DIGITAL SIGNAL RECORDING AND REPRODUCING SYSTEM

Abstract: A digital recording and reproducing system wherein luminance signals digitized and converted into the low speed signals and chrominance signals digitized at the time of the recording are distributed among the plural number of chan­ nels such as 5 channels for example; the signals of these plural number of channels are recorded respectively in a re­ cording medium; at the time of the reproduction, the signals of the plural number of the channels reproduced respectively from said recording medium are combined into the lumi­ nance signals and the chrominance signals respectively; the luminance signals in said combined signals are converted into a high speed signal; and output terminals for the dubbing of the signals are led from output sides of a low speed-to-high speed converter and of a channel combination circuit.

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a system designed suitably for the digital dubbing of a reproduced signal which constitutes a part of a system designed for the conversion of a video signal into a digital signal and the recording of the digital signal on plural number of channels by the magnetic or optical means of recording. As an example of the system for converting the video signal into the digital signal and recording the digital signal on the recording medium by the magnetic or optical means, there is the digital video tape recorder. It is extremely difficult for the code obtained form the video signal to be recorded, for example, by a single magnetic head, since such code constitutes the high-speed data of 100 Mb/second or higher. In order to cope with this problem, the technique which enables the code to be distributed for the plural number of channels and recorded simultaneously using the plural number of magnetic heads is used. As for the method of the distribution of the video code, there are the following three methods as have been proposed by Hirano et al. in the paper entitled "A Study on Variable Speed Reproduction of the Digital VTR" in SMPTE Journal, Vol. 92, No. 6 (June, 1983) pp.636-641. For example, there are the following three methods for the distribution of the video code into the three channels A, B and C. (i) The high bits of each picture element are assigned to channel A, the medium bits to channel B and the low bits to channel C. (ii) Each picture element is assigned to the channels A, B, C, A, B, C ... (iii) The picture elements in left area of the picture are assigned to channel A, the picture elements in the central area to channel B and the picture elements in right area to channel C. In the case of the aforementioned video code distribution method, however, is intended for the distribution-by-channel of what is called the composite signal consisting of the luminance signal and the chrominance signal which have undergone the processing for the frequency division multiplexing just like the case of the NTSC signal. On the other hand, for the recording of the high-quality picture, it is considered preferable for the luminance signal and the chrominance signal to be recorded separately instead of being processed for the frequency division multiplexing. As for what is called the component signal such as that discussed in the above, there is no preceding publicly known example as far as the method of the optimization of the distribution by the channel is concerned. Consequently, there is no preceding publicly known method as to the digital dubbing of the reproduced signal relating to said method of video code distribution. US-A-4 456 930 discloses a method of recording and reproducing a video signal in component form with respect to a magnetic tape, which includes the steps of converting the video signal into digital form; distributing the digitized video signal to a plurality of channels; simultaneously recording the digitalized video signal in eight parallel tracks extending obliquely on the tape without guard bands therebetween and with the digitized video signal in alternate ones of the tracks being recorded with a first azimuth angle and the digitized video signal in the remaining tracks being recorded with a second different azimuth angle; reproducing the digitized video signal from the eight parallel tracks; grouping the reproduced digitized video signal into two groups, one group including only those portions of the reproduced digitized video signal that were recorded with the first azimuth angle, and the other group including only those portions of the reproduced digitized video signal that were recorded with the second azimuth angle; and processing the reproduced digitized video signal separately for each group. Apparatus for performing the described method is also provided. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a dubbing system suited for the dubbing of the reproduced signal as the part of the system designed for recording the luminance signal and the chrominance signal, which have been converted into the digital codes separately, by distributing said signals among a plural number of channels. This object is achieved by the subject-matter claimed in claims 1-3 respectively. Unlike these features claimed, the cited prior art does not suggest to provide, in a digital recording and reproducing system, terminal means for outputting reproduced digital signal components as signals for dubbing. The prior art does likewise not suggest to provide terminal means for inputting digital signal components as signals to be dubbed in a recording medium by said recording means. The known digital VTR's only possess terminal means for inputting or outputting analogue signal components in order to record or reproduce the said analogue signal components. In the case of the system relating to the present invention, the number of the channels for the recording of the signal is larger than the number of the color video signals (luminance signal and chrominance signal). According to the present invention, for the dubbing by the system characterized by said method, the output terminal means for the dubbing signals is provided for the state where the luminance signal and the chrominance signal are converted into the digital codes separately. When the dubbing signals would be obtained from the digital signals after the channel distribution and before the channel combination, the connection lines and the change-over switches which are as many as the number of the channels are needed, and this causes the problems such as the complexity of the system and the resultant fall of the reliability. Therefore, according to the present invention, digital dubbing signals are fed in before the channel distribution and are taken out in the same digital format after the channel combination, so that, even when the number of the channels is increased, the required number of the connection lines and that of the change-over switches for the dubbing are only as many as those of the original video signals (luminance signal and chrominance signal), whereby not only the reliability of the system can be improved but also the number of the connection lines and that of the change-over switches for the dubbing can be minimized. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing one of the embodiments of the present invention, Figs. 2A, 2B and 2C show the states of the signal at different stages of the embodiment shown in Fig. 1, respectively, and Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Fig. 1 shows one of the embodiments of the present invention wherein the present invention is applied to the digital video tape recorder. In the case where the signal of the video tape recorder 1 is to be dubbed into the video tape recorder 2 as shown in Fig. 1, said two video tape recorders are connected to each other through the connection line 2 for the dubbing. Before explaining the dubbing system, the compositions and the actions of the video tape recorders shown in Fig. 1 will be explained. In the video tape recorder 1, the analog-to-digital converters 10, 11 and 12 respectively receive the video signals to be recorded, that is, the luminance signal Y and two chrominance signals C W and C N , convert these signals into the digital signals, and output said digital signals to the switches 14, 15 and 16 respectively. There are provided two input terminals to each of said switches 14, 15 and 16, and one of said input terminals is connected to the analog-to-digital converters 10, 11 and 12 while the other is connected to one of the input terminals 13 for dubbing signal. The output terminal of the switch 14 is connected to the high speed-to-low speed converter 17. Said high speed-to-low speed converter 17 converts the high speed of the luminance signal Y into the speed equal to the speeds of the chrominance signals C W and C N . In the case shown in Fig. 1, the speed of the luminance signal is reduced to one third to obtain three low speed luminance signals. The channel distributor 18 mixes the signals from the low speed converter 17 and the switches 15 and 16, and distribute said mixed signals among the plural number of channels (Five channels are shown in Fig. 1). The mixing and the distribution of the signals will be explained in details in Fig. 2. The error correction coder 19 adds the error correction codes to the signals from the channel distributor 18. The signals with the error correction codes added are supplied to the recording and reproducting unit 22a (the magnetic tape transport system and the recording and reproducing heads) by way of the channel coder 20, whereby the video signal is recorded in the recording medium 22b. The recorded video signal is reproduced as follows; the signals reproduced from the recording medium 22 through the channel decoder 24 are inputted to the error correction decoder 26, and the signals whose code errors are corrected are supplied to the channel combination circuit 28. The channel combination circuit 28 separates the luminance signal and the chrominance signal which have been mixed and distributed among the plural number of the channels. The low speed-to-high speed converter 30 converts the luminance signal, which has been converted into the low speed signals, into the original high speed signal. The output sides of the low speed-to-high speed converter 30 and the channel combination circuit 28 are connected to the dubbing signal output terminals 32. The digital-to-analog converters 34, 35 and 36 respectively convert the luminance signal from the low speed-to-high speed converter 30 and the chrominance signals from the channel combination circuit 28 into the analog signals respectively, and reproduce the luminance signal Y and the chrominance signals C W and C N . The explanation for the composition of the video tape recorder 2 shown in Fig. 1 is omitted here, since said video tape recorder has the same composition