U.S. patent application number 10/878382 was filed with the patent office on 2004-11-25 for recording medium having a data structure for managing reproduction of menu data and recording and reproducing apparatuses and methods.
Invention is credited to Kim, Byung Jin, Kim, Hyung Sun, Seo, Kang Soo, Yoo, Jea Yong.
Application Number | 20040234239 10/878382 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 19671560 |
Filed Date | 2004-11-25 |
United States Patent
Application |
20040234239 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Seo, Kang Soo ; et
al. |
November 25, 2004 |
Recording medium having a data structure for managing reproduction
of menu data and recording and reproducing apparatuses and
methods
Abstract
The recording medium includes a data structure having a menu
data area and a menu management area. The menu data area stores one
or more thumbnail pictures as menu data. Each thumbnail picture is
stored as a block of menu data. The menu management area stores
menu management information. The menu management information
provides an index to each thumbnail picture in the menu data
area.
Inventors: |
Seo, Kang Soo; (Kyunggi-do,
KR) ; Yoo, Jea Yong; (Seoul, KR) ; Kim, Byung
Jin; (Kyunggi-do, KR) ; Kim, Hyung Sun;
(Seoul, KR) |
Correspondence
Address: |
HARNESS, DICKEY & PIERCE, P.L.C.
P.O. BOX 8910
RESTON
VA
20195
US
|
Family ID: |
19671560 |
Appl. No.: |
10/878382 |
Filed: |
June 29, 2004 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
10878382 |
Jun 29, 2004 |
|
|
|
09876793 |
Jun 7, 2001 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
386/241 ;
348/E5.101; 386/248; 386/318; 386/333; 386/E5.07; G9B/27.019;
G9B/27.033; G9B/27.05; G9B/27.051 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 3/0482 20130101;
H04N 9/8042 20130101; H04N 9/8227 20130101; H04N 5/85 20130101;
G11B 27/34 20130101; G11B 2220/2579 20130101; H04N 9/8063 20130101;
H04N 21/4112 20200801; G11B 27/3027 20130101; H04N 21/488 20130101;
G11B 2220/2562 20130101; G11B 27/105 20130101; H04N 21/434
20130101; G11B 27/329 20130101; H04N 5/775 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
386/069 ;
386/070 |
International
Class: |
H04N 005/783; G11B
027/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jun 9, 2000 |
KR |
00-31821 |
Claims
what is claimed is:
1. A recording medium having a data structure for managing
reproduction of menu data, comprising: a menu data area storing one
or more thumbnail pictures as menu data, each thumbnail picture
being stored as a block of menu data; a menu management area
storing menu management information, the menu management
information providing an index to each thumbnail picture in the
menu data area.
2. The recording medium of claim 1, wherein the menu data area
stores at least one thumbnail picture that is associated with a
playback unit of video data recorded in a data area of the
recording medium.
3. The recording medium of claim 1, wherein the menu data area
records padding data between at least two of the blocks of menu
data.
4. The recording medium of claim 1, wherein the menu management
information indicates a size of each block of menu data.
5. The recording medium of claim 4, wherein the menu management
information provides a starting address and ending address of each
block of menu data which indicates the size of each block of menu
data.
6. The recording medium of claim 1, wherein the menu management
information indicates a number of the thumbnail pictures stored in
the menu data area.
7. The recording medium of claim 6, wherein the menu management
information provides a starting address and ending address of each
block of menu data, and a number of starting and ending address
pairs indicates the number of the thumbnail pictures stored in the
menu data area.
8. The recording medium of claim 1, wherein the index to a
thumbnail picture is a starting address of the block of menu data
for the thumbnail picture in the menu data area.
9. The recording medium of claim 1, wherein the menu data area
stores at least one thumbnail picture that is associated with a
playback unit of video data recorded in a data area of the
recording medium, and the menu data area records padding data
between at least two of the blocks of menu data.
10. The recording medium of claim 1, wherein the menu management
information indicates a size of each block of menu data, and the
menu management information indicates a number of the thumbnail
pictures stored in the menu data area.
11. A method of reproducing menu data recorded on a recording
medium, comprising: reproducing menu management information from
the recording medium, the menu management information providing an
index to each thumbnail picture in a menu data area of the
recording medium; and reproducing at least one thumbnail picture
stored in the menu data area based on the menu management
information, each thumbnail picture being stored as a block of menu
data.
