Abstract:
An information recording and reproduction apparatus comprising a recording and reproduction section configured to record and reproduce information in and from one recording medium of a first group and at least one recording medium of a second group, which has a smaller recording capacity than the one recording medium of the first group, and a registering section configured to reserve, in the one recording medium of the first group, a recording region which corresponds to the recording capacity of the at least one recording medium of the second group.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-209652, filed Jul. 18, 2002, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates to an information recording and reproduction apparatus and an information recording and reproduction method, for selective recording/reproduction into/from a large-capacity stationary recording medium and a detachable/portable recording medium. Further, the invention relates to a broadcast-receiving apparatus, which selectively records and reproduces received information onto/from the above recording media. 
   2. Description of the Related Art 
   In recent years, television receivers with high-capacity hard disks, as well as portable recording media have been developed. For example, HDDs (Hard Disk Drives) of 80 GB are now not uncommon, and these are of the stationary type. As a portable type, DVD-RAM (Digital Versatile Disk-Random Access Memory) of 4.7 GB is commonly used, and they can be attached to the TV receiver. 
   In these types of TV receivers, programs or other input information can be recorded/reproduced to/from either/both an HDD and DVD-RAM. Further, information in the HDD can also be transferred to DVD-RAM, and vice-versa. However, due to the difference in disk capacity, various problems arise, particularly when information is transferred from HDD to DVD-RAM. For example, the user might not know whether programs stored on the HDD have been copied onto DVD-RAM or not, or how many DVD-RAM disks are required for copying a certain program. When copying information to DVD-RAM, the user may have to use several disks, thus involving mounting them separately, which is troublesome. 
   If a DVD-RAM disk for recording onto recording is not mounted, a so-called “just recording” function, in which the recording rate is automatically adjusted to completely fill the disk, cannot be used. 
   Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication Nos. 11-7705, 2000-175139, and 5-282793, and the like disclose examples of the known art regarding a technique which performs recording and reproduction between the two kinds of recording media. 
   However, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 11-7705 relates to a technique in which data recorded in a video CD (Compact Disk) is copied to DVD-RAM having a different sector size from that of the video CD. 
   Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2000-175139 relates to the technique in which part of a video data file recorded in the detachable optical disk is copied as the file to on HDD. 
   Further, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 5-282793 relates to the technique in which track and sector numbers of the large-capacity optical disk are transformed corresponding to the track and sector numbers of the small-capacity optical disk. 
   However, in these publications of unexamined applications, no solutions are offered to the above-described various problems which occur in recording the information recorded in HDD in DVD-RAM. 
   BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information recording and reproduction apparatus comprising: 
   a recording and reproduction section configured to record and reproduce information in and from one recording medium of a first group and one recording medium of a second group, which has a smaller recording capacity than the one recording medium of the first group; and 
   a registering section configured to reserve, in the one recording medium of the first group, a recording region which corresponds to the recording capacity of the one recording medium of the second group. 
   According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of recording and reproduction information in and from one recording medium of a first group and one recording medium of a second group, which has a smaller recording capacity than the one recording medium of the first group, the method comprising: 
   selecting the type of one recording medium of the second group; and 
   inputting the number of recording regions to be reserved in one recording medium of the first group, each corresponding to the recording capacity of one recording medium of the second group; and 
   preserving, in the recording region of the one recording medium of the first group, a number of recording regions, each corresponding to the recording capacity of the one recording medium of the second group and the type selected, the number having been input. 
