Patent Abstract:
A method of executing an anykey function of an optical disc system, the optical disc system including a recording/reproducing deck and a recording deck, the method including determining a type of an enabled deck; determining a type of an optical disc inserted in the enabled deck; and selecting a list of menus to be displayed from a list of available menus based on the type of the enabled deck and the type of the optical disc inserted in the enabled deck in response to operation of an anykey.

Full Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
       [0001]     This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 2005-73472 filed on Aug. 10, 2005, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0003]     An aspect of the invention relates to an optical disc system, and more particularly to an anykey function executing device of an optical disc system that is capable of enhancing an anykey function, and a method of executing the anykey function. An optical disc system according to an aspect of the invention has dual decks, one of which is a recording/reproducing deck operable to record data on and reproduce data from an optical disc, and the other of which is a reproducing deck operable only to reproduce data from an optical disc.  
         [0004]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0005]     Recently, an optical disc system having two decks, referred to as a dual-deck optical disc system, has been developed to record data on and reproduce data from optical discs. The dual-deck optical disc system may be configured so that both decks can perform both a recording operation and a reproducing operation, or so that one deck can perform both a recording operation and a reproducing operation, and the other deck can perform only a reproducing operation.  
         [0006]     Operations of the optical disc system, such as a recording operation and a reproducing operation, are performed using a remote controller having a menu key, a movement key, and an anykey. An anykey is a type of hot key.  
         [0007]     The anykey simplifies complicated operations in which a certain function of an optical disc system is executed after one or more selections are made on one or more submenus displayed in sequence. Namely, when the anykey is operated in a one-touch operation, a list of frequently used menus is displayed so that users can easily select a desired one of the menus.  
         [0008]     When an optical disc inserted in a deck is a recordable medium, i.e., a medium that in a current state can be both recorded and reproduced, the anykey serves to display a list of frequently used menus related to both a recording operation and a reproducing operation. When the optical disc inserted in a deck is a reproducible-only medium, i.e., a medium that in a current state can only be reproduced and cannot be recorded, the anykey serves to display a list of frequently used menus related to a reproducing operation. Namely, when the conventional anykey is operated, it is determined whether an optical disc inserted in a deck is a recordable medium or a reproducible-only medium, and a list of frequently used menus is displayed based on the determination.  
         [0009]     However, in a conventional dual-deck optical disc system with a recording/reproducing deck and a reproducing deck, a deck that is currently being operated may be capable of performing both a recording operation and a reproducing operation, or may be capable of performing only a reproducing operation, depending on which deck is currently being operated. When the anykey function of the conventional dual-deck optical disc system is implemented based only on a type of a medium, such as an optical disc, inserted in the deck that is currently being operated, functions that cannot actually be used may be displayed, thereby confusing users. For example, when the anykey is operated while a recordable medium is inserted in a reproducing deck that is currently being operated, the displayed list of menus includes menus related to both a recording operation and a reproducing operation because the medium inserted in the reproducing deck is a recordable medium, even though the menu or menus related to a recording operation cannot actually be used because the reproducing deck cannot perform a recording operation. This confuses users.  
         [0010]     Therefore, in order to avoid confusing users, it would be desirable to implement an anykey function based on both a type of a deck and a type of a medium, such as an optical disc, inserted in the deck.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0011]     Therefore, in accordance with an aspect of the invention, there is provided an anykey executing device of an optical disc system including a recording/reproducing deck and a recording deck, and a method of executing an anykey function, that implement an anykey function based on both a type of a deck and a type of a medium inserted in the deck so that only menus that can actually be used are displayed when an anykey is operated, thereby avoiding confusing users.  
         [0012]     In accordance with an aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of executing an anykey function of an optical disc system, the optical disc system including a recording/reproducing deck and a reproducing deck, the method including determining a type of an enabled deck; determining a type of an optical disc inserted in the enabled deck; and selecting a list of menus to be displayed from a list of available menus based on the type of the enabled deck and the type of the optical disc inserted in the enabled deck in response to operation of an anykey.  
         [0013]     The selecting of a list of menus to be displayed may include selecting a reproduction-related menu list from the list of available menus when the enabled deck is the recording/reproducing deck and the optical disc inserted in the recording/reproducing deck is a reproducible-only optical disc; and the method may further include displaying the reproduction-related menu in response to the operation of the anykey.  
         [0014]     The selecting of a list of menus to be displayed may include selecting a reproduction-related menu list from the list of available menus when the enabled deck is the reproducing deck and the optical disc inserted in the reproducing deck is a recordable optical disc; and the method may further include displaying the reproduction-related menu in response to the operation of the anykey.  
