Patent Grant
8699864
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for receiving and/or reproducing digital signals of movies, programs, and the like transmitted via transmission media such as coaxial cables, telephone lines, and broadcast satellites. More particularly, the invention relates to such a method and apparatus capable of constraining a copy of a recorded digital signal.
A method of inhibiting a copy of a video signal with a recording/reproducing apparatus is disclosed, for example, in JP-A-61-288582. The technique described in this JP-A-061-288582 adds a signal immediately after a synchronization signal of a video signal so that although a television can display this video signal, a video tape recorder (VTR) can record only an image of poor quality. Another JP-A-4-360068 discloses techniques of restricting a user to copy data or inhibiting a user to see an image of data, with a data recording/reproducing apparatus.
As a method of comprising digital video signals at a high efficiency, the ITU-T Draft Rec. H. 262 standard called MPEG-2 (Moving Picture Experts Group) is known. MPEG-2 Systems Working Draft is also known which is the transmission standard of video and audio signals compressed by MPEG-2.
The above standards show the techniques of compressing a program and broadcasting it in a digital format. This compression method realizes a large compression rate so that a single transmission channel can broadcast programs four to eight times as many as a conventional analog broadcast. With this technique, services called near video-on-demand are already available in which the same 2-hour movie is repetitively broadcast at an interval of 30 minutes. However, it is impossible to broadcast all programs 24 hours for near video-on-demand. Therefore, subscribers have a great need for recording a program and reproducing it at a desired time to watch it.
In recording/reproducing a digitally compressed and broadcast program, it can be considered that a received digital signal is decompressed and converted into an analog signal to record it with a conventional analog VTR. However, an analog signal recorded in the analog VTR loses a good signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio of digital signals.
It is therefore desired to digitally record a digital broadcast signal. However, no technique is disclosed as yet to record a digital signal compressed and broadcast, for example, in conformity with the MPEG standard. Generally, error correction is performed to a sufficient degree during recording/reproducing digital signals so that even if copies are made repetitively, the image quality is not lowered. However, on the other hand, it is difficult to protect the rights of a copyright holder if a copy without image quality degradation is permitted. Techniques for protecting the rights of a copyright holder are disclosed in the above cited JP-A-61-288582 for conventional analog VTRs. The other JP-A-4-360068 discloses techniques for restricting a user to copy data or inhibiting a user to see an image of data, with a data recording/reproducing apparatus.
However, techniques of recording digital signals compressed and transmitted in conformity with the MPEG standard and restricting copies of recorded digital signals are not shown at all in the above documents.
Although it is desired to directly record a digital broadcast signal itself, the technique of recording digital signals compressed and transmitted in conformity with the MPEG standard is not disclosed as yet. Generally, error correction is performed to a sufficient degree during recording/reproducing digital signals so that it is advantageous in that the same tape can be repetitively viewed without any image quality degradation. However, on the other hand, if the same tape is allowed to be repetitively viewed without any image quality degradation, a video tape like a cell video tape (a commercial video cassette tape of movies or the like) can be formed easily so that protection of the rights of a copyright holder is difficult. JP-A-61-288582 discloses the technique of protecting the rights of a copyright holder for conventional analog VTRs. JP-A-4-360068 discloses the technique of restricting a user to copy data or inhibiting a user to see an image of data, with a data recording/reproducing apparatus.
However, techniques of recording digital signals compressed and transmitted in conformity with the MPEG standard and restricting copies of recorded digital signals are not shown at all.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for efficiently recording a signal compressed and broadcast, for example, in conformity with the MPEG standard, and constraining copies of such signals.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for efficiently recording a signal compressed and broadcast, for example, in conformity with the MPEG standard, and constraining reproduction of such signals.
