Abstract:
An information reproducing method using a first information reproducing device and a second information reproducing device that can conduct communications with each other via wireless or wired communication means, the method comprising: a storage step of storing reproduction information which represents a state of reproduction of a content in the second information reproducing device in a state where the second information reproducing device is disconnected from the first information reproducing device; and a transmission step of transmitting the reproduction information from the second information reproducing device to the first information reproducing device after the storage step in a state where the first information reproducing device and the second information reproducing device are connected to each other to conduct communications with each other, wherein the content stored in the first information reproducing device is reproduced on the basis of the transmitted reproduction information.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The present invention relates to an information reproducing method, an information reproducing device, and an information reproducing terminal for reproducing information with a device and a terminal.  
         [0003]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0004]     In recent years, attention has been given to the variety of television broadcasts. In addition to a conventional CS (Communication Satellite) broadcast using communication satellites, a BS (Broadcast Satellite) digital broadcast and a wide-band CS broadcast (so-called 110° CS broadcast) started to increase the number of channels and the number of programs that viewers could select. A digital terrestrial television broadcast is scheduled to be started in the future, so it is expected the number of programs to increase more and more.  
         [0005]     On the other hand, as for recording devices for recording programs, in addition to conventional devices using video tapes, recording type DVDs, hard disc drives (HDD), and devices using a large-capacity nonvolatile memory are expected to ba put on the market one after another.  
         [0006]     However, most of viewers worry that even when the number of television programs they want to view increases, they can not make enough time for viewing the television programs. For this reason, the need for recording a television program in a portable unit and viewing the program in free time at a favorite place is increasing in recent years.  
         [0007]     Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-26222 discloses a recording/reproducing device to be connected to a portable information terminal, comprising means for converting a file for the potable information terminal and means for transmitting a file to the portable information terminal. Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-262200 (USAA 2002156602) discloses a portable information terminal connected to a recording/reproducing device, comprising means for transmitting reservation information and program information to the potable information terminal.  
         [0008]     However, the use of transferring a file from a recording/reproducing device to a portable information terminal and reproducing the file in the portable information terminal cannot respond to the use of viewing a part of a certain program by one device and then viewing the remaining part of the program by the other device.  
       SUMAMRY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0009]     The invention has been made to solve the above-described problem of the prior art. An object of the invention is to provide an information reproducing method, an information reproducing device, and an information reproducing terminal for improving operability at the time of reproducing information by sharing operation information in the information reproducing device and the information reproducing terminal each of which has a storage part.  
         [0010]     A fist aspect of the present invention is an information reproducing method using a first information reproducing device and a second information reproducing device that can conduct communications with each other via wireless or wired communication means, the method comprising: a storage step of storing reproduction information which represents a state of reproduction of a content in the second information reproducing device in a state where the second information reproducing device is disconnected from the first information reproducing device; and a transmission step of transmitting the reproduction information from the second information reproducing device to the first information reproducing device after the storage step in a state where the first information reproducing device and the second information reproducing device are connected to each other to conduct communications with each other, wherein the content stored in the first information reproducing device is reproduced on the basis of the transmitted reproduction information.  
         [0011]     Moreover, a second aspect of the present invention is an information reproducing device that can conduct communications with another information reproducing device via wireless or wired communication means, the information reproducing device comprising: a reproduction information receiving part for receiving reproduction information which represents a state of reproduction of a content from the another information reproducing device, wherein the content stored in the storage part is reproduced on the basis of the received reproduction information.  
         [0012]     Moreover, a third aspect of the present invention is an information reproducing device that can conduct communications with another information reproducing device via wireless or wired communication means, the information reproducing device comprising: a reproduction information storing part for storing reproduction information which represents a state of reproduction of a content; and a reproduction information transmitting part for transmitting the reproduction information to the another information reproducing device.  
         [0013]     Moreover, a fourth aspect of the present invention is an information reproducing method using an information reproducing device capable of conducting communications with another information reproducing device via wireless or wired communication means, the method comprising: a reproduction information receiving step of receiving reproduction information which represents a state of reproduction of a content from the another information reproducing device; and a reproduction controlling step of reproducing the content on the basis of the received reproduction information.  
