Abstract:
A recording and reproducing apparatus comprises a connecting section configured to allow external AV equipment to be controllably connected to the recording and reproducing apparatus, a selecting section configured to select one of recording media possessed by the external AV equipment, via the connecting section, and a control section configured to record or reproduce AV information, via the connecting section, on or from the recording medium selected by the selecting section.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
         [0001]    This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-024859, filed Jan. 31, 2003, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0003]    The present invention relates to a recording and reproducing apparatus, a recording and reproducing method, and an audio visual (AV) system, and in particular, to a recording and reproducing apparatus, a recording and reproducing method, and an AV system in which AV equipment having a reproducing function is connected to AV equipment having a recording function to provide multiple functions.  
           [0004]    2. Description of the Related Art  
           [0005]    As is well-known, a portable recording medium (hereinafter referred to as a “removable medium”) such as a memory card must be used in order to allow AV equipment having a reproducing function to reproduce AV information recorded on stationary AV equipment installed in a user&#39;s home or the like and having a recording and reproducing function.  
           [0006]    That is, it is necessary to install a removable medium in stationary AV equipment to record AV information in the removable medium, then remove the removable medium from the stationary AV equipment, and then install the medium in the portable AV equipment to reproduce the AV information. It is thus cumbersome for the user to handle these pieces of equipment.  
           [0007]    Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2001-357618 discloses an arrangement in which content being reproduced by one of two apparatuses can be reproduced by the other apparatus without transferring the recording medium. However, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2001-357618 requires that the content reproduced by one of the apparatuses be transferred and copied to the other apparatus beforehand. It is thus cumbersome for the user to handle these apparatuses.  
           [0008]    Furthermore, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2000-105969 discloses an arrangement that operates when storing data read from a recording medium, on another recording medium, to determine whether or not this recording is possible on the basis of the time required to reproduce the data and the remaining time available for storing the data in the destination storage medium. However, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2000-105969 does not contain any descriptions of the reproduction of information recorded in one of the apparatuses, by the other apparatus.  
         BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0009]    According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording and reproducing apparatus comprising: a connecting section configured to allow external AV equipment to be controllably connected to the recording and reproducing apparatus; a selecting section configured to select one of recording media possessed by the external AV equipment, via the connecting section; and a control section configured to record or reproduce AV information, via the connecting section, on or from the recording medium selected by the selecting section.  
           [0010]    According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording and reproducing method comprising: selecting one of recording media possessed by externally connected AV equipment; and recording or reproducing AV information on or from the selected recording medium.  
           [0011]    According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an AV system comprising: a connecting section configured to allow alternative controllable connections of first AV equipment having a reproducing function and second AV equipment having a recording function; a selecting section configured to cause one of the first AV equipment and the second AV equipment to select one of recording media possessed by the other AV equipment, via the connecting section; and a control section configured to record or reproduce AV information, via the connecting section, on or from the recording medium selected by the selecting section. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING  
       [0012]    [0012]FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention and illustrating the appearance of an AV system;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the details of signal processing systems in portable AV equipment and stationary AV equipment according to this embodiment;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation of the AV system according to this embodiment;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIGS. 4A and 4B are diagrams illustrating examples of displayed media selection menus; and  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating a variation of the connection between the portable AV equipment and stationary AV equipment according to this embodiment. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0017]    An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows the appearance of an AV system described in this embodiment. This AV system is composed of portable AV equipment  11  and stationary AV equipment  12 .  
         [0018]    The portable AV equipment  11  has a housing  13  formed like a thin box. A display section  14  is installed on one plane of the housing  13 . An operation section  15  and an installation section  16  in which a removable medium is installed are installed on one side of the housing  13 . A connector  17  is installed on a bottom surface of the housing  13 .  
         [0019]    The stationary AV equipment  12  has a box-shaped housing  18 . The housing  18  has a front pane  19 . On the front panel  19 , an operation section  20 , a display section  21  and an installation section  22  are provided. The operation section  20  includes a power switch and the like. The installation section  22  holds a removable medium.  
         [0020]    A mounting section  23  is formed in a top plate of the housing  18  so that a bottom surface portion of the housing  13  of the portable AV equipment  11  can be mounted in and removed from the mounting section  23 . A connector  24  is installed in the middle of a bottom surface of the mounting section  23  and can be connected to the connector  17  of the portable AV equipment  11 .  
