Abstract:
A television broadcast receiver can operate external recording equipment with the same feel as that of internal recording equipment so as not to extremely corrupt recorded information even when the internal recording equipment is not expected to be used because of a failure or any inconvenience thereof. Therefore, the receiver has a control unit to manage operations, a receiving unit to receive a broadcast signal, a demodulating and signal processing unit to demodulate and signal process the received signal to convert it into a display signal, and a recording unit. And the receiver further comprises a housing unit to house internal recording equipment integrated with the receiver, a connection terminal to connect external recording equipment, and a using equipment switching unit to switch for controlling the external recording equipment as the internal recording equipment in response to operations.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-125493, filed Apr. 22, 2005, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.  
       BACKGROUND  
       [0002]     1. Field  
         [0003]     Embodiments of the present invention relate to a television broadcast receiver, a television broadcast receiving method and a television system. More specifically, one embodiment of the invention relates to improvement in a switching function of recording equipment to be used.  
         [0004]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0005]     In recent years, an information recording medium such as a hard disk and an optical disk as a recording medium has been increased in storage capacity. Therefore, a method and an apparatus for automatically recording a desired program on an information recording medium by connecting recording/reproducing equipment using the information recording medium to, for example, a television receiver have been available.  
         [0006]     In general, program recording reservation information is prepared by using electronic program guide (EPG) information so as to realize an automatic recording function and an automatic recording/reproducing apparatus. It has been taken into consideration for an apparatus to automatically set the recording reservation information by automatically searching for a program corresponding to a category from the EPG information when a desired category is specified. Such an apparatus is configured to receive a broadcast program to record it in an internal hard disk driver (HDD), based on the recording reservation information. Such a technique is disclosed by patent documents of patent applications: Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2003-272297 and Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2004-186958.  
         [0007]     An apparatus for recording on an internal memory and transmitting recorded information stored in the memory in a prescribed transmission form to record it on an external recording medium has been developed. When reproducing the information stored on the external recording medium, the apparatus moves the recorded information once from the external recording medium to the internal memory to reproduce it by a broadcast receiver.  
         [0008]     However, the above-mentioned conventional apparatus is premised on a normal operation of internal recording equipment. Therefore, the conventional apparatus becomes impossible to entirely control and operate when the internal recording equipment fails.  
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0009]     An embodiment of the present invention provides a television broadcast receiver, a television broadcast receiving method and a television system for operating external recording equipment with the same feel as that of internal recording equipment even if the internal recording equipment is not expected to be used because of a failure or any inconvenience thereof and preventing recorded information from being extremely spoiled.  
         [0010]     The broadcast receiver comprises a control unit to manage operations; a receiving unit to receive a broadcast signal; a demodulating and signal processing unit to demodulate and signal process the received signal to covert it into a display signal; and a recording processing unit to record the display signal in a recording medium. The broadcast receiver has a housing unit for a first recording equipment connected to the broadcast receiver as main recording equipment; a connection terminal for connecting second recording equipment outside the broadcast receiver; and a using equipment switching unit to switch the control unit so that the second recording equipment is operated in response to an operation instruction after setting the second recording equipment.  
         [0011]     Thereby, the broadcast receiver can operate the external second recording equipment with the same feel as that of the internal recording equipment even if the internal first recording equipment has failed and improve the reliability of the television system without corrupting the recording information.  
         [0012]     Additional objects and advantages of the embodiments will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out hereinafter. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0013]     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.  
         [0014]      FIG. 1  is an exemplary view for explaining an outline of a digital television broadcast receiver to which the present invention is adopted;  
         [0015]      FIG. 2  is an exemplary view showing an external view of the broadcast receiver in  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0016]      FIG. 3  is an exemplary view for further specifically showing a configuration of an inside of the broadcast receiver in  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0017]      FIG. 4  is an exemplary view for explaining an external view of a remote controller used in the broadcast receiver of the present invention;  
         [0018]      FIG. 5  is an exemplary flowchart when the broadcast receiver in  FIG. 1  records a program on the basis of EPG information;  
         [0019]      FIG. 6  is an exemplary view when the broadcast receiver in  FIG. 1  displays program information on a video display;  
         [0020]      FIG. 7  is an exemplary flowchart of the operations in the case that the program is reproduced from digital recording equipment by the broadcast receiver in the embodiment in  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0021]      FIG. 8  is an exemplary embodiment of a navigation menu displayed in reproduction operations of the receiver in the embodiment in  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0022]      FIG. 9  is an exemplary view for explaining a selected state in which an item of a recorded program from a navigation menu regarding the embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0023]      FIG. 10  is an exemplary view for explaining a list display screen of recently video recorded programs obtained from navigation menu in the embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0024]      FIG. 11  is an exemplary view showing a configuration of a characteristic part in the embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0025]      FIG. 12  is an exemplary flowchart for explaining an example of operations of a characteristic part in the embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0026]      FIG. 13  is an exemplary view showing a screen with added equipment just registered thereon in the embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0027]      FIG. 14  is an example view showing a screen with added equipment just registered thereon in the embodiment of the present invention; and  
         [0028]      FIG. 15  is an example view showing a screen showing an aspect of utilizing of added equipment in the embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0029]     Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be explained by referring to the drawings. At first, we will explain an outline of a broadcast receiver with the present invention adopted thereto.  
