Patent ID: 7624200

Claim:
A data output apparatus comprising: an output terminal, wherein the output terminal is an oPCR (output plug control register) defined by the IEC 61883-1 standard; a receiving unit that is configured to receive a first command from a first control device, and to receive a second command from a second control device different from the first control device; and a control unit that (a) sets the output terminal to a locked state where a data format of the output terminal is locked to a data format indicated by the first command and where the output terminal cannot output video data whose data format is different from the data format indicated by the first command, if the receiving unit receives the first command from the first control device while the output terminal is being set to an unlocked state where the data format of the output terminal is not locked to one data format, (b) determines whether a data format indicated by the second command is the same as the data format of the output terminal, if the receiving unit receives the second command from the second control device while the output terminal is being set to the locked state, and (c) transmits a response for informing the second control device that the second command is accepted, if the data format indicated by the second command is the same as the data format of the output terminal.