Abstract:
An apparatus for recording a video signal while forming a great number of parallel tracks on a tape-shaped recording medium, and reproducing the video signal from the track, wherein for a specified picture on the recording medium, a processing code to be used in printing the picture is recorded on the recording medium in correspondence with the specified picture, whereby without recourse to an actual printing of the specified picture, it is possible that only the practice of recording the processing code for the specified picture of the tape-shaped recording medium suffices for starting a selecting operation for the next picture.

Description:
This application is a division of application Ser. No. 08/674,219, filed Jul. 1, 1996 (U.S. Pat. No. 5,608,536), which is a continuation of Ser. No. 08/561,561, filed Nov. 22, 1995, abandoned which is a continuation of Ser. No. 08/217,775, filed Mar. 23, 1994, abandoned, which is a continuation of Ser. No. 08/094,375, filed Jul. 19, 1993, abandoned, which is a continuation of Ser. No. 07/625,498, filed Dec. 11, 1996 (U.S. Pat. No. 5,258,880). 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates to video signal reproducing apparatuses and, more particularly, to a video signal reproducing apparatus suited to be connected with a printer for printing the video signal of a specified picture. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     In a case where a picture corresponding to the video signal reproduced by the video tape recorder (VTR) is printed by a printer, it has been typical that a desired picture is selected out of the pictures of the reproduced signals from the VTR and is stored in a memory in the printer, and the video data is read from the memory at a predetermined speed, so that the picture is printed out. 
     FIG. 1 schematically shows a conventional system of this kind comprising a VTR  81 , a monitor  82  and a video printer  83 . A desired picture out of a great number of pictures recorded on the tape is printed in the way described below. 
     To begin with, the VTR  81  is set to the reproduction mode, and the monitor  82  and the printer  83  are supplied with the reproduced video signals from the VTR  81 . As the monitor  82  is then sweeping the pictures, the operator actuates a console of the printer  83  at the timing when the desired picture is displayed. Responsive to this actuation, a control portion  85  operates a memory portion  84  so that either one field or one frame (hereinafter simply referred to as “one picture”) of video signal is stored in the memory portion  84 . The video signal, after having been stored for one picture in the portion  84 , is read out at a predetermined speed corresponding to the printing speed of a printing portion  86 . By this, printing of the desired picture is realized with the printing portion  86 . 
     Incidentally, in the conventional art, the video signal supplied from the VTR  81  to the printer  83  is generally an analog video signal. 
     In such a conventional system as has been descried above, even if a plurality of pictures to be printed are on one and the same tape, the operator has to repeat a process of the steps of choosing one picture and then waiting a relatively long time during which the printing goes on and, after that, choosing the next picture, and so on. To print a great number of pictures, therefore, the operator is occupied for a very long time at the console of the system till the end of printing of all. 
     Another drawback is that if one desires to get the picture that has once been used in printing for the purpose of printing it again, to select the same picture again is impossible. In more detail, since, in the VTR, the video signals are recorded as moving images at 30 frames or 60 fields a second, the tape capable of recording for 120 minutes has about 430 thousand pictures in field per cassette recorded thereon. Hence, it is virtually impossible to pick up the specified picture out of these pictures as searching is repeated again. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention has a general object to solve the above-described problems. 
     Another object of the invention is to provide a video signal reproducing apparatus which, when printing a specified picture on a recording medium on which a great number of pictures are recorded, enables its manageability to be improved. 
     Under such an object, according to the invention, in an embodiment thereof, a video signal reproducing apparatus is proposed, comprising video reproducing means for reproducing, from a recording medium on which a video signal for a multiplicity of pictures is recorded, the video signal, control input means for inputting control information to be used in a printer connectable with the reproducing apparatus, and control recording means for recording the control information at recording positions on the recording medium which are determined in correspondence with respective recorded positions of the multiplicity of pictures on the recording medium. 
     Yet another object of the invention is to provide a video signal reproducing apparatus which is able to more speedily extract a specified picture on the recording medium on which a great number of pictures are recorded. 
     Other than the above-described objects of the invention and its features will become apparent from the following detailed description of embodiments of the invention by reference to the drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the conventional system including the VTR and the printer. 
     FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the arrangement of the main parts of an embodiment of a VTR according to the invention. 
     FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the construction of the entirety of a system including the VTR of FIG.  2 . 
     FIG. 4 is a flowchart for the operation of the VTR of FIG. 2 at the time of designating a picture to be printed. 
     FIG. 5 is a plan view schematically illustrating the relationship of the phase of rotation of the heads, the recording position on the tape and the recorded data. 
