal having a second transmission rate substantially equal to 1/N (N is an integer equal to or more than two) of that of the first digital information signal, said encoding means adds the identifier signal indicating contents of the second digital information signal as one of the identification code thereto and compresses, each time the rotary drum makes N/2 rotations, the second digital information signal into a signal which is 1/N of the second digital information signal on a time axis, thereby converting the second digital information signal into the two channels of recording signals respectively having a fixed recording rate; said servo means drives the rotary drum to rotate at the fixed rotation speed and the magnetic tape to be fed at a second feed speed substantially equal to 1/N of the first feed speed; and said recording means records the two channels of recording signals on four tracks in N rotations of the rotary drum by using only the first and second magnetic heads or by alternately using the first and second magnetic heads and the third and fourth magnetic heads.