Method and apparatus for recording video data, and method and apparatus for reproducing video data

This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 2004-3806, filed on Jan. 19, 2004 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to video data recording and reproducing, and more particularly, to a video data recording method and apparatus having a portion hiding function and a video data reproducing method and apparatus thereby.

2. Description of the Related Art

Since the advent of digital broadcasting services, digital video recorders, which can record digital broadcasting programs, have been developed. A digital video recorder can store received broadcasting programs on a hard disc accommodated in the digital video recorder while displaying the received broadcasting programs to a user via a display device by decoding the received broadcasting programs.

When a video program, such as a broadcasting program stored in a conventional digital video recorder, is reproduced, in order to not display specific portions of the video program, a user must directly edit the stored video program. That is, the user must make a copy of the video program, remove specific portions that the user does not desire to be displayed, and store the modified video program again.

Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

An aspect of the present invention provides a video data recording method and apparatus providing a portion hiding function by which specific portions of a video program are not displayed when the video program is reproduced.

An aspect of the present invention also provides a video data reproducing method and apparatus in which a video program except for specific portions pre-selected by a user is reproduced.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a video data recording method of recording a bitstream including video data, the method comprising: displaying a video data by decoding the bitstream and/or storing the bitstream in a predetermined storage unit; determining a position of a hidden area in response to a portion hiding command issued by a user viewing the displayed video; and storing position information of the hidden area in the storage unit by being correlated the position information with the bitstream.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a video data recording apparatus comprising: a decoder receiving a bitstream including video data and decoding the bitstream; a storage unit storing the bitstream; and a hidden area position information generator determining a position of a hidden area in response to a portion hiding command issued by a user viewing the video, and storing position information of the hidden area in the storage unit by being correlated the position information with the bitstream.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a video data reproducing method comprising: if a predetermined video program reproducing command is input, determining whether the video program is a program in which a hidden area is designated; and if the video program is a program in which a hidden area is designated, reproducing the video program except for the hidden area.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a video data reproducing apparatus comprising: a storage unit storing at least one video program data; a decoder decoding video data; and a controller determining whether a video program is a program in which hidden areas are designated when a predetermined video program reproducing command is input, reading the video program data except for the hidden area from the storage unit if the video program is a program in which a hidden area is designated, and transmitting the read video program data to the decoder.

The above and other features and/or advantages of the present invention will become more apparent and more readily appreciated by describing in detail exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a video data recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a video data recording method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the hidden area position information generator shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a video sequence including hidden areas;

FIG. 5 illustrates GOPs corresponding to starts and ends of hidden areas;

FIG. 6 is an example of a hidden information position table;

FIG. 7 is an example of messages displayed to a user when a video program is recorded according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a video data reproducing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a video data reproducing method according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 10 is an example of messages displayed to a user when a video program recorded in a hidden recording mode is reproduced according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below to explain the present invention by referring to the figures.

A hidden recording mode is defined as a recording mode in which, when a user selects specific portions of a video program to be recorded, only residual video is reproduced without reproducing the selected specific portions when the video program is reproduced. A hidden area is defined as a selected portion not to be reproduced when the video program is reproduced.

Reproduction modes in which a video program recorded in the hidden recording mode may be reproduced include a hidden reproduction mode and a hidden release mode. In the hidden reproduction mode, only residual video not hidden areas are reproduced when a video program recorded in the hidden recording mode is reproduced. In the hidden release mode, a video program including hidden areas (i.e., unedited) is reproduced.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a video data recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The video data recording apparatus receives a broadcasting signal carrying a broadcasting program, reproduces the broadcasting program to a user via a display device, and stores the broadcasting signal in a storage unit. The broadcasting signal is a digital broadcasting signal or an analog broadcasting signal. The broadcasting signal of the present embodiment is a bitstream encoded according to an MPEG standard. Examples of the digital data may include, but are not be limited to, MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG4, MPEG7, QUICKTIME, AV1 and MS ASF (Advanced Streaming Format) files.

