Motion video signal processing for recording or reproducing – Local trick play processing – With randomly accessible medium
Reexamination Certificate
1998-08-25
2003-04-22
Christensen, Andrew (Department: 2615)
Motion video signal processing for recording or reproducing
Local trick play processing
With randomly accessible medium
C385S125000, C360S060000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06553179
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical disc which stores an information signal and a reproduction device for such a disc. More specifically, the present invention relates to an optical disc which stores multimedia data including digital video data, audio data and sub-picture data as well as to a reproduction device for the disc.
2. Description of the Related Art
First Conventional Technique
Optical discs and the like have become an essential medium for the circulation and sale of music and video software. Users can enjoy the stored content of such recording media by purchasing discs at record shops and other retail outlets. In the present market, laser discs are widely used as the recording medium for image software while CDs (Compact Discs) are used as the recording medium for music software.
When optical discs are used as the storage media for image software, images are recorded onto a spiral track formed on the surface of the disc starting in the center and leading out towards the edge. By having images recorded in this way, the standard reproduction direction is the direction where following the spiral track results in movement from the inner periphery of the disc to the outer periphery, while the reverse reproduction direction is the direction where following the spiral track results in movement from the outer periphery of the disc to the inner periphery. The information recorded on the disc is read by rotating the disc in the standard reproduction direction and shining a laser beam onto the disc. In addition to the reproduction of the recorded information, other special kinds of reproduction such as “fast forward reproduction” and “rewind reproduction” can be performed. Here, “fast forward reproduction” refers to reproduction in the standard reproduction direction which skips a certain number of units of the recorded information on the spiral track. “Rewind reproduction”, meanwhile, refers to reproduction in the reverse reproduction direction which skips a certain number of units of the recorded information on the spiral track.
Once a user specifies fast forward reproduction, the optical pickup reads the recorded information from the spiral track in the standard reproduction direction while skipping a fixed amount of recorded information. On the other hand, once the user specifies rewind reproduction, the optical pickup reads the recorded information from the spiral track in the reverse reproduction direction while skipping a fixed amount of recorded information.
When the user is not interested in the output information, it is possible for the user to view such information in a short time by specifying fast forward reproduction. Conversely, by specifying rewind reproduction, a user gets another chance to view any data which they may have missed.
However, the kind of fast forward reproduction described above creates great problems for the developers of certain types of title. This is because the use of such reproduction can result in the user not viewing commercials inserted into movies recorded onto the optical disc.
In the field of image software, there is intense price competition. Since certain kinds of software titles, such as travel “mooks” (magazine books) or sales promotion titles, cannot achieve the high sales achieved by hit movies, the developers of such kinds of titles end up having to offer such titles at a low price or even provide them free. As a result, the developers of such titles often look to hotels, tour companies or airlines to sponsor the titles and so are forced to insert commercials for such sponsors into the images recorded on the title. However, even if the developer can find such sponsors and insert their commercials into the title, it is easy for the user to miss such commercials due to the use of fast forward reproduction.
Also, aside from commercial images, there are other images for which the viewing and understanding of the user are especially important to the title developer. For the example of a travel mook, such information may be travel regulations, behavioral standards of the destination, emergency contact numbers, or advice for how to cope with crime or accidents. Similarly, it may be necessary to properly inform the user of information in the image title which, if mistaken, could cause a lot of trouble, such as departure date, cost, cancellation regulations and the like. Despite the need to inform the user of this information, a user of a conventional system can, by specifying fast forward reproduction contrary to the wishes of the developer, all too easily skip such image content.
Second Conventional Technique
It would be no exaggeration to say that fast forward reproduction and rewind reproduction are “classic” reproduction functions for optical discs. In recent years, the tendency of image software is for increased interaction, with interactive software being expected to become the norm. Here, a first substrate technique for interactive software is distributed recording. This refers not to the simple recording of an hour-long image onto the spiral track sequentially, but to the division of the image into ten or twenty-minute blocks which are recorded in a non-sequential order on a plurality of arcs of the track. A second substrate technique for interactive software is random reproduction where image information which is divided into a plurality of blocks is reproduced in a selected order according to several sets of control data. Such control data for random reproduction is composed of pairs of n retrieval order of the divided-up image blocks and address information specifying the arcs on the spiral track where the desired images are recorded. This control data can include several different combinations of retrieval orders, one of which is selected by the user and then reproduced. Once reproduction according to one set of control data is complete, the disc player provides the user with a display of several branch addresses for image reproduction using a menu or the like. Once the user has selected one of these branch addresses, the corresponding piece of control data is retrieved out of all of the control data and is used for image retrieval. By repeating this operation many times, switching can be achieved between a number of reproduction routes in accordance with the selections made by the user in response to the menu.
By using the first and second substrate techniques described above, interactive software for detective stories where the story can develop in a number of ways can be achieved.
It also becomes possible to achieve interactive image software such as goods catalogues, travel mooks, English conversation teaching materials or the like.
For the example of a travel mook, image information for a number of hotels, tourist spots, restaurants and sports facilities for, say, surfing or diving can be recorded on an optical disc. Here, by indicating their budget, interests and the like, a user can have image information for hotels and sports displayed in accordance with their indications.
However, if during the reproduction of the above example of interactive software, the user makes use of the classic fast forward reproduction function, there is a second problem in that the true value of the interactive software can be lost.
Again for the example of interactive software for a travel mook, suppose that reproduction routes in the shape of a tree with many branches are provided in addition to direct reproduction routes with no branches. In such a situation, the former reproduction routes are displayed to the user as a variety of courses using menus and so are highly interactive reproduction routes whose branch addresses are determined according to user confirmation operations. The latter reproduction routes are reproduction routes for digests which are made up of extracts of the most impressive material or material most likely to arouse the viewer's interest.
The tree-like reproduction routes are determined by user selection. Here, a male tour conductor can be displ
Fukushima Yoshihisa
Kozuka Masayuki
Miwa Katsuhiko
Murase Kaoru
Tsuga Kazuhiro
Chieu Po-lin
Christensen Andrew
Matsushita Electric - Industrial Co., Ltd.
LandOfFree
Optical disc for coordinating the use of special... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Optical disc for coordinating the use of special..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Optical disc for coordinating the use of special... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3051363