         [0015]     The method may further include determining whether any optical disc is inserted in the enabled deck; the selecting of a list of menus to be displayed may include selecting a menu list not including recording-related menus and reproduction-related menus from the list of available menus when an optical disc is not inserted in the enabled deck; and the method may further include displaying the menu list not including recording-related menus and reproduction-related menus in response to the operation of the anykey.  
         [0016]     In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of executing an anykey function of an optical disc system, the optical disc system including dual decks, the method including determining whether an enabled deck is a recording/reproducing deck or a reproducing deck; determining whether a medium inserted in the enabled deck is a recordable medium or a reproducible-only medium; and displaying a reproduction-related menu list in response to operation of an anykey when the enabled deck is the recording/reproducing deck and the medium inserted in the recording/reproducing deck is the reproducible-only medium, or when the enabled deck is the reproducing deck and the medium inserted in the reproducing deck is the recordable medium.  
         [0017]     In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided an anykey function executing device of an optical disc system, the optical disc system including dual decks, the anykey executing device including a controller that determines whether an enabled deck is a recording/reproducing deck or a reproducing deck; determines whether a medium inserted in the enabled deck is a recordable medium or a reproducible-only medium; determines a menu list based on the type of the enabled deck and the type of the medium inserted in the enabled deck in response to operation of an anykey; and displays the menu list in response to the operation of the anykey.  
         [0018]     Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0019]     These and/or other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of various embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:  
         [0020]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an optical disc system according to an aspect of the invention;  
         [0021]      FIG. 2  is a schematic block diagram of an optical disc system according to an aspect of the invention; and  
         [0022]      FIG. 3  is a flow chart for describing a method for executing an anykey function based on types of decks and types of media in an optical disc system according to an aspect of the invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS  
       [0023]     Reference will now be made in detail to various embodiments of the invention, examples of which are shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below to explain the invention by referring to the figures.  
         [0024]     Referring to  FIG. 1 , an optical disc system  200  according to an aspect of the invention can operate so that data is copied from one optical disc inserted in a first deck  20  serving as a source onto another optical disc inserted in a second deck  50  serving as a destination (or a target). The optical disc system  200  can also perform multiple functions at once. For example, a broadcasting signal received by a TV, etc., can be recorded on an optical disc inserted in the first deck  20 , while the second deck  50  reproduces audio/video data or music from an optical disc inserted in the second deck  50 . The first deck  20  (hereinafter referred to as a recording/reproducing deck) serves as an optical disc recorder which can record data on and reproduce data from an optical disc, and the second deck  50  (hereinafter referred to as a reproducing deck) serves as an optical disc player which can only reproduce data from an optical disc.  
         [0025]     Referring to  FIG. 2 , the optical disc system  200  includes a recording/reproducing deck  20  operable to record data on and reproduce data from an optical disc  10  inserted therein, and a reproducing deck  50  operable only to reproduce data from an optical disc  40  inserted therein.  
         [0026]     Optical discs that may be used in the optical disc system  200  include a DVD-ROM, a DVD-R, a DVD-RW, and a DVD-RAM, etc., which may have various formats, such as a Video (V) mode and a Video Recording (VR) mode. An optical disc that may be used in the optical disc system  200  may be a recordable optical disc, i.e. an optical disc that in a current state can be both recorded and reproduced, or a reproducible-only optical disc, i.e., an optical disc that in a current state can only be reproduced and cannot be recorded. For example, a DVD-ROM is a reproducible-only optical disc, while a DVD-R is a recordable optical disc. However, a recordable optical disc can become a reproducible-only optical disc under certain circumstances. For example, a DVD-R, which is initially a recordable optical disc, can become a reproducible-only optical disc under certain circumstances, such as when it is full, finalized, or write-protected. Such a DVD-R is a reproducible-only optical disc because in a current state, it can only be reproduced and cannot be recorded. Also, a recordable optical disc may be a write-once optical disc, such as a DVD-R, or a rewritable optical disc, such as a DVD-RW. Which types of optical discs are recordable discs, which types of optical discs are reproducible-only discs, and the circumstances under which recordable optical discs can become reproducible-only optical discs are known in the art, and accordingly a detailed description thereof will not be provided.  
         [0027]     The recording/reproducing deck  20  includes an optical pick-up and an optical pick-up driver that drives the optical pick-up to emit a laser beam to record data on and reproduce data from the optical disc  10 , and the reproducing deck  50  includes an optical pick-up and an optical pick-up driver that drives the optical pick-up to emit a laser beam to reproduce data from the optical disc  40 . These optical pick-ups and optical pick-up drivers are not shown in  FIG. 2 .  
         [0028]     The recording/reproducing deck  20  includes a first key input unit  30  that enables a user to input commands to control operations of the recording/reproducing deck  20 . The reproducing deck  50  includes a second key input unit  60  that enables a user to input commands to control operations of the reproducing deck  50 . The first key input unit  30  and the second key input unit  60  may be integrated into a single key input unit.  
