Abstract:
A record/reproduction apparatus capable of performing record-reproduction with high definition and standard definition appropriately records information, and includes: at least one of a display unit and an output unit to an external display device; a hard disk drive; and a disc drive corresponding to record-reproduction using a disc for record-reproduction in a high definition mode and a disc for record-reproduction in a standard definition mode. With the configuration, the record/reproduction apparatus performs a display on the display unit in the high definition mode or a display-output to the output unit in the high definition mode at activation, recognizes one of the hard disk drive and the disc drive as a record medium after the display-outputting, and sets a record mode to one of the hard disk drive and the disc drive based on a result of the recognition.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application relates to and claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2007-208600, filed on Apr. 9, 2007, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    The present invention relates to a record/reproduction apparatus and a record mode setting method for the record/reproduction apparatus, and more specifically to a record/reproduction apparatus and a record mode setting method for the record/reproduction apparatus for use in performing record-reproduction in a high definition mode (image quality of HD (high definition)) and a standard definition mode (image quality of SD (standard definition). 
         [0004]    2. Description of Related Art 
         [0005]    A record/reproduction apparatus loaded with two drives, that is, a hard disk drive and a BD (blu-ray disc)/DVD (digital versatile disc) drive, has been proposed (refer to, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-128599). The record/reproduction apparatus can be a video camera etc. compatible with an HD mode. 
         [0006]    In the video camera loaded with a conventional DVD drive, the default setting of the record mode of a DVD is an SD mode. However, the following problem occurs if the default of the record mode on the DVD/BD side is an SD mode in the video camera compatible with an HD mode. 
         [0007]    The video camera is activated with the image quality of SD, and the output to a monitor and an external display screen is of the image quality of SD. When there is no disc inserted in the BD/DVD drive, the video camera is used with a hard disk drive as a record medium. Since high definition image quality is desirable in record-reproduction of data in the hard disk drive, the record mode of the hard disk drive may be set only in the HD mode. Therefore, the setting of the record mode of the video camera is switched from the SD mode to the HD mode. At this time, noise etc. occurs in the display on the monitor etc., and display disturbance arises. Since the output to a monitor etc. is performed before determining the presence/absence of a disc inserted in the BD/DVD drive, the influence of switching the setting of a record mode appears on the screen. In addition, the record medium when no disc is inserted in the BD/DVD drive may not be a hard disk drive, but a disc is desired to be inserted into the BD/DVD drive as the record medium. In this case, since the video camera is designed for the HD mode, it is desirable that the output to a monitor and an external display screen is of high definition, thereby switching from the SD mode to the HD mode, and the above-mentioned display disturbance occurs. 
         [0008]    When a BD is inserted in the BD/DVD drive, the setting of the record mode is switched from the SD mode to the HD mode because it is desirable that data is record-reproduced with image quality of HD. At this time, as in the above-mentioned case, noise etc. occurs on the display of a monitor etc., thereby causing display disturbance. 
         [0009]    On the other hand, when a record medium is switched from a hard disk drive to a BD/DVD drive and a record mode is initialized, the record mode is switched from the HD mode to the SD mode. This is because the available setting of the record mode of the hard disk drive is image quality of HD only, and the default setting of the record mode on the BD/DVD side is the SD mode since it is desirable that a hard disk drive is of high definition, as described above. At this time, as in the case above, noise etc. occurs on the display of a monitor etc., thereby causing display disturbance. In the case that a hard disk drive is designed to be compatible with the SD mode, the display disturbance also occurs as described above when the record mode is the HD mode. However, in the case that the record medium is switched from a BD/DVD drive to a hard disk drive, the display disturbance occurs as described above when the record mode is the SD mode without an inserted disc and the record mode of the hard disk drive is the HD mode. 
         [0010]    The present invention has been developed to solve the above-mentioned problems, and proposes a record/reproduction apparatus and a record mode setting method for the record/reproduction apparatus capable of appropriately recording information. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0011]    The present invention is a record/reproduction apparatus including: at least one of a display unit and an output unit to an external display device; a hard disk drive; a disc drive corresponding to record-reproduction using a disc for record-reproduction in a high definition mode and a disc for record-reproduction in a standard definition mode; a display-output unit for performing a display on the display unit in the high definition mode or for performing a display-output to the output unit in the high definition mode at activation; a recognition unit for recognizing one of the hard disk drive and the disc drive as a record medium after display-outputting by the display-output unit; and a record mode setting unit for setting a record mode to one of the hard disk drive and the disc drive based on a result of the recognition by the recognition unit. 
         [0012]    The present invention can propose a record/reproduction apparatus and a record mode setting method for the record/reproduction apparatus capable of appropriately recording information. 