as that of aforementioned video tape recorder 1. Figs. 2A, 2B and 2C respectively show the states of the digital signals at different stages shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 2A shows the states of the signals at the input sides 50 of the high speed-to-low speed converter 17 and of the channel distributor 18 in Fig. 1, and similarly the states of the signals at the output sides 57 of the low speed-to-high speed converter 30 and of the channel combination circuit 28. Fig. 2B shows the states of the signals at the input side 51 of the channel distributor 18 and the state of the signal at the output side 56 of the channel combination circuit 28. Fig. 2C shows the states of the signals at the output side 52 of the channel distributor 18 and the states of the signals at the input side 55 of the channel combination circuit 28. The high speed-to-low speed converter 17 converts the inputted luminance signal Y (see Fig. 2A) into the luminance signals Y I , Y II and Y III whose speeds are equal to those of the chrominance signals C W and C N (see Fig. 2B). As shown in Fig. 2A, the speed of the chrominance signal is lower than that of the luminance signal, since the signal band of the chrominance signal is good enough visually even when it is one third of signal band of the luminance signal. The speed of the luminance signal needs to be equalized to that of the chrominance signal in order to mix these signals and distribute the mixed signals. The channel distributor 18 cyclically distributes the luminance signals Y₁, Y₂, Y₃ ... and the chrominance signals C W1 , C W2 , C W3 ..., C N1 , C N2 , C N3 ... among the five channels C1 through C5, and mix them as shown in Fig. 2C. Said signals are mixed and distributed among the different channels, since where said signals are left in the condition as is described in Figs. 2A and 2B, the occurrence of the dropout in any one of the channels will cause the deterioration of one specific signal such as, for example, the chrominance signal C W , but when said signals are left in the condition as is described in Fig. 2C, the deterioration will not concentrate on one specific signal even when the dropout has occurred in one of the channels, and distributed among all the signals, whereby the deterioration of the picture quality can be reduced. The signals which have undergone the processes of mixing and distribution are recorded in the recording medium 22b through the error correction coder 19 and the channel coder 20. For the reproduction of the signals, the procedure which is inverse to the above-mentioned procedure has to be followed. That is, the signals reproduced from the medium 22b are inputted to the channel combination circuit 28 through the channel decoder 24 and the error correction decoder 26. The channel combination circuit 28 receives the input of the signals described in Fig. 2C, and separates the signals which have been mixed and distributed into the luminance signals Y I through Y III and the chrominance signals C W through C N . The low speed-to-high speed converter 30 converts the luminance signals Y₁ through Y III into the high speed signal to obtain the original luminance signal Y as is shown in Fig. 2A. In this way, the luminance signal and the chrominance signals are reproduced from those converted individually into the digital codes. The method of the digital dubbing will be explained in the following. In the case where the dubbing is to be made into the video tape recorder 2 from the video tape recorder 1 as the source tape, the switches 37, 38 and 39 of the video tape recorder 2 are respectively connected to the dubbing signal input terminals 40. The dubbing signal input terminals 40 receive the inputs of the digitized luminance signal and chrominance signals through the dubbing signal output terminals 32 of the video tape recorder 1 and the connection lines 2, whereby the dubbing can be accomplished by the procedure similar to that for the recording action of said video tape recorder 1. The dubbing signals can also be taken from the input side 55 of the channel combination circuit 28, but this method requires not only the number of the connection lines for the dubbing but also the number of the change-over switches for the dubbing to be increased, and this is not advantageous not only for the reliability but also for the saving of the space and the manufacturing cost. Fig. 3 shows another embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment derives from the application of the present invention to the line sequential system designed for transmitting the chrominance signals C W and C N alternately for each scanning line. In the system shown in Fig. 3, the analog-to-digital converters 60, 61 and 62 respectively convert the analog luminance signal Y and the analog chrominance signals C W and C N into the digital signals. The line sequential system is designed to transmit the chrominance signals C W and C N alternately, so that, for the pre-processing, the low-pass filter is inserted in the vertical direction of the picture in order to prevent the moiré from occurring in the vertical direction. The low-pass filter consists of two one-horizontal line (1H) delay circuits 64 and 65 and the adder including coefficient multiplier 66 as to the chrominance signal C W , while the same consists of the two one-horizontal line delay circuits 67 and 68 and the adder including coefficient multiplier 69 as to the