Referring to FIG. 1, the video data recording apparatus includes a tuner 110, an inverse multiplexer 120, a decoder 130, a hidden area position information generator 140, a storage unit 150, an NTSC/PAL decoder 160, an encoder 170, a multiplexer 180, and a controller 190.

If an input broadcasting signal is a digital broadcasting signal, the tuner 110 transmits the broadcasting signal to the inverse multiplexer 120. If the input broadcasting signal is an analog broadcasting signal, the tuner 110 transmits the broadcasting signal to the NTSC/PAL decoder 160.

The digital broadcasting signal is signal processed by the inverse multiplexer 120 and the decoder 130 and reproduced to a user via a display device (not shown). The decoder 130 decodes data encoded by an MPEG method according to the shown embodiment, it is understood that other methods can be used.

If a broadcasting signal, which the tuner 110 has received, is an analog broadcasting signal encoded according to a conventional NTSC or PAL method, the analog broadcasting signal is decoded by the NTSC/PAL decoder 160 and reproduced to the user via the display device (Not Shown).

If the hidden recording mode is selected by a user, the received broadcasting signal is stored in the storage unit 150 as stream data. The storage unit 150 can be realized in various ways. For example, the storage unit 150 may be a hard disc, a high capacity memory, a recordable optical recording medium, and/or magnetic or magneto optical discs or tapes.

If a user viewing a reproduced video program via the display device inputs start and end positions of a hidden area using an input device (not shown) such as a remote control, the hidden area position information generator 140 generates hidden information including hidden area position information corresponding to the start and end positions of the hidden area inputted by the user and stores the hidden information in the storage unit 150.

According to an aspect of the present invention, even if an input signal is an analog signal and is not a digital broadcasting signal, the analog signal can still be recorded in the hidden mode by being input to the encoder 170, encoded by the encoder 170 according to an MPEG method, multiplexed and generated as a bitstream by the multiplexer 180, and input to the hidden area position information generator 140. However, it is understood that if no analog signal is to be received, the decorder 160 and the encoder 170 need not be used. Alternatively, where the analog or digital signal is received from an input device (such as a camcorder), the decoder 160 and encoder 170 can be used for such non-broadcast signals.

In the present embodiment, a user inputs a command to the storage unit 150 using a remote controller (not shown). However, the input device is not limit to the remote control, and can be realized in various ways according to conventional technologies.

Based on the structure of the video data recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention as shown in FIG. 1, a video data recording method according to an embodiment of the present invention will now be described in detail.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a video data recording method according to an embodiment of the present invention. A user selects a recording mode using a remote controller when a first message 710 of FIG. 7 is displayed on a display device in operation 210.

If the user selects a general recording mode in operation 220, general recording of a video program selected by the user proceeds in operation 290. However, if the user selects a hidden recording mode in operation 220, a second message 720 of FIG. 7 requesting a password and/or a margin required for the hidden recording is displayed by the display device, and the user inputs the password and/or the margin required for the hidden recording in operation 230. A secret number selected by the user can be used as the password. The password input by the user is processed by an authenticating program 191 stored in the controller 190. The password is stored in the storage unit 150 according to control of the controller 190. The password is used when it is to authenticate whether the user is an authorized user when a video program recorded in the hidden recording mode is reproduced in the hidden release mode. However, it is understood that the password need not be used in all aspects of the invention, and that other authentication techniques (such as biometrics or facial recognition) can be used.

The margin input by the user in operation 230 will now be described with reference to FIG. 4. FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a video sequence including hidden areas. The video sequence includes a sequence header and a plurality of group of pictures (GOPs). A GOP is a unit of video encoding or decoding and includes a plurality of pictures. According to an MPEG-2 standard, each GOP includes pluralities of intra (I) pictures, bidirectionally predictive (B) pictures, and predictive (P) pictures. The B pictures and P pictures are encoded by referring to other pictures in the same GOP. Therefore, the decoder 130 cannot decode an encoded video without referring to other pictures.

When the user is viewing a video program, which is being reproduced via the display device, the user pushes a hidden area set button on the remote controller at a position that the user desires to designate as a start position of a hidden area, and pushes the hidden area set button again at another position that the user desires to designate as an end position of the hidden area. It is understandable that the user can alternately push a hidden area set button until the end position of the hidden area and release the button to finish.

Referring to FIG. 4, positions in the video sequence corresponding to when the user pushed the hidden area set button are a, b, c, and d. When the margin input by the user is 2, actual positions designated as start and end positions of hidden areas are a′, b′, c′, and d′. Therefore, an a′-b′ portion is designated as a first hidden area, and a c′-d′ portion is designated as a second hidden area. The reason for setting the margin is as follows. When a scene that the user desires to hide is displayed and the user inputs a hidden area set command to the hidden area position information generator 140 by pushing the hidden area set button, a plurality of pictures have already elapsed. Accordingly, a hidden area as indicated by the pictures selected by the user is always temporally delayed from a portion desirably selected by the user. Thus, to solve this problem, the video data recording apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention allows a predetermined margin to be set.

After setting the video data recording apparatus to the hidden recording mode, recording starts in the hidden recording mode in operation 240, and, during the recording, the user issues a hidden area start command or a hidden area end command by pushing the hidden area set button in operation 250. When the user issues the hidden area start command by pushing the hidden area set button, a fourth message 740 indicating that the hidden area has been set is displayed by the display device. When the user pushes the hidden area set button again, the message disappears, as indicated by a fifth message 750 of FIG. 7.

The hidden area set button on the remote controller can be realized according to a toggle method such that the hidden area start command is transmitted when the user pushes the hidden area set button once and the hidden area end command is transmitted when the user pushes the hidden area set button again. However, a remote controller can separately have a hidden area set button and a hidden area release button.

When a hidden area start position or a hidden area end position is input to the hidden area position information generator 140 by the user in operation 250, the hidden area position information generator 140 performs operations 260 through 280.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the hidden area position information generator 140 shown in FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 3, the hidden area position information generator 140 includes a plurality of margin registers 141 through 145, a margin controller 146, a data position information generator 147, and a hidden information position table generator 148.

When the data position information generator 147 inputs an enable signal followed by a transport stream (TS) including a GOP header from a GOP header director 121 included in the inverse multiplexer 120 and inputs TS data from the inverse multiplexer 120, the data position information generator 147 maps the TS data to an address of the storage unit 150 in which the TS data is stored and transmits the mapped TS data to the storage unit 150. At the same time, the data position information generator 147 also transmits the address of the storage unit 150, in which the TS data is stored, to the margin controller 146.

The margin controller 146 receives the address of the storage unit 150 from the data position information generator 147 and stores the address in one of the plurality of margin registers 141 through 145. Data is sequentially stored in a first margin register 141 through a fifth margin register 145. It is understandable that the margin registers can be made of memory.

When the hidden area start position or the hidden area end position is input to the hidden area position information generator 140 by the user in operation 250, the margin controller 146 detects a position of a GOP header stored in the storage unit 150 from data stored in a margin register in which the most recently stored data is stored in operation 260. Referring to the video sequence shown in FIG. 4, when an address of a GOP header of a GOP5 stored in the storage unit 150 is stored in a fourth margin register 144 and a hidden area start command is input to the hidden area position information generator 140 by the user, the margin controller 146 detects the address of the GOP header of the GOP5 from the fourth margin register 144 in operation 260.

If a margin value input by the user is “2”, the margin controller 146 applies the margin value input by the user to the detected position in operation 270. Accordingly, the margin controller 146 reads an address of the storage unit 150 stored in a second margin register 142 not the fourth margin register 144 and transmits the address to the hidden information position table generator 148.

The hidden information position table generator 148 generates a hidden information position table including hidden area position information in response to position information of the GOP header, which is stored in the storage unit 150, transmitted from the margin controller 146 and stores the hidden information position table in the storage unit 150 by being correlated the hidden information position table with video program data, which is being recorded, in operation 280.

For example, in the video sequence of FIG. 4, the a′-b′ portion is designated as the first hidden area, and the c′-d′ portion is designated as the second hidden area. That is, a start of the first hidden area is a GOP3, and an end of the first hidden area is a GOP7. A start of the second hidden area is a GOP49, and an end of the second hidden area is a GOP52.