According to one aspect of the invention achieving the above objects, there is provided a method of recording/reproducing a digital signal in which each of a plurality of programs is bit-compressed; the bit-compressed program is encrypted; the encrypted programs are time divisionally multiplexed; the time divisionally multiplexed programs are modulated with a single carrier; the modulated signal is transmitted; the transmitted signal is received; the received signal is demodulated; at least one program in a packet format is selected from the demodulated signal; the selected program in a packet format is decrypted; a packet signal added with time information indicating an arrival time of each packet included in the decrypted signal in a packet format is inputted, and the packet signal with the time information is recorded, the method comprising the steps of: reproducing the recorded packet signal with the time information; and changing at least one bit of information bits of the time stamp contained in the reproduced packet signal, and outputting digital information with the changed time stamp.
In operation of this method, packet signals with time information are inputted to the recording/reproducing apparatus and recorded at packed intervals in order to improve a recording efficiency. In reproducing packet signals, packet intervals are changed to the original intervals in accordance with detected time information added to the packet signals and thereafter output from the recording/reproducing apparatus. Since packet signals are recorded after packing the intervals therebetween, it is possible to record them at a signal rate slower than the input signal, allowing efficient recording. By using the time information added to the packet signal, packet signals can be changed to have the original packet intervals, and thereafter they are reproduced. If at least one bit of the added time information is changed for the reproduction and reproduced signals are supplied to, and recorded with, another recording/reproducing apparatus, the original intervals between these signals cannot be restored because the added time information is different from the original time information. Accordingly, these signals cannot be decompressed and restored.
According to another aspect of the invention achieving the above objects, there is provided a system in which a plurality of bit-compressed channel programs and their guide information including at least information of a date and time of program reception are transmitted and received, a program is selected from the plurality of received programs, the selected program is recorded and reproduced with a recording/reproducing apparatus, the reproduced program is bit-decompressed to restore and display an original program, the system comprising: means for forming new guide information by selecting guide information and information of date and time of the selected program from the plurality of received programs; means for outputting the selected program and the new guide information to the recording/reproducing apparatus at the same time; means for setting a current time by using information of date and time contained in the guide information of the plurality of received programs; means for comparing the current time with the information of the time and data contained in the reproduced new guide information; and means for inhibiting bit expansion of the reproduced program if the comparison result indicates that a predetermined period has lapsed.
According to the structure of this system, the current time can be correctly and reliably set from the guide information of the plurality of received programs. Since the current time is set from the received information, it cannot be changed by a subscriber. Furthermore, new guide information is formed from received guide information when the selected program is recorded, and the new guide information contains information of date and time of program reception. Therefore, a lapse time from the program reception can be known correctly and reliably by comparing the program reception date and time with the current date and time. If the lapse time exceeds the predetermined time, bit expansion is inhibited to restrict reproduction of a recorded tape.
Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of embodiments of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
A video distribution service using a satellite according to an embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to
The video distribution service is carried out by an operator managing the operation center 20. The operator signs a contract with the software supplier 10 and causes the required software to be supplied from the software supplier 10 to the program distribution center 30. According to the embodiment shown in
The program distribution center 30 transmits a radio wave toward the satellite 40 by means of the transmitter 31 installed in the center 30. The satellite 40 receives the radio wave and retransmits it toward the subscriber 50. The radio wave thus transmitted is received by the receiver 51. According to the embodiment shown in
The radio wave received by the receiver 51 is applied to the receiver decoder 52, and the software of a predetermined channel is selected by the receiver decoder 52. The software thus selected is recorded in the VTR 53 as required. The signal recorded in the VTR 53 and reproduced at the desired time is returned to the receiver decoder 52, restored into the original video signal, and applied to the TV receiver 54. In the case where the subscriber desires to watch the program without recording, the original video signal is restored without the VTR 53 and applied to the TV receiver 54.
The subscriber may request a desired software from the operation center 20 by way of the telephone 55. Also, the operation center 20 can survey the receiving and viewing conditions of the subscriber 50 through the telephone channel from the receiver decoder 52 and charge the subscriber 50 in accordance with the viewing conditions.
