Patent ID: 7079751

Claim:
A television program signal recording and playback apparatus for recording and playing back a television program signal onto and from an information recording medium, comprising: sound absence period detection means for detecting a sound absence period of an audio signal included in the television program signal; audio mode detection means for detecting an audio mode of the audio signal of the television program signal; scene changing point detection means for detecting a scene changing point of a video signal included in the television program signal; scene changing point distance measurement means for measuring the distance between scene changing points successively detected by said scene changing point detection means; commercial message detection means for using at least one of the sound absence period, the audio mode and the distance between scene changing points as a parameter to detect a commercial message included in the television program signal; commercial message detection control means for controlling said commercial message detection means; sound absence period detection control means for controlling said sound absence period detection means; and initialization means for initializing the parameter or parameters, wherein said commercial message detection control means limits the processing of said commercial message detection means when the television program signal includes no commercial message.