   According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for receiving broadcast information, comprising: 
   a recording and reproduction section configured to record and reproduce broadcast information in and from one recording medium of a first group and one recording medium of a second group, which has a smaller recording capacity than the one recording medium of the first group; and 
   a registering section configured to reserve, in the one recording medium of the first group, a recording region which corresponds to the recording capacity of the one recording medium of the second group. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING 
       FIG. 1  shows a first embodiment of the invention, and is a block diagram illustrating a television receiver; 
       FIG. 2  is a flow chart illustrating characteristic operation in the first embodiment; 
       FIGS. 3A to 3C  illustrate an example of a display screen in the first embodiment, respectively; 
       FIG. 4  shows a second embodiment of the invention, and is a flow chart illustrating characteristic operation; 
       FIGS. 5A and 5B  illustrate an example of the display screen in the second embodiment, respectively; 
       FIG. 6  illustrates a detail of a management table in the second embodiment; 
       FIG. 7  illustrates a relationship between a file system and a hard disk in the second embodiments; 
       FIG. 8  is a flow chart illustrating information recording operation to a virtual medium in the second embodiment; 
       FIG. 9  is a flow chart illustrating the information recording operation from the virtual medium to an optical disk in the second embodiment; 
       FIG. 10  shows a third embodiment of the invention, and is a flow chart illustrating information recording operation to a virtual medium; 
       FIG. 11  is a flow chart illustrating the information recording operation from the virtual medium to an optical disk in the third embodiment; 
       FIG. 12  illustrates an information recording state to the hard disk and an information recording state to the optical disk in the third embodiment; and 
       FIG. 13  shows a fourth embodiment of the invention, and is a flow chart illustrating information recording operation to a virtual medium. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   Referring to the accompanying drawings, embodiments of the invention will be described in detail below.  FIG. 1  shows a first embodiment of the invention, and schematically shows a television receiver. 
   In  FIG. 1 , a reference numeral  11  is an antenna. A television broadcast signal received by the antenna  11  is supplied to a tuner portion  12 , a video signal of a given channel is selected, and then the signal is supplied to a signal processing control portion  13 . 
   The signal processing control portion  13  includes a CPU  15  (Central Processing Unit) which receives operating information from an operating portion  14  to control the operation of the television receiver, an encoder portion  16  which performs encoding processing to the video signal, a decoder portion  17  which performs decoding processing of the video signal, a file management portion  18 , and an edit processing portion  19 . 
   The video signal outputted from the tuner portion  12  is decoded with the decoder portion  17 , converted into a format corresponding to an image display, and then supplied to a display portion  20  to be used for the image display. 
   The signal processing control portion  13  is connected to an HDD  21  which records and reproduces information to a hard disk  21   a  and an optical disk drive portion  22  which records and reproduces information to an optical disk  22   a  such as DVD-RAM. Further, external devices such as an audio-visual recording and reproduction device  23  and a digital camera  24  may be connected to the signal processing control portion  13 . 
   The signal processing control portion  13  performs a predetermined encode processing to the video signal outputted from the tuner portion  12  by the encoder portion  16 , and the video signal can be selectively recorded into the HDD  21 , the optical disk drive portion  22 , and the audio-visual recording and reproduction device  23 . 
   The signal processing control portion  13  can also cause the video signals outputted from the HDD  21 , the optical disk drive portion  22 , the audio-visual recording and reproduction device  23 , and the digital camera  24  to be selectively displayed on the display portion  20 . 
   Further, the signal processing control portion  13  can cause the video signal selectively outputted from the HDD  21 , the optical disk drive portion  22 , the audio-visual recording and reproduction device  23 , and the digital camera  24  to be selectively recorded in the HDD  21 , the optical disk drive portion  22 , and the audio-visual recording and reproduction device  23 . 
   In the television receiver having the above-described configuration, the characteristic operation will be described below. A flow chart shown in  FIG. 2  illustrates the operation informing a user how many optical disks  22   a  are required when the information recorded in the hard disk  21   a  is recorded into the optical disk  22   a.    
   When the processing is started (S 2   a ), the signal processing control portion  13  displays a title selecting screen, in which the user selects a title of information to be recorded in the optical disk  22   a  among the information recorded in the hard disk  21   a , on the display portion  20  in step S 2   b.    
   As shown in  FIG. 3A , the titles of the information recorded in the hard disk  21   a  are listed in the title selecting screen. When the user selects a desired title among the listed titles on the screen, the selected title is separately displayed. 
   Then, in step S 2   c , the signal processing control portion  13  displays a medium specifying screen, in which the user selects the kind of optical disk  22   a  performing the recording, on the display portion  20 . 
   As shown in  FIG. 3B , the medium specifying screen lists the kinds of optical disk  22   a , such as DVD-RAM or DVD-R (Recordable). The user selects a desired kind among the listed kinds on the screen.  FIG. 3B  shows a state in which DVD-RAM is selected. 