         [0014]     Moreover, a fifth aspect of the present invention is an information reproducing method using an information reproducing device capable of conducting communications with another information reproducing device via wireless or wired communication means, the method comprising: a reproduction information storing step of storing reproduction information which represents a state of reproduction of a content; and a reproduction information transmitting step of transmitting the reproduction information to the another information reproducing device. The invention can improve operability at the time of reproducing information by sharing operational information in the information reproducing device and the information reproducing terminal each of which has a storage part. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0015]      FIG. 1  shows a connection between an information reproducing unit and an information reproducing terminal.  
         [0016]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram of the information reproducing unit.  
         [0017]      FIG. 3  is a block diagram of the information reproducing terminal.  
         [0018]      FIG. 4  is a program file.  
         [0019]      FIG. 5  is a flow chart according to a first embodiment of the invention.  
         [0020]      FIG. 6  is a flow chart according to the first embodiment.  
         [0021]      FIG. 7  is a flow chart according to the first embodiment.  
         [0022]      FIG. 8  is a flow chart according to a second embodiment of the invention.  
         [0023]      FIG. 9  is a flow chart according to the second embodiment.  
         [0024]      FIG. 10  is a screen example according to the second embodiment.  
         [0025]      FIG. 11  is a flow chart according to a third embodiment of the invention.  
         [0026]      FIG. 12  is a screen example according to the third embodiment.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0027]     Preferred embodiments of this invention will be hereafter described as examples in detail with reference to the drawings. However, it is not intended to limit the scope of this invention only to the sizes, materials, shapes, and relative positions of constituent parts described in these embodiments unless otherwise specified.  
       First Embodiment  
       [0028]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram of an information reproducing unit  38  to which the invention is applied and can receive a digital broadcast and record and reproduce images. The information reproducing unit  38  is one information reproducing device. In addition, the information reproducing device is one chassis and is composed as a unit which can move independently;  
         [0029]     Reference numeral  22  denotes a system control part for controlling the entire unit and  21  denotes a common bus for connecting the system control part  22  to respective control circuits. A RAM memory  23  is used as a work memory of the system control part  22  and a program memory  24  is used for storing programs of the system control part  22 .  
         [0030]     A signal from a digital tuner  12  that receives a digital broadcast wave from an antenna  11  and selects a desired frequency according to an instruction from the system control part  22  generates digital data of a form called transport stream.  
         [0031]     Next, the digital data is sent to a demultiplexer  13  where a program number, a PID value, and stream type contents in the time-division multiplexing transport stream can be made clear by use of PAT (Program Association Table) and PMT (Program Map Table) in PSI (Program Specific Information). The demultiplexer  13  selects desired video/audio stream and outputs it to an AV decoder  14 .  
         [0032]     At the same time, the demultiplexer  13  passes partial transport stream (hereinafter abbreviated as PTS) constructed of only streams necessary for a program to be recorded to the bus  21 . On the contrary, the multiplexer  13  can also demultiplex PTS flowing through the bus  21  to make video/audio stream and deliver it to the AV decoder  14 .  
         [0033]     As for the video stream, videos of MPEG2 are decoded and converted to non-compressed moving video data by the AV decoder  14 .  
         [0034]     A combination circuit  15  combines moving video data with an OSD video signal from an OSD  17 , which will be described later, to form a video and the video is displayed on a display device  16 . As for audio stream from the demultiplexer  13 , voices of MPG2 are decoded and converted to non-compressed audio data by the AV decoder  14  and the non-compressed audio data is converted to an analog signal by a digital/analog converter  18  and voice is emitted by a speaker  19 .  
         [0035]     An HDD-IF  25  can record in an HDD  26  a PTS-form program passed to the bus  21  according to an instruction from the system control part  22  and can reproduce a program recorded by the HDD  26  and pass it in PTS form to the bus  21 . In this embodiment, the HDD  26  constructs a storage part and a reproduction information storing part.  
         [0036]     A user operates a remote controller  29  emitting infrared rays to instruct the information reproducing unit  38  to switch channels and to record images. A receiving part  28  receives infrared rays from the remote controller  29  and a remote control IF  27  transmits the received signal as data to the common bus  21 .  
         [0037]     A communication IF  31  can transmit a PTS-form program passed to the bus  21  to an information reproducing terminal  68  via a communication connector  32  and, on the contrary, can receive a PTS-form program from the information reproducing terminal  68 .  
