This application claims priority from Korean Patent Application No. 10-2007-0043031, filed on May 3, 2007, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mobile recording medium including reproduction setting information, and an apparatus and method for reproducing contents, and more particularly, to a mobile recording medium including reproduction setting information which can conveniently reproduce image or audio data in a reproduction environment that a user desires, and an apparatus and method for reproducing contents using the reproduction setting information recorded on a mobile recording medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
The use of a variety of types of electronic products to reproduce contents formed of still images, motion pictures, audio data, or multimedia data is increasing. Also, with the increased use of secure digital (SD) cards, multi-media cards (MMC), and mobile disks, a user can reproduce a single amount of content in a variety of devices having different shapes and types. To reproduce contents in various media in an optimal environment, the user needs to adjust environment settings such as image settings, audio settings, and screen ratio in a contents reproduction apparatus. Thus, whenever contents are reproduced in different contents reproduction apparatuses, the user needs to appropriately adjust reproduction environment settings.
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention address at least the above problems and/or disadvantages and other disadvantages not described above. Also, the present invention is not required to overcome the disadvantages described above, and an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may not overcome any of the problems described above.
The present invention provides a mobile recording medium including contents reproduction setting information to reproduce contents in a reproduction environment without applying reproduction environment settings.
Apparatuses and methods for reproducing contents using reproduction setting information recorded on a mobile recording medium are also provided.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a mobile recording medium including at least one of a plurality of contents; and at least one of a plurality of pieces of reproduction setting information indicating a value to set a reproduction environment of the contents in a contents reproduction apparatus processing data recorded on the mobile recording medium.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for reproducing contents, the method including reading at least one of a plurality of contents and at least one of a plurality of pieces of reproduction setting information from a mobile recording medium; analyzing the read reproduction setting information, setting a reproduction environment of a contents reproduction apparatus which reproduces the contents recorded on the mobile recording medium based on the reproduction setting information, and reproducing the at least one of the contents based on the set reproduction environment, wherein the reproduction setting information indicates a value to set a reproduction environment of the contents in a contents reproduction apparatus which processes data recorded on the mobile recording medium.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a contents reproduction apparatus including a reading unit which reads at least one of a plurality of pieces of reproduction setting information and at least one of a plurality of contents from a mobile recording medium, a control unit which analyzes the reproduction setting information and sets a reproduction environment to reproduce the contents recorded on the mobile recording medium based on the analyzed reproduction setting information, and a reproduction unit which reproduces the contents based on the set reproduction environment, wherein the reproduction setting information indicates a value to set a reproduction environment of the contents in the contents reproduction apparatus which processes data recorded on the mobile recording medium.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer readable recording medium which has recorded thereon a program to embody a contents reproduction method comprising reading at least one of a plurality of contents and at least one of a plurality of pieces of reproduction setting information from a mobile recording medium, analyzing the read reproduction setting information, setting a reproduction environment of a contents reproduction apparatus which reproduces the contents recorded on the mobile recording medium based on the reproduction setting information, and reproducing the at least one of the contents based on the set reproduction environment.
The above and other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by describing in detail exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings in which:
Referring to
The reproduction setting information includes at least one of, for example, but not limited to, languageType information, fontType information, fontSize information, subTitlePosition information, subTitleColor information, screenRatio information, screenMode information, volume information, audioChannel information, and soundMode information. The reproduction setting information can include a reproduction environment setting value distinguished according to the type of the reproduction setting information. Data forming the reproduction setting information is not limited by the information, particular form, or structure of the above listed types.
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
The contents and reproduction setting information included in the mobile recording medium according to the exemplary embodiments of the present invention can be modified to various types in addition to the structures illustrated in
When the mobile recording medium is a secure MMC, the reproduction setting information can be recorded in a user data area or restricted area so that the contents reproduction apparatus processing data recorded on the mobile recording medium reads the reproduction setting information when authentication using a secret key included in a secure area is successfully performed. When the mobile recording medium is an SD card, when authentication using a secret key included in a hidden area is successfully performed, to read reproduction setting information, the reproduction setting information can be recorded in a user data area or a protected area.
Also, to use the reproduction setting information for the environment setting of a contents reproduction apparatus according to an individual user, the mobile recording medium may further include an authentication key to authenticate at least one user. The reproduction setting information may exist for at least one user distinguished by an authentication key for authentication.
The reading unit 210 reads at least one of a plurality of contents and at least one of a plurality of pieces of reproduction setting information recorded on the mobile recording medium 105. The reading unit 210 is configured to install various types of mobile recording media to read data stored in the various types of mobile recording media. The reading unit 210 included in the contents reproduction apparatus 200 may be internal or external to the contents reproduction apparatus 200.
When the mobile recording medium 105 is a secure MMC, the reading unit 210 reads the reproduction setting information from a user data area or restricted area. When the mobile recording medium 105 is an SD card, the reading unit 210 reads the reproduction setting information from a user data area or protected area.
The control unit 220 controls the reproduction unit 230 to reproduce contents based on a setting value according to a reproduction environment. Also, the control unit 220 analyzes reproduction setting information and sets the reproduction environment of the contents reproduction apparatus 200 to reproduce the contents recorded on the mobile recording medium 105 based on the analyzed reproduction setting information. That is, the setting value according to the type of each of the pieces of information included in the reproduction setting information recorded on the mobile recording medium 105 is reflected in the setting value for the reproduction environment of the contents reproduction apparatus 200.
The control unit 220 selects reproduction setting information that can be used according to the specification of the contents reproduction apparatus 200 among the analyzed reproduction setting information and uses the selected information in the setting of the reproduction environment. For example, even when a setting value for a font type is included in the reproduction setting information on the mobile recording medium 105, if the contents reproduction apparatus 200 is not able to provide a front type according to the setting value, the reproduction setting information is skipped.
