JP2000224548A - Device and method for reproducing video information - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make a DVD reproducing system, which has a DVD(digital video disk) reproducing function and a function for accessing a Web site, flexibly correspond to the variation of the Web site. SOLUTION: This DVD reproducing system is provided with a DVD drive reading information from a DVD 40 storing video information and a keyword related with each scene of this video information to reproduce it, an NT resource retrieval processing part 100 reading the keyword related with one scene in the reproduction of title information 40a by this DVD drive from the information managing table 40b of the DVD 40 and retrieving a Web site by using a keyword designated by an input part 8 from among the read keywords, an NT resource utilizing processing part 101 accessing a Web site designated by the part 8 from among the retrieved Web site, and a modem 6.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a video information reproducing apparatus such as a DVD player and a video information reproducing method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, digital video discs (DV
A video information reproducing apparatus having both a function of reproducing video information such as D) and a function of accessing a Web site, for example, a DVD player having a Web search function has been developed.

[0003] In the case of a DVD player having a Web search function, if there is a Web site registered at the time of DVD title production in a certain scene while viewing video information of a certain DVD title, it is possible to access the Web site. There is a display indicating that it is possible, for example, turning on a Web search icon. When the Web search icon is displayed, the user performs a Web search operation to access a Web site that provides information related to the scene. Can be. By the way, this kind of DV
In the case of the D player, the Web site that can be displayed is DVD
It must be a Web site that was prepared or supposed to be prepared at the time of title production, and that has been designated in advance by the producer.

[0004] For this reason, the creator does not know at the time of producing the DVD title, or cannot access a Web site considered after the production of the DVD title.

[0005]

As described above, in the conventional video information reproducing apparatus described above, the creator does not know at the time of producing the DVD title, or cannot access the Web site created after producing the DVD title. There was a problem that it was not possible to respond flexibly to changes in the site.

[0006] The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a video information reproducing apparatus and a video information reproducing method which can flexibly cope with changes in a Web site.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a video information reproducing apparatus, comprising: an information reproducing unit that reproduces video information; Acquisition means for acquiring the keyword from a predetermined storage medium, keyword extraction means for reading out a keyword associated with each scene from the storage medium while video information is reproduced by the information reproduction means, and keyword extraction means From among those extracted by
Using a keyword arbitrarily specified by the user,
and a search means for searching for a site b.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a video information reproducing apparatus, comprising: an information reproducing means for reproducing video information; an obtaining means for acquiring a keyword associated with each scene of the video information from a predetermined storage medium; Searching means for detecting the type of language of the keyword acquired by the acquisition means or the keyword specified by the user while reproducing the information, and searching for a Web site in the detected language.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the video information reproducing method, the video information is reproduced, a keyword associated with each scene of the video information is obtained from a predetermined storage medium, and while the video information is being reproduced, A keyword associated with each scene is read from the storage medium, and a Web site is searched using a keyword specified from the read keywords or arbitrarily specified by a user. The video information reproducing method according to claim 4, wherein the video information is reproduced, a keyword associated with each scene of the video information is obtained from a predetermined storage medium, and the obtained keyword is obtained during reproduction of the video information. ,
Alternatively, a language type of a keyword specified by a user is detected, and a Web site is searched in the detected language.

According to the first and third aspects of the present invention, when reproducing video information stored in a predetermined storage medium while reproducing video information, a keyword associated with each scene of the video information is obtained. Since the keyword associated with each scene is read from the storage medium while the video information is being reproduced, and the Web site is searched using the keyword specified from the read keyword or arbitrarily specified by the user, It is also possible to access a newly conceived Web site that was not prepared or supposed to be prepared at the time of media production, and can flexibly respond to changes in the Web site.

According to the second and fourth aspects of the present invention, in reading and reproducing video information from a storage medium, a keyword associated with each scene of the video information is obtained from a predetermined storage medium, and the video information is reproduced. In addition, the language type of the acquired keyword or the keyword specified by the user is detected, and the Web site is searched in the detected language. Can be done.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a DVD according to one embodiment of the video information reproducing apparatus and the video information reproducing method of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of the reproducing system, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a conceptual configuration of the DVD reproducing system, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an information management table. The DVD playback system according to this embodiment is a system such as a set top box having a personal computer or a TV set having a built-in DVD drive, or a multimedia terminal device obtained by integrating them. Is assumed. The set top box is also called an IRD (integrated receiver decoder).