Further, the radio wave transmitted from the current broadcast station 35 by the transmitter 36 is received by the receiver 56 and the received signal is input and recorded in the VTR 53. The signal reproduced in the VTR 53 may be applied to the TV receiver 54 to view the program. In the case where the VTR 53 is not required to record the program, the signal from the receiver 56 is of course applied to the TV receiver 54 and the program can be viewed directly.
The embodiment shown in
Also, a control signal for the program issued or the like is applied from the operation center 20 through the input means 101 to the program controller 190. The program issue control signal from the program controller 190 is applied to the storage medium supply unit 115, the storage media 160 to 163 and the transmission processing device 180. In accordance with this control signal, as described above, the storage medium in the storage medium supply unit 115 is supplied to the storage media 160 to 163 thereby to control the reproduction, termination, etc. of the software of the storage media 160 to 163.
Further, the guide information for the program distributed to the subscriber 50 from the program distribution center 30 is generated in the program guide generator 191 in accordance with the information from the program controller 190, and applied to the transmission processing device 180. The transmission processing device 180 processes signals for transmission in accordance with, for example, the MPEG transmission standard described above. The signal thus processed for transmission is applied to the transmitter 31 and transmitted toward the satellite 40 from the transmitter 31.
In
The rate control information for each program is applied through the terminal 190a. This is the information for bit-compressing the program input from the bit compressor 170 in the range of 4 to 8 Mbps, and the program input from the bit compressor 171 in the range of 2 to 6 Mbps, for example. According to this information, the time-division multiplexer 185 controls the bit rate of the bit compressors 170 to 173. The time-division multiplexer 185 applies a control signal to the bit compressors 170 to 173 through the output terminals 170b to 173b. As a result, the bit rate of each program is controlled in such a way that the signal rate after time-division multiplexing is less than a predetermined value.
The output signal of the time-division multiplexer 185 is applied to the error correction code adder 186. In the case under consideration, an error correction code is added for correcting the transmission error caused by the noise in a satellite channel shown in
Although the embodiment shown in
According to the embodiment shown in
The transmission channel is defined as a signal modulated on a single carrier by time-division multiplexing a plurality of programs as described above. Each of a plurality of programs is referred to simply as a channel.
The receiver 51 that has received a signal from the satellite 40 applies the received signal to the tuner 210 through the terminal 200. The tuner 210 selects from among the received signals the signal of a desired transmission channel in accordance with the control signal from the control circuit 280, and demodulates the signal modulated by the modulator 187 and applies the demodulated signal to the error correction circuit 220. The error correction circuit 220 corrects any error occurred mainly in the channel in accordance with the error correction code added by the error correction code adder 186 (
The output signal of the program dividing circuit 230 is applied to the change-over circuit 240 and the interface circuit 290, and further through the terminal 203 to the VTR 53. The VTR 53 records the digital bit stream applied thereto, and at playback, applies a signal to the interface circuit 290 through the terminal 203 in the same format as the input bit stream. The output signal of the interface circuit 290 is applied to the change-over circuit 240. The change-over circuit 240 selects and outputs a signal from the program dividing circuit 230 when restoring the received signal and selects and outputs a signal from the interface circuit 290 when selecting and outputting a reproduced output signal of the VTR 53, in accordance with the control signal from the control circuit 280.
The output signal of the change-over circuit 240 is applied to the decryption circuit 250. The decryption circuit 250 decrypts the signal encrypted by the encryptors 181 to 184 (
The bit-decompressed signal from the decoding circuit 260 is applied to the output processing circuit 270 as a component signal containing a luminance signal and two color difference signals. The two color difference signals applied to the output processing circuit 270 are subjected to quadrature modulation and thus converted into a carrier chrominance signal, so that the output processing circuit 270 produces the resulting carrier chrominance signal and the luminance signal. The output signal is applied through the terminal 202 to the TV receiver 54. Just in case the TV receiver 54 has only a composite input terminal, the output processing circuit 270 may produce a composite signal by adding the luminance signal and the carrier chrominance signal. Further, both a signal containing the luminance signal and the carrier chrominance signal and a composite signal may be produced.