     FIG.  6 (A) and FIG.  6 (B) show concrete examples of data for print control to be recorded. 
     FIG.  7  and FIG. 8 show an example of application of the print output by the system of FIG.  3 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     An embodiment of the invention is described below. 
     FIG. 2 in block diagram roughly shows the construction and arrangement of the parts of the VTR embodying the invention, and FIG. 3 schematically shows the entirety of a system including the VTR of FIG.  2 . 
     In FIG. 3, reference numeral  1  denotes a recording and reproducing apparatus portion. As the input video signal, an image sensing video signal from, for example, a video camera  11  of VTR-integrated type, or a video signal from a tuner within a stationary type VTR  12  is assumed. In this embodiment, the apparatus shown in FIG. 2 corresponds to the recorder portion of, for example, the stationary type VTR  12 . Incidentally, the arrangement of FIG. 2 may be the recorder portion in the VTR-integrated type video camera  11 . 
     The video signal reproduced by the recording and reproducing apparatus portion  1  is supplied, as an analog signal to a monitor  2 . The operator, while looking at pictures presented on the monitor  2 , manipulates the VTR  12 . That is, when a picture desired to be printed comes near, the operator manipulates a pause (temporary stop) button  120  or a known shuttle dial  121  for freely varying the reproducing speed. The tape is transported until the desired picture is reproduced, and stopped in a state where the desired picture is displayed on the monitor  2 . In the present embodiment, in this state where the desired picture is displayed on the monitor  2 , a print designating button  122  is pushed to record processing data for printing on the tape. 
     In the following, the above-described operation is described in more detail by reference to the block diagram of FIG.  2  and the flowchart of FIG.  4 . 
     At first, by operating a key operation part  200  of FIG. 2, the VTR  12  is set to the reproduction mode. At this time, a system controller  201  controls the various portions of the apparatus in accordance with control information from the operation part  200 . For example, the system controller  201  controls a capstan motor  203  and a drum motor  204  through a servo circuit  202 . It controls switches  209 ,  212   a ,  212   b  and  214  through a selection signal generator  225 . Of course, in this reproduction mode, the reproducing speed is varied to any appropriate value by manipulating the aforesaid dial  212 , pause button  210 , etc. This variation is realized by varying the speed of rotation of the capstan motor  203 . Further the speed of rotation of the drum motor  204  is varied so as to keep constant the speed of heads Ha and Hb relative to the tape T. Incidentally, it is assumed that the difference in gradient between the tracing locus of the head and the track is always compensated for by head moving mechanisms Ma and Mb. 
     In such a reproduction mode, the recording and reproducing heads Ha and Hb mounted on the drum  206  reproduce video signals, which pass through switches  212   a  and  212   b  which are in their PB positions, and amplifiers  213   a  and  213   b , respectively, and further through a common switch  214 , become a continuous signal. This signal is supplied to a reproduced video signal processing circuit  218 . The video signal output from the signal processing circuit  218  is supplied through the PB side terminal of a switch  220  and the N side terminal of a switch  229  to the monitor  2 . Meanwhile, the audio signal is reproduced from an audio area AA to be described later, and is output through a switch  214 , a normally closed switch  215 , a code data decoder  219  and a D/A converter  230 . 
     The operator, while looking at moving images displayed on the monitor  2 , searches for a desired picture by manipulating the dial  121 , etc. At the timing the desired picture is displayed, the operator pushes the pause button  120 , switching the VTR  12  to a still image reproduction mode. Under this condition, the operator manipulates the print designating button  122 . This information is then sent from the key operation part  200  to the system controller  201 . The operation up to this corresponds to a step S 1  of the flowchart of FIG.  4 . 
     Next, the flow advances to a step S 2  of FIG. 4, where a size of the picture to be printed is designated by the operation part  200 . Subsequently, by the operation part  200 , the operator designates a image quality (step S 3 ), a number of prints (step S 4 ), sorting (step S 5 ), etc. successively. These steps S 2 -S 4  are set for each print size. Whether or not there is another print size is designated from the operation part  200  in a step S 6 . If present, the flow returns to the step S 2 . If absent, it advances to a step S 7 . 
     In the step S 7 , data produced in the above-described steps S 2 -S 5  (hereinafter called the “print” data) is generated in a print data generator  224 . In a step S 8 , this print data is sent to a code data encoder  208  and also to a display signal generator  222 . Here, the reproduced video signal output from the switch  220  and the output signal of the display signal generator  222  corresponding to the print data are mixed by an adder  226 . Characters representing the print data are superimposed on the picture to be printed. The video signal corresponding to such a picture is converted into digital form by an analog-to-digital (A/D) converter  227 . The output of the A/D converter  227  is supplied to an image memory  217 . At this time, the print data generator  224  commands the memory control circuit  216  to take the video signal for one frame from the A/D converter  227  into the image memory  217  and to read out this repeatedly. By this, the video signal from the image memory  217  is converted into analog form by a D/A converter  223 , and is output through the S side terminal of a switch  229  to the monitor  2  (step S 9 ). 