The reproduction unit 230 processes and reproduces contents based on the set reproduction environment, that is, a set value read from the mobile recording medium 105. The output unit 240 outputs data that has undergone a reproduction process of contents such as decoding to the reproduction unit 230. The control unit 220 analyzes data stored on the mobile recording medium 105, forms a screen to provide information on at least one of the contents recorded on the mobile recording medium 105, and outputs the screen through the output unit 240. That is, information about at least one of the contents stored on the mobile recording medium 105 can be provided to a user.
The user interface unit 250 in the form of, for example, but not limited to, a touch pad or a key pad including a user input key button receives a user input signal. The received user input signal is transferred to the control unit 220. The control unit 220 controls internal constituent elements of the contents reproduction apparatus 200 according to the user input signal.
When information about at least one of a plurality of contents is provided, the user inputs a user input signal to select one of the at least one of the contents through the user interface unit 250. When the user input signal to select the contents is input, the control unit 220 selects reproduction setting information about the contents selected according to the user input signal among the reproduction setting information recorded on the mobile recording medium 105 to be used for the reproduction environment setting of the contents reproduction apparatus 200.
When the user input signal to input the reproduction setting information is input through the user interface unit 250, the control unit 220 records the reproduction setting information recorded on the mobile recording medium 105 based on the user input signal that is input, or corrects the recorded reproduction setting information.
Also, when information about user authentication is input from the user interface unit 250, for example, an ID or password is input or information on a fingerprint is input, the control unit 20 performs an authentication process to check whether the reading of data using an authentication key recorded on the mobile recording medium 105 is allowed. According to the present exemplary embodiment, the reading unit 210 is configured to read the reproduction setting information from the mobile recording medium 105 when the authentication process is normally performed under the control of the control unit 220.
When the reproduction setting information recorded on the mobile recording medium 105 is distinguished one from another according to the type of the contents, the control unit 220 selects reproduction setting information corresponding to the contents type selected according to the user input signal and uses the selected reproduction setting information for the reproduction environment setting of the contents reproduction apparatus 200. Also, when, the reproduction setting information is recorded on the mobile recording medium 105 distinguished one from another according to the type of the contents reproduction apparatues 200, the contents reproduction apparatus 200 selects reproduction setting information appropriate to the type of the contents reproduction apparatus 200 and uses the selected reproduction setting information for the reproduction environment setting of the contents reproduction apparatus 200.
The languageType information can be defined according to ISO 639-2/T indicating an agreed language in three character codes. The fontType information is defined in the form of letters. The fontSize information defines the size of pixels in numbers. The subTitlePosition information defines the position of subtitles on a screen and can be expressed, for example, using information on an x-coordinate and a y-coordinate for each byte. The subTitleColor information indicates the color of subtitles.
Thus, the contents reproduction apparatus 200 referring to the setting value for each type of the reproduction setting information analyzes the reproduction setting information recorded on the mobile recording medium 105 and sets a reproduction environment of the contents reproduction apparatus 200 using a value of the analyzed reproduction setting information as shown in
The read reproduction setting information is then analyzed (S520), and a reproduction environment of a contents reproduction apparatus to reproduce the contents recorded on the mobile recording medium is set based on the reproduction setting information (S530).
Before S530 is performed, the contents reproduction apparatus provides information about the at least one of the contents stored on the mobile recording medium. When a user input signal to select the at least one of the contents is received, the reproduction setting information about the contents selected according to the user input signal of the reproduction setting information about the read contents can be selected as a value for the reproduction environment setting of the contents reproduction apparatus. That is, the selected reproduction setting information is used for the reproduction environment setting of the contents reproduction apparatus. The contents are then reproduced based on the set reproduction environment (S540).
When the authentication process normally performed, the file information recorded on the mobile recording medium is read from the mobile recording medium and is provided to the user (S630). The file information includes brief information about a file and the structure of a file including the reproduction setting information of the mobile recording medium.
When a user input signal to select a file about one of the contents included in the file information is received (S640), the contents reproduction apparatus selects reproduction setting information corresponding to a file about the contents selected by the user input signal of the reproduction setting information read from the mobile recording medium and analyzed (S650). The reproduction environment of the contents reproduction apparatus is then set according to the selected reproduction setting information (S660). The contents are then reproduced by processing the contents file selected in S640 based on the set reproduction environment (S670).
When the reproduction setting information is recorded on the mobile recoding medium according to at least one of the type of the contents and the type of the contents reproduction apparatus, the reproduction environment of the contents reproduction apparatus can be set using the reproduction setting information selected based on the contents reproduction apparatus reproducing the contents recorded on the mobile recording medium or the contents type selected according to the user input signal of the reproduction setting information stored on the mobile recording medium.
The exemplary embodiments of the present invention can also be embodied as computer readable codes stored on a computer readable recording medium. 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, but are not limited to, read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), CD-ROMs, magnetic tapes, floppy disks, and optical data storage devices. 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. Also, functional programs, codes, and code segments for accomplishing the present invention can be easily construed by programmers skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains.
According to the present invention, since a user does not need to set a reproduction environment in a contents reproduction apparatus whenever reproducing contents recorded on a mobile recording medium, the contents can be reproduced in the reproduction environment that the user desires. Also, when the contents recorded on the mobile recording medium are reproduced by another contents reproduction apparatus, the contents can be reproduced in the reproduction environment that the user desires, without separately setting the reproduction environment.
While this invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10-2007-0043031 | May 2007 | KR | national |