The present invention pertains to audio/video recording devices and, more particularly, to storage of information about recordable media that has been used to record audio/video information via an audio/video recording device.
Audio/Video (A/V) recording devices have been known for some time. Until recently video cassette recorders known as VCRs were the predominate means for recording A/V content. VCRs use cassette tapes for recording A/V content. A/V content may be recorded on and erased from any portion of the tape. A user may choose to record A/V content starting at any point on the tape or erase a given portion of A/V content from the tape. As such, some portions of the tape may contain A/V content while other portions of the tape may contain blank areas. Since tapes can only record and play back A/V content in a continuous manner, it is difficult to locate blank areas for recording. Moreover, it is then difficult to determine the amount of recording time available for the blank area.
In view of the above, some VCRs build and maintain a tape library whereby a user can look up information about a VCR tape that has been used to record content via the VCR, including the spaces available on that tape for recording additional content. An exemplary illustration of an on-screen display of a tape library is depicted in
Particularly,
As can be deduced from the on screen display 10, there are several problems associated with this method of looking for available recording space. One problem is that the empty spaces for each tape are listed as individual titles within the information for a particular tape. Another problem is that there is no means to search for this information across multiple tapes. The user must therefore search on a tape-by-tape basis in order to find a desired length of available recording space.
Moreover, such previous recording devices do not allow the user to indicate that he wants to make the new recording at something other than a default recording quality, which would change the estimates of time that can be recorded. For example, in
Additionally, alternative devices for recording audio/video programming are now become readily available, including hard disk based personal video recorders (PVRs), DVD recorders, and combination units that includes the ability to record on two or more recordable media.
It can therefore be appreciated from the above that there is a need for improved apparatus and method to search for available recording space in a library comprising recordable media.
An A/V recording device stores and provides information regarding audio/video recording discs recorded by the audio/video recording apparatus including disc number, disc name, title of audio/video content stored on the disc, and empty contiguous spaces available on the disc for additional recording, including space based on a specified level of recording quality. This information is retrievable and viewable even when the disc is not currently inserted into the device.
The present A/V recording device also provides on-screen searching of all disc information stored in the disc library for a specified amount of space available for recording given a desired recording quality. Other features are provided including the ability to sort discs by available recording space.
In one form, there is provided an audio/video recording device having memory, a controller coupled to the memory, data entry means and an on screen generator coupled to the controller. The memory stores a listing of removable storage media and respective recordable space data associated with each of the removable storage media. The controller causes the respective recordable space data to be stored in, and read out from the memory. The data entry means receives user input including search commands related to the removable storage media. The on screen generator generates a listing of removable storage media having a sufficient amount of contiguous recording space available for a desired recording length entered by a user.
In another form, there is provided a method of operation of an A/V recording device. The method includes the steps of (a) storing a listing of removable storage media and respective recordable space data associated with each of the removable storage media, (b) receiving user input regarding a desired recording length, and (c) generating, in response to the user input, a listing of removable storage media having a sufficient amount of contiguous recording space available for the entered desired recording length.
The present invention eliminates the need to manually search through the listing for each and every disc to determine whether there is enough contiguous space left on a particular disc to record an additional program, and at a particular desired recording quality level.
The above mentioned and other features and objects of this invention, and the manner of attaining them, will become more apparent and the invention itself will be better understood by reference to the following description of an embodiment of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views.
The A/V recording device (hereinafter, device) 20 includes a controller 30 that is configured, operable and/or adapted to provide control of the various components, modules or sections of the device in the manner described herein as well as those functions associated with such an A/V recording device and not specifically described herein, and processing of the A/V content. Memory 32 is provided that is in communication with the controller 30. The memory 32 stores data and provides the stored data as necessary to the various components as appropriate and under the control of the controller 30. Particularly, the controller 30 controls the reading and writing of information to and from the memory 32 as well as the dissemination of that data to the appropriate components per the present principles.
The device 20 also includes a disc reader/writer 36 that is adapted, configured and/or operable to accept one or more recordable discs as represented by recordable discs 45a, 45b through 45x. The recordable discs and thus the disc reader/writer 36 may be optical discs such as CDs and/or DVDs. The device 20 may utilize other types of recordable discs or recordable media. The reader/writer 36 is thus operable, configured and/or adapted to receive A/V content and write the A/V content onto a recordable disc in a manner such as is known in the art. As well, the reader/writer 36 is operable, configured and/or adapted to read A/V content from a disc onto which the A/V content has been written such as is known in the art and provide the A/V content to the display 25 or otherwise as appropriate.
Program instructions 34 are included that provide the necessary programming to allow the device 20 to operate properly including in accordance with the present principles. The program instructions 34 may be stored in RAM, ROM or other memory or storage device. The program instructions 34 are utilized by the controller 30 to perform the necessary functions.
Data entry means 38 is also provided for allowing a user to input commands, menu selections and/or data as is appropriate. The data entry means 38 may comprise a remote control, such as in infrared (IR) remote control, and a remote control receiver, such as an IR receiver. The data entry means 38 may comprise or include, in addition to a remote control system, a keypad or other manner of allowing a user to input commands and/or data.
