Patent Publication Number: US-2007116429-A1

Title: Broadcast recording apparatus and broadcast recording method

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
      This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-346089, filed Nov. 30, 2005, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.  
     BACKGROUND  
      1. Field  
      One embodiment of the invention relates to a broadcast recording apparatus for recording a video image signal in a plurality of hard disk drive units, and particularly to a broadcast recording apparatus for recording identical video image and voice signals in a plurality of hard disk drive units.  
      2. Description of the Related Art  
      Recently, with prevalence of a digital device, a broadcast receiving apparatus such as a hard disk recorder has been generally known. A plenty of video image information can be recorded and reproduced more easily than a case of a recording and reproducing processing operation by a conventional video tape recorder (VTR). In such a broadcast receiving apparatus, reservation image recording or the like can be carried out by simple operation so that a plenty of video image and voice information is recorded in a storage region. Therefore, a variety of hard disk image recording methods become effective according to a user&#39;s program viewing mode as well as merely recording video image and voice signals in one hard disk.  
      In patent document 1 (Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2003-61022), there is disclosed a broadcast program recording apparatus in which a plurality of hard disk drives are provided, one hard disk drive is used for overwrite recording of program contents that are repeating image recording within a predetermined time interval, and the other hard disk drive is used for storage image recording for storing the overwritten and recorded program contents for a long period of time.  
      However, in the above-described conventional technique, only one hard disk drive is used for storing program contents for a long period of time. In this hard disk drive, there is a case in which reproduction is suddenly disabled due to degradation with an elapse of time, a data error and the like. In this case, a hard disk drive capability is often recovered by formatting the drive. However, there is a problem that recorded program contents cannot be reproduced once the drive is formatted. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS  
      A general architecture that implements the various feature of the invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. The drawings and the associated descriptions are provided to illustrate embodiments of the invention and not to limit the scope of the invention.  
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram depicting an example of a configuration of a broadcast recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 2  is an illustrative view showing an example of a recording storage system which the broadcast recording apparatus has;  
       FIG. 3  is an illustrative view showing an example of the recording storage system which the broadcast recording apparatus has;  
       FIG. 4  is an illustrative view showing an example of the recording storage system which the broadcast recording apparatus has;  
       FIG. 5  is an illustrative view showing an example of the recording storage system which the broadcast recording apparatus has;  
       FIG. 6  is an illustrative view showing an example of the recording storage system which the broadcast recording apparatus has;  
       FIG. 7  is an illustrative view showing an example of the recording storage system which the broadcast recording apparatus has;  
       FIG. 8  is an illustrative view showing an example of the recording storage system which the broadcast recording apparatus has;  
       FIG. 9  is an illustrative view showing an example of the recording storage system which the broadcast recording apparatus has;  
       FIG. 10  is an illustrative view showing an example of the recording storage system which the broadcast recording apparatus has;  
       FIG. 11  is an illustrative view showing an example of a remote control device for operating the broadcast recording apparatus;  
       FIG. 12  is a flow chart showing an example of a storage processing operation of the broadcast recording apparatus; and  
       FIG. 13  is a flow chart showing an example of a storage processing operation including mirror storage of the broadcast recording apparatus. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
      Various embodiments according to the invention will be described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings. In general, according to one embodiment of the invention, it is an object thereof to provide a broadcast recording apparatus capable of improving fault tolerance and capable of recording broadcast contents in a reliably reproducible manner.  
      According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a broadcast recording apparatus comprising: a tuner unit which receives a broadcast signal, demodulates the received signal, and outputs video image and voice signals; first and second hard disk drive units which record the video image and voice signals in a storage region; and a control unit which controls the first and second hard disk drive units to record the video image and voice signals in each one of a first storage memory region of the first hard disk drive unit and a second storage memory region of the second hard disk drive unit.  
      In this broadcast recording apparatus, identical broadcast contents are subjected to mirror image recording in a plurality of hard disk drives, respectively. Thus, even if one of the hard disk drives is unfortunately disabled for reproduction, the broadcast contents recorded as images in the other hard disk can be reproduced.  
      There is provided a broadcast recording apparatus capable of recording broadcast contents in a reliably reproducible manner by improving fault tolerance.  
      Now, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.  