Also, the signal applied from the receiver 56 through the input terminal 205 is recorded in the VTR 53 as required, and a reproduced signal is applied to the TV receiver 54. When the signal is not recorded in the VTR 53, on the other hand, the input signal or an equivalent signal is applied to the TV receiver 54. In the embodiment shown in
According to the embodiment shown in
The embodiment shown in
Although the decryption circuit 250 is arranged behind the program dividing circuit 230 in the embodiment shown in
The signal applied through the input terminal 300 is applied to the parity adder circuit 311 through the interface circuit 305. The parity adder circuit 311 is for adding a parity code for correcting any error which may occur in the tape transport system 320. The output signal from the parity adder circuit 311 is applied to the modulation circuit 312. The modulation circuit 312 modulates the digital signal into a form suitable for the tape transport system 320. Such schemes as NRZ, NRZI, 8-10 conversion, MFM, M2, etc. are known for modulation. The modulated signal is applied to the tape transport system 320 and recorded in a magnetic tape.
At playback, the reproduced signal is applied to the demodulation circuit 330 where it is modulated in correspondence with the modulation circuit 312. The output signal of the demodulation circuit 330 is applied to the error correction circuit 331, where any error which may have occurred in the tape transport system 320 is corrected on the basis of the parity code added at the parity adder circuit 311. The output signal of the error correction circuit 331 is applied to the interface circuit 305, and after being converted into a signal in the same form as the signal input from the input terminal 300, is output from the terminal 300. The signal output from the terminal 300 is applied to the receiver decoder 52 shown in
As seen from the embodiment of
An analog signal is applied through the terminal 302 from the receiver 56 to the analog video signal recording circuit 340 and the analog audio signal recording circuit 360, where the signal is processed according to the VHS standard, β standard or the 8-mm VTR standard, for example. The signal thus processed is applied to the tape transport system 320. The tape transport system 320 records the signal in accordance with respective formats as in the conventional VTR.
At playback, the signal reproduced at the tape transport system 320 is applied to the analog video signal reproduction circuit 350 and the analog audio signal reproduction circuit 370 which process the reproduced signal in a manner corresponding to the analog video signal recording circuit 340 and the analog audio signal recording circuit 360, respectively. The reproduced signal is applied appropriately to the TV receiver 54 shown in
In the embodiment shown in
In the embodiments shown in
With reference to the embodiments shown in
The signal decrypted is applied to the decoding circuit 260. The decoding circuit 260 corresponds to the bit compressors 170 to 173 shown in
For the selected signal of FIG. 8(2) to be recorded in the VTR 53, therefore, it is necessary to conceive a method for making reproduction while maintaining time intervals of input packets.
A signal corresponding to FIG. 8(2) is applied as an input signal to the interface circuit 290. As an example, the bit rate of the signal output from the transmitter 31 shown in
40×(6/7)×(139/147)=30.3 (1)
As shown in FIG. 8(2), packets exist successively at some parts and with intervals of several packets at other parts. For the VTR 53 to record while maintaining these time intervals of signals, a recording at higher rate than shown in Equation 1 is required. As shown in FIG. 8(2), packets are not sent for some time intervals. As far as packets can be packed for recording and restored to the original time intervals at the time of reproduction, therefore, the recording rate can be reduced as compared with the value shown in Equation 1. FIG. 8(3) shows signals applied to the VTR 53 from the interface circuit 290 in
FIG. 8(3) shows signals applied to the interface circuit 290 from the program dividing circuit 230 in the embodiment shown in
The packet signal shown in FIG. 8(2) is applied through the terminal 401 to the memory 420 and the packet head detection circuit 430. The packet head detection circuit 430 detects the head of the packet of the signal input, and the resulting detection signal is applied to the latch circuit 411, the control circuit 431 and the delay circuit 450. The clock signal supplied from the terminal 400, on the other hand, is applied to the counting circuit 410 thereby to count the clock signals continuously. The output signal from the counting circuit is applied to the latch circuit 411. The latch circuit 411 latches the count input by the packet head signal from the packet head detection circuit 430. The count thus latched is applied to the multiplexing circuit 440. This count provides time stamp information for a packet.