     Next, the operator, on looking at the picture displayed on the monitor  2 , confirms the picture to be printed and the print data, and checks whether or not they are the same contents as desired (step S 10 ). If not the same contents as desired, the flow returns to the step Si to allow the operator to try again from the beginning. If the contents are the same as desired, the flow advances to a step S 11 , where the above-described print data is recorded. 
     In the following, this recording of the print data is explained. 
     As usual, when the VTR of FIG. 2 is set in the recording mode, a recording video signal processing circuit  207  converts the input video signal into a form suited to be recorded, and its output is supplied to a switch  210 . Meanwhile, the audio signal digitized by an A/D converter  230  is also coded in the code data encoder  208  and supplied through a normally closed switch  209  to a switch  210 . FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically illustrating the phase of rotation of the head Ha or Hb and the tracing position on the tape T. The switch  210  connects the recording video signal processing circuit  207  to an amplifier  211   a  or  211   b  during a period when the head Ha or Hb traces the video area VA, or connects the code data encoder  208  to the amplifier  211   a  or  211   b  during a period when the head Ha or Hb traces the audio area AA. 
     Now, when the recording of the print data is carried out by a step S 11  of FIG. 4, the switch  209  is controlled by a signal C 3  output from the selection signal generator  225  so that the switch  209  turns on for only the period when the head Ha or Hb traces the print data area PA corresponding to parts of a postamble portion and a guard section of the audio area AA. Also, by a signal C 1 , for this period only, the switches  212   a  and  212   b  are connected to the REC side. By this, the print data encoded by the code data encoder  208  can be recorded in the print data area PA on the tape T. That is, if, in the before-described step S 10 , the print picture and the print data have the same contents as desired, the print data is recorded in the print data area PA of that track in which the video signal being reproduced has been recorded, in the step S 11 . 
     Here, the recording format for the print data is explained by using FIG.  5  and FIGS.  6 (A) and  6 (B). As shown in FIG. 5, the above-described print data area PA corresponds to 1.5 horizontal scanning periods of the video signal. That is, the before-described switch  209  is turned on for only the period corresponding to this 1.5 H. This area of 1.5 H is divided into a header portion of 1.26 H and a data portion of 0.24 H. A head search signal to be described later is recorded in the header portion, and the print data is recorded in the data portion. In the data portion, as shown in FIG. 5, five words WD0-WD4, start identification data S, end identification data E and a CRCC for error correction are recorded. Each of the words WD0-WD4 consists of 8 bits, and the contents of the words are shown in FIG.  6 (A) and FIG.  6 (B). 
     As shown in FIG.  6 (A), each of the four data words WD1-WD4 has 2 bits assigned to sorting number, 2 bits to the magnification (print size), and 4 bits to the number of prints. As the sorting number, 4 different values (4 groups) can be set. For each of these, a different value of magnification can be set. An example of this scheme is shown in FIG.  6 (A). The number of prints, because of the use of 4 bits, can be set in a range of 0 to 14, except for these 4 bits all taking “1”. This case has a special meaning, say, a multi-picture print. This means that the picture being reproduced and 25 pictures that follow are printed as one sheet of picture. In analogy to the conventional silver-halide photography, this print mode is used in expecting an equivalent result to the contact printing of all the frames of common negative roll film in a sheet. 
     The word WD0 is for control of the words WD1-WD4 and includes one bit (the second bit) representing whether one field of data or one frame of data is used to make a print picture, another bit (the first bit) representing whether or not the printing has been completed. The zeroth bit represents whether or not a time space of 10 seconds just before this picture to be printed has a print-designated picture (hereinafter simply called the “parent” picture). Its setting will be described later. The third to the seventh bits are data of five bits representing that this print picture corresponds to what frame number defined by the time code or the like. 
     Now, returning again to the step S 11  of the flowchart of FIG. 4, the print data shown in FIG.  6 (A) and FIG.  6 (B) is recorded in the print data recording area PA of that track in which the print-designated picture has been recorded. After this, the system controller  201  drives the capstan motor  203  to rotate at the same speed as in the normal recording mode, and the head search signal is recorded in the aforesaid header portion for 10 seconds. For example, a carrier signal of 2.9 MHz is usually recorded in the header portion, and a carrier signal of 5.8 MHz is recorded in the portion corresponding to the aforesaid time space of 10 seconds. And, the zeroth bit of the before-described word WD0, i.e., one bit which represents the presence or absence of a parent picture, if, as the head search signal is reproduced in the step S 10 , this has 5.8 MHz, is automatically set to “1”. 