      That is,  FIG. 1  is a block diagram depicting an example of a configuration of a broadcast recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIGS.  2  to  10  are illustrative views each showing an example of a configuration of a recording storage system which the broadcast recording apparatus has;  FIG. 11  is an illustrative view showing an example of a remote control device for operating the broadcast recording apparatus;  FIG. 12  is a flow chart showing an example of a storage processing operation of the broadcast recording apparatus; and  FIG. 13  is a flow chart showing an example of a storage processing operation including mirror storage of the broadcast recording apparatus.  
      &lt;Broadcast Recording Apparatus According to an Embodiment of the Present Invention&gt; 
      (Configuration)  
      First, a broadcast recording apparatus  10  shown in  FIG. 1  is provided as an example of a digital television having a recording function while a tuner or the like is used as a source. However, a hard disk recorder having a tuner or the like and a recording function is also preferred similarly.  
      Therefore, while the following embodiments with reference to  FIG. 1  will describe in detail a digital television having a recording function, it is possible to construe the embodiments as an explanation of a hard disk recorder having completely identical capabilities by separating a display  26  from the constituent elements shown in  FIG. 1 .  
      In  FIG. 1 , the broadcast recording apparatus  10  serving as a digital television has two types of disk drives. First, this apparatus has a recording storage unit  51  for driving a plurality of hard disks as a first medium. Secondly, this apparatus has an optical disk drive unit  19  for rotationally driving an optical disk D as a second medium that is an information recording medium capable of constructing a video file, and then, executing information read and write operations. In addition, a control unit  30  is connected to each unit via a data bus B to control a whole operation. However, in the case of carrying out the present invention, the optical disk drive unit  19  is not always a required constituent element.  
      In addition, the broadcast recording apparatus  10  shown in  FIG. 1  primarily comprises: an encoder unit  21  that configures an image recording side; an MPEG decoder unit  23  that configures a reproduction side; and a control unit  30  that controls an operation of an apparatus main body. The broadcast recording apparatus  10  has an input side selector  16  and an output side selector  17 . A communication unit  11  such as a LAN, a so called satellite broadcast (BS/CS) digital/analog tuner unit  12 , and a so called terrestrial digital/analog tuner unit  13  are connected to the input side selector  16 , thereby outputting a signal to the encoder unit  21 . In addition, a satellite antenna is connected to the BS/CS digital/analog tuner unit  12  and a terrestrial antenna is connected to the terrestrial digital/analog tuner unit  13 . In addition, the broadcast recording apparatus  10  has: an encoder unit  21 ; a signal editing unit  20  for receiving an output from the encoder unit  21 , and then, carrying out desired data processing such as data editing; a recording storage unit  51  connected to the signal editing unit  20 ; and the optical disk drive unit  19 . Further, the broadcast recording apparatus  10  has: a recording storage unit  51 ; an MPEG decoder unit  23  for receiving and decoding a signal from the optical disk drive unit  19 ; an encoder unit  21 ; a buffer unit  22 ; an MPEG decoder unit  23 ; a multiplexer unit  28 ; a demultiplexer unit  29 ; a control unit  30 ; a loop image recording/storage image recording/mirror image recording control unit  42 ; and a reservation image recording unit  43 . These units each are connected to the control unit  30  via the data bus B. Further, an output from the selector unit  17  is supplied to a display  26  or is supplied to an external device via an interface unit  27  for making communication with the external device.  
      Further, the broadcast recording apparatus  10  has an operating unit  32  connected to the control unit  30  via the data bus B and receiving a user operation or an operation of a remote controller R. Here, the remote controller R enables operations that are substantially identical to those of the operating unit  32  provided at a main body of the broadcast recording apparatus  10 . This remote controller enables a variety of settings such as supply of a recording or reproducing command for the recording storage unit  51  or the optical disk drive unit  19 , supply of an edit command, a tuner operation, reservation image recording setting and the like.  
      (Basic Operation)  
      Reproduction of Broadcast Contents  
      In the broadcast recording apparatus  10  serving as the thus configured digital television, in accordance with an operating signal responsive to an operation of a user&#39;s remote controller R or the operating unit  32 , a broadcast signal is received, and then, the broadcast contents from the BS/CS tuner unit  12  or the terrestrial digital/analog tuner unit  13  are displayed on the display  26 , under the control of the control unit  30  or the like.  