         [0013]    Other aspects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description and the appended claims. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0014]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram showing the configuration of the record/reproduction apparatus according to the present invention; 
           [0015]      FIG. 2  shows a part of the configuration included in the control microcomputer unit; and 
           [0016]      FIG. 3  is a flowchart showing the record mode setting process according to the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0017]    An embodiment of the present invention is described below with reference to the attached drawings. In the following embodiments, the record/reproduction apparatus of the present invention is described as being applied to a video camera, but the present invention is not limited to a video camera. 
         [0018]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram showing the configuration of a video camera  100 . 
         [0019]    The video camera  100  includes a lens  101 , an image capture sensor (CCD)  102 , a camera signal processing unit  103 , a compression/decompression unit  104 , a control microcomputer unit  105 , a signal processing unit  106 , a hard disk drive (HDD)  107 , a BD/DVD drive  108 , an operation switch  109 , a charge unit  110 , a battery  111 , an external power input unit  112 , a liquid crystal display (LCD)  113 , an external input/output unit  114 , and a management information generation unit  115 . The BD/DVD drive  108  can perform record-reproduction with a BD  108 A or a DVD  108 B inserted. 
         [0020]    In  FIG. 1 , each configuration is separately described for convenience of explanation, but they can be integrated appropriately into one chip depending on the circuit design etc. to provide for easy control and an advantage in terms of space for circuit design. 
         [0021]    First described below is the operation of the video camera  100  shown in  FIG. 1 . The CCD  102  captures an image of an object through the lens  101 , and the image captured by the CCD  102  is converted into an electric signal, and then converted into a video signal by the signal processing unit  103 . 
         [0022]    The video signal converted by the signal processing unit  103  is converted into a digital video signal by the compression/decompression unit  104  controlled by the control microcomputer unit  105 . In addition, the compression/decompression unit  104  can convert an externally input video signal into a digital video signal by switching the input to the external input/output unit  114 . 
         [0023]    A signal converted into a digital video signal is recorded to an external record medium such as the BD  108 A, the DVD  108 B, or the HDD  107  by the signal processing unit  106 . Thus, for example, data is recorded to a record medium such as a BD-R (blu-ray disc recordable) disc etc. formatted by the UDF (universal disk format) 2.6. When it is necessary to update the management information such as MD (meta data) information, MDM (meta data mirror) information, etc. depending on the postscript etc. to user data, the management information generation unit  115  generates management information, and the information is similarly recorded to a record medium. 
         [0024]    Furthermore, the control microcomputer unit  105  is controlled by operating the operation switch  109 , the signal processing unit  106  reads a video signal recorded on the BD  108 A or the DVD  108 B, and data is recorded on the HDD  107 , thereby performing a dubbing process between media. Similarly, the video signal recorded on the HDD  107  can be read and recorded on the BD  108 A or the DVD  108 B. 
         [0025]    The signal recorded on the record medium can be decompressed into a video signal by the compression/decompression unit  104 , output to the external input/output unit  114 , and displayed on the liquid crystal display (LCD)  113 . The display unit is not limited to a liquid crystal display, but it can be, for example, an organic electroluminescence display. 
         [0026]    Furthermore, the external power input unit  112  is used for external power supply from an AC power source etc. In addition, the battery  111  can be charged by the charge unit  110  by supplying power from the external power input unit  112 . Thus, when the external power input unit  112  provides a power source, equipment can be operated by an external power supply. When an external power supply is not provided, each equipment unit in the video camera  100  can be operated by the power supply from the battery  111 . It is not necessary to include all necessary functions for charging in the video camera  100 , but there can be all or a part of the necessary functions for charging other than the external power input unit  112 . 
         [0027]      FIG. 2  shows a part of the configuration included in the control microcomputer unit  105 . As shown in  FIG. 2 , the control microcomputer unit  105  includes a CPU  11  and memory  12 . The CPU  11  controls the entire video camera  100  by executing the program stored in the memory  12 . The memory  12  stores various programs and data for operating the video camera  100 . The memory  12  stores, for example, a record mode setting program  13  and record medium information  14 . 
         [0028]    The record mode setting program  13  is used to set a record mode at activation of the video camera  100 . The record medium information  14  stores the information about whether the record medium is the HDD  107  or the BD/DVD drive. For example, if “1” is stored as the record medium information  14 , it is determined that the record medium is the HDD  107 . If “0” is stored, it is determined that the record medium is the BD/DVD drive  108 . 
         [0029]    Described below is the record mode setting process when the CPU  11  executes the record mode setting program  13 .  FIG. 3  is a flowchart showing the record mode setting process. The process is started when the operation switch  109  is operated and the power is turned on. 
         [0030]    First, in step S 101 , a record mode is initialized, and the screen is output by setting the HD mode in step S 102 . Thus, an image captured by the lens  101  is display-output in the HD mode on the external display device (for example, a high definition television etc.) connected to the LCD  113  or the external input/output unit  114 . 