         [0030]      FIG. 1  schematically shows an embodiment of the external appearance of a digital television broadcast receiver  11  described in this embodiment and a network system configured around the broadcast receiver  11 .  
         [0031]     The broadcast receiver  11  is composed mainly of a thin cabinet  12  and a support base  13  making the cabinet  12  raised and supported. The cabinet  12  is provided with a flat panel type video display unit  14  composed of a liquid crystal display panel or the like, a loudspeaker  15 , an operation unit  16 , and a light receiving unit  18  to receive operation information transmitted from a remote controller  17 .  
         [0032]     The broadcast receiver  11  is adapted to receive a first detachable memory card  19  such as a secure digital (SD) memory card, a multimedia card (MMC) or a memory stick, and performs recording/reproducing of information about such as a program or a photograph to and from the first memory.  
         [0033]     The broadcast receiver  11  is further adapted to receive a second detachable memory card (IC card)  20  with, for example, contract information recorded thereon and performs recording/reproducing of information to and from the second memory card  20 .  
         [0034]     The broadcast receiver  11  is provided with a first local area network (LAN) terminal  21 , a second LAN terminal  22 , a universal serial bus (USB) terminal  23  and an i.Link terminal  24 .  
         [0035]     Among these parts, the first LAN terminal  21  is used as a LAN-compatible HDD dedicated port. The first LAN terminal  21  is connected to a LAN-compatible HDD  25  being network attached storage (NAS). The first LAN terminal  21  is used to record/reproduce information to and from through a network (e.g., an Ethernet network).  
         [0036]     As mentioned above, by providing the first LAN terminal  21  to be the LAN-compatible HDD dedicated port, the broadcast receiver  11  can record a program with a high image quality to the HDD  25  without being influenced by other network environment or the status of use of the network.  
         [0037]     The second LAN terminal  22  is used as a general LAN-compatible port using Ethernet. The second LAN terminal  22  is connected to equipment, for example, a LAN-compatible HDD port  27 , personal computer (PC)  28 , and a digital versatile disk (DVD) recorder  29  with a built-in HDD through a hub  26 .  
         [0038]     Since digital information communicated through the second LAN terminal  22  is control information, the DVD recorder  29  utilizes a dedicated analogue transmission path  30  to transmit analog information of video and audio to the broadcast receiver  11 .  
         [0039]     The second LAN terminal  22  is connected to, for example, a network  32  such as the Internet via a broadband router  31  connected to the hub  26  and used to communicate information between a PC  33 , a cellular phone  34  or the like, and the broadcast receiver  11  via the network  32 .  
         [0040]     The USB terminal  23  is used as a general USB-compatible port, connected to, for example, a cellular phone  36 , a digital camera  37 , a card reader/writer  38  for a memory card, an HDD  39 , or a keyboard  40 . The USB terminal is used to make information transmissions between the equipment and the broadcast receiver  11 .  
         [0041]     The foregoing i.Link terminal  24  serially connects an AV-HDD  41 , a digital (D)-video home system (VHS)  42 , etc. and supports information transmissions between the equipment and the broadcast receiver  11 .  
         [0042]     Here, the AV-HDD  41  connected to the i.Link terminal  24  is shown outside the broadcast receiver  11  in  FIG. 1 ; however, it is actually incorporated in the support base  13 . That is, the AV-HDD  41  is integrated with the broadcast receiver  11 .  