      Recording Processing Operation  
      Now, an operation at the time of recording including those according to other embodiments will be described in detail. As an input side of the broadcast recording apparatus  10 , a communication unit  11  such as a LAN is connected to an external device, thereby making communication with a program information providing server S or the like through a communication channel such as the Internet via a modem M or the like, or downloading contents and information or the like. In addition, the BS/CS digital/analog tuner unit  12  and the terrestrial digital/analog tuner unit  13  select a broadcast signal as a channel and demodulate it via an antenna, and input a video image signal and a voice signal. These tuner units cover diversified types of broadcast signals. For example, the tuner units cover a terrestrial analog broadcast, a terrestrial digital broadcast, a BS analog broadcast, a BS digital broadcast, a CS digital broadcast and the like without being limited thereto. In addition, there is not necessarily provided only one tuner unit. For example, two or three tuner units such as a terrestrial broadcast tuner unit and a BS/CS tuner unit may be provided to function in parallel to each other in response to a request for reservation image recording.  
      The previously described communication unit  11  may be an IEEE1394 interface and is capable of receiving digital contents from an external device over a network. In addition, it is also possible to receive a luminance signal, a color difference signal, a video image signal such as a composite signal, and a voice signal from an input terminal (not shown). These signals are selectively supplied to the encoder unit  21  by means of the selector  16  controlled by the control unit  30  or the like while inputs are controlled.  
      The encoder unit  21  has: a video use and an audio use analog/digital converter for digitizing an analog video signal or an analog audio signal inputted by means of the selector  16 ; a video encoder, and an audio encoder. For example, a subsidiary video image encoder is also included. An output from the encoder  21  is converted into a compression format such as predetermined MPEG, and the converted output is supplied to the previously described control unit  30 .  
      In addition, the BS/CS analog/digital tuner  12  or the like is not always incorporated. Preferably, this tuner is externally provided via a data input terminal to supply the received digital signal to the encoder unit  21  or the control unit  30  via the selector unit  16 .  
      Here, the apparatus shown in  FIG. 1  supplies information (pack such as video, audio, and subsidiary video image data) encoded by the encoder unit  21  and produced management information to the recording storage unit  51  or the optical disk drive unit  19  via the control unit  30  so that the supplied items of information can be recorded in the recording storage unit  51  or the optical disk D. In addition, the information recorded in the recording storage unit  51  or the optical disk D can also be recorded in the optical disk D or the recording storage unit  51  via the control unit  30  or the optical disk drive unit  19 .  
      The signal editing unit  20  is capable of making an edit processing operation such as partially deleting video objects of a plurality of programs recorded in the recording storage unit  51  or the optical disk D or connecting objects of different programs with each other.  
      Reproducing Processing Operation or the Like  
      Now a processing operation of reproducing recorded information including those according to other embodiments will mainly be described in detail. The MPEG decoder unit  23  comprises a video processor for properly combining a decoded subsidiary video image with a decoded main video image, and then, superimposing a menu, a highlight button, subtitles or any other subsidiary video image on a main video image to be outputted.  
      An output audio signal of the MPEG decoder unit  23  is supplied to a speaker after being analog-converted by means of a digital/analog converter (not shown), via the selector unit  17  or is supplied to an external device via the I/F  27 . The selector unit  17  is controlled by a select signal from the control unit  30 . In this manner, the selector unit  17  can directly select a signal having passed through the encoder unit  21  when a digital signal from each of the tuner units  12  and  13  is directly monitored.  
      Reservation Image Recording Processing Operation  
      In addition, based on electronic program information acquired from the communication unit  11  or the like, an image recording reservation processing operation can be made by means of the reservation image recording unit  43  in response to a program specified by an operation of a user&#39;s remote controller R or the like. Based on the reserved reservation image recording information and by working of the control unit  30  and the reservation image recording unit  43 , when a reservation time has come, video image and voice signals produced when the program information received by the BS/CS digital/analog tuner unit  12  or the terrestrial digital/analog tuner unit  13  is demodulated is recorded (reserved and recorded as images) in the recording storage unit  51 , for example, through an encode processing operation of the encoder  21  or the like.  
      The broadcast recording apparatus  10  according to the present embodiment has the thus comprehensive functions and carries out a recording/reproducing processing operation by an optical disk D or the recording storage unit  51  with respect to a plurality of sources.  
      &lt;Recording Processing Operation Using a Plurality of Hard Disk Drives According to an Embodiment of the Present Invention&gt; 
      Now, a recording processing operation using a recording storage unit  51  in the above-described broadcast recording apparatus  10  will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.  