   As described above, when the title of the information to be recorded in the optical disk  22   a  among the information recorded in the hard disk  21   a  and the kind of the optical disk  22   a  in which the information is recorded are set, the signal processing control portion  13  calculates the necessary number of optical disks  22   a  to display it on the display portion  20  (step S 2   d ), and ends the processing (step S 2   e ). 
   As shown in  FIG. 3C , the display screen of the necessary number of optical disks  22   a  displays the title selected in step S 2   b , the kind of optical disk  22   a  selected in step S 2   c , and the necessary number of optical disks  22   a.    
   According to the first embodiment, the function informing the user of the necessary number of optical disks  22   a  is provided when the information recorded in the hard disk  21   a  is recorded in the optical disk  22   a , so that handing can be convenient for the user. 
   A second embodiment of the invention will be described below. A flow chart shown in  FIG. 4  illustrates the registering operation for reserving a recording region (virtual medium) corresponding to a recording capacity of the optical disk  22   a  (or the plurality of optical disks), in which the user specifies the kind, on the recording region of the hard disk  21   a.    
   When the processing is started (S 4   a ), the signal processing control portion  13  displays a medium specifying screen, in which the user selects the kind of optical disk  22   a  for which the recording region is reserved on the hard disk  21   a , on the display portion  20  in step S 4   b.    
   As shown in  FIG. 5A , the type of optical disk  22   a , such as DVD-RAM or DVD-R, are listed in the medium specifying screen. The user selects the desired type from the list on the screen.  FIG. 5A  shows a state in which DVD-RAM is selected. 
   As shown in  FIG. 5B , in step S 4   c , the signal processing control portion  13  displays a screen, in which the user inputs virtual medium information indicating a name (virtual medium name) of the recording region reserved on the hard disk  21   a , the number (creation number) of optical disks  22   a , or the like, on the display portion  20 .  FIG. 5B  shows an inputted state in which the virtual medium name is A and the number (creation number) of optical disks  22   a  constituting the virtual medium is two. 
   The signal processing control portion  13  decides whether or not the registering operation is completed in step S 4   d . When it is decided that the registering operation is not completed (NO), the processing is returned to the step S 4   b . When it is decided that the registering operation is completed (YES), the signal processing control portion  13  ends the processing (step S 4   e ). 
   The contents of the registration are stored in the file management portion  18 . As shown in  FIG. 6 , the file management portion  18  includes a management table. The management table stores various kinds of management information for managing the HDD  21 , the optical disk drive portion  22 , the audio-visual recording and reproduction device  23 , the digital camera  24 , and the like. 
   The contents of the registration are stored as virtual medium management information in HDD management information of the management table. Each piece of virtual medium management information relates to one optical disk  22   a , and is information such as a virtual medium name, a sequence number, the recording capacity, a size of the recorded region, and a file ID of the region which is allocated to the hard disk  21   a.    
   In this case, the file ID constitutes a file system indicating a location (leading address) and the size of the recording regions  1 ,  2 ,  3 , . . . , which are reserved on the hard disk  21   a  as shown in  FIG. 7 . Consequently, the recording region corresponding to one disk of the optical disk  22   a  can be reserved by combining plural empty regions on the hard disk  21   a.    
   A flow chart shown in  FIG. 8  illustrates the operation of recording the information recorded in the hard disk  21   a  in the recording region reserved on the hard disk  21   a , i.e., copying the information within the hard disk  21   a.    
   When the processing is started (step S 8   a ) and the user specifies the virtual medium name in step S 8   b , the signal processing control portion  13  reproduces the information recorded in the hard disk  21   a  and records it in the recording region having the smallest sequence number among the recording regions on the hard disk  21   a , for constituting the specified virtual medium, in step S 8   c.    
   In step S 8   d , the signal processing control portion  13  decides whether or not the information to be recorded in the specified virtual medium still remains. When it is decided that the information does not remain (NO), the processing is ended (step S 8   h ). 
   When it is decided that the information remains in step S 8   d  (YES), the signal processing control portion  13  decides whether or not the amount of information has exceeded the capacity of the recording region having the smallest sequence number in step S 8   e , and the processing is returned to the step S 8   c  when the amount of information has not exceeded the capacity of the recording region (NO). 