FIG. 5 illustrates GOPs corresponding to starts and ends of hidden areas.

FIG. 6 is an example of a hidden information position table generated by the hidden information position table generator 148 when two hidden areas are designated as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a video data reproducing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 8, the video data reproducing apparatus includes a storage unit 810, a controller 830, an inverse multiplexer 850, and a decoder 870.

Video programs recorded in the hidden recording mode and previously input passwords for access when reproducing the video programs in the hidden release mode are stored in the storage unit 810.

The controller 830 controls the entire operation of the video data reproducing apparatus in response to commands input by a user.

The inverse multiplexer 850 inverse multiplexes a bitstream of a video program read by the controller 830 from the storage unit 810 and transmits the multiplexed data to the decoder 870. The decoder 870 decodes the multiplexed data and transmits the decoded video program to a display device (not shown) to display the video program to the user. While not required, it is understood that the decorder 870 decodes the program using a method such as an MPEG method.

Based on the structure of the video data reproducing apparatus shown in FIG. 8, a video data reproducing method according to an embodiment of the present invention will now be described in detail using FIG. 9. FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a video data reproducing method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

A user selects a video program to be reproduced among video programs stored in the storage unit 810 in operation 910.

The controller 830 determines whether the selected video program is a program recorded in the hidden recording mode in operation 920. If the selected video program is not a program recorded in the hidden recording mode, the controller 830 reads all of the data of the selected video program from the storage unit 810 in operation 950 and starts to reproduce all of the data of the selected video program in operation 970.

However, if the selected video program is a program recorded in the hidden recording mode, the controller 830 displays a first message 1010 of FIG. 10 requesting selection of a reproduction mode to the user via the display device.

The user selects one of a hidden reproduction mode and a hidden release mode in operation 930. If the user selects the hidden reproduction mode in operation 930, the controller 830 reads residual data except data corresponding to hidden areas with reference to a hidden information position table read from the storage unit 810 in operation 960 and starts to reproduce the residual data of the selected video program in operation 970.

On the other hand, if the user selects the hidden release mode in operation 930, the controller 830 displays a second message 1030 of FIG. 10 requesting input of a predetermined password (e.g., a secret number) previously input to reproduce data in the hidden release mode.

The controller 830 authenticates the password input by the user in operation 940. The password authentication is performed by comparing the input password with a password stored in the storage unit 810 and determining whether the two passwords are the same.

If the authentication of the password input by the user fails in operation 940, or if the user does not input a password, reproduction in the hidden reproduction mode starts according to operations 960 and 970. When the video program is being reproduced, if a designated hidden area is to be reproduced, a third message 1070 indicating that the image is a part of a hidden area is displayed instead of reproduced data. When the hidden area ends, the video program is normally reproduced.

However, the authentication of the password input by the user succeeds in operation 940, the controller 830 reads all of the data of the selected video program from the storage unit 810 in operation 950 and reproduces all of the data of the selected video program in operation 970.

While not required, it is understood that the present invention can also be embodied as computer readable codes on at least one computer readable recording medium useable with at least a general or special purpose computer. The computer readable recording medium is any data storage device that can store data which can be thereafter read by a computer system. Examples of the computer readable recording medium include read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), CD-ROMs, magnetic tapes, floppy disks, optical data storage devices, and carrier waves (such as data transmission through the Internet). The computer readable recording medium can also be distributed over network coupled computer systems so that the computer readable code is stored and executed in a distributed fashion.

As described above, according to an embodiment of the present invention, a user can easily generate a video program with hidden areas without directly editing the video program to prevent specific portions of a recorded video program from being viewed by an unauthorized user. A function allowing the specific portions to be hidden is initiated by a simple operation of a remote controller when the video program is recorded. The present invention can be applied to various fields. For example, when a video program to be recorded is a quiz program, the video program can be used as a learning material by designating only picture portions indicating answers as hidden areas. When a video program with scenes not to be viewed by children is recorded, parents can designate specific scenes as hidden areas, and adults can view the entire video program by inputting a predetermined password. Also, specific portions of a video, which a person has taken, can be differently viewed according to time and places.

Although a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.