      (Mode of Recording Storage Unit)  
      First, a specific mode of the recording storage unit  51  in the above-described broadcast recording apparatus  10  will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In  FIG. 1 , the recording storage unit  51  has: an HDD controller  52  controlled by means of a signal from a signal editing unit  20  and a signal from a data bus B; and a plurality of hard disk drives  61  and  62  controlled to be connected to the HDD controller  52 . The recording storage unit  51  at least carries out loop image recording by striping, as shown in  FIG. 2 , carries out mirror image recording, as shown in  FIG. 3 , and carries out storage image recording of the loop-recorded image, as shown in  FIG. 4 .  
      These plurality of hard disk drives  61  and  62  and a hard disk drive described later are preferably configured in a removable manner. Two or more interfaces are prepared. SATA, ATA, IDE or the like are desirable without being limited thereto.  
      Further, as another mode of the recording storage unit  51 , as shown in  FIG. 5 , three hard disk drives  63 ,  64 , and  65  may be preferably provided via an HDD interface  54  connected to an HDD controller  52  and a RAM  53 . The recording storage unit  51  carries out loop image recording by striping, as shown in  FIG. 6 , carries out mirror image recording, a shown in  FIG. 7 , and carries out storage image recording of a loop-recorded image, as shown in  FIG. 8 .  
      In the case where the three or more hard disk drives  63 ,  64 ,  65  or the like have been thus provided, it is effective to produce a parity, as shown in  FIG. 8 . That is, parity data of the data recorded in the first to third hard disk drives  63 ,  64 , and  65  is produced by working of the HDD controller  52  or the like, and these items of data are recorded after divided into the first to third hard disk drives. Thus, even if a failure occurs with any one of the hard disk drives, data can be recovered. In addition, a parity may be produced even in the case where two hard disk drives are provided.  
      Further, as another mode of the recording storage unit  51 , as shown in  FIG. 9 , one hard disk drive  73  is provided via the HDD interface  54  connected to the HDD controller  52  and the RAM  53 . Further, a plurality of interfaces, i.e., communication interfaces (I/F)  81  and  82 , a USB interface (I/F)  83 , and an iLink interface (I/F)  84  are provided in this HDD controller  52 . Here, an external HDD  91  is connected to the communication I/F  81 ; a plurality of HDDs  93  and  94  are connected to the communication I/F  82  via a hub  92 ; an HDD  95  is connected to the USB I/F  83 ; and an HDD  96  is connected to the iLink I/F  84 .  
      Further, in  FIG. 10 , in response to the mode of the recording storage unit  51  shown in  FIG. 9 , an encoder/decoder unit  85  is provided between the HDD controller and each of the interfaces. Thus, even if broadcast contents have been recorded in an external HDD, the broadcast contents can be prevented from externally leaking therefrom, thereby making it possible to protect a copyright of broadcast contents.  
      (Loop Image Recording and Storage Image Recording)  
      Now, loop image recording will be described with reference to a flow chart shown in  FIG. 12  and with reference to  FIGS. 2 and 6 . In the broadcast recording/reproducing apparatus  10  according to an embodiment of the present invention, for example, in a state in which a reproduction video image produced when broadcast contents from the terrestrial digital/analog tuner unit  13  have been reproduced by means of a voice video image processing unit  24  is displayed on a display  26 , loop image recording is carried out by a user depressing a loop image recording switch  101  of a remote controller (step S 11 ).  
      That is, upon the receipt of an operating signal from the loop image recording switch  101 , the control unit  30  and the loop image recording/storage image recording/mirror image recording control unit  42  supply video image and voice signals from the terrestrial digital/analog tuner unit  13  to an encoder unit  21 , and the video image and voice signals encoded by the encoder unit  21  are supplied to the HDD controller  52  via the signal editing unit  20 . Further, these video image and voice signals are stored after allocated (stripped) on a region by region basis in a loop storage region A 1 , A 2 , or A 3  of each one of a plurality of HDDs  61  and  62  or HDDs  63 ,  64 , and  65 , as shown in  FIGS. 2 and 6 , by working of the loop image recording/storage image recording/mirror image recording control unit  42  and the HDD controller  52  (step S 12 ). Here, loop image recording is carried out in a reproducible manner while a time limit such as two hours, for example, is provided. If an image recording time exceeds this time limit, loop memory regions A 1  and A 2  are further overwritten sequentially from the oldest regions. Thus, the overwritten region cannot be recorded, thereby making it possible to save a recording region of an HDD.  