         [0031]    Then, in step S 103 , a disk as a target of the record medium is recognized. In step S 104 , the record medium is determined. That is, the record medium information  14  stored in the memory  12  is recognized, and it is determined whether the HDD  107  is set or the BD/DVD drive  108  is set as a record medium. In the above-mentioned example, if “1” is stored as the record medium information  14 , it is determined that the record medium is the HDD  107 . If “0” is stored, it is determined that the record medium is the BD/DVD drive  108 . In step S 103 , if a long time is required for a disk recognizing process, an instruction to start the process is issued before the screen display step S 102 , and a disk can be determined after the screen display step S 102 . 
         [0032]    When it is determined that the record medium is the BD/DVD drive  108  (disc in S 104 ) it is determined in step S 105  whether or not a disc has been inserted. If a disc has not been inserted (NO in S 105 ), the HD mode is set as a record mode in step S 106  because the video camera  100  is designed for the HD mode and is appropriate for use in the HD mode, and therefore it is desirable that the HD mode is set as the default for the BD  108 A. 
         [0033]    On the other hand, if it is determined that the record medium is the HDD  107  (HDD in S 104 ), then the HD mode is set as a record mode in step S 106  because the HDD  107  is set for the HD mode only. 
         [0034]    If it is determined in step S 105  that a disc has been inserted (YES in S 105 ), then it is determined in step S 107  whether or not the disc is the BD  108 A. If it is determined that the inserted disc is the BD  108 A (YES in S 107 ), then control is passed to step S 106 , and the HD mode is set as a record mode because the BD  108 A is designed for high definition, and therefore it is desirable that the HD mode is set as the default. 
         [0035]    If it is determined in step S 107  that the inserted disc is not the BD  108 A (NO in S 107 ), that is, if the DVD  108 B is an inserted disc, then a screen display switching process is performed in step S 108 . That is, since the DVD  108 B is used in the SD mode, the display-output is switched from the HD mode to the SD mode. Then, in step S 109 , the SD mode is set as a record mode. 
         [0036]    Thus, if the HD mode is set in step S 106 , or the SD mode is set in step S 109 , the process of setting the record mode of the video camera  100  terminates. 
         [0037]    According to the embodiment, when the video camera  100  is activated, after output is performed in the HD mode to the external display device connected to the LCD  113  and/or the external input/output unit  114  in the HD mode, if the record medium is the HDD  107  or if the record medium is the BD/DVD drive  108  and a disc has not been inserted or the inserted disc is the BD  108 A, then the record mode can be set in the HD mode. Therefore, since the display-output is the HD mode and the record mode is the HD mode, it is not necessary to change the quality of the image output previously into the SD mode, thereby preventing noise etc. from occurring on the external display device connected to the LCD  113  and/or the external input/output unit  114 , and preventing display disturbance on a monitor etc. Thus, when the video camera  100  is activated, a user can realize a smooth operation without visually recognizing display disturbance etc. 
         [0038]    Furthermore, by performing the record mode setting process at the activation, the BD/DVD drive  108  can be set as a record medium for the video camera  100  for record-reproducing in the HD mode and the SD mode, and the HD mode is set as a record mode in any case other than when the DVD  108 B is inserted. Therefore, the software resources used in the conventional DVD drive designed for activation in the SD mode can be continuously utilized. 
         [0039]    According to the embodiment above, the present invention has been described as applied to the record/reproduction apparatus  100  including the LCD  113  and the external input/output unit  114  to an external display device, the HDD  107 , and the BD/DVD drive  108  adapted for record-reproduction using the BD  108 A and the DVD  108 B, and having the functions of performing display-output to the LCD  113  in the HD mode or to the external input/output unit  114  in the HD mode at the activation (S 102 ), then recognizing the HDD  107  or the BD/DVD drive  108  as a record medium to be used (S 103 ), and setting a record mode to the HDD  107  or the BD/DVD drive  108  based on a result of the recognition (S 106  and S 109 ). However, the present invention is not limited to this application. For example, the LCD  113  or the external input/output unit  114  can be omitted in the video camera  100 . 
         [0040]    In the embodiment mentioned above, the memory  12  for recording the record medium information  14  indicating whether the record medium to be used is the HDD  107  or the BD/DVD drive  108 , and a record medium is recognized according to the record medium information stored in the memory  12 , but the method of determining a record medium is not limited to the application. 
         [0041]    As described above, the present invention provides a record/reproduction apparatus and a record mode setting method for the record/reproduction apparatus capable of effectively utilizing the software resources having been used by a conventional DVD drive even for the record/reproduction apparatus for performing record-reproduction in the HD mode and the SD mode. 
         [0042]    The present invention can be widely applied to a record/reproduction apparatus and a record mode setting method for the record/reproduction apparatus. The present invention can also be applied to disks that are recorded on a DVD in the HD mode by checking, after the disks are judged as ones recorded on a DVD, whether or not the disks are ones recorded in the HD mode. 
         [0043]    While the invention has been described with respect to a limited number of embodiments, those skilled in the art, having benefit of this disclosure, will appreciate that other embodiments can be devised which do not depart from the scope of the invention as disclosed herein. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be limited only by the attached claims.