         [0043]      FIG. 2  shows the external view of the foregoing broadcast receiver  11 . The AV-HDD  41  (built-in recording equipment) is incorporated in the support base  13 .  
         [0044]      FIG. 3  shows the principle signal processing series of the foregoing broadcast receiver  11 . That is, a satellite digital television broadcast signal, received at an antenna  43  for receiving a DBS digital broadcast, is supplied to a tuner  45  for satellite digital broadcast through an input terminal  44 , and the tuner  45  tunes a broadcast signal of a desired channel.  
         [0045]     The broadcast signal tuned by the tuner  45  is fed to a phase shift keying (PSK) demodulator  46  to be demodulated to a digital video signal and a digital audio signal, which are output to a signal processor  47 .  
         [0046]     And the broadcast receiver  11  also has an analog tuner  68  for receiving a terrestrial analog signal. An analog demodulator  69  demodulates the signal received by the analog tuner  68  to output it to the signal processor  47 .  
         [0047]     A terrestrial digital television broadcast signal, received at a second antenna  48  for receiving terrestrial digital broadcast, is supplied to a tuner  50  for the terrestrial digital television broadcast via an input terminal  49 . The tuner  50  tunes the broadcast signal of the desired channel.  
         [0048]     The broadcast signal tuned by the tuner  50  is supplied to an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) demodulator  51  to be demodulated to a digital video signal and a digital audio signal then output is not expected to be used because of a failure or any inconvenience thereof to the signal processor  47 .  
         [0049]     The signal processor  47  selectively conducts prescribed digital signal processing of the digital video signals and sound signals supplied from the PSK demodulator  46  and from the OFDM demodulator  51 . The signal processor  47  processes the video signals and analog signals supplied from the analog demodulator  69  and further from the line input terminals, and outputs an output signal to a graphics processor  52  and an audio processor  53 .  
         [0050]     Among the processors, the graphics processor  52  has a function to superimpose an on-screen display (OSD) signal generated from an OSD signal generator  54  on the digital video signal supplied from the signal processor  47  to output the superimposed signal. The graphics processor  52  can selectively output the video signal output from the signal processor  47  and the OSD signal output from the signal generator  54  and also combine to output both outputs so that both outputs configure a half of a screen, respectively.  
         [0051]     The digital video signal output from the graphics processor  52  is supplied to a video processor  55 . The video processor  55  converts the input digital video signal into an analog video signal in a format possible to be displayed on the video display unit  14  and outputs the analog video signal to the video display unit  14  to produce a video display.  
         [0052]     The audio processor  53  converts an analog audio signal in a format that can be reproduced by the loudspeaker  15  and outputs the analog audio signal to the loudspeaker  15  to make an audio reproduction.  
         [0053]     As further shown in  FIG. 2 , the broadcast receiver  11  further comprises a control unit  56 . The control unit  56  has a built-in central processing unit (CPU), which receives operation information from the operation unit  16 , or receives operation information transmitted from the remote controller  17  and respectively controls each part so as to reflect operation contents thereto.  
         [0054]     In this case, the control unit  56  mainly uses a read-only memory (ROM)  57  with a control program to be executed by the CPU stored thereon, a random access memory (RAM)  58  to provide an operation area to the CPU and a nonvolatile memory  59  to which a variety of items of setting information and control information are stored.  
         [0055]     The control unit  56  is connected to a card holder  61  to which the first memory card  19  can be attached through a card interface  60 . The control unit  56  is adapted to support the exchange of information transmissions with the first memory card  19  attached to the card holder  61  through the card interface  60 .  
         [0056]     The control unit  56  is further connected to a card holder  63  to which the second memory card  20  can be attached through a card interface  62 . The control unit  56  thereby can communicate information with the second memory card  20  attached to the card holder  63  through the card interface  62 .  
         [0057]     The control unit  56  is also connected to the first LAN terminal  21  through a communication interface  64 . The control unit  56  thereby can communicate with the LAN-compatible HDD  25  connected to the first LAN terminal  21  through the communication interface  64 . In this case, the control unit  56  has a dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) server function and assigns an Internet protocol (IP) address to the LAN-compatible HDD  25  connected to the first LAN terminal  21  to control the HDD  25 .  
         [0058]     The control unit  56  is further connected to the second LAN terminal  22  through a communication interface  65 . The control unit  56  thereby can communicate with any equipment (refer to  FIG. 1 ) connected to the second LAN terminal  22  through the communication interface  65 .  
