Patent ID: 7962004

Claim:
An apparatus control system comprising: a video reproducing apparatus comprising: an information reading module configured to read out, from a digital versatile disc (DVD), video information including control information in a display data region and caption information including a given pattern of mask in a region overlapping the control information of the video information in the display data region; a video processing module configured to generate and process a first display data including the control information based on the video information; a caption processing module configured to generate and process a second display data including the mask based on the caption information; a caption switching module configured to switch displaying of the mask by controlling the caption processing module; a video synthesizing module configured to generate an output display data by synthesizing the first display data including the control information and the second display data including the mask; and a video signal outputting module configured to output the output display data; a control signal extracting apparatus configured to, based on the control information being masked by the mask contained in the output display data, detect a synthesizing signal and to output an external apparatus control signal being extracted by binarizing a luminance of the control information; and an external apparatus configured to operate based on the external apparatus control signal outputted from the control signal extracting apparatus.