Abstract:
This invention provides a recording medium, and a method for storing and reproducing digital image medium data on the recording medium. It is applicable to a medium information reproducing system, and allows users to edit and store the digital image medium data. When reproducing a video image, the video image is accompanied by auxiliary audio data. Therefore, the reproduced medium data is more alive and attractive for the viewers. In addition, the recording medium supports various formats of video and audio data. Therefore, the recording medium can record various types of medium data for the users.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention relates to a recording medium and a method for storing and reproducing digital image medium data on the recording medium. It is applicable to a medium information reproducing system for reproducing the medium data, and both video data and audio data can be simultaneously reproduced during the reproducing process.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     Video images are an important medium for communication. Conventional cameras were first invented 150 years ago, and had gone through several phases of technical innovations. The new item in line is the digital camera, which greatly simplifies the image post-processing tasks in comparison with the images taken by the conventional camera. The image taken by a digital camera can be directly loaded into a display for instant viewing and future processing. Thereby, the reproduced image is more interesting and attractive for the viewers.  
         [0003]     However, the current image display does not provide atmospheric audio to complement the silent image. It is desirable to integrate the audio to the image so that the atmosphere of the image viewing can be further enhanced, and the mood can be recreated.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0004]     The present invention has been made to overcome the aforementioned drawback of current digital image viewing. The primary object of the present invention is to provide a method for storing and reproducing digital image medium data on a recording medium.  
         [0005]     This method is applicable to a medium information reproducing system. The medium information reproducing system includes a memory unit, a video encoder/decoder (codec), and an audio codec. The method comprises the following four steps: (1) Partition and store data in a recording medium, such that the recording medium comprises at least a file system area and a medium data structure file area The file system area stores the file configuration data. The medium data structure file area comprises at least a recording medium header and a plurality of medium data areas. The recording medium header comprises recording medium management information. Each medium data area comprises at least a medium data header, a video data area, and an audio data area. The medium data header stores data management information. (2) Load the file configuration data into the memory unit, and read the recording medium management information, according to the starting address in the medium data structure file area, to determine if this recording medium matches a pre-determined data structure format. If not, process the next recording medium and return to step (1). (3) Read the data management information in the N th  medium data header, where N is an input number indicating a medium data area. (4) Set up the video codec and the audio codec, and reproduce the video data and the audio data stored in the N th  medium data area read in step (3).  
         [0006]     The step (2) further comprise the following three sub-steps: (2a) Load the file configuration data into the memory unit, and read the starting address of the medium data structure file area. (2b) Read the recording medium management information with the starting address of the data structure file area into the memory unit. The recording medium management information includes at least a recording medium identifier, the total number of the medium data areas, and the starting address of each medium data area. (2c) Determine if the recording medium identifier is a pre-determined data format. If not, the invention continues to process the next recording medium and return to step (1); otherwise, the invention goes to step (3).  
         [0007]     The set-up in the step (4) further comprises the following two sub-steps. (4a) Determining if the starting code of the header is correct. If not, the invention continues to process the next medium data and goes to step (3). (4b) Transmitting video format and video resolution to the video codec, and audio format and audio bit-rate to the audio codec. Then, continuing with the second part of the step (4), i.e., reproducing the medium data.  
         [0008]     The reproducing data in step (4) can also further comprise the following four sub-steps. (4c) According to the starting address and the length of the video data area, and the starting address and the length of the audio data area, loading the video and the audio data into the memory unit, transmitting to the video codec and audio codec, respectively. (4d) Starting to reproduce until finish. (4e) Determining if the repeat mode is activated. If so, return to step (4d). (4f) Determining if continue to reproduce. If so, process the next data and go to step (3); otherwise, end up the process.  
         [0009]     Another object of the present invention is to provide the recording medium that stores the medium data described above. The recording medium comprises a file system pack and a medium data structure file pack. The file system pack consists of a file configuration data, and the medium data structure file pack consists of a recording medium header and a plurality of medium data. The recording medium header comprises at least a recording medium identifier, the total number of the medium data, and the starting address of each medium data.  
         [0010]     In addition, each medium data further comprises a medium data header, a video data and an audio data. The medium data header comprises at least video file management information, audio file management information, and reproducing management information. The video file management information comprises at least a header starting code, a video format, a video resolution, the total length of the video data, and the starting address of the video data. The audio file management information comprises at least an audio format, an audio bit-rate, the total length of the audio data, and the starting address of the audio data. The reproducing management information comprises at least a repeat mode indicating if the repeat mode is on, and a play time.  