         [0021]    The bottom surface portion of the housing  13  of the portable equipment  11  is fitted into the mounting section  23  of the housing  18  of the stationary AV equipment  12  to mechanically couple the AV equipment  11  to the AV equipment  12 . At this time, the connectors  17  and  24  are also connected together to electrically connect the AV equipment  11  and the AV equipment  12  together.  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 2 shows is a block diagram illustrating the details of signal processing systems in the portable AV equipment  11  and stationary AV system  12 . First, the portable AV equipment  11  comprises a tuner section  25 , a built-in memory  26 , a recording and reproducing section  28 , an input and output section  29 , and a central processing unit (CPU)  30 , in addition to the display section  14 , operation section  15 , and installation section  16 , described previously.  
         [0023]    The tuner section  25  has a function of selecting a signal of a desired channel from satellite television broadcasting and terrestrial television broadcasting, demodulating the signal, and displaying the corresponding video on the display section  14 . The built-in memory  26  is formed of, for example, a semiconductor memory.  
         [0024]    The recording and reproducing section  28  has a function of recording and reproducing AV information in and from the removable medium  27  and built-in memory  26  installed in the installation section  16 . The input and output section  29  has a function of receiving and outputting AV information, control information, or the like from and to external equipment via the connector  17 . The CPU  30  integrally controls each section so as to reflect operation information obtained from the operation section  15 .  
         [0025]    On the other hand, the stationary AV equipment  12  comprises a tuner section  31 , a built-in memory  32 , a recording and reproducing section  33 , a timer  34 , an input and output section  35 , and a CPU  36 , in addition to the operation section  20 , display section  21 , and installation section  22 , described previously.  
         [0026]    The tuner section  31  has a function of selecting a signal of a desired channel from satellite television broadcasting and terrestrial television broadcasting and demodulating and outputting the signal to external equipment. The built-in memory  26  is formed of, for example, a hard disk drive (HDD). The timer  34  is utilized to reserve viewing or recording of television broadcasting.  
         [0027]    The recording and reproducing section  33  has a function of recording and reproducing AV information on and from the removable medium  37  and built-in memory  32  installed in the installation section  32 . The input and output section  35  has a function of receiving and outputting AV information, control information, or the like from and to external equipment via the connector  24 . The CPU  36  integrally controls each section so as to reflect operation information obtained from the operation section  20 .  
         [0028]    The input and output sections  29  and  35  conform to the specifications of the universal serial bus (USB) MassStorage class connections. Specifically, the connection form of the portable AV equipment  11  and stationary AV equipment  12  has only to be such that their CPUs  30  and  36  can share their removable media  37  and  27  and the built-in memories  32  and  26 .  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 3 is a flowchart schematically illustrating an example of an operation of the above AV system. First, the process is started (step S 11 ). Then, if at step S 12 , a media selection menu is requested to be displayed for reproduction, then at step S 13 , the CPU  30  of the portable AV equipment  11  determines whether or not the stationary AV equipment  12  is connected to the portable AV equipment  11 .  
         [0030]    If the CPU  30  of the portable AV equipment determines that the stationary AV equipment  12  is not connected to the portable AV equipment  11  (NO), then at step S 16 , it causes the display section  14  to display the media selection menu. As shown in FIG. 4A, the media selection menu displays a list of recording media possessed by the portable AV equipment  11 , i.e., the removable medium  27  and the built-in memory  26  so that a user can select either of them.  
         [0031]    In the media selection menu, either the displayed “removable medium”  27  or “built-in memory”  26  can be selected using a frame-shaped cursor K. Thus, the user can operate the operating section  15  to move the cursor K to select and determine either the “removable medium”  27  or “built-in memory”  26 .  
         [0032]    Subsequently at step S 17 , the CPU  30  of the portable AV equipment  11  reads AV information from the selected medium. Then at step S 18 , the CPU  30  causes the display section  14  to display a video to finish the process (step S 19 ).  
         [0033]    On the other hand, if at step S 13 , described above, the CPU  30  of the portable AV equipment  11  determines that the stationary AV equipment  12  is connected to the portable AV equipment  11  (YES), then at step S 14 , it acquires media information possessed by the stationary AV equipment  12 , i.e., information as to what recording medium is provided in the stationary AV equipment  12  (in this case, the removable medium  37  and the built-in memory  32 ).  