As shown in FIG. 1, the DVD reproducing system includes a microprocessor (hereinafter referred to as a CPU) 1 constituting a main control device, a RAM 2 functioning as a work memory (main memory) of the CPU 1, and a CPU.
1 and a digital video disk (hereinafter referred to as DVD) drive 4. The DVD drive 4 is a storage medium related to the present embodiment, and stores DVD information storing AV information and an information management table 40b (scene table) for each scene described later.
This is a drive that drives the VD 40 and acquires information recorded on the DVD 40.

The DVD playback system has a communication control unit 5 for connecting to a Web server which is a resource on the Internet and exchanging information, and a network connection device having a modem 6, an input control unit 7 and an input control unit 7. It has an input device composed of a unit 8 and a display device composed of a display control unit 9 and a display unit 10. However, modem 6
For example, when a digital communication line is used, a corresponding communication device is used. The input unit 8 is, for example, a mouse, a keyboard, or the like. The display unit 10 is, for example, a CR
Display screen of T display or liquid crystal display or T
It is a display of a V receiver.

As shown in FIG. 2, the DVD 40 set in the DVD drive 4 stores AV information (hereinafter referred to as title information) 40a, an information management table 40b, and the like. The title information 40a is, for example, multimedia information such as a movie, and is, for example, coded stream (continuous bit data string) information coded by the moving picture coding method of MPEG2. Note that title information 4
0a normally contains, for example, DV in addition to stream information.
Control information (management information such as navigation commands related to data reproduction control) based on the D standard is also included.

The information management table 40b is resource use information for searching and using resources (assuming a Web server) of a network (assuming the Internet).

As shown in FIG. 3, the information management table 40b stores the number (n) of keyword display related information to be displayed in each stream of the title information 40a and the title information 40a.
a of the identification information (DVD4
Session ST-1 to ST-n).

Each of the sessions ST-1 to ST-n is based on DVD standards such as a program chain number (a logical unit for reproducing all or a part of a title), a video title number, a cell number, and a chapter number. The information includes information for specifying a stream, an information notification time, a keyword, and the like. The program chain number, the video title number, the cell number, and the chapter number are information for specifying video information based on the DVD standard, and are referred to as in-standard identification information. The information notification time has a format of (X seconds later, Y seconds) or (none).
In the case of the format (X seconds later, Y seconds), the video associated with the keyword starts X seconds after the moving image information defined by the in-standard identification information starts, and the video associated with the keyword is Y It lasts for seconds. If the information notification time is (none), it means that all the videos belonging to the moving image information are associated with the keyword. As described later, this information notification time allows resources to be used in predetermined stream information (scene) in a plurality of streams (in the present embodiment, the related information We
Display control (start and end of display) of keyword information box (specific input information) indicating that page b can be displayed)
Information for use in

The keyword is information on a search key for searching and displaying a Web page when the Web page can be accessed in predetermined stream information (moving image) in the stream. Therefore, there may be one keyword or a plurality of keywords inserted into the columns of the identification information ST-1 to ST-n.

As shown in FIG. 2, the information management table 40b is read from the DVD 40 under the control of the CPU 1 when the title information is reproduced, and is stored in the predetermined area 20 of the RAM 2.
Is stored in The CPU 1 uses the information management table 40b stored in the RAM 2 to execute the resource use processing of the present embodiment.

That is, the NT (network) resource search processing unit 100 determines the legitimacy of the resource use in response to the user's input instruction operation (keyword search button operation) described later (that is, whether the Web page is accessible or not). Judgment).

Further, based on the search result of the NT resource search processing unit 100, the NT resource use processing unit 101 executes a process of accessing a Web server on the corresponding network and displaying a Web page corresponding to the related information. I do. Note that the NT resource search processing unit 100 and the NT resource use processing unit 101 mean conceptual components each including the CPU 1 and each set program.

The operation of the DVD playback system will be described below with reference to FIGS.

First, when the DVD 40 is set in the DVD drive 4 and there is an input instruction for reproducing the title information by operating the input unit 8 by the user, the CPU 1
A reproduction process for reading the title information from 0 and displaying the title information on the screen of the display unit 10 is started (starting of a reproduction program).