      Further, when a remote controller&#39;s storage image recording switch  102  is depressed by a user (step S 13 ), video image and voice signals stored in the loop memory regions A 1 , A 2 , and A 3  are stored and memorized in storage memory regions A 4  and A 5  by working of the control unit  30  and the loop image recording/storage image recording/mirror image recording control unit  42 . In this manner, there is no apprehension that video image and voice signals are deleted after overwritten as in a loop memory region, thus making it possible for a user to freely view a program at any time.  
      In addition, when a user depresses a stop switch  104  without depressing a remote controller&#39;s storage image recording switch  102  (step S 14 ), loop image recording then terminates.  
      Here, as shown in  FIG. 4 , it is preferable to provide a plurality of HDDs as storage destinations and specify any of them on a content by content basis. It is preferable to specify this storage destination on a program by program basis in accordance with image recording reservation information on reservation image recording described later. In this manner, it becomes possible to reliably store a favorite program such as daily news or dramas.  
      (Mirror Image Recording)  
      Now, mirror image recording will be described with reference to a flow chart shown in  FIG. 12  and with reference to  FIGS. 2 and 6 . By carrying out the above-described storage image recording, although video image and voice signals are recorded without being overwritten or deleted in a loop memory region, there is a case in which reproduction is suddenly disabled due to degradation with elapse of time or due to a data error depending on extended use of a hard disk. Here, a hard disk drive capability is often recovered by formatting the disk. However, program contents recorded after formatted cannot be reproduced.  
      In contrast, as shown in  FIGS. 3 and 7 , in mirror image recording, identical vide image and voice signals are recorded in a first storage memory region A 4  of a first hard disk drive and a second storage memory region A 5  of a second hard disk drive of each of a plurality of HDDs  61  and  62 . Thus, even if one HDD is disabled for reproduction, disabled reproduction can be avoided by reproducing the video image and voice signals recorded in another HDD.  
      Loop Image Recording, Storage Image Recording, and Mirror Image Recording Using Remote Controller Switch  
      Now, loop image recording, storage image recording, and mirror image recording will be described in detail with reference to a flow chart shown in  FIG. 13 . It is preferable to control these loop image recording, storage image recording, and mirror image recording by means of switches  101 ,  102 ,  103 , and  104  or the like of a remote controller R. That is, in the flow chart shown in  FIG. 13 , in a state in which a reproduction video image produced when broadcast contents from the terrestrial digital/analog tuner unit  13  have been reproduced by means of the voice and video image processing unit  24  is displayed on the display  26 , for example, in response to the broadcast recording/reproducing apparatus  10  according to the present embodiment, loop image recording is carried out by a user depressing the loop image recording switch  101  of the remote controller (step S 21 ).  
      At this time, the control unit  30  and the loop image recording/storage image recording/mirror image recording control unit  42  supply video image and voice signals from the terrestrial digital/analog tuner unit  13  to the encoder unit  21  upon the receipt of an operating signal from the loop image recording switch  101 . The video image and voice signals encoded by means of the encoder unit  21  are supplied to the HDD controller  52  via the signal editing unit  20 . Further, these video image and voice signals are stored after allocated (stripped) on a region by region basis in the loop memory region A 1 , A 2 , or A 3  of each one of a plurality of HDDs  61  and  62  or HDDs  63 ,  64 , and  65 , as shown in  FIGS. 2 and 6 , by working of the loop image recording/storage image recording/mirror image recording control unit  42  and the HDD controller  52  (step S 22 ). This loop image recording is stopped by depressing the stop switch  104  (step S 23 ).  
      In addition, in a state in which a reproduction video image produced by reproducing broadcast contents by the voice and video image processing unit  24  is displayed on the display  26 , when a user depresses the storage image recording switch  102  (S 24 ) without depressing a remote controller&#39;s loop image recording switch  101  (step S 21 ), video image and voice signals are supplied to the HDD controller  52  via the signal editing unit  20 . Then, the resulting signals are stored in a storage memory region A 4  of the HDD 61  or a storage memory region A 5  or the like of the HDD 62 , for example, as shown in  FIGS. 3 and 7  by working of the loop image recording/storage image recording/mirror image recording control unit  42  and the HDD controller  52  (step S 25 ). However, mirror image recording is not carried out. These storage image recordings are stopped by depressing the stop switch  104  (step S 26 ).  