         [0038]     Further, a communication IF  31  transmits or receives a command (to be descried later) to or from the information reproducing terminal  68  according to an instruction from the system control part  22 . Communication between the information reproducing unit  38  and the information reproducing terminal  68  is bidirectionally conducted and is high-speed communication in which not only the command but also PTS-form program data can be transmitted and received. In this embodiment, the communication IF  31  constructs a reproduction information receiving part and a reproduction information transmitting part.  
         [0039]     The OSD  17  produces a screen such as menu according to an instruction from the system control part  22  and transfers the screen to the combination circuit  15 .  
         [0040]      FIG. 3  is a block diagram of the information reproducing terminal  68  to which the invention is applied and which can record and reproduce images. The information reproducing terminal  68  is one information reproducing device.  
         [0041]     Reference numeral  52  denotes a system control part for controlling the entire unit and  51  denotes a common bus for connecting the system control part  52  and respective control circuits. A RAM memory  53  is used as a work memory of the system control part  52  and a program memory  54  is used for storing programs of the system control part  52 .  
         [0042]     A user operates a key  58  to instruct the information reproducing terminal  68  to reproduce information and the like. A key IF  57  transmits a signal from the key  58  as data to the common bus  51 .  
         [0043]     A communication IF  61  can receive a PTS-form program from the information reproducing unit  30  via a communication connector  62  and can pass the program to the bus  51  and, on the contrary, can transmit the program to the information reproducing unit  38 . Further, the communication IF  61  transmits or receives a command (to be descried later) to or from the information reproducing unit  38  according to an instruction from the system control part  52 . In this embodiment, the communication IF  61  constructs a reproduction information receiving part and a reproduction information transmitting part.  
         [0044]     A non-volatile memory IF  55  can record in a non-volatile memory  56  a PTS-form program passed to the bus  51  and, on the contrary, can reproduce the program recorded in the non-volatile memory  56  and pass the program in a PTS form to the bus  51  according to an instruction from the system control part  52 . In this embodiment, the non-volatile memory  56  constructs a storage part and a reproduction information storing part.  
         [0045]     A demultiplexer  43  demultiplexes PTS on the bus  51  to form video/audio stream and transmits the video/audio stream to an AV decoder  44 . As for the video stream, videos of MPEG2 are decoded and converted to non-compressed moving video data by the AV decoder  44 .  
         [0046]     A combination circuit  45  combines the moving video data with an OSD video signal from an OSD  47  to be described later and displays the video on a display device  46 . As for the audio stream from the demultiplexer  43 , voices of MPEG2 are decoded and converted to non-compressed audio data by the AV decoder  44  and the non-compressed audio data is converted to an analog signal by a digital/analog converter  48  and voice is emitted from a speaker  49 .  
         [0047]     The OSD  47  produces a screen such as menu according to an instruction from the system control part  52  and transfers the screen to the combination circuit  45 .  
         [0048]     In  FIG. 4  is shown the structure of a program file  80  which is a program format of one program stored in the HDD  26  or the non-volatile memory  56 . The program file  80  is divided into a header part  81  for recording program information, an option part  86  for recording option information, and a content TS part  91  for recording program contents in the PTS form.  
         [0049]     The header part  81  includes a program ID  82  for determining a program included in the PSI of a digital broadcast, a program name  83  of a program name included similarly in the PSI, a lapse of time of reproduction  84  to show a cumulative reproducing time when a program is reproduced, and an operation specification  85 . When a program is recorded, the value of the lapse of time of reproduction  84  is “0”. The operation specification  85  and the option part  86  will be described later. In this embodiment, contents include the content TS part  91 . Further, storage operation information related to the contents includes the program ID  82 , the program name  83 , the lapse of time of reproduction  84 , the operation specification  85 , and the option part  86 . Still further, the reproduction information of the contents includes the lapse of time of reproduction  84 , the operation specification  85 , and the option part  86 .  
         [0050]     In  FIG. 1  is shown a state where the information reproducing unit  38  is connected to the information reproducing terminal  68  by a cable  70  via communication connectors  32 ,  62 .  
         [0051]     In FIGS.  5  to  7 , the operations of the information reproducing unit  38  and the information terminal  68  are shown by a flow chart. First, it is assumed that the information reproducing unit  38  is connected to the information reproducing terminal  68  by the cable  70 . (S 101 ).  
         [0052]     A user operates the remote controller  29  to instruct the information reproducing unit  38  to record a received program (S 102 ).  
         [0053]     This operation is transmitted to the system control part  22  via the remote controller IF  27 , the system control part  22  specifies frequency to the digital tuner  12 , and the demultiplexer  13  passes the PTS of a specified program to the bus  21  (S 103 ).  
         [0054]     The system control part  22  provides the HDD-IF  25  with an instruction of recording the specified PTS passing through the bus  21  on the HDD  26  (S 104 ).  
         [0055]     The system control part  22  provides the communication IF  31  with an instruction of issuing a command of sending record data, to which the information of the header part  81  such as the program ID  82  and the lapse of time of reproduction  84  (value is 0) is added, and the communication IF  31  sends the command of sending record data and the specified PTS to the information reproducing terminal  68  via the communication connector  32  and the cable  70  (S 106 ).  
         [0056]     Here, the command of sending record data is a command of sending a program file and has the information of the header part  81  such as program ID and the like added thereto. The communication IF  61  of the information reproducing terminal  68  receives the command of sending record data, to which the information of the header part  81  such as program ID and the like is added, and the specified PTS via the communication connector  62  (S 107 ).  
         [0057]     The system control part  52  instructs to write the information of the header part  81  such as program ID and the like and the specified PTS to the non-volatile memory  56  via the non-volatile memory  55  on the basis of the command of sending record data, the command being received by the communication IF  61  (S 106 ).  
         [0058]     When the broadcasting of the program is finished, the user instructs the information reproducing unit  38  to stop recording the received program by use of the remote controller  29  (S 109 ).  
         [0059]     The system control part  22  instructs the HDD-IF  25  to stop recording the received program (S 111 ). At the same time, the system control part  22  instructs the communication IF  31  to issue a command of stopping sending record data to the information reproducing terminal  68 , and the communication IF  31  sends the command of stopping sending record data to the information reproducing terminal  68  via the communication connector  32  and the cable  70  (S 112 ).  
         [0060]     The communication IF  61  of the information reproducing terminal  68  receives the command of stopping sending record data via the communication connector  62  (S 113 ).  
         [0061]     The system control part  52  instructs the non-volatile memory IF  55  to stop writing on the basis of the command of stopping sending record data that the communication IF  61  receives (S 114 ).  
         [0062]     Here, in order for the user to carry only the information reproducing terminal  68  while the user leaves home, the user disconnects the information reproducing terminal  68  from the information reproducing unit  38  (S 116 ).  
         [0063]     The user operates a reproducing key of the key  58  of the information reproducing terminal  68  to provide an instruction of reproducing the recorded program (S 117 ).  
         [0064]     The system control part  52  receives a list of recorded program information from the non-volatile memory  56  via the non-volatile memory IF  55  (S 118 ).  
         [0065]     The system control part  52  checks the lapse of time of reproduction  84  in the program file  80  and determines whether or not there is a program whose value of the lapse of time of reproduction  84  is other than 0 and which is under the suspension of reproduction (S 119 ). If the system control part  52  determines that there is a program which is under the suspension of reproduction, the routine proceeds to S 121  and if the system control part  52  determines that there is not a program which is under the suspension of reproduction, the routine proceeds to S 122 .  
         [0066]     At S 121 , the system control part  52  passes a PTS starting from a point where the program was put into the suspension of reproduction of the program that is under the suspension of reproduction to the bus  51  and automatically starts reproducing the program from the point where the program was put into the suspension of reproduction (S 121 ).  
         [0067]     At S 122 , the system control part  52  passes a PTS starting from the start of the program recorded last to the bus  51  and reproduces the program recorded last from the start of the program (S 122 ).  
         [0068]     The demultiplexer  43  receives the specified PTS via the bus  51  and sends it to the AV decoder  44 , the AV decoder  44  decodes video and audio, and the video is displayed on the display device  46  and the audio is reproduced by the speaker  49  (S 123 ).  