         [0011]     The medium information reproducing system may be a personal computer (PC) or a digital video/audio player, and the recording medium may be a compact disk (CD), a memory card, or a micro-harddisk. The video format may be joint photographic experts group (JPG), tag image file format (TIFF), graphics interchange format (GIF), portable network graphics (PNG), bitmap (BMP), PCX, or RAW. The audio format may be the layer-2 (MP2) or layer-3 (MP3) of the moving picture experts group (MPEG) defined by ISO, WAVE, or windows media audio (WMA).  
         [0012]     The storing and reproducing method for the digital image medium data of the invention allows the user to store and edit the digital image medium data, as well as enhances the reviewing experience of the images by adding audio effects. In addition, the present invention also supports a plurality of video and audio formats so that the recording medium can be more widely applied.  
         [0013]     The foregoing and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood from a careful reading of a detailed description provided herein below with appropriate reference to the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0014]      FIG. 1  shows a data structure of the recording medium according to the present invention.  
         [0015]      FIG. 2  shows a data format of the recording medium header.  
         [0016]      FIG. 3  shows the data structure of the medium data structure file area for a recording medium.  
         [0017]      FIG. 4  shows a data format of the medium data header in a medium data structure file area.  
         [0018]      FIG. 5  shows a data structure of a medium data structure file area in  FIG. 3 .  
         [0019]      FIG. 6  shows a relationship between the present invention and a medium information reproducing system.  
         [0020]      FIG. 7  shows a flowchart of the method for storing and reproducing digital image medium data on a recording medium according to the present invention.  
         [0021]      FIG. 8  shows a flowchart illustrating the steps of identifying a recording medium according to the present invention.  
         [0022]      FIG. 9A  shows a flowchart illustrating the steps of setting video codec and audio codec according to the present invention.  
         [0023]      FIG. 9B  shows a flow chart of illustrating the step of reproducing video data and audio data according to the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0024]      FIG. 1  shows a data structure of the recording medium according to the present invention. The data structure  100  for the recording medium comprises at least two portions, a file system area  101  and a medium data structure file area  103 . File system area  101  stores the file system of universal disk format (UDF)/IS09660, where UDF is used in digital video disk (DVD), and ISO is used in other types of CD. Both UDF and IS09660 are read-only file systems. IS09660 is file system specification designed specifically for OS-independent file system, in order to increase the compatibility of the CDs. The CD using IS09660 file system can be used all type of operating systems. UDF is an industrial standard format in which DVD format movies are compressed using the MPEG2 and stored in an ordinary CD.  
         [0025]     Medium data structure file area  103  comprises a recording medium header  1030  and a plurality of medium data areas  1031 - 103 N. Recording medium header  1030  is for storing the recording medium management information (will be explained in  FIG. 2 ). Each medium data area  1031 - 103 N includes three parts: a medium data header  103   a,  a video data area  103   b,  and an audio data area  103   c.  Medium data header  103   a  stores the data management information, while video data area  103   b  and audio data area  103   c  store the video data and audio data, respectively.  
         [0026]      FIG. 2  shows a data format for the recording medium header  1030 . As shown in  FIG. 2 , field  201  stores a recording medium identifier, field  202  stores the length of recording medium header  1030 , field  203  is a reserved field, field  204  stores the length of data structure file area, field  205  stores the number of data areas, and fields  211 - 21 N store the starting addresses of medium data areas  1031 - 103 N.  
         [0027]      FIG. 3  shows the data structure of the medium data structure file area  103  in a recording medium. The reference numbers in the  FIG. 3  are in accordance with the definitions of each field shown in  FIG. 2 .  
         [0028]      FIG. 4  shows a data format for the medium data header  103   a.  As shown in  FIG. 4 , field  401  stores the starting code of header  103   a,  field  402  stores the total length of the medium data areas  1031 - 103 N, field  403  stores the starting address of video data area  103   b,  field  404  stores the length of video data area  103   b,  field  405  stores the video format, field  406  stores the resolution of the video data, field  407  and field  412  are reserved fields, field  408  stores the starting address of audio data area  103   c,  field  409  stores the length of audio data area  103   c,  field  410  stores the audio format, field  411  stores the audio bit-rate, field  413  stores the repeat mode, and field  414  stores the play time. The video format stored in field  405  includes JPG, TIFF, GIF, PNG, BMP, PCX, and RAW. The audio format stored in field  410  may include MP2, MP3 of MPEG defined by ISO, WAVE, and WMA.  
         [0029]      FIG. 5  shows the data structure of a medium data area  103 N in  FIG. 3 . The reference numbers in the  FIG. 5  are in accordance with the definitions of each field shown in  FIG. 4 .  
         [0030]      FIG. 6  shows a relationship between the present invention and a medium information reproducing system. Medium information reproducing system  600  includes a memory unit  601 , a video codec  603 , and an audio codec  605 . Medium information reproducing system  600  reads medium data from a recording medium  100 . After having decoded the medium data, medium information reproducing system  600  reproduces the video and audio data on a display  620  and an audio output device  622 , respectively. Medium information reproducing system  600  may be a PC or a digital image player, and recording medium  100  may be a CD, a memory card, or a micro-harddisk. The memory card may include a compact flash (CF) card, a secure digital (SD) card, a XD-picture card, a smart media (SM) card, and a multi-media card (MMC).  