The DVD 40 includes an information management table 40b in addition to the title information 40a.

The information management table 40b has information relating to a certain image and information for linking the image and the information. This includes a keyword that is information related to the image.

This keyword is registered in multiple languages, and when viewing a title corresponding to multiple languages, the input unit 10
When the video information is a movie or the like, subtitles can be displayed in the sub-information related to the video information in the language selected in.

Here, the keyword acquiring operation of the DVD reproducing system will be described with reference to FIG. In this DVD playback system, when starting playback of the information title 40a (video information), the CPU 1 sequentially reads the contents of the information management table 40b from the DVD 40 and loads them into the main memory (RAM) 2.

As a result, the CPU 1 searches the resource use information (WE) for searching and accessing the Web page related to each stream of the title information 40a to be reproduced.
B may be referred to as B display-related information).

When the CPU 1 confirms that the specified title information 40a exists from the DVD 40, the CPU 1 reads the stream information (stream information) in units of streams, and also reads the corresponding sessions ST-1, ST-2,.
The contents of Tn (FIG. 3) are acquired (S21). The content of the obtained sessions ST-1 to ST-n includes information for combining the video information and the keyword information attached thereto.

The CPU 1 checks whether or not keyword information is included for each of the sessions ST-1 to ST-n obtained from the DVD 40 (S22).

As a result of the check, if there is no keyword information (No in S22), normal reproduction is continued (S2).
3).

On the other hand, if there is keyword information (Yes in S22), the existence of the related keyword is displayed on the screen of the display unit 10 using an icon or the like (S24).
Prompt the user for a selection.

Here, when the user sets the W
If the user does not desire to browse the website and does not operate the keyword search button on the input unit 8 (No in S25), the normal reproduction is continued (S23).

On the other hand, when the user desires to browse the Web site and operates the keyword search button in the input unit 8 (Yes in S25), the Web site search processing process is executed (S26).

Here, the Web site search processing process (Web site search processing operation) in S26 will be described with reference to FIG.

When searching a Web site, the CPU 1
Saves the playback state at that time and suspends the playback (S31).

Next, the NT resource search processing section 100 searches for a Web site using the specified keyword (S32).

At this time, when a plurality of keywords are specified, the NT resource search processing section 100 searches using a single keyword alone or performs a combination search using a plurality of keywords using AND, OR, or the like. .

Of course, the user can use the keyword or U
It is also possible to access a Web site by specifying an RL.

As a result of the search, it is determined whether or not a Web site search has been performed using the keyword (S33), and the result is displayed.

If some Web site candidates are found as a search result, the site name or URL
Is displayed on the display unit 10.

When the user selects a Web site name or a URL from those displayed on the display unit 10, N
The T resource use processing unit 101 accesses the Web site and displays an image of the Web site (S34).

When not accessing another site (S3
No. 5), the reproduction is resumed from the stored state (S38), and the keyword acquisition process is executed (S39).

When the user desires access to a site other than the Web site found by the search (Yes in S35), and continues the Web access under the same conditions (S36)
Yes), the process returns to S34, and when accessing another Web site output in the immediately preceding search result or when searching for a new Web site (N in S36).
o), and return to the process of S32. Here, a specific website search display example using a keyword will be described with reference to FIG. During playback of the title information 40a from the DVD 40 and display of an image on the display unit 10, for example, as shown in FIG. 6, when an object "Tokyo Tower" is displayed in the image, a plurality of keywords related to this object are displayed. For example, if three keywords such as Tokyo Tower, Tokyo, and sightseeing exist in the scene table 40b, the keyword information box 42 in which the keywords “Tokyo Tower”, “Tokyo”, and “Tourism” are arranged in this order is “Tokyo Tower”. Displayed on the same screen.

When the user operates the keyword search button of the input unit 10 while the keyword information box 42 is displayed, the reproduction of the video is temporarily stopped, and
The b site search screen 43 is displayed.

Here, when the user selects desired keywords, for example, “Tokyo” and “sightseeing” with the selection keys of the input unit 10 and designates “AND” and “Execute” in the operation box 45, the user selects “Tokyo”. A search for a Web site that includes the keywords “” and “sightseeing” is started. Note that, in this figure, what is displayed in italics indicates a selected target.

When this search processing is completed, the hit W
A “search result display screen” 46 in which the website name and the URL are arranged in order is displayed.