     From the tape having the print-designated picture set in such a way, the print-designated picture is then printed. This operation is described below. 
     The operator first loads the tape having the print-designated picture set therein to the VTR  12  and manipulates the operation part  200  to produce a print command. Responsive to this, the system controller  201  drives the capstan motor  203  and the drum motor  204  through the servo circuit  202 . So, the tape T is transported at a high speed, while the signal from the before-described print data area PA is simultaneously reproduced. During this time, the switches  212   a  and  212   b  are connected to the PB side terminals, and the switch  214  connects the amplifiers  213   a  and  213   b  to the side of the code data decoder  219 . The switch  215  is turned on at the timing when the head Ha or Hb traces the print data area PA. The code data decoder  219 , when the reproduced signal from the before-described header portion is 5.8 MHz, produces an output of “1” as the head search control signal. Responsive to this change of the head search control signal to “1”, the system controller  201  controls the capstan motor  203  so as to transport the tape in the direction reverse to that in the recording mode at the same speed as in the recording mode. 
     In this state, the code data decoder  219  decodes data reproduced from the data portion. Of the data shown in FIGS.  6 (A) and  6 (B), if the 4-bit data representing the number of prints is other than “0000”, the system controller  201  stops transporting of the tape T. Incidentally, at this time, either of a mode in which the transporting of the tape T is stopped only when the data indicating that the picture is not yet printed is being detected and another mode in which the transporting of the tape T is stopped regardless of whether the picture is already printed or not yet printed can be set. After this stop of the tape T, printing of the reproduced picture is carried out as follows. 
     With the tape T in the stopping state, the heads Ha and Hb on the head moving mechanisms Ma and Mb trace the respective recorded tracks of the designated picture. The thus-reproduced video signals are supplied through the reproduced video signal processing circuit  218 , the adder and the A/D converter  227  to, and stored in, the image memory  217 . Further, the print data is supplied through the code data decoder  219  to, and stored in, the printer control signal generator  221  that functions as an interface. When these storing operations end, the data stored in the image memory  217  and the printer control data output from the printer control signal generator  221  are transferred to a printer data bus  228 . According to the control data, the printer  3  prints the video data transferred from the data bus  228 . When the printing is completed, the printer  3  sends data representing the end of printing to the data bus  228 . And, the printing end data output from the printer  3  is sent through the printer control signal generator  221  to the system controller  201 . The VTR  12  then performs the next operation. 
     That is, the VTR  12 , when supplied with the printing end data, if the first bit of the word WD0 is “1”, performs rewriting of the print data to “0”. The operation at this time of the VTR  12  is similar to that when the print data is recorded. So, no more explanation is given. And, the next designated picture is then searched. If a parent picture is present, the VTR  12  starts from the step of transporting the tape in the reverse direction at the same speed as in the recording mode. If not present, it starts from the step of transporting the tape in the normal direction at a high speed. 
     Lastly, applied examples of prints obtained from the system of the above-described embodiment are shown in FIG.  7  and FIG.  8 . FIG. 7 exemplifies unity magnification of print. In the left lower corner of the print, the previously described print data of the words WD0-WD4 are recorded by a bar code. If the printer  3  is made to have a function of recording and reproducing this code, it becomes possible to search the original video signal on the tape T from this print. FIG. 8 shows a multi-picture printed out when the print number data of the words WD1-WD4 are all “1”. In the right lower corner of each contracted picture, a picture address on the tape in the form of a time code or the like is imprinted. If the VTR  12  is provided with a function of searching the tape T by using this time code, it becomes possible to search the original video signal on the tape T either. 
     In the system including the VTR of such construction as described above, it is first made possible that after all pictures to be printed have been chosen, each picture is automatically printed. Therefore, the manageability of this kind of system is remarkably improved. 
     Another advantage is that even the picture once used to print can be duplicated easily by reproducing the print data on the tape. 
     Further, by adding a mark for head search to each of a predetermined number of pictures in the neighborhood of a print-designated picture, the tape can be transported at a high speed when searching for the print-designated picture. 
     As has been described above, according to the video signal reproducing apparatus of the invention, when printing a desired picture recorded on a tape-shaped recording medium, an improvement of the manageability and an increase of the accuracy of picture search can be realized.