         [0069]     When the user wants to stop reproducing the program, the user operates a stop key of the key  58  of the information reproducing terminal  68  to provide an instruction of suspending the reproduction of the program (S 125 ).  
         [0070]     The system control part  52  writes the time that elapses until the reproduction is suspended to the lapse of time of reproduction  84  of the information of the header part  81  and stores the time as the program file  80  in the non-volatile memory  56  (S 126 ).  
         [0071]     When the user comes home, the user again connects the information reproducing unit  38  to the information reproducing terminal  68  by the cable  70  (S 131 ).  
         [0072]     The system control part  52  adds the header part  81  including the stored lapse of time of reproduction  84  to a resuming command and sends it from the communication IF  61  to the information reproducing unit  38  via the communication connector  62  (S 132 ).  
         [0073]     The system control part  22  specifies a program from among the program ID  82  of the header part  81  on the basis of the resuming command received by the communication IF  31 , knows the lapse of time of reproduction from the lapse of time of reproduction  84 , and instructs the HDD-IF  25  to read a PTS starting from specified time of a specified program from the HDD  26  (S 133 ).  
         [0074]     The HDD-IF  25  passes a PTS starting from the specified time of the specified program to the bus  21  (S 134 ).  
         [0075]     The demultiplexer  13  receives the specified PTS via the bus  21  and sends it to the AV decoder  14 , the AV decoder  14  decodes video and audio, and the video is displayed on the display device  16  and the audio is reproduced by the speaker  19  (S 136 ).  
         [0076]     The operations described above are automatically performed, whereby the program that is viewed until midway by the information reproducing terminal  68  can be reproduced and displayed by the information reproducing unit  38  from a point where the reproducing of the program is suspended.  
         [0077]     In this manner, in the first embodiment, in the case where the same program is reproduced by the information reproducing terminal  68  and the information reproducing unit  38  that are different from each other, the program can be viewed from the point where the reproduction of the program is suspended in one unit by sharing the lapse of time of reproduction between the units when the program is reproduced by one unit and then is reproduced by the other unit.  
         [0078]     While the information reproducing unit  38  and the information reproducing terminal  68  are connected to each other by the cable  70 , their connectors may be also connected directly to each other. Further, when both of the information reproducing unit  38  and the information reproducing terminal  68  have wireless functions, wireless communications may be used. Alternatively, if both of them have network functions, header information may be transmitted via network.  
         [0079]     When the information reproducing unit  38  is connected to the information reproducing terminal  68 , the program is recorded at the same time in the HDD  26  and the non-volatile memory  56 . However, the program may be recorded only in the HDD  26  and may be transferred later to the non-volatile memory  56 .  
         [0080]     The information reproducing unit  38  and the information reproducing terminal  68  may record the same contents in different recording formats. For example, the recording format of the information reproducing unit  38  may be MPEG2 and the recording format of the information reproducing terminal  68  may be MPEG4.  
         [0081]     The information reproducing unit  38  and the information reproducing terminal  68  may record the same contents at different bit rates. For example, the information reproducing unit  38  may record the contents at a higher bit rate than the information reproducing terminal  68 .  
         [0082]     Further, while the digital broadcast has been taken as an example, an analog broadcast can be also performed in the same way.  
         [0083]     As for the storage device, the HDD is taken as an example of the information reproducing unit  38  and the non-volatile memory is taken as an example of the information reproducing terminal  68 , but the HDD and the non-volatile memory may be used in reverse. An optical disk such as writable DVD may be used for them.  
       Second Embodiment  
       [0084]     A second embodiment of the invention will be described by use of a flow chart shown in  FIGS. 8 and 9  and a screen example shown in  FIG. 10 .  
         [0085]     In  FIG. 8 , the routine to a processing of viewing a reproduced screen by the information reproducing terminal  68  (S 123  in  FIG. 6 ) is the same as in the first embodiment and hence descriptions to this processing will be omitted. Here, the user operates an index key (not shown) of the key  58  of the information reproducing terminal  68  to index while reproducing the program (S 141 ). While the user is reproducing the program, the user indexes at the points where the user wants to put marks such as the start and end of a region which the user wants to delete and the start and end of a region which the user wants to view again thoroughly on a large screen at home.  