The device 20 further includes an on-screen display (OSD) generator 40. The OSD generator 40 is operable, configured and/or adapted to provide signals for the on-screen display of menus, text, data and/or the like. The device 20 is shown connected to a display 25 for receipt and display of such on-screen generated menus, text and/or data as well as for viewing A/V content recorded on an inserted or available disc. The display 25 may or may not be incorporated into the device (or vice versa) and include one of a plurality of display devices, including, CRT, LCD, plasma, LCOS, and DLP display devices.
The device 20 accepts audio and video (A/V) input signals (A/V IN) for processing and recording onto a disc via the disc reader/writer 36. A/V signals are outputted to the display 25 as represented by the arrow from the device 20 and the display 25. The A/V signals (e.g. television signals) provide or are A/V content or programming that may be recorded by the device 20.
In accordance with the principles of the present invention, the memory 32 creates, stores and maintains a disc library. The disc library stores and maintains (updates as necessary) information and/or data about each disc onto which A/V content has been recorded by the device 20 or will be used (i.e. a new or blank disc inserted into the device) by the device 20 to record A/V content. Particularly, the disc library contains a list or listing of all recordable discs onto which A/V content has been recorded by the device 20 (or will be in the case of a new disc inserted into the device) as well as data regarding the disc itself, data associated with the A/V content recorded on the disc, and data regarding blank areas or spaces remaining on the disc. As such, a user can look up information regarding discs that are not inserted into the device 20.
The disc library stores data for each and every disc such as disc number (or other unique identifier), disc name, title of A/V content recorded on the disc, running time of the A/V content on the disc, order of A/V content, quality of recorded A/V content, and recording space remaining on a disc. The disc library particularly contains data regarding contiguous recording space remaining on a disc.
In this example, the user has selected Disc #2 for review as indicated by the arrow within the Disc #2 box. An information box 54 is provided in response to such user selection. The information box 54 provides the data 56 stored in the disc library regarding the selected disc. The disc data 56 includes the disc title (i.e. “Scott's Stuff”), the number of title on the disc (i.e. “3”), the available (remaining) space on the disc for recording additional content (i.e. two contiguous amount of empty space, one for 0 hours, 33 minutes, and another for 1 hour, 23 minutes) and the quality (by number). Also provided is the currently selected recording quality (“4”) and the amount of available recording space given that level of recording quality.
The information box 54 also provides a selection 58 for the user to sort all of the discs (disc data in the disc library) by available recording space (i.e. “Sort Discs by Space”). This will order the discs in either ascending or descending order as requested by the user. The device 20 provides a sorted list of discs in the disc library and the amount of contiguous space remaining on each of the discs. The list can be sorted by disc information, for example the disc number or alphabetical listing of the disc titles. Alternatively, the discs (disc data of the disc library or the disc library for short) can be sorted by the amount of recordable time left on the disc.
In that regard, the recordable time left on the disc may be all of the recordable time on the disc—including an aggregate of the all of the contiguous and non-contiguous times (recordable space) left on the disc, or alternatively, the recordable time of the largest amount of contiguous time on the disc. The user may specify that the sorted list include all of the discs in the disc library or only a portion of the discs in the disc library, for example only discs numbered 1-20. In this manner, the user is able to get a quick overview of the recordable times remaining for a number of discs rather than searching for specific discs.
The A/V recording device also allows the user to initiate various modes of searching of the disc library such as by the various data fields stored in the disc library. Referring to
The user has selected the program “Farscape” which brings up an information box 64 for the programming “Farscape”. In particular, individual programming data 66 is provided for this title. The information box 64 provides a control element “Look for Recording Space” 68 that allows the user to select same for searching or looking for recording space. Other implementations might include a menu button to initiate this search from a menu or a remote control button that directly accesses the search screen. Once the user has selected “Look for Recording Space” 68, another screen display, such as the screen display 70 of
Particularly, the information box 70 provides a recording space input area 72 that allows the user to input an amount of time in hours and minutes that the user would like to determine if a disc has that amount of recordable time remaining thereon. Moreover, the screen 70 allows the user to select the desired recording quality level available. A recording quality input area 74 is provided that allows the user to select from the available recording qualities, here a Basic Quality, a Normal Quality and a High Quality. The user has selected the Normal Quality as represented by the dot adjacent the Normal Quality designation. Once the user has entered and/or selected the amount of time and the recording quality, the Search button 76 is selected to conduct a search according to the entered parameters.
An exemplary screen display or box 80, as illustrated in
Referring now to
While this invention has been described as having a preferred design, the present invention can be further modified within the spirit and scope of this disclosure. This application is therefore intended to cover any variations, uses, of adaptations of the invention using its general principles. For example, this invention is particularly suitable for combination units, such as a PVR/DVD-R unit, wherein a user wants to search for suitable discs when transferring programs recorded on the hard drive to a DVD. In that regard, an interface similar to that of
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/US2006/007644 | 3/3/2006 | WO | 00 | 11/9/2007 |
Number | Date | Country | |
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60679325 | May 2005 | US |