A control signal for the memory 40 is generated on the basis of the packet head detection signal applied to the control circuit 431. The clock signal applied from the terminal 404 is used as a write clock for the memory 420. This is by reason of the fact that the clock signal coincides with the packet signal frequency applied from the terminal 401. The clock signal applied from the terminal 403 is used as a read clock for the memory 420. A frequency higher than that of the write clock applied from the terminal 404 is selected as a frequency of this clock signal. In the case where the write clock frequency is 30.3 MHz according to Equation 1, for example, the read clock frequency is set to 49.152 MHz. This read clock constitutes a bus clock frequency of the signal sent to the VTR 53 from the terminal 203 shown in
After a predetermined length of time after a packet is applied to the memory 420, the packet is read from the memory. The frequency of the read clock signal is set higher than the write clock signal frequency. Therefore, the transmission time of the output packet can be reduced as compared with the transmission time of the input packet signal as shown in FIGS. 8(2) and 8(3). As a result, even where a succession of packets are transmitted, as shown in FIG. 8(3), a period of time is available for adding the header information including the time stamp. The output signal of the memory 420 is applied to the multiplexing circuit 440.
The delay circuit 450 delays the packet head detection signal and outputs a gate signal indicating the position of addition of the time stamp signal in accordance with the packet signal output from the memory 420. The particular gate signal is applied to the multiplexing circuit 440, where the time stamp from the latch circuit 411 is added and the signal shown in FIG. 8(3) is output from the terminal 402 in accordance with the gate signal.
The signal shown in FIG. 8(3) is applied through the terminal 203 shown in
At the time of reproduction, the signal reproduced and output from the tape transport system 320 is applied through the demodulation circuit 330 to the error correction circuit 331. The signal applied to the error correction circuit 331 is, as in the case of FIG. 10(2), composed of packet signals P1, P2, . . . in packed state. FIG. 10(3) shows a reproduced input signal for the error correction circuit. The error correction circuit 331 also has a memory (not shown) of a capacity corresponding to the signal for one track period. The input signal shown in FIG. 10(3) is applied to the memory in the error correction circuit 331.
In
The reproduced signal shown in FIG. 10(3) applied from the terminal 500 shown in
A clock signal of the same frequency as that input from the terminal 400 shown in
The control circuit 540 causes a packet signal to be read from the memory 520 in accordance with the coincidence signal. FIG. 10(4) shows a signal thus read out. The read operation is performed in accordance with the read clock signal applied from the read terminal 501. At the same time, a new packet is applied from the memory 510, and is written in the memory 520 on the basis of the write clock applied from the terminal 502. The clock signal frequency applied from the terminal 501 is determined in such a manner as to correspond to the signal rate between the terminal 203 and the VTR 53 shown in
The packet signals P1, P2, . . . with time axis adjusted and output from the memory 520 are applied to a time stamp gate circuit 530. The time stamp gate circuit 530 gates the time stamp signal as required, so that all the time stamp signals are fixed to 0 or 1 level, for example. As shown in FIG. 10(5), the signal rearranged to the same time intervals as the signal shown in FIG. 10(1) from the terminal 300 shown in
As a result of the above-mentioned operation, signals of the same packet intervals as the one shown in FIG. 8(3) are applied from the terminal 203 shown in
A VTR for recording digital signals has a feature that the image quality is not deteriorated after repetitive dubbing due to the sufficient error correction effected as shown in
As shown in
The foregoing description concerns the case in which all the signals at the position corresponding to the time stamp are set to 0 or 1 level. Alternatively, the same effect can be attained in the time stamp gate circuit 530 by changing at least a bit of the signal at the position of the time stamp. As a result, when the reproduced signal is recorded in another VTR, it is no longer possible to restore the packets to the original position. The dubbing can thus be inhibited.