         [0086]     The system control part  22  stores the lapse of time of reproduction in the non-volatile memory  56  in the order of index, the index  0  the first, of the index region of the option part  86  every time the index key is pressed down (S 142 ). It is assumed that sixteen index regions are prepared in the option part  86  and that indexes  0  to  15  can be specified. In this example, it is assumed that a total of three indexes are registered.  
         [0087]     This processing is repeated until a stop key is pressed down to suspend the reproducing of the program (S 143 ). When the stop key is pressed down, the system control part  52  provides an instruction of suspending the reproduction of the program (S 144 ). The system control part  52  replaces the region of the lapse of time of reproduction  84  in the header part  81  with the time when the reproducing of the program is suspended and stores the time as the program file  80  in the non-volatile memory  56  (S 146 ).  
         [0088]     The user again connects the information reproducing unit  38  to the information reproducing terminal  68  by the cable  70  (S 147 ). Then, the system control part  52  adds the stored header part  81  and the option part  86  to the resuming command and sends the command from the communication IF  61  to the information reproducing unit  38  via the communication connector  62  (S 148 ).  
         [0089]     The system control part  22  specifies a program from among the program ID  82  of the header part  81  on the basis of the resuming command received by the communication IF  31 , knows the lapse of time of reproduction from the lapse of time of reproduction  84  and instructs the HDD-IF  25  to read PTS from the specified time of the specified program from the HDD  26  (S 149 ). The HDD-IF  25  passes the PTS from the specified time of the specified program to the bus  21  (S 151 ).  
         [0090]     The demultiplexer  13  receives the specified PTS via the bus  21  and sends it to the AV decoder  14 , the AV decoder  14  decodes video and audio, and the video is displayed on the display device  16  and the audio is reproduced by the speaker  19  (S 152 ).  
         [0091]     The user presses down an edition key (not shown) of the remote controller  29  (S 153 ). The OSD  17  produces a screen shown in  FIG. 10A  and displays it on the display device  16  to inform the user of the reproducing unit being set in the edition mode (S 154 ). Here, reference numeral  170  denotes the lapse of time of the specified program,  171  denotes a position of start of the program,  176  denotes a position of end of the program,  172  to  174  denote positions of indexes specified by the user,  175  denotes a midway position in reproduction, and  177  denotes a current state.  
         [0092]     When the user operates a cursor (not shown) of the remote controller  29  to press down a determination key (not shown) at the position of index  172 , the system control part  22  instructs the OSD  17  to change the color of a triangle of the index  172 . Further, when the user operates the cursor to press down the determination key at the position of index  173 , the system control part  22  instructs the OSD  17  to change the color of a triangle of the index  173  and the color of a region between the index  172  and the index  173 . A message of “Specified section is to be deleted. Press down determination key” is displayed in  170  to inform the user of the deletion of the specified section by means of the screen shown in  FIG. 10B  (S 156 ).  
         [0093]     When the user presses the determination key, the OSD  17  produces a screen shown in  FIG. 10C  and displays the screen on the display device  16  to notify the user that the region between the index  172  and the index  173  is deleted (S 157 ). When the user presses the edition key of the remote controller  29 , the system control part  22  finishes the edition mode and starts reproducing the program again (S 158 ).  
         [0094]     In this manner, in the second embodiment, in the case where the same program is reproduced and edited by the information reproducing unit  38  and the information reproducing terminal  68  that are different from each other, when the same program is indexed at the time of reproducing the program by one unit and is edited by the other unit on the basis of the index, the program can be edited with ease by sharing the index between the units.  
       Third Embodiment  
       [0095]     A third embodiment of the invention will be described by use of a flow chart shown in  FIG. 11  and a screen example shown in  FIG. 12 .  
         [0096]     In  FIG. 11 , the routine to a processing of stopping reproducing the program by the information reproducing terminal  68  (S 126  in  FIG. 6 ) is the same as in the first embodiment and hence descriptions to this processing will be omitted.  
         [0097]     Here, the OSD  17  produces a screen as shown in  FIG. 12  and displays the screen on the display device  16  to urge the user to specify an operation (S 201 ). Here, a message of urging the user to specify an operation is displayed in  221  and the user selects any one of operations shown in  222  to  224 .  
         [0098]     The user operates the cursor key and determination key (not shown) of the key  58  of the information reproducing terminal  68  to specify one operation from among “to view program from point where reproducing of program is suspended”, “to view program from start”, and “to delete program” (S 202 ). The system control part  52  defines the specified operation as the operation specification  85  of the header part  81  and stores it in the non-volatile memory  56  (S 203 ).  
         [0099]     The user again connects the information reproducing unit  38  to the information reproducing terminal  68  by the cable  70  (S 204 ). The system control part  52  adds the stored header part  81  to the resuming command and sends it from the communication IF  61  to the information reproducing unit  38  via the communication connector  62  (S 206 ).  
         [0100]     The system control part  22  specifies a program from the program ID  82  of the header part  81  on the basis of the resuming command received by the communication IF  31 , and knows the lapse of time of reproduction from the lapse of time of reproduction  84  and the operation from the operation specification  85  (S 207 ). The system control part  22  determines the operation by the operation specification  85  (S 208 ). If the operation is “to view program from point where reproducing of program is suspended”, the routine proceeds to step S 209 . If the operation is “to view program from start”, the routine proceeds to S 211 . If the operation is “to delete program”, the routine proceeds to S 212 .  
         [0101]     At S 209 , the system control part  22  instructs the HDD-IF  25  to read from the HDD  26  a PTS starting from the specified time of the specified program that is read from the header part  81  (S 209 ). The HDD-IF  25  passes the PTS to the bus  21  (S 213 ). The demultiplexer  13  receives the specified PTS via the bus  21  and send it to the AV decoder  14 , the AV decoder  14  decodes video and audio, and the video is displayed on the display device  16  and the audio is reproduced by the speaker  19  (S 216 ).  
         [0102]     At S 211 , the system control part  22  instructs the HDD-IF  25  to read from the HDD  26  a PTS starting from the start of the specified program that is read from the header part  81  (S 211 ) and the routine proceeds to S 213 .  
         [0103]     At S 212 , the system control part  22  instructs the HDD-IF  25  to delete from the HDD  26  the program file of the specified program that is read from the header part  81  (S 212 ). The HDD-IF  25  deletes the program file of the specified program from the HDD  26  (S 214 ) according to this instruction.  
         [0104]     In the third embodiment, in the case where the same program is reproduced by the information reproducing unit  38  and the information reproducing terminal  68  that are different from each other, when an operation is specified at the time of reproducing the program by one unit and then the program is reproduced by the other unit, the program can be automatically reproduced by sharing the specified operation between the units.  
         [0105]     As described above, in the first to third embodiments, examples have been shown in which the information reproducing terminal does not have a digital tuner, but construction can be also used in which an information reproducing terminal has a digital tuner. With this construction, information can be recorded directly in the information reproducing terminal even if a command of sending record data and the PTS of a specified program are not transmitted from the information reproducing unit to the information reproducing terminal.  
         [0106]     Further, a device that supplies a computer in a unit or a system connected to various kinds of devices with a program code of software for realizing the functions of the embodiments described above in such a way as to operate the devices to realize the functions described in the embodiments and operates the various kinds of devices according to programs stored in the computer (CPU or MPU) of the system or the unit to perform the functions is also included within the scope of the invention.  
         [0107]     Still further, in this case, the program code itself of the above-described software realizes the functions of the above embodiments. Hence, the program code itself and means for supplying the program code to the computer, for example, a recording medium having the program code stored therein construct the invention. As the recording medium for storing the program code can be used, for example, flexible disks, hard disks, optical disks, magneto-optical disks, CD-ROMs, magnetic tapes, non-volatile memory cards, and ROMs.  
         [0108]     Still further, not only when the program code supplied to the computer is executed by the computer to realize the functions of the above embodiments but also when the program code is executed in cooperation with an OS (Operating System) or other application software operating in the computer to realize the functions of the above embodiments, needless to say, the program code is included within the embodiment of the invention.  
         [0109]     Moreover, also when the supplied program code is stored in a function expanding board of a computer or in a memory provided in a function expanding unit connected to a computer and then a CPU and the like provided in the function expanding board or the function expanding unit executes a part or all of actual processings on the basis of the instruction of the program code to realize the functions of the above embodiments, needless to say, the program code is included within the scope of the invention.  
         [0110]     This application claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-026648 filed Feb. 3, 2004, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.