         [0031]      FIG. 7  shows a flowchart of the method for storing and reproducing digital image on a recording medium according to the present invention. In order to describe the followings,  FIG. 1 - FIG. 7  are simultaneously referred to. The present invention is applicable to a medium information reproducing system  600 , which includes a memory unit  601 , a video codec  603  and an audio codec  605 . The method of the present invention comprises the following steps: Step  701  is to partition and store a medium data into a recording medium  100 , such that the recording medium  100  at least comprises a file system area  101  and a medium data structure file area  103 . File system area  101  stores the file configuration data. Medium data structure file area  103  comprises at least a recording medium header  1030  and a plurality of medium data areas  1031 - 103 N. Recording medium header  1030  stores the recording medium management information. Each medium data area comprises at least a medium data header  103   a,  a video data area  103   b,  and an audio data area  103   c.  Medium data header  103   a  stores the medium data management information.  
         [0032]     In step  703 , the file configuration data is first loaded into memory unit  601 . According to the starting address of medium data structure file area  103 , the recording medium management information is read to determine if the recording medium matches a pre-determined data format. If not, the invention continues to proceed the next recording medium, then returns to step  701 ; otherwise, recording medium identifier  201  matches a pre-determined data format, and the invention proceeds the step  705 . In step  705 , the medium data management information in the medium data header of the medium data area #N is read according to an input number N. In step  709 , video codec  603  and audio codec  605  are set, and the medium data in video data area  103   b  and audio data area  103   c  of the medium data area #N are reproduced.  
         [0033]     The data management information for the N th  medium data comprises a video file management information, an audio file management information, and a reproducing management information. The video file management information comprises a header starting code  401 , a video format  405 , a video resolution  406 , the total length  404  of a video data area, and the starting address  403  of a video data area. The audio file management information comprises an audio format  410 , the total length  409  of an audio data area, the starting address  408  of an audio data area, and an audio bit-rate  411 . The reproducing management information comprises a repeat mode  413  and a play time  414 .  
         [0034]      FIG. 8  shows a flowchart illustrating the steps of identifying a recording medium. In step  801 , the file configuration data is loaded into memory unit  601 , and the starting address of the medium data structure file area  103  is read. In step  803 , the recording medium management information is read with the starting address of the medium data structure file area  103 , and loaded into memory unit  601 . The recording medium management information comprises at least a recording medium identifier  201 , the number of medium data areas  205 , and the starting addresses  211 - 21 N of medium data areas. In step  805 , this invention checks and determines if the recording medium identifier  201  matches a pre-determined data format. If not, the current recording medium is skipped, and the invention continues to proceed the next recording medium and returns to step  701 ; otherwise, the invention goes to step  705 .  
         [0035]      FIG. 9A  shows a flowchart illustrating the steps of setting video codec and audio codec. In step  901 , the header starting code  401  is checked to determine if it is correct. If not, the current data is skipped, and the invention continues to process the next data and goes to step  705 . Otherwise, the invention takes the step  903  to transmit video format  405  and video resolution  406  to video codec  603 , and transmit audio format  410  and audio bit-rate  411  to audio codec  605 . Finally, it goes to step  905 .  
         [0036]      FIG. 9B  shows a flowchart illustrating the steps of reproducing video data and audio data. In step  905 , the video data and the audio data are respectively loaded into memory unit  601  according to the starting address  403  of a video data area, the length  404  of a video data area, the starting address  408  of an audio data area, and the length  409  of an audio data area. The video and audio data in memory unit  601  is then transmitted to video codec  603  and audio codec  605 , respectively. In step  907 , the invention starts to reproduce the video and audio for a specified play time  414 . In step  909 , the invention checks if the repeat mode is activated. If so, it returns to step  907 ; otherwise, it takes step  911  to determine if the reproducing process is to be continued. If so, it continues to process the next data and goes to step  705 ; otherwise, it ends up the reproducing process.  
         [0037]     In summary, the present invention allows the user to store and edit digital medium data by means of the structure of the recording medium. When the video images are displayed, an accompanying audio data can also be simultaneously reproduced to enhance the viewing experience of the digital video images. In addition, users can set up the reproducing time and modes of the corresponding audio data for a video image. Therefore, users can enjoy their lives that have been recorded.  
         [0038]     Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the details described thereof Various substitutions and modifications have been suggested in the foregoing description, and others will occur to those of ordinary skill in the art. Therefore, all such substitutions and modifications are intended to be embraced within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.