chrominance signal C N . The chrominance signal delays for one scanning line due to the pre-processing for the line sequential system, so that the luminance signal Y is also delayed by inserting the one horizontal line delay circuit 63 in order to coincide the phases of the luminance signal and the chrominance signal with each other. The switch 71 receives the luminance signal from the delay circuit 63 or the dubbing signal input terminal 73, and outputs said signal to the channel distributor 75 through the high speed-to-low speed converter 74. On the other hand, the switch 70 is designed for the switching between the chrominance signals C W and C N alternately for each scanning line. Another switch 72 receives the chrominance signal from the switch 70 or the dubbing signal input terminal 73, and outputs said signal to the channel distributor 75. The composition and the actions of the section between the channel distributor 75 and the channel combination circuit 77 are the same as that shown in Fig. 1 (indicated by broken line in the drawing), so that the illustration by drawing and the explanation of said section are omitted here. On the reproduction side, the luminance signal outputted from the channel combination circuit 77 is supplied to the digital-to-analog converter 80 through the low speed-to-high speed converter 78 and the one horizontal line delay circuit 79. On the other hand, the chrominance signal outputted from the channel combination circuit 77 is supplied to the switch 83 which makes the part of said signal to be supplied to the digital-to-analog converter 81 through the one horizontal line delay circuits 84 and 85, the adder 86 and the switch 87 in order to reproduce the chrominance signal C W , while the other part of said signal is supplied to the digital-to-analog converter 82 through the one horizontal line delay circuits 88 and 89, the adder 90 and the switch 91 in order to reproduce the chrominance signal C N . The explanation of the line sequential system itself is publicly known, so that its detailed explanation is omitted here. In this embodiment, for the purpose of the dubbing, the dubbing signal output terminals 92 are connected to the output sides of the low speed-to-high speed converter 78 and the channel combination circuit 77, whereby only two connection lines for dubbing and only two change-over switches (71 and 72) will do, and thus the number of the connection lines for dubbing and the number of the change-overs switch in this embodiment are smaller than those required in the case shown in Fig. 1, whereby the system of this embodiment is quite effective not only for the maintenance of the required reliability but also for the saving of the space and the cost. In the foregoing explanation of the embodiment of the present invention, the case where the magnetic tape of the video tape recorder is used as the recording medium is discussed, but the recording medium is not necessarily limited to the magnetic tape in the embodiments of the present invention. According to the present invention, the dubbing signal is obtained directly from the digitized luminance signal and the chrominance signal separately, so that the system as the embodiment of the present invention have the advantages such as the simple composition and high reliability.

Claims: A digital recording and reproducing system comprising analog-to-digital conversion means (10, 11, 12; 60, 61, 62) for converting an analog luminance signal component (Y) and an analog chrominance signal component (C W , C N ) of an analog color television signal in component form into a digital luminance signal component and a digital chrominance signal component, respectively, high speed-to-low speed conversion means (17; 74) for converting the digital luminance signal component into low speed digital luminance signal components, channel distribution means (18; 75) for distributing the low speed digital luminance signal components and the digital chrominance signal component among a plurality of channels, recording means (22a) for recording the signal components distributed among said pluratity of channels on a plurality of recording tracks of a recording medium (22b), reproducing means (22a) for reproducing the signal components distributed among said plurality of channels from said plurality of recording tracks of said recording medium (22b), channel combination means (28; 77) for combining the reproduced signal components so as to reconstitute the low speed digital luminance signal components and the digital chrominance signal component, low speed-to-high speed conversion means (30; 78) for converting the reconstituted low speed digital luminance signal components into the digital luminance signal component, and digital-to-analog conversion means (34, 35, 36; 80, 81, 82) for converting the digital luminance signal component output from said low speed-to-high speed conversion means (30; 78) and the digital chrominance signal component output from said channel combination means (28; 77) into the analog luminance signal component (Y) and the analog chrominance signal component (C W , C N ) of the analog color television signal in component form, said system being characterized by terminal means (32; 92) for outputting the digital luminance signal component from an output side of said low speed-to-high speed conversion means (30; 78) and the digital chrominance signal component from an output side of