         [0034]    Then at step S 15 , the CPU  30  of the portable AV equipment  11  adds the acquired media information (the removable medium  37  and built-in memory  32 ) possessed by the stationary AV equipment  12  to its own media information (removable medium  27  and built-in memory  26 ). At step S 16 , the CPU  30  causes the display section  14  to display the media selection menu.  
         [0035]    In this case, as shown in FIG. 4B, the media selection menu displays a list of all of the removable media  27  and  37  and built-in memories  26  and  32  possessed by the portable AV equipment  11  and stationary AV equipment  12 . Any of the media can be selected and determined from this list using the cursor K.  
         [0036]    Subsequently at step S 17 , the CPU  30  of the portable AV equipment  11  reads AV information from the selected medium. Then at step S 18 , the CPU  30  causes the display section  14  to display a video to finish the process (step S 19 ).  
         [0037]    According to the above embodiment, the portable AV equipment  11  is operated to select either the removable medium  37  or built-in memory  32  of the stationary AV equipment  12  to read AV information recorded on the selected medium. The portable AV equipment  11  then causes the display section  14  to directly display the information.  
         [0038]    The above arrangement eliminates the need to move AV information from the stationary AV equipment  12  to the portable AV equipment  11  via the removable medium as in the case with the prior art. The user can thus handle these pieces of equipment conveniently.  
         [0039]    Furthermore, AV information acquired from the stationary AV equipment  12  is not recorded on the removable medium  27  or built-in memory  26  of the portable AV equipment  11 . Accordingly, AV information can be acquired from the stationary AV equipment  12  regardless of the storage capacity of the removable medium  27  or built-in memory  26 .  
         [0040]    It is also possible to execute such control as records AV information obtained from the stationary AV equipment  12  on the removable medium  27  or built-in memory of the portable AV equipment  11 .  
         [0041]    The portable AV equipment  11  can select either the removable medium  37  or built-in memory  32  of the stationary AV equipment  12 , in which AV information acquired from any of the tuner section  25 , removable medium  27 , and built-in memory  26  is subsequently recorded on its own selected medium.  
         [0042]    Alternatively, the stationary AV equipment  12  may select the tuner section  25 , removable medium  27  or built-in memory  26  of the portable AV equipment  11 . In this case, the AV information acquired from the tuner section  25 , removable medium  27  or built-in memory  26  is recorded in the removable medium  37  or built-in memory of the AV equipment  12 .  
         [0043]    In this case, the stationary AV equipment  12  can also directly supply a monitor or the like externally connected to it with AV information acquired from the portable AV equipment  11  and cause the monitor to display the AV information, without recording the information on its removable medium  37  or built-in memory  32 .  
         [0044]    Alternatively, the stationary AV equipment  12  can cause the display section  14  of the portable AV equipment  11  to display AV information acquired from either its removable medium  37  or built-in memory  32  or can select the removable medium  27  or built-in memory  26  of the portable AV equipment  11 , in which the AV information is subsequently recorded.  
         [0045]    Moreover, while the stationary AV equipment  12  has AV information recorded in the built-in memory  32 , the AV information having been acquired by the tuner section  31 , the portable AV equipment  11  can select the built-in memory  32  of the stationary AV equipment  12  to cause the stationary AV equipment  12  to read other AV information recorded in the built-in memory  32 . The portable AV equipment  11  can then cause the display section  14  to display the read AV information. In this case, the AV information recorded in the built-in memory  32  can also be read and reproduced.  
         [0046]    Alternatively, while the portable AV equipment  11  is causing the display section  14  to display AV information read from the built-in memory  32  of the stationary AV equipment  12 , the stationary AV equipment  12  can edit other AV information recorded in the built-in memory  32 .  
         [0047]    Moreover, while the portable AV equipment  11  is causing the display section  14  to display AV information read from the built-in memory  32  of the stationary AV equipment  12 , the stationary AV equipment  12  can read other AV information recorded in the built-in memory  32  and supply the AV information to a monitor or the like externally connected to it, which monitor then displays the information.  
         [0048]    In the above embodiment, the portable AV equipment  11  is coupled directly to the stationary AV equipment  12 . However, as shown in FIG. 5, the connection can be established via a cable  38  so as to form a network. Alternatively, the connection can be established by radio.  
         [0049]    The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. Variations may be made to the components of the embodiment for implementation without departing from the spirit of the invention. Furthermore, various inventions can be formed by properly combining a plurality of the components disclosed in the above embodiment. For example, some of the components shown in the embodiment may be omitted.