         [0029]     An interface unit  70  receives commands inputted by a user through the first key input unit  30  and the second key input unit  60 , and transmits the commands to a controller  100 . The controller  100  controls various elements of the optical disc system in response to these commands.  
         [0030]     A recording/reproducing signal processor  80  encodes data reproduced from the optical disc  10  by the recording/reproducing deck  20 , and transmits the encoded data to an external signal processor  110 . Also, the recording/reproducing signal processor  80  decodes processed external audio/video signals received from the external signal processor  110  to obtain recording data, and transmits the recording data to the recording/reproducing deck  20  for recording on the optical disc  10 . Also, the recording/reproducing signal processor  80  transmits data reproduced from the optical disc  40  by the reproducing deck  50  received from a reproducing signal processor  90  to the recording/reproducing deck  20  for recording on the optical disc  10 .  
         [0031]     The reproducing signal processor  90  encodes data reproduced from the optical disc  40  by the reproducing deck  50 , and transmits the encoded data to the external signal processor  110 . Also, the reproducing signal processor  90  transmits the data reproduced from the optical disc  40  to the recording/reproducing signal processor  80  for recording on the optical disc  10  by the recording/reproducing deck  20 .  
         [0032]     The external signal processor  110  processes the encoded data received from the recording/reproducing signal processor  80  or the reproducing signal processor  90  to obtain output audio/video signals (output A/V), and transmits the output audio/video signals to a TV  130 . Also, the external signal processor  110  processes external audio/video signals (external A/V) received from a tuner  120 , and transmits the processed external audio/video signals to the recording/reproducing signal processor  80 . Also, the external signal processor  110  processes the external audio/video signals received from the tuner  120  to output audio/video signals, and transmits the output audio/video signals to the TV  130 .  
         [0033]     The external signal processor also receives commands from the TV  130  inputted by a user with a TV input key, a menu key, or an anykey provided on a remote controller, and transmits the commands to the controller  100 . The controller controls various elements of the optical disc system in response to these commands. The user inputs these commands with the help of guide messages displayed on the TV  130 .  
         [0034]     In particular, the controller  100  displays a list of menus on the TV  130  through the external signal processor  110  when the user presses the anykey provided on the remote controller, thereby making it easy for the user to select a menu from the list of menus and input a command using the selected menu.  
         [0035]     A recording/reproducing deck selection key for enabling operation of the recording/reproducing deck  20  is provided on the key unit  30  and/or the remote controller. A recording deck selection key for enabling operation of the reproducing deck  50  is provided on the key input  60  and/or the remote controller. Only one deck can be enabled at any given time. Thus, if the recording/reproducing deck  20  is currently the enabled deck and the reproducing deck selection key is pressed, the reproducing deck  40  becomes the enabled deck. In contrast, if the reproducing deck  40  is currently the enabled deck and the recording/reproducing deck selection key is pressed, the recording/reproducing deck  20  becomes the enabled deck. The controller  100  determines whether the enabled deck is the recording/reproducing deck  20  or the a reproducing deck based on the current state of the recording/reproducing deck selection key and the current state of the reproducing deck selection key.  
         [0036]     The controller  100  obtains basic data about the optical disc  10  inserted in the recording/reproducing deck  20  from the recording/reproducing signal processor  80 , and determines whether the optical disc  10  is a recordable medium, i.e., a medium that in a current state can be both recorded and reproduced, or a reproducible-only medium, i.e., an optical disc that in a current state can only be reproduced and cannot be recorded, based on this basic data. If the optical disc  10  is not inserted in the recording/reproducing deck  10 , the recording/reproducing signal processor  80  provides information to that effect to the controller  100 . Also, the controller  100  obtains basic data about the optical disc  40  inserted in the reproducing deck  50  from the reproducing signal processor  90 , and determines whether the optical disc  40  is a recordable medium or a reproducible-only medium based on this basic data. If the optical disc  40  is not inserted in the reproducing deck  50 , the reproducing signal processor  90  provides information to that effect to the controller  100 .  
         [0037]     More specifically, the controller  100  operates as follows. When a user presses the anykey while the recording/reproducing deck  20  is enabled and a medium, i.e., the optical disc  10 , is inserted in the recording/reproducing deck  20 , the controller  100  displays a list of menus related to recording and reproducing operations on the TV  130  through the external signal processor  110  if the medium is a recordable medium, or displays a list of menus related to only a reproducing operation on the TV  130  through the external signal processor  110  if the medium is a reproducible-only medium. When the user presses the anykey while the recording deck  50  is enabled and a medium, i.e., the optical disc  40 , is inserted in the recording deck  50 , the controller  100  displays a list of menus related to only a reproducing operation on the TV  130  through the external signal processor  110  regardless of whether the medium is a recordable medium or a reproducible-only medium. Therefore, even if a recordable medium is inserted in the reproducing deck  50 , the controller  100  displays a list of menus that does not include menus related to a recording operation, since such menus cannot actually be used because the reproducing deck  50  cannot perform a recording operation. Accordingly, an optical disc system according to an aspect of the invention does not confuse a user by displaying menus that cannot actually be used as may occur in a conventional optical disc system.  