12. A reproduction apparatus, comprising: a driver for driving an
optical reproducing device to reproduce data recorded on the
recording medium; a controller for controlling the driver to
reproduce menu management information from the recording medium,
the menu management information providing an index to each
thumbnail picture in a menu data area of the recording medium, and
the controller controlling the driver to reproduce at least one
thumbnail picture stored in the menu data area based on the menu
management information, each thumbnail picture being stored as a
block of menu data.
13. A method of recording a data structure for managing
reproduction of menu data recorded on a recording medium,
comprising: recording one or more thumbnail pictures as menu data
in a menu data area of the recording medium, each thumbnail picture
being stored as a block of menu data; and recording menu management
information in a menu management area of the recording medium, the
menu management information providing an index to each thumbnail
picture in the menu data area.
Description
RELATED APPLICATION DATA
[0001] This application is a continuation of application Ser. No.
09/876,793, filed Jun. 7, 2001; the entire contents of which are
hereby incorporated by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The present invention relates to a recording medium having a
data structure for managing reproduction of menu data and recording
reproducing apparatuses and methods.
[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0005] FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a conventional DVD (Digital
Versatile Disk) player capable of reproducing a DVD and providing
the reproduced data for a digital television set. The player 100 of
FIG. 1 comprises an optical pickup 2 reading signals recorded in a
DVD 1; an analog signal processor 3 binarizing the read signals
after compensating levels of the signals; a digital signal
processor 4 restoring the binarized signals into digital data; a
parser 5 separating the restored data into encoded video,
sub-picture, and audio data; a video decoder 6 decoding the encoded
video data to non-compressed original video data; a sub-picture
decoder 7 decoding the sub-picture data; an audio decoder 8
decoding the encoded audio data to non-compressed original audio
data; and a re-encoder 9 encoding the decoded audio and mixed data
of the decoded video and sub-picture data again to audio and video
streams whose format is suitable to a digital television set
200.
[0006] In the DVD player 100, the signals read by the pickup 2 are
restored to original video and audio data and then re-encoded to an
A/V stream acceptable to the digital TV set 200. The acceptable
data stream is transmitted to the digital TV set 200, which
presents the received video and audio data of the data stream
through its screen and speaker, respectively.
[0007] The read and separated sub-picture data, which includes
captions and menu data, are mixed, after being decoded, with the
decoded original data from the video decoder 6, and are re-encoded
to a TV acceptable A/V data stream. Therefore, the digital TV set
200 should be able to separate sub-picture data from the mixed
video data and process it in order to present menu picture and/or
captions for titles and/or chapters recorded in the DVD 1 on its
screen.
[0008] However, in general, a digital TV set does not function to
separate and decode sub-picture data for a menu, and present it
with a background picture in still for a user's menu selection. In
addition, it does not have a menu supporting function such as
highlighting a specific window on a full screen according to an
arbitrary selection from a user. Therefore, in order to construct a
menu screen, a DVD player has to search both video data for
background and sub-picture data for menu items such as highlighted
box, etc.; and then decode each data, mix them, and re-encode the
mixed data to produce a data stream suitable to a digital TV
set.
[0009] However, such operations have a drawback that very
complicated hardware is required for constructing a menu
screen.
[0010] In the meantime, a reproducing/recording apparatus of a
high-density recording medium such as a high-density DVD (called
`HDVD` hereinafter), whose recording format standard is under
discussion among related companies, is most likely to be connected
with a digital TV set to make a presentation of recorded
high-quality moving pictures much better. Thus, a new efficient
method, other than the above, is urgently required in order that
titles or chapters recorded in a high-density recording medium may
be selected in a menu displayed on a digital TV set.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0011] The recording medium according to the present invention
includes a data structure for managing reproduction of menu data
recorded on the recording medium.
[0012] In one exemplary embodiment, a menu data area of the
recording medium stores one or more thumbnail pictures as menu
data. In this embodiment, each thumbnail picture is stored as a
block of menu data. Furthermore, a menu management area of the
recording medium stores menu management information. The menu
management information provides an index to each thumbnail picture
in the menu data area.