         [0059]     The control unit  56  is further connected to the USB terminal  23  through a USB interface  66 . The control unit  56  thereby can communicate with any equipment (refer to  FIG. 1 ) connected to the USB terminal  23  through the USB interface  66 .  
         [0060]     Furthermore, the control unit  56  is connected to the i.Link (registered trademark) terminal  24  through an i.Link (registered trademark) interface  67 . Thereby, the control unit  56  can communicate with any equipment (refer to  FIG. 1 ) connected to the i.Link (registered trademark) terminal  24  through the i.Link (registered trademark) interface  67 .  
         [0061]     The control unit  56  furthermore includes a reserved program recording control unit  56   a , and an equipment management unit  56   g . The equipment management unit  56   g  includes a using equipment switching unit  56   g   8  (refer to  FIG. 11 ) to switch the control unit  56  so that the external recording equipment (HDD)  41   a  operates as the internal recording equipment (AV-HDD)  41  when the internal recording equipment is operated. The equipment management unit  56   g  is configured as a featured part of the broadcast receiver  11 . The featured part will be described later.  
         [0062]      FIG. 4  shows the external view of the remote controller  17 . The remote controller  17  mainly comprises a power key  17   a , input switching keys  17   b , direct tuning keys  17   c  for satellite digital broadcast channels, direct tuning keys  17   d  for terrestrial broadcast channels, quick keys  17   e , cursor keys  17   f , a determination key  17   g , a program table key  17   h , page switching keys  17   i , a face net (registered trademark) (navigation) key  17   j , a return key  17   k , a terminate key  17   l , color keys in blue, red, green and yellow  17   m , a channel up and down key  17   n , a sound volume adjusting key  17   o , etc. Furthermore, the remote controller  17  has a “News right now” key  17   p , a “Slightly time” key  17   q  and a “Slightly skip” key  17   r.    
         [0063]      FIG. 5  shows the flowchart for explaining the operations of the broadcast receiver  11  in recording a program into the digital recording equipment with each of the equipment connected to the terminals  21 - 24  of the broadcast receiver  11 . When processing is started resulting form a request of the recording of the program (block S 1 ), the control unit  56  of  FIG. 3  displays the program table as shown in  FIG. 6  on the video display unit  14  on the basis of electronic program guide (EPG) information acquired from the broadcast signal (block S 2 ).  
         [0064]     The user then makes recording reservation setting of the desired programs on the basis of the displayed program table (block S 3 ). In this setting, the broadcast receiver  11  selects the program to be recorded from the program table and also selects to set the digital recording equipment to which the reservation-set program is recorded.  
         [0065]     The control unit  56  executes a recording operation so as to record the reservation-set program into the reservation-set digital recording equipment when it has reached the preset time set for the recording reservation (block S 4 ).  
         [0066]     The control unit  56  then determines whether or not the program recording operation has normally completed, and if it is determined that the recording operation has completed normally (Yes, in block S 5 ), the broadcast receiver  11  records equipment information (equipment ID, equipment name, shared holder name, etc.) to specify the digital recording equipment which has performed recording. The broadcast receiver  11  further records event information (event ID, channel number, title, content description, category, recording range, image quality mode, etc.) related to the recorded program into the nonvolatile memory  59  (block S 6 ) and terminates this processing (block S 7 ).  
         [0067]     If it is determined that the operation has not completed normally (No, in block S 5 ), the control unit  56  of  FIG. 3  displays a message indicating the fact that the operation has not completed normally onto the video display unit  14  of  FIG. 1  (block S 8 ) and terminates this processing (block S 7 ).  
         [0068]     Accordance to the above-mentioned recording operations, the user can arbitrarily select multiple sets of digital recording equipment connected to each terminal  21 - 24  of the broadcast receiver  11  and record programs sequentially.  
         [0069]      FIG. 7  shows the flowchart for explaining operations to quickly retrieve the desired program and reproduce among a variety of programs recorded in the plurality of sets of the digital recording equipment as mentioned above. When the processing begins (block S 9 ), the user operates the face net (registered trademark) key  17   j  of the remote controller  17  (block S 10 ). (Note: face net (registered trademark) is a graphical guide screen for the user.)  
