Television – Special applications – Simulator
Patent
1995-12-22
1998-08-11
Peng, John K.
Television
Special applications
Simulator
348 7, 348 12, 455 51, H01J 1300, H04N 714, H04H 100
Patent
active
057939713
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to a video signal output apparatus adapted for providing, as a plurality of channels, a plurality of video signals of the same image source while shifting the supply starting times with respect to the same image source.
BACKGROUND ART
Such video signal output apparatuses having so called Near Video On Demand function to reproduce the image source of a program at a desired time of the viewer (listening and viewing person) to provide video signals reproduced from the image source to terminal equipments of the viewer side through a communication network have been proposed. Among such video signal output apparatuses, apparatuses adapted for outputting images (video signals) of the same content in the state where they are shifted by a predetermined time have been proposed. In the video signal output apparatuses, for reproduction of stored (accumulated) image sources, e.g., video tape recorder (VTR), optical disc player and hard disc unit, etc. are used.
The video signal output apparatus includes, e.g., six reproducing units P1.about.P6 as shown in FIG. 1, for example. The total reproduction time of video signals in these reproducing units P1.about.P6 is dependent upon memory capacitors of media that the respective reproducing units have. The reproducing units P1.about.P6 of FIG. 1 respectively represent image sources of 120 minutes as images (0.about.120) to allow video signals relating to these image sources to correspond to channels CH1.about.CH6. The image sources of the channels CH1.about.CH6 are all video sources of the same content. These reproducing units P1.about.P6 reproduce the image sources of the same content in the state where they are shifted by a predetermined time.
In this case, the shifted time is 20 minutes. The viewer selects a desired image source from the terminal equipment thereafter to carry out selective switching between channels CH1.about.CH6 to output the selected image source, from the leading portion thereof, at the timing that wait time is the shortest from the current time point, among the reproducing units P1.about.P6 which reproduce video sources. Thus, a video signal of the channel which has been subjected to selective switching is supplied from the video signal output apparatus to the terminal equipment. Since the video signal output apparatus is constituted in this way, the viewer can accept an offer of a desired image in the wait time of 20 minute at the maximum.
Meanwhile, in the case where data quantity of one image source is greater than the memory capacity of the medium, the image source would fail to be contained in the medium within the reproducing unit of one unit. In this case, it is conceivable to reproduce the image source of the portion which is above the memory capacity of the medium from any other reproducing unit.
In such a case, as shown in FIG. 2, for example, the video signal output apparatus is operative to respectively reproduce the first half portion and the latter half portion obtained by halving the same image source at the reproducing units P1-P3 and the reproducing units P4.about.P6. In FIG. 2, the image source of the first half portion is represented as image (0.about.60) and the image source of the latter half portion is represented as image (60.about.120). Thus, e.g., the reproducing units P1.about.P3 output.
When the viewer selects the channel in which the wait time is the shortest among output channels CH1.about.CH3 of the reproducing units P1.about.P3, he must select the channel which continuously outputs the image source without wait time from the channels CH4.about.CH6 after output of the image of the first half portion is completed.
When a medium of small memory capacity, such as, for example, hard disc, etc. is applied to the reproducing unit, there frequently take place instances where one image source fails to be contained within one medium, i.e., reproduction of the type which copes with long time cannot be carried out. When the viewer accepts an offer of image source by such a configuration, he
REFERENCES:
Computer Networks and ISDN Systems, vol. 22, No. 2, Sep. 1991, Amsterdam, NL, pp. 155-162, XP000225399 W.D. Sincoskie: System architecture for a large scale video on demand service.
Storage and Retrieval for Image and Videodatabases II, Feb. 7, 1994, San Jose, CA, USA, pp. 208-211, XP002011316, Ed Chang et al.: "Scalable Video Data Placement on Parallel Disk Arrays".
Fujita Hiroyuki
Kojima Yuichi
Frommer William S.
Miller John W.
Peng John K.
Sony Corporation
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