[0013] In another embodiment, the menu data area stores at least
one thumbnail picture that is associated with a playback unit of
video data recorded in a data area of the recording medium.
[0014] In yet another example embodiment, the menu data area
records padding data between at least two of the blocks of menu
data.
[0015] In an embodiment, the menu management information indicates
a size of each block of menu data, and/or may also indicate a
number of the thumbnail pictures stored in the menu data area.
[0016] The present invention further provides apparatuses and
methods for recording and reproducing the data structure according
to the present invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0017] The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a
further understanding of the invention, illustrate the exemplary
embodiments of the invention, and together with the description,
serve to explain the principles of the present invention.
[0018] In the drawings:
[0019] FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a conventional DVD player
capable of reproducing a DVD;
[0020] FIGS. 2 and 3 are schematic block diagrams of a high-density
DVD player and a digital television set to which the recording
medium and methods of the present invention are applicable;
[0021] FIGS. 4 and 5 depict hierarchical data structures recorded
in a high-density recording medium according to an embodiment of
the present invention;
[0022] FIG. 6 depicts an embodiment of an organizing menu formed
from real A/V data;
[0023] FIG. 7 shows various menu statuses output in accordance with
different menu item selections;
[0024] FIG. 8 is menu data stream format recorded in a high-density
DVD according to an embodiment of the present invention;
[0025] FIG. 9 depicts a menu data transmitting method according to
an embodiment of the present invention;
[0026] FIG. 10 is menu data stream format recorded in a
high-density DVD according to another embodiment of the present
invention; and
[0027] FIG. 11 depicts another menu data transmitting method
according to an embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENT
[0028] In order that the invention may be fully understood,
exemplary embodiments thereof will now be described with reference
to the accompanying drawings.
[0029] FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of a HDVD player and a
digital television set to which the recording medium and methods of
the present invention are applicable.
[0030] A HDVD player 110 of FIG. 2 comprises a reading unit 12
searching A/V data and menu video data, which have been encoded
according to the MPEG II standard, on a recording medium 11, and
reading out this data; a controller 14 conducting reproduction
operations by controlling the reading unit 12 according to playback
requests from a user; and a re-modulator 13 modulating the read A/V
data or menu video data with VSB (Vestigial Side Band) for
reproduction on a digital television set 210. The digital
television set 210 of FIG. 2 comprises a demodulator 21
demodulating the modulated signal from the high-density DVD player
110 with VSB; an MPEG decoder 22 decoding the demodulated data
stream to original video and audio data, if included; and a
presenting unit 23 presenting the decoded video and audio data.
[0031] The reading unit 12 reproduces the recorded data of a
selected type among A/V, menu, and navigation data. The controller
14 controls the reading unit 12 to select the data type according
to various user requests.
[0032] If program playback for a title or a chapter written in the
high-density recording medium 11 is requested from a user,
real-time A/V data are selected by the controller 14 and reproduced
by the reading unit 12. The read A/V data are VSB-modulated by the
re-modulator 13 to be transmitted to a digital television set 210.
If menu display is requested, menu data are selected for reading
out by the controller 14. Therefore, corresponding menu data are
read by the reading unit 12 and are then VSB-modulated and
transmitted. This menu data will be presented as a still picture by
the digital television set 210.
[0033] FIG. 3 is another schematic block diagram of a HDVD player
and a digital television set to which another embodiment of the
present invention is applicable.
[0034] A HDVD player 120 of FIG. 3 comprises a reading unit 32
searching real-time A/V data and menu video data, which have been
encoded with MPEG II standard, on a recording medium 31, and
reading out this data; an OSD (On Screen Display) data generator 34
generating OSD data, which will be mixed with menu video data in a
digital television set to highlight a menu item or display a text,
based on menu management information written in a HDVD 31; a
controller 35 controlling the reading unit 32 and the OSD data
generator 34 according to a user's request; and an interfacing unit
33 transmitting A/V data from the reading unit 32 through an
isochronous channel of IEEE 1394 standard and OSD data from the OSD
data generator 34 through an asynchronous channel,
respectively.
[0035] The OSD data generated by the OSD data generator 34
satisfies the standard EIA775 for OSD data transmission.