         [0070]     The control unit  56  then starts up the face net (registered trademark) (navigation) and displays the navigation menu as shown in  FIG. 8  onto the video display unit  14  (block S 11 ). Five items of “television”, “recording program”, “photograph”, “Internet” and “E-mail” are selectively provided in this menu. The selected items are displayed on a screen in different color from those of other items, and a state in which the “television” item is selected is indicated by hatching in  FIG. 8 .  
         [0071]     Here, it is assumed that the use operates the cursor key  17   f  of the remote controller  17  and selects the “recording program” item (block S 12 ). The control unit  56  is brought into a state of selection of the “recording program” item as indicated by hatching in  FIG. 9 .  
         [0072]     In this state, when the user operates the determine key  17   g  of the remote controller  17  (block S 13 ), the control unit  56  displays a list of the recently recorded programs onto the video display unit  14  as shown in  FIG. 10 . In this program list, the titles, broadcast channels, recording dates, days of the week, hours, categories, etc., are displayed as information indicating the recorded programs.  
         [0073]     The list of the recently recorded programs is created by referring to equipment information specifying the digital recording equipment that has conducted the recording and the event information in relation to the recorded programs recorded on the nonvolatile memory  59  in reservation recording of the programs explained in  FIG. 5 . In the list, it is possible to display information indicating thirty-five programs at a maximum as far as from the latest recorded program in relation to the list of recently recorded programs, regardless of the digital recording equipment with the program recorded therein. Having displayed seven programs in a list form in  FIG. 10 , the user can see the list of thirty-five programs by operating the cursor key  17   f  to scroll the display. If the user operates the page switching key  17   i  of the remote controller  17 , the user can skip the seven programs displayed in the list at once.  
         [0074]     When the user operates the cursor key  17   f  of the remote controller  17  to select information indicating the desired program from the list of the recently recorded programs and operates the determine key  17   g  to determine it (block S 14 ), the control unit  56  specifies the digital recording equipment with the selected and determined a program recorded therein from information recorded in the nonvolatile memory  59  and determines whether or not the program can be reproduced (block S 15 ).  
         [0075]     Whether the program can be reproduced or not is determined by comprehensively comparing various conditions in recording and in reproducing. For example, this may be conducted by determining one or more of the following: (i) whether or not the broadcast receiver  11  is connected to the digital recording equipment with the reproduction-requested program recorded therein, (ii) whether or not power is turned on to the digital recording equipment with the reproduction-requested program recorded therein, (iii) whether or not the program is still recorded in the targeted digital recording equipment, etc.  
         [0076]     Referring still to  FIG. 7 , if it is determined that the recorded program can be reproduced (Yes, in block S 15 ), the control unit  56  reads out the information about the reproduction-requested program from the targeted digital recording equipment and controls the broadcast receiver  11  to reproduce the program (block S 16 ) then terminates this processing (block S 17 ).  
         [0077]     If it is determined that the recorded program cannot be reproduced (No, in block S 15 ), the control unit  56  displays a message indicating the fact that the reproduction-requested program cannot be reproduced onto the video display unit  14  (block S 18 ) and terminates this processing (block S 17 ).  
         [0078]     According to the foregoing reproduction operations, since the broadcast receiver  11  has a navigation function to display, in a list, the thirty-five recorded programs at a maximum as far as from the latest recorded program regardless of the digital recording equipment with the desired program recorded therein, the user can easily manage the programs recorded in a plurality of sets of digital recording equipment. Accordingly, it becomes possible for the user to quickly retrieve and reproduce the desired program by locating the desired program using the cursor key  17   f  and selecting the desired program among programs displayed in a list form through use of the determine key  17   g.    
         [0079]     Considering the increase in the number of the connected sets of the digital recording equipment and the recorded programs, it becomes impractical to display in a list the whole of the programs recorded in the plurality of sets of the digital recording equipment. As the embodiment stated above, it is a practical setting to hardly cause substantial trouble for the user to display, in a list form, a predetermined number of programs (e.g., thirty-five programs) at a maximum as far back as from the newest recorded program.  
         [0080]      FIG. 11  is a view for showing the details of the control unit  56  to explain the characteristics of the broadcast receiver  11 .  