      Further, in a state in which a reproduction video image produced by reproducing broadcast contents by the voice and video image processing unit  24  is displayed on the display  26 , when a user depresses a mirror image recording switch  103  (step S 27 ) without depressing the remote controller&#39;s storage image recording switch  102  (step S 24 ), the video image and voice signals are supplied to the HDD controller  52  via the signal editing unit  20 . Then, mirror image recording is carried out by working of the loop image recording/storage image recording/mirror image recording control unit  42  and the HDD controller  52 . That is, the video image and voice signals are supplied to the HDD controller  52  via the signal editing unit  20 ; and, for example, the identical video image and voice signals are recorded, respectively, in the storage memory region A 4  of the HDD 61  and the storage memory region A 5  of the HDD 62 , as shown in  FIGS. 3 and 7 , by working of the loop image recording, storage image recording, and mirror image recording unit  42  and the HDD controller  52  (step  27 ). Thus, even if one HDD is disabled for reproduction, disabled reproduction can be avoided by reproducing the video image and voice signals recorded in another HDD.  
      These loop image recording, storage image recording, and mirror image recording, as described above, are started up by solely depressing the loop image recording switch  101 , the storage image recording switch  102 , and the mirror image recording switch  103  of the remote controller R while broadcast contents are viewed by means of a tuner of a digital television (or hard disk recorder and the like).  
      However, in another case in which a current operation is moved to a storage image recording halfway by depressing the storage image recording switch  102  while in loop image recording, the mirror image recording switch  103  may be depressed while in loop image recording similarly, making it possible to move the current operation to a mirror image recording halfway.  
      Furthermore, in particular, in the case where the broadcast recording apparatus is a hard disk recorder (or digital television with reservation image recording function), it is preferable to set whether to carry out normal storage image recording or reservation image recording by mirror image recording on an image recording reservation screen of a reservation image recording unit  43 . In addition, when a set time has come, it is preferable to reserve or record normal storage image recording or mirror image recording for a plurality of hard disk drives.  
      Furthermore, in the case where the broadcast recording apparatus is a hard disk recorder (or digital television with reservation image recording function), on a display screen on which reproducible broadcast contents are selectively displayed after terminating reservation image recording, it is preferable to selectively carry out mirror image recording on a broadcast content by content basis by specifying these broadcast contents as targets by means of a cursor or the like, and then, depressing the mirror image recording switch  103 . The video image voice signal recorded in a single hard disk drive is subjected to mirror image recording in another hard disk drive by means of a mirror image recording setting operation, thereby making it possible to reliably store the signal again in a reproducible manner even if a hard disk failure occurs.  
      Furthermore, in the case where the broadcast recording apparatus is a hard disk recorder (or digital television with reservation image recording function), even if there is provided an auto reservation function of carrying out image recording and reservation by entering a keyword such as “soccer” and automatically making a search for a soccer program, without carrying out a user&#39;s specific reservation processing operation, the use of a plurality of HDDs is preferred.  
      That is, in reservation image recording using the reservation image recording unit  43  having such an auto reservation function, the video image and voice signals acquired by the auto reservation function are specified by means of an operating signal responsive to an operation of the first hard disk drive  61 , a user&#39;s normal operation of the remote controller R or the like shown in  FIG. 1 . With respect to the video image and voice signals responsive to a reservation program, it is preferable to specify an image recording reservation destination as in the second hard disk drive  62  and the like. In this manner, the content information of a plurality of hard disk drives can be managed very easily. In addition, a method of carrying out the above-described mirror image recording (image recording in a plurality of hard disk drives) is preferred in that program contents of the auto reservation function are recorded as an image in one hard disk drive, and then, the program contents reserved and recorded as an image by operation are reliably recorded as an image.  
      One skilled in the art can achieve the present embodiment by a variety of embodiments described above. Further, a variety of modified examples of these embodiments can be readily conceived by one skilled in the art. It is possible to apply them to a variety of embodiments even if one does not have any inventive ability. Therefore, the present invention covers a broad scope without departing from disclosed principles and novel features, and is limited to the above-described embodiments.  
      While certain embodiments of the inventions have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the inventions. Indeed, the novel methods and systems described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms; furthermore, various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the methods and systems described herein may be made without departing from the spirit of the inventions. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the inventions.