As header information other than the time stamp shown in FIG. 8(1), a control signal may be added in order for the receiver decoder to change the time stamp, the control signal being used for judging whether all bits of the output time stamp are changed to 0 or 1 level or whether at least one bit is changed.
Next, a method of restricting reproducing signals recorded with VTR 53 will be described. Table 1 shows example of the contents described in the program guide information PG shown in
As shown in Table 1, the program guide information PG includes information V PID for identifying a packet of the video signal for each channel, information A PID for identifying a packet of the audio signal, information VE PID for identifying a video entitlement control message packet and AE PID for identifying an audio entitlement control message packet, a program title, a program start time, a program end time, and the like. The program guide information PG also includes a date and time when the program guide information was received by the subscriber 50. As shown in
The program guide packet PG is decoded by the decoding circuit 260 and output to the TV receiver 54 via the terminal 202 to select the channel of a program to be watched.
If only one program is recorded with VTR 53 and it is to be reproduced, the program is desired to be directly reproduced without selecting the channel from the program guide information. To this end, the program guide packet itself is not recorded, but it is recorded after being changed in accordance with the program to be recorded. FIG. 8(3) shows an example of a recorded signal. The program information packet PG shown in
First, the case where a signal received by the tuner 210 is inputted, will be described. The signal corresponding to FIG. 8(2) is applied to the terminal 600. The program information packet PG has the same packet discrimination information for all transmission channels. Therefore, in accordance with this packet discrimination information, the selector 610 selects the program guide information packet PG having the contents shown in Table 1. The program information read circuit 620 reads the program guide information and supplies it to the program guide decoding circuit 621 which in turn decodes it and supplies the results to the selector 670. A control signal from the control circuit 280 is applied to the terminal 604 and supplied to the program guide information read circuit 620 and selector 601. If the program guide information is selected, the selector 670 selects the signal input from the program guide decoding circuit 621 and outputs it from the terminal 601. This signal is then supplied via the output processing circuit 270 and terminal 202 to the TV receiver 54 to display the program guide.
When a channel of a program is selected while looking at the displayed program guide information, the channel information is supplied via the terminal 604 from the control circuit 280 to the program guide read circuit 620 which reads the input packet discrimination information of the channel and supplies it to the selector 610. In accordance with the input packet discrimination information, the selector 610 supplies the video packet V1, audio packet A1, viewing right information packets VECM and AECM to the video decompression circuit 660, audio decompression circuit 661, and viewing permission judging circuit 640, respectively.
The viewing permission judging circuit 640 transfers the control signal to and from the control circuit 280 via the terminal 605. In accordance with the input viewing right information packets VECM and AECM, the viewing permission judging circuit 640 judges whether the packets input to the decryption circuits 650 and 651 are to be decrypted. If the recorded program is to be charged, a control signal indicating a charged program is supplied to the control circuit 280 via the terminal 605. The control circuit 280 stores a charged toll of the program and supplies a viewing permission control signal to the viewing permission judging circuit 640 via the terminal 605. The viewing permission judging circuit 640 generates, if necessary, decryption information by using the viewing right information packets VECM and AECM, and supplies the packets to the decryption circuits 650 and 651. In accordance with signals input from the viewing permission judging circuit 640, the decryption circuits 650 and 651 decrypt the video packet V1 and audio packet A1. The decrypted video and audio packets V1 and A1 are supplied to the video decompression circuit 660 and audio decompression circuit 661.
