INFORMATION REPRODUCING APPARATUS AND METHOD

Abstract

According to one embodiment of this invention, a first management information holding section holds first reproduction management information recorded on an optical disc and a second management information holding section holds second reproduction management information fetched from the exterior. A flag determining section determines whether a write end flag of the second reproduction management information is normal or not, a newest information determining section determines a newer one of the first and second reproduction management information items and a reproduction management information selecting section issues an instruction to reproduce the contents by use of the newer one of the reproduction management information items.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

A general architecture that implements the various features of the invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. The drawings and the associated descriptions are provided to illustrate embodiments of the invention and not to limit the scope of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the whole configuration of an information reproducing apparatus to which this invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a configuration explanatory diagram showing one example of part of the main portion of one embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for illustrating the operation in one embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for illustrating the operation in another embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for illustrating the operation in still another embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing an example of a screen image displayed on a display by an information reproducing apparatus to which this invention is applied.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the whole configuration in another embodiment of an information recording/reproducing apparatus to which this invention is applied.

Claims

1. An information reproducing apparatus comprising: a first management information holding section which holds first reproduction management information used to reproduce contents of an information recording medium,a second management information holding section which holds second reproduction management information used to reproduce the contents of the information recording medium,a flag determining section which determines whether a write end flag attached to the second reproduction management information is normal,a newest information determining section which determines version information items of the first and second reproduction management information items and determines a new one of the management information items when it is determined that the write end flag is normal,a reproduction management information selecting section which specifies reproduction of the contents by use of the first reproduction management information when the first reproduction management information is new and specifies reproduction of the contents by use of the second reproduction management information when the second reproduction management information is new, anda reproduction control section which controls reproduction of the contents by use of the reproduction management information selected by the reproduction management information selecting section.

2. The information reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a network connection processing section which fetches the second reproduction management information held in the second management information holding section via a network from the exterior.

3. The information reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first reproduction management information held in the first management information holding section is information read out from the information recording medium.

4. The information reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a checking section which determines whether abnormality occurs in reproduction management information used by the reproduction control section in the course of reproduction of video and audio information read out from the information recording medium, and a switching section which switches reproduction management information used by the reproduction control section to different reproduction management information when the checking section detects occurrence of abnormality.

5. The information reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a checking section which determines whether abnormality occurs in reproduction management information used by the reproduction control section in the course of reproduction of video and audio information read out from the information recording medium, and a re-updating section which re-updates reproduction information used by the reproduction control section when the checking section detects occurrence of abnormality.

6. The information reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a checking section which determines whether abnormality occurs in reproduction management information used by the reproduction control section in the course of reproduction of video and audio information read out from the information recording medium, and a display processing section which generates a display signal to display that reproduction management information to be used is abnormal when the checking section detects occurrence of abnormality.

7. The information reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a newest information determining section which compares versions of the first and second reproduction management information items to determine a newer one of the reproduction management information items when the reproduction management information selecting section selects the second reproduction management information based on an operation input, and a re-updating section (309) which re-updates the second reproduction management information when the version of the second reproduction management information is older.

8. An information reproducing method for an apparatus including a reading section which reads out information from an information recording medium, a signal processing section which processes a signal output from the reading section, a control section which controls a reproducing operation, and a network interface connected to an external network under control of the control section, comprising: holding first reproduction management information output from the signal processing section,holding second reproduction management information fetched from the network interface,determining whether a write end flag attached to the second reproduction management information is normal,determining version information items of the first and second reproduction management information items and determining a newer one of the management information items when it is determined that the write end flag is normal,specifying reproduction of contents by use of the first reproduction management information when the first reproduction management information is newer and specifying reproduction of the contents by use of the second reproduction management information when the second reproduction management information is newer, andcontrolling reproduction of the contents by use of the first or second reproduction management information.

9. The information reproducing method according to claim 8, further comprising determining whether abnormality occurs in the reproduction management information which is now used in the course of reproduction of video and audio information read out from the information recording medium, and switching the reproduction management information used by the reproduction control section to different reproduction management information when occurrence of abnormality is detected.

10. The information reproducing method according to claim 8, further comprising determining whether abnormality occurs in the reproduction management information which is now used in the course of reproduction of video and audio information read out from the information recording medium, and re-updating reproduction information used by the reproduction control section when occurrence of abnormality is detected.

11. The information reproducing method according to claim 8, further comprising determining whether abnormality occurs in the reproduction management information which is now used in the course of reproduction of video and audio information read out from the information recording medium, and generating a display signal to display that reproduction management information to be used is abnormal when occurrence of abnormality is detected.

12. The information reproducing method according to claim 8, further comprising comparing versions of the first and second reproduction management information items to determine a newer one of the reproduction management information items when the second reproduction management information is selected based on an operation input, and re-updating the second reproduction management information via a network when the version of the second reproduction management information is older.