         [0081]     An equipment management unit  56   g  includes a using equipment switching unit  56   g   8  to set and operate the control unit  56  so as to control the external recording equipment (HDD)  41   a  as internal recording equipment (AV-HDD)  41  in accordance with the operations from the remote controller  17 . The switching unit  56   g   8  is used, for example, to virtually use the HDD  41   a  as internal recording equipment when the AV-HDD  41  has failed. In this case, the control unit  56  includes, for example, means for displaying a list of connected equipment including the external recording equipment to display the list shown at the right side in  FIG. 10 . The switching unit  56   g   8  includes means for registering equipment information and ID, etc., of the HDD  41   a , when the external recording equipment is selected among the list in accordance with the operation inputs. After this switching, when the main body of the broadcast receiver  11  is turned on/off, the power for the HDD  41   a  is controlled to be turned on/off in synchronization with the power on/off of the main body. This power on/off is realized by a command transferred via the i.Link (registered trademark). The user can operate the external recording equipment with the feeling to operate the internal recording equipment as has been done in the past.  
         [0082]     Moreover, the equipment management unit  56   g  has a connected equipment registration unit  56   g   0  and a function checking unit  56   g   1  to check the function of the connected equipment. The equipment management unit  56   g  may further have an added equipment registration unit  56   g   2 . The added equipment registration unit  56   g   2  is different from the forgoing connected equipment registration unit  56   g   0  in registration conditions. The connected equipment registration unit  56   g   0  registers all of the equipment connected to the broadcast receiver  11 . On the other hand, the added equipment registration unit  56   g   2  registers, for example, external recording equipment (HDD  41   b ) having the same function that of the internal AV-HDD  41 . Therefore, the external recording equipment  41   a  is intentionally checked in its function by means of software initiated by an operation of the user, and when the prescribed condition is satisfied, the ID, etc., of the external recording equipment  41   a  is registered in the registration unit  56   g   2 .  
         [0083]     Furthermore, the equipment management unit  56   g  has a moving specifying control unit  56   g   3  to select a content recorded in the first recording equipment and specify the moving to the second recording equipment and a moving execution control unit  56   g   4  to execute the moving. Moreover, the equipment management unit  56   g  has a copy specifying control unit  56   g   5  and a copy execution control unit  56   g   6  for specifying recording equipment regarding an origin of a copy and a content to be copied and also specifying recording equipment to be a destination of the copy. The equipment management unit  56   g  also includes an operation input determining unit  56   d . The determining unit  56   d  analyzes the command for the operation inputs and contributes for operation starts of any unit.  
         [0084]      FIG. 12  shows the flowchart of an example of checking operations in the case that, for example, the HDD  41   a  (virtual HDD) to be the external recording equipment is set to be virtually used as the internal recording equipment (AV-HDD  41 ). These operations are mainly executed by the checking unit  56   g   1 . Therefore, the checking unit  56   g   1  also functions as means for setting and registering the external recording equipment.  
         [0085]     When registering the external equipment as virtual equipment, the function checking unit  56   g   1 , for example, selects the external equipment from the menu screen. On the menu screen, such an item of “registers external equipment as internal equipment” is appeared. When the user selects this item through the cursor key  17   f  and presses the determine key  17   g , it is started to check the connected equipment and the list of the connected equipment (or a list of the connected equipment under the management by the registering unit  56   g   0 ) is displayed on the screen.  
         [0086]     When an equipment selection is conducted from the list of the connected equipment, it is checked whether or not any equipment is connected to the receiver  11  and the checking result is displayed on the screen (block SA 1 ). In general, in the case that the power of the previously used equipment has been tuned off, the area of the corresponding equipment among the equipment in the list is displayed in gray sometimes.  
         [0087]     When any external equipment is not connected to the broadcast receiver  11 , the video display  14  issues a warning to the user to prompt of connection of any equipment (block SA 2 ). When any external equipment is connected to the receiver  1 , the equipment management unit  56   g  checks whether or not the power for the connected equipment is turned on (block SA 3 ), and if the power is turned off, the power is turned on (block SA 4 ). When the power is turned on, the equipment management unit  56   g  checks whether or not the type of the connected equipment is an AV-HDD, namely, the same type as that of the AV-HDD  41  which is integrated with the broadcast receiver  11  (block SA 5 ). If the connected equipment is not the same type as that of the AV-HDD  41 , video display  14  displays the warning of the fact that the connected equipment is impossible to be set and registered (block SA 6 ).  