The bit compressed video and audio signals are decompressed by the video and audio decompression circuits 660 and 661 and supplied to the selector 670. In accordance with the control signal input from the terminal 604, the selector 670 outputs the decompressed or decoded video and audio signals from the terminal 601.
Next, the case where a signal reproduced by VTR 53 is inputted, will be described. In this case, a signal corresponding to FIG. 8(3) is inputted. Since the changed program information packet MPG has the same packet discrimination information as the program guide information packet before the change, this packet MPG is supplied via the selector 610 to the program guide read circuit 620. If a signal for selecting the program guide information is supplied via the terminal 604, the same process as when the signal is inputted from the tuner 210 is performed to display on the TV receiver 54 the program information reproduced by VTR 53 and having the contents shown in Table 2.
If the signal for selecting the program guide information is not supplied via the terminal 604, the program guide read circuit 620 supplies the selector 610 with the packet discrimination information of the video and audio packets V1 and A1 and viewing right information packets VECM and AECM of the program reproduced. These packets are then supplied to the decryption circuits 650 and 651 and viewing permission judging circuit 640. As shown in Table 2, since the changed program guide information packet has only the information of the recorded program, the packet discrimination information is supplied from the program guide read circuit 620 to the selector 610 without designating the channel.
Also in the reproduction or at replay, in accordance with the viewing right information packets VECM and AECM, the viewing permission judging circuit 640 judges whether the packet is reproduced, and performs a toll charging process if required. Therefore, the recorded tape cannot be reproduced freely, and the rights of copyright holders and service suppliers can be protected.
Another embodiment of the decryption and decoding circuits of the embodiment shown in
First, the case where a signal received by the tuner 210 is inputted, will be described. The signal corresponding to FIG. 8(2) is applied to the terminal 600. The program information packet PG has the same packet discrimination information for all transmission channels. Therefore, in accordance with this packet discrimination information, the selector 610 selects the program guide information packet PG having the contents shown in Table 1, and supplies it to the program information read circuit 620 which supplies the time setting circuit 630 with the date and time when the program information packet PG was received. In accordance with the supplied date and time information, the time setting circuit 630 sets the current time. The program guide information shown in Table 1 is inputted to the program guide decoding circuit 621 to decode the program guide information and supply it to the selector 670. If the control signal from the control circuit is input from the terminal 604 and the program guide information is selected, the selector 670 outputs the decoded program guide information.
Similar to the embodiment shown in
If a signal reproduced by VTR 53 is inputted, similar to the embodiment shown in
According to the present invention, even if the recorded tape is copied, only a tape of the same condition is formed. Therefore, even if a tape is copied without permission of copyright holders or service suppliers, images and sounds of the copied tape are restricted and a so-called pirated edition tape cannot be formed.
Furthermore, since the current time is set in accordance with the received signal, the current time will not be changed or will not be shifted by subscribers. With the same reasons, the lapse time after the record can be correctly shown and cannot be changed by subscribers, so that the rights of copyright holders and service subscribers can be protected.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7-103431 | Apr 1995 | JP | national |
| 7-103432 | Apr 1995 | JP | national |
The present application claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 07-103431, filed Apr. 27, 1995 and Japanese Patent Application No. 07-103432, filed Apr. 27, 1995 and is a continuation of application Ser. No. 10/782,779, filed Feb. 23, 2004 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,844,986; which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/893,983 filed Jun. 29, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,757,478; which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/479,074, filed Jan. 7, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,321,025; which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/637,101, filed Apr. 24, 1996 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,163,644, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20090252478 A1 | Oct 2009 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 10782779 | Feb 2004 | US |
| Child | 12401182 | US | |
| Parent | 09893983 | Jun 2001 | US |
| Child | 10782779 | US | |
| Parent | 09479074 | Jan 2000 | US |
| Child | 09893983 | US | |
| Parent | 08637101 | Apr 1996 | US |
| Child | 09479074 | US |