Here, an example is shown in which hits such as "Tokyo Kanko Center" and "Taka Bus Tour" are displayed.

When the user selects and operates the first "Tokyo Metropolitan Tourist Center" 47 from the input unit 10, the DVD player accesses a Web site named "Tokyo Metropolitan Tourist Center" and operates the Web site. A screen (homepage) 48 of the site is displayed.

When the user finishes browsing this screen (page) and selects the video playback button of the input unit 10, the screen is switched to the screen when the reproduction is stopped, that is, the screen displaying the original "Tokyo Tower", and the video is displayed. Playback resumes. Note that the example of this screen is an example in the case of watching in Japanese. However, there are a plurality of other languages registered in the DVD 40. If the video is viewed in the language selected first, the language is displayed. The search screen for is displayed. Note that the description of the search process in the language at this time is almost the same as the case of linking the video information and the keyword information by the information management table 40b, and thus the description thereof will be omitted.

As described above, according to the DVD reproducing system of this embodiment, information is read out from the DVD 40 storing the title information 40a and the information management table 40b associated with each scene of the title information 40a and reproduced. If there is a keyword associated with a scene in the information management table 40b, it is read out and displayed together with the title information 40a. When an arbitrary keyword is selected from the keywords, the NT resource search processing unit 100 Web site by combining keywords
A site is searched, and when a Web site name or a URL is selected from the searched sites, the NT resource use processing unit 1
01 accesses the web site, so that at the time of creating a DVD title, if at least some keywords related to the scene are recorded, the Web
The b site can also be searched by combining keywords, and it is possible to flexibly respond to changes in the web site. The present invention is not limited only to the above embodiment. In the above embodiment, the W
Although an example of searching on an EB site has been described, the search is not limited to a DVD.
For example, if information for linking an image and a keyword is transmitted in a television broadcast and interactive operation can be performed, the present invention can be realized in a television broadcast in the same manner as described above.

[0053]

As described above, according to the present invention, a keyword related to video information is extracted from a predetermined storage medium, and a Web site is searched with a designated keyword from the keyword. It is possible to access sites other than the prepared web site. In addition, it is possible to flexibly respond to changes in Web sites existing around the world. Furthermore, in the case of a storage medium that supports different types of languages (multilingual), the Web site is searched in the currently selected language, so that the video information can be made to correspond to multiple languages by selecting a keyword.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration of a DVD playback system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual configuration diagram related to a DVD reproducing operation.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an information management table.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a keyword income operation.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a Web site search operation from an acquired keyword.

FIG. 6 is a view showing a specific display example during a Web site search operation.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... CPU, 2 ... RAM, 3 ... ROM, 4 ... DVD drive, 5 ... Communication control part, 6 ... Modem, 7 ... Input control part,
8 input unit, 9 display control unit, 10 display unit, 40 D
VD, 40a: title information, 40b: information management table, 100: NT resource search processing unit, 101: NT resource use processing unit.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An information reproducing means for reproducing video information, an obtaining means for acquiring a keyword associated with each scene of the video information from a predetermined storage medium, and a video information being reproduced by the information reproducing means. A keyword extracting means for reading a keyword associated with each scene from the storage medium; and a search means for searching a Web site using a keyword arbitrarily designated by a user from among the keywords extracted by the keyword extracting means. A video information reproducing apparatus comprising: 2. An information reproducing means for reproducing video information, an obtaining means for obtaining a keyword associated with each scene of the video information from a predetermined storage medium, and an obtaining means for obtaining the keyword while reproducing the video information. A video information reproducing apparatus comprising: a search unit configured to detect a type of a language of a keyword specified by a user or a keyword specified by a user, and to search a Web site in the detected language. 3. Reproducing video information, obtaining a keyword associated with each scene of the video information from a predetermined storage medium, and storing the keyword associated with each scene while the video information is being reproduced. A video information reproducing method comprising: reading from a medium; and searching a Web site using a keyword specified from the read keywords or arbitrarily specified by a user. 4. Reproducing video information, acquiring a keyword associated with each scene of the video information from a predetermined storage medium, and reproducing the acquired keyword or a keyword specified by a user during reproduction of the video information. A video information reproducing method comprising: detecting a language type; and searching for a Web site in the detected language.