   When it is decided that the amount of information has exceeded the capacity of the recording region having the smallest sequence number (YES), the signal processing control portion  13  decides whether or not the recording region of the next sequence number exists on the hard disk  21   a  in step S 8   f , and the processing is ended (step S 8   h ) when it is decided that the recording region of the next sequence number does not exist on the hard disk  21   a  (NO). 
   When it is decided that the recording region of the next sequence number exists on the hard disk  21   a  (YES), the signal processing control portion  13  changes the recording region to the recording region of the next sequence number in step S 8   g , and the processing is returned to the step S 8   c.    
   A flow chart shown in  FIG. 9  illustrates the operation actually recording the information recorded in the virtual medium on the hard disk  21   a  in the optical disk  22   a  in the above-described way. 
   When the processing is started (step S 9   a ) and the optical disk  22   a  is mounted on the optical disk drive portion  22  in step S 9   b , the signal processing control portion  13  reproduces the information from the recording region having the initial sequence number on the hard disk  21   a  and records it in the optical disk  22   a  mounted on the optical disk drive portion  22  in step S 9   c.    
   The signal processing control portion  13  decides whether or not the information is recorded in the recording region of the next sequence number in step S 9   d . When it is decided that the information is not recorded in the recording region of the next sequence number (NO), the processing is ended (S 9   e ). When it is decided that the information is recorded in the recording region of the next sequence number (YES), the sequence number is changed to the next number to transfer the processing to the step S 9   b.    
   According to the second embodiment, the user reserves the recording region corresponding to the kind and the number of disks of the optical disk  22   a  as the virtual medium on the hard disk  21   a , so that the processing, in which the information corresponds to the plural optical disks  22   a  and is divided on the hard disk  21   a , can be performed without mounting the optical disk  22   a  on the optical disk drive portion  22 . 
   Since the information is recorded while the information is divided in every optical disk  22   a  on the hard disk  21   a , when the information is actually recorded from the hard disk  21   a  to the optical disk  22   a , the information of the recording region indicated by one sequence number of the hard disk  21   a  is only directly transferred to the optical disk  22   a , and the task of recording the information by dividing it into the plural optical disks  22   a  can be largely simplified. 
   A third embodiment of the invention will be described below. A flow chart shown in  FIG. 10  illustrates another example in which the information recorded in the hard disk  21   a  is copied in the recording region reserved on the hard disk  21   a.    
   In  FIG. 10 , steps S 10   a  to S 10   h  are the same as steps S 8   a  to S 8   h  shown in  FIG. 8 . That is, in the specified virtual media, the recording region having the smallest sequence number is filled on the hard disk  21   a , the recording region is changed to the recording region having the next sequence number in step S 10   g . Thereafter, the signal processing control portion  13  subtracts the capacity c of a predetermined surplus from the capacity C of the recording region having the next sequence number in step S 10   i.    
   Consequently, with reference to all the recording regions other than the recording region having the smallest sequence number on the hard disk  21   a , the recording of the information is performed for the capacity obtained by subtracting the capacity c of the surplus from the capacity C of the recording region. In other words, with respect to all the recording regions other than the recording region having the smallest sequence number, information is recorded while the capacity c of the surplus remains. 
   A flow chart shown in  FIG. 11  illustrates the operation of actually recording the information recorded in the virtual medium on the hard disk  21   a  in the optical disk  22   a  in the above-described way. 
   When the processing is started (step S 11   a ) and the optical disk  22   a  is mounted on the optical disk drive portion  22  in step S 11   b , the signal processing control portion  13  decides whether or not the recording region reading the information from the hard disk  21   a  is the recording region of the initial sequence number in step S 11   c.    
   When the signal processing control portion  13  decides that it is not the recording region of the initial sequence number (NO), the signal processing control portion  13  records the predetermined amount of latest portions (corresponding to the capacity c of the surplus) of the information, which is recorded in the recording region of the previous sequence number, in the optical disk  22   a  in step S 11   d.    
   After this step S 11   d , or when it is decided that it is the recording region of the initial sequence number (YES) in the above-described step S 11   c , the signal processing control portion  13  reproduces the information from the recording region having the current sequence number and records it in the optical disk  22   a  mounted on the optical disk drive portion  22  in step S 11   e.    