         [0038]     A method of implementing an anykey function based on both a type of a deck and a type of a medium inserted in the deck in an optical disc system according to an aspect of the invention will now be described.  
         [0039]     Referring to  FIG. 3 , the controller  100  determines whether an anykey has been pressed (block  200 ). When the controller  100  determines that the anykey has been pressed, the controller  100  then determines whether the enabled deck is the recording/reproducing deck  20  or the reproducing deck  50  (block  201 ). The controller  100  makes this determination based on the current state of the recording/reproducing deck selection key and the current state of the reproducing deck selection key as described above.  
         [0040]     When the controller  100  determines in the block  201  that the enabled deck is the recording/reproducing deck  20 , the controller  100  determines whether a medium, i.e., the optical disc  10 , is inserted in the recording/reproducing deck  20  (block  202 ). The controller  100  makes this determination based on the information provided by the recording/reproducing signal processor  80  indicating whether or not the optical disc  10  is inserted in the recording/reproducing deck  20  as described above.  
         [0041]     When the controller  100  determines in the block  202  that a medium is inserted in the recording/reproducing deck  20 , the controller  100  determines a type of the medium (block  203 ). Namely, the controller  100  determines whether the medium is a recordable medium or a reproducible-only medium based on basic data about the medium, i.e., the optical disc  10 , inserted in the recording/reproducing deck  20  obtained from the recording/reproducing signal processor  80  as described above.  
         [0042]     When the controller  100  determines in the block  203  that the medium inserted in the recording/reproducing deck  20  is a reproducible-only medium, the controller  100  displays a list of menus related only to a reproducing operation on the TV  130  through the external signal processor  110  (block  204 ). On the other hand, when the controller  100  determines in the block  203  that the medium inserted in the recording/reproducing deck  20  is a recordable medium, the controller  100  displays a list of menus related to recording/reproducing operations on the TV  130  through the external signal processor  110  (block  205 ).  
         [0043]     When the controller  100  determines in the block  201  that the enabled deck is the reproducing deck  50 , the controller  100  determines whether a medium, i.e., the optical disc  40 , is inserted in the reproducing deck  50  (block  207 ). The controller  100  makes this determination based on the information provided by the reproducing signal processor  90  indicating whether or not the optical disc  40  is inserted in the reproducing deck  50  as described above.  
         [0044]     When the controller  100  determines in the block  207  that a medium is inserted in the reproducing deck  50 , the controller  100  determines a type of the medium (block  208 ). Namely, the controller  100  determines whether the medium is a recordable medium or a reproducible-only medium based on basic data about the medium, i.e., the optical disc  40 , inserted in the reproducing deck  50  obtained from the reproducing signal processor  90  as described above.  
         [0045]     When the controller  100  determines in the block  208  that the medium inserted in the reproducing deck  50  is a reproducible-only medium, the controller  100  displays a list of menus related only to a reproducing operation on the TV  130  through the external signal processor  110  (block  209 ). Likewise, when the controller  100  determines in the block  208  that the medium inserted in the reproducing deck  50  is a recordable medium, the controller  100  displays a list of menus related only to a reproducing operation on the TV  130  through the external signal processor  110  (block  210 ). Here, even though the medium inserted in the reproducing deck  50  is a recordable medium, the list of menus does not include any menus related to a recording operation because the reproducing deck  50  cannot perform a recording operation. Therefore, the optical disc system according to an aspect of the invention does not confuse users.  
         [0046]     When the controller determines in the blocks  202  and  207  that a medium is not inserted in either of the recording/reproducing deck  20  and the reproducing deck  50 , the controller  100  displays a basic menu list on the TV  130  through the external signal processor  110  (block  206 ). Here, the basic menu list does not include any menus relating to a reproducing operation and a recording operation.  
         [0047]     As described above, in accordance with an aspect of the invention, an anykey function of an optical disc system is implemented based on both a type of a deck and a type of a medium inserted in the deck so that only menus that can actually be used are displayed when an anykey is operated. Therefore, an optical disc system according to an aspect of the invention can prevent users from being confused, and is convenient for the users to use.  
         [0048]     Although several embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.

Technology Classification (CPC): 6