         [0088]     In the foregoing block SA 5 , when it is determined that the external equipment is the same type as that of the AV-HDD  41 , the checking unit  56   g   1  checks whether or not the type of the external equipment to be set has a chasing reproduction function (block SA 7 ). In this system, since the AV-HDD  41 , surely integrated with the broadcast receiver  11 , has the chasing reproduction function, it is also needed for the AV-HDD  41   a  to be set to surely have the chasing reproduction function. If the AV-HDD  41   a  does not have the function of the chasing reproduction function, the video display  14  display the warning that the external equipment is not allowed being set (block SA 8 ).  
         [0089]     The chasing reproduction function is one to sequentially chase the pre-recorded part to reproduce it by a reproduction operation even in the middle of, for example, recording of the reserved program.  
         [0090]     When it is determined that the AV-HDD  41   a  can perform the chasing reproduction in the block SA 7 , it is checked whether or not the AV-HDD  41   a  has a function of copying and moving (block SA 9 ). If the AV-HDD  41   a  does not have a function of copying and moving, the video display  14  displays the warning, indicating that the AV-HDD  41   a  can not copy and move (block SA 10 ).  
         [0091]     When it is determined that the AV-HDD  41   a  has the function of copying and moving, it is determined whether loop recording is possible or not. The loop recording is a function of cyclically recording under the setting of a fixed recording area. It is also possible to perform the chasing reproduction in this fixed recording area. If the external equipment has not the function of the loop recording function, the video display  14  displays the warning to make the user confirm that the loop recording reproduction is impossible. Otherwise stated, the equipment management unit  56   g  completes the registration of the external equipment (in this case, AV-HDD  41   a ). In the foregoing steps, when the user intend to confirm the functions of the equipment to be registered, the system performs authentication processing and confirmation processing between the main body of the television broadcast receiver and the external equipment via the i.Link (registered trademark). Accordingly, it is no wonder for the external recording equipment to have a return function to return equipment information on a status or the like when the return is required.  
         [0092]      FIG. 13  shows the example of a screen, for example, when the AV-HDD  41   a  is set as virtual recording equipment to be set and registered. A screen  130  with a title of “setting of external equipment as internal equipment” is appeared and the name  131  of the HDD equipment originally incorporated in the broadcast receiver  11  and the name  132  of the virtually-set HDD equipment are displayed on the screen  130 . Furthermore, other equipment  134  connected to an i.Link (registered trademark) terminal  24  is listed and displayed.  
         [0093]      FIG. 14  shows the example of a screen in the case that an external equipment to be set is under operation when the user intends to set and register the external equipment so that the external equipment becomes equivalent to the internal equipment as mentioned above. In this case, a mark  135  indicating that the external equipment to be set is under operation is appeared. Here, the external equipment cannot be set and registered, so that the user can release the setting by putting the “Cursor” at a “setting release” button  136  to operate the key of the “Determine”.  
         [0094]      FIG. 15  shows the example of a display of a recording list (right side on screen) on a screen after the external equipment is set as virtual recording equipment.  FIG. 15  also shows an aspect that the user pre-views, for example, a recorded program entitled “News right now” at the left side of the screen. In this case, the screen displays the fact that the internal HDD and the virtual HDD are present in partial display areas  151  and  152 , respectively. Discrimination marks of the display areas  151  and  152  may be different in color so that it can be recognized that which HDD is now under reproduction of its pre-view video on a pre-view screen  153 . Moreover, either mark of the display area  151  or  152  may blink on and off.  
         [0095]     In the example of the foregoing screen, areas indicating the presences of the internal HDD and the virtually-set HDD are provided on the screen, and the area indicating the presence of the added HDD may be provided there. The added HDD has a different definition of a usage pattern from that of the virtually-set HDD. The added HDD has an object to expand a storage capacity of the internal HDD or the virtually-set HDD and to be used together with the internal HDD or the virtually-set HDD. However, the virtually-set HDD has a function of being used as a substitution of the internal HDD if the internal HDD has failed or become inoperative. Therefore, the user can register and use the external recording equipment as the virtual HDD when the internal HDD fails and its substitution is required urgently. Therefore, the user can obtain a time margin for replacing the faulty internal HDD with new one.  
         [0096]     The present invention is not limited to the specific embodiment just as described above, and in the stage of the implementation, it is obvious that modifications and concrete variations of the present invention are possible without departing from the sprit and the scope of the invention. It is further understood that a variety of inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of constituent elements disclosed in the foregoing embodiments. For example, some of the constituent elements may be eliminated from the entire constituent elements shown in the embodiments. Furthermore, the constituent elements extending over the different embodiments may be combined appropriately.  
         [0097]     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.