   Then, the signal processing control portion  13  decides whether or not the information is recorded in the recording region of the next sequence number in step S 11   f . When it is decided that the information is not recorded (NO), the processing is ended (step S 11   g ). When it is decided that the information is recorded (YES), the sequence number is changed to the next value and the processing is returned to the step S 11   b.    
     FIG. 12  shows a sate in which the information including the above-described surplus is recorded in the hard disk  21   a  and a state in which the information is recorded from the hard disk  21   a  to the optical disk  22   a.    
   On the hard disk  21   a , the information is recorded in the whole recording region A 1  having the smallest sequence number, as shown by oblique lines. Further, the information is recorded in a recording region A 2  having the sequence number larger than that of the recording region A 1  so that the capacity c of the surplus portion is zero. 
   The information of the recording region A 1  is directly recorded in the first optical disk  22   a . In the second optical disk  22   a , the information of the latest portion of the recording region A 1  is recorded in an amount corresponding to only the capacity c of the surplus. Then, the information of the recording region A 2  is directly recorded in the second optical disk  22   a.    
   According to the third embodiment, when the information is divisionally recorded in the plural optical disks  22   a , the latest portion of the information recorded in the previous optical disk  22   a  is recorded in the second or later optical disks  22   a . Therefore, when the optical disk  22   a  is changed in reproducing the optical disk  22   a , the image of the latest portion of the previous optical disk  22   a  is reproduced, and then a new video image is displayed, so that it is convenient for the user. 
   A fourth embodiment of the invention will be described below. A flow chart shown in  FIG. 13  illustrates the operation of rate-converting the information recorded in the hard disk  21   a  and recording it in the recording region reserved on the hard disk  21   a.    
   When the processing is started (step S 13   a ), the selection of the title is performed in step S 13   b , and the selection of the virtual medium is performed in step S 13   c , the signal processing control portion  13  determines total recording time of the information corresponding to the title in step S 13   d  and determines total recording capacity of the virtual medium in step S 13   e.    
   Then, the signal processing control portion  13  calculates an average recording rate during the encoding from the previously determined total recording time and total recording capacity in step S 13   f . In step S 13   g , the signal processing control portion  13  reproduces the information recorded in the hard disk  21   a , re-encodes the information so as to perform the rate-conversion, and records the information in the recording region having the smallest sequence number among the recording regions constituting the specified virtual medium on the hard disk  21   a.    
   The signal processing control portion  13  decides whether or not the information to be recorded in the specified virtual medium sill remains in step S 13   h . When it is decided that the information does not remain (NO), the processing is ended (step S 13   l ). 
   When it is decided that the information to be recorded remains in step S 13   h  (YES), the signal processing control portion  13  decides whether or not the amount of information exceeds the capacity of the recording region having the smallest sequence number in step S 13   i . When it is decided that the amount of information does not exceed the capacity of the recording region having the smallest sequence number (NO), the processing is returned to the step S 13   f.    
   When it is decided that the amount of information exceeds the capacity of the recording region having the smallest sequence number (YES), the signal processing control portion  13  decides whether or not the recording region of the next sequence number exists on the hard disk  21   a  in step S 13   j . When it is decided that the is recording region of the next sequence number does not exist on the hard disk  21   a  (NO), the processing is ended (step S 13   l ). 
   When it is decided that the recording region of the next sequence number exists on the hard disk  21   a  (YES), the signal processing control portion  13  changes the recording region of the information to the recording region of the next sequence number in step S 13   k , and the processing is returned to the step S 13   f.    
   In steps S 13   f  and S 13   g , considering how the rate changes during the encoding process by the video image, it is necessary to perform the control by periodically performing feedback to the encoding rate such that the information does not exceed the recording capacity of the virtual medium. 
   According to the fourth embodiment, since the recording rate is automatically set on the basis on the total recording time of the information and the total recording capacity of the virtual medium, the handling is convenient for the user. Further by providing this function, the recording rate of the just recording can be calculated without actually mounting the optical disk  22   a  on the optical disk drive portion  22 . The just recording can be performed on the virtual medium.