said channel combination means (28; 77), as signals for dubbing. A digital recording and reproducing system comprising analog-to-digital conversion means (10, 11, 12; 60, 61, 62) for converting an analog luminance signal component (Y) and an analog chrominance signal component (C W , C N ) of an analog color television signal in component form into a digital luminance signal component and a digital chrominance signal component, respectively, high speed-to-low speed conversion means (17; 74) for converting the digital luminance signal component into low speed digital luminance signal components, channel distribution means (18; 75) for distributing the low speed digital luminance signal components and the digital chrominance signal component among a plurality of channels, recording means (22a) for recording the signal components distributed among said plurality of channels on a plurality of recording tracks of a recording medium (22b), reproducing means (22a) for reproducing the signal components distributed among said plurality of channels from said plurality of recording tracks of said recording medium (22b), channel combination means (28; 77) for combining the reproduced signal components so as to reconstitute the low speed digital luminance signal components and the digital chrominance signal component, low speed-to-high speed conversion means (30; 78) for converting the reconstituted low speed digital luminance signal components into the digital luminance signal component, and digital-to-analog conversion means (34, 35, 36; 80, 81, 82) for converting the digital luminance signal component output from said low speed-to-high speed conversion means (30; 78) and the digital chrominance signal component output from said channel combination means (28; 77) into the analog luminance signal component (Y) and the analog chrominance signal component (C W , C N ) of the analog color television signal in component form, said system being characterized by terminal means (13; 73) for inputting a digital luminance signal component and a digital chrominance signal component respectively corresponding to an analog luminance signal component and an analog chrominance signal component of an analog color television signal in component form to an input side of said high speed-to-low speed conversion means (17; 74) and to an input side of said channel distribution means (18; 75), respectively, as signals to be dubbed in a recording medium by said recording means (22a). A digital recording and reproducing system comprising analog-to-digital conversion means (10, 11, 12; 60, 61, 62) for converting an analog luminance signal component (Y) and an analog chrominance signal component (C W , C N ) of an analog color television signal in component form into a digital luminance signal component and a digital chrominance signal component, respectively, high speed-to-low speed conversion means (17; 74) for converting the digital luminance signal component into low speed digital luminance signal components, channel distribution means (18; 75) for distributing the low speed digital luminance signal components and the digital chrominance signal component among a plurality of channels, recording means (22a) for recording the signal components distributed among said plurality of channels on a plurality of recording tracks of a recording medium (22b), reproducing means (22a) for reproducing the signal components distributed among said plurality of channels from said plurality of recording tracks of said recording medium (22b), channel combination means (28; 77) for combining the reproduced signal components so as to reconstitute the low speed digital luminance signal components and the digital chrominance signal component, low speed-to-high speed conversion means (30; 78) for converting the reconstituted low speed digital luminance signal components into the digital luminance signal component, and digital-to-analog conversion means (34, 35, 36; 80, 81, 82) for converting the digital luminance signal component output from said low speed-to-high speed conversion means (30; 78) and the digital chrominance signal component output from said channel combination means (28; 77) into the analog luminance signal component (Y) and the analog chrominance signal component (C W , C N ) of the analog color television signal in component form, said system being characterized by terminal means (32; 92) for outputting the digital luminance signal component from an output side of said low speed-to-high speed conversion means (30; 78) and the digital chrominance signal component from an output side of said channel combination means (28; 77), as signals for dubbing, and second terminal means (13; 73) for inputting a digital luminance signal component and a digital chrominance signal component, respectively, corresponding to an analog luminance signal component and an analog chrominance signal component of an analog color television signal in component form to an input side of said high speed-to-low speed conversion means (17; 74) and to an input side of said channel distribution means (18; 75), respectively, as signals to be dubbed in a recording medium by said recording means (22a).

Inventors: ETO., YOSHIZUMI, KANADA, HIDEHIRO, KATAYAMA, HITOSHI, MICHIKAWA, YUICHI, MIYAZAKI, SHINICHI, UMEMOTO, MASUO
Applicants: HITACHI DENSHI KABUSHIKI KAISHA, HITACHI, LTD.
Application year: 1986
Main classification: H04N9
IPC codes: H04N9, G11B5