[0036] A digital television set 220 of FIG. 3 comprises an
interfacing unit 41 receiving A/V data and OSD data from the HDVD
player 120 through isochronous and asynchronous channels,
respectively; an MPEG decoder 42 decoding the received A/V data to
original video and audio data, if included; a mixer 44 mixing the
received OSD data and the decoded video data; and a presenting unit
43 presenting the decoded video and audio data.
[0037] The controller 35 of the HDVD player 120 controls the
reading unit 32 to select a data type according to various user
requests and to reproduce the recorded data of the selected type.
The real-time A/V data and menu video data, which are for selecting
a chapter or a title written in the HDVD 31, read by the reading
unit 32 are transmitted to the digital television set 220 through
the isochronous channel. In the case that menu video data are
transmitted, the OSD data generator 34 generates OSD data for
displaying a specific window as highlighted or for displaying
descriptive text of a chapter or title item based on the read menu
video data and the menu management information, and transmits the
generated OSD data through asynchronous channel of the interfacing
unit 33.
[0038] The digital television set 220 decodes the received A/V data
and the menu video data using the MPEG decoder 42. The decoded data
are mixed with OSD data, if received, by the mixer 44, and then
presented through the presenting unit 43. The menu video data are
displayed in still picture with the received OSD data which will be
explained below.
[0039] FIG. 4 depicts hierarchical data structure recorded in a
high-density recording medium according to an embodiment of the
present invention.
[0040] The high-density recording medium is partitioned into a file
system area and video zone. The video zone contains several titles
and VMG (Video Manager) data, which consist of A/V menu data for
VMG and navigation data for the A/V menu data. Each title consists
of real-time A/V presentation data and their navigation data, which
includes general information and menu information. The presentation
data consist of A/V menu data for a title and real-time A/V data of
the title contents.
[0041] The A/V menu data for VMG included in the VMG data are for a
top menu whose menu items are selection and/or alteration of title
and disk information item, whereas the A/V menu data for titles
included in the presentation data are for a sub menu whose menu
items are selection and/or alteration of information of chapters
belonging to a title items.
[0042] The A/V menu data for VMG may be partitioned into two menu
sections of A/V menu data for VMG and A/V menu data for titles as
shown in FIG. 5.
[0043] According to an embodiment of the present invention, an
appropriate A/V menu data for selecting a title or a chapter
recorded in a high-density recording medium with reference to menu
navigation data written as above is read out, and the read A/V menu
data is transmitted to a digital television set to be presented
thereon. This method is described hereinafter in detail.
[0044] The menu supporting method to be explained is for the
configuration of FIG. 3, which has an OSD function observing EIA775
standard and IEEE 1394 interface able to send/receive OSD data.
[0045] If a single menu page consists of six menu items of four
thumbnails for titles and two direction icons to switch to a
previous or a next menu page as shown in FIG. 6, then video menu
data for each different basic menu page in which four thumbnails
for four different titles and two icons will have been written as
A/V menu data for VMG. The menu management information, which is
used to generate OSD data necessary for indicating which menu item,
that is, which title thumbnail is selected, has also been included
in the A/V menu data for VMG. A thumbnail icon of a title or a
chapter is composed of image data sampled from a picture included
in a corresponding title or chapter as shown in FIG. 6.
[0046] Data of each basic menu page are grouped into a single
high-density stream object (called `HOB` hereinafter) as shown in
FIG. 10.
[0047] In the case that menu data have been written as
aforementioned, if six selected cases for a single menu page (for
selecting one among titles 1 to 4) are to be furnished, one basic
menu page is read and provided for a digital TV set. Also, mutually
different OSD data for differentiating (e.g., highlighting) a
selected menu item are generated based on a user's selection and
related menu management information, and then provided to the
digital TV set.
[0048] To be brief, the six cases for item selection shown in FIG.
7 are built up by one basic menu page and six different OSD
data.
[0049] Another menu supporting method to be explained is for the
configuration of FIG. 2 in which a VSB-modulated signal is
transmitted from a HDVD player to a digital TV set.
[0050] If a single menu page consists of six menu items of four
thumbnails for titles and two direction icons like as in the above
example, video data for six menu pictures will have been written
for one menu page, for example, for selecting one among titles 1 to
4. Each menu picture is to distinguish which menu item is selected
in a menu page.
[0051] To be brief, the six cases for item selection shown in FIG.
7 are built up by six mutually different menu pictures.
[0052] In this menu supporting method, data of each menu picture
are grouped into a HOB.
[0053] FIG. 8 is menu data stream format recorded for the case that
menu data are delivered through VSB modulation.
[0054] Menu data of all menu pictures, which are recorded in the
format of an MPEG II transport stream, form a plurality of HOBs,
called `VMG HOBs`. The VMG HOBs consist of a HOB containing the
first menu picture for the first menu item selected in the first
menu page, next HOB containing the second picture for the second
menu item selected in the first menu page, . . . , and the last HOB
containing the last picture for the sixth menu item selected in the
last menu page. A null data pack may be inserted between menu
pictures, that is, neighboring two HOBs.
[0055] In addition, the address information of start
(`Menu_P_HOB_SA`s #11,#12, . . . , #n6, . . . ) and end
(`Menu_P_HOB_EA`s #11,#12, . . . , #n6, . . . ) for each menu HOB
is written as the navigation data for the A/V menu data.
[0056] If an arbitrary menu item is selected by a user from the
menu displayed according to a menu request, the controller 14 of
the HDVD player 110 determines which menu picture is to be
displayed based on the selected item and the menu management
information. The controller 14 reads start and end addresses of a
HOB associated with the determined menu picture from the menu
navigation data. Referring to the read addresses, the controller 14
reads a data stream corresponding to a menu picture in which the
selected menu item has been highlighted, and controls the reading
unit 12 to select menu picture data instead of a real A/V data
stream. Through these operations, a menu picture in which a
selected menu item is differentiated distinctively from others is
transmitted VSB-modulated, and displayed onto a screen of the
digital television set 210.
[0057] In order that a menu picture may be displayed in still, data
for a single menu picture consists of single Intra-coded picture
(called an `I-picture` hereinafter) and one or more predictive
coded pictures (called `P-pictures` hereinafter) as shown in FIG.
9. The P-picture represents a same picture as the I-picture,
however, as is well-known, the data of a P-picture is compressed in
a different manner than an I-picture. When transmitting data of a
menu picture, one or more P-pictures may be sent sequentially, more
than once, after the preceding I-picture is sent. The operation of
transmitting an I-picture once and then one or more P-pictures is
conducted repeatedly until another menu page or another menu item
is selected by a user.
[0058] Therefore, the digital television set receives I-pictures
and P-pictures continuously and displays the same page contents
repeatedly. As a result, a menu page is presented to a user as a
still picture without a special operation of a digital television
set.
[0059] FIG. 10 is menu data stream format recorded for the case
that OSD data for differentiating a menu item from others are
delivered through digital interface of IEEE 1394.
[0060] In the data configured as FIG. 10, the VMG HOBs, which
contain menu data of the MPEG II transport stream format, consist
of a HOB containing the first menu page, a next HOB containing the
second menu page, . . . , and the last HOB containing the last menu
page. A null data pack may be appended to each menu page except the
last page, that is, inserted between two neighboring HOBs. In
addition, the address information of start (`Menu_P_HOB_SA`s #1,#2,
. . . , #n, . . . ) and end (`Menu_P_HOB_EA`s #1,#2, . . . , #n, .
. . ) addresses for each menu HOB is written as the navigation data
for the A/V menu data. As will be appreciated, this address
information provides an indication of the size of each new menu
HOB. As will be further appreciated, the number of starting and
ending address pairs also provides an indication of the number of
menu HOBs (i.e., the number of thumbnail pictures).
[0061] If an arbitrary menu page is requested from a user, the
controller 35 of the HDVD player 120 determines which menu page is
to be displayed based on the menu management information, and reads
start and end addresses of a HOB associated with the determined
menu page from the menu navigation data. Referring to the read
addresses, the controller 35 reads a data stream corresponding to a
menu page to be transmitted through the isochronous channel of the
interfacing unit 33. At the same time, the controller 35 searches
the menu management information for information on highlighting a
menu item selected in the transmitted menu page or displaying
descriptive text of a selected menu item, and generates EIA775
standard-conformed OSD data corresponding to the information
through the OSD data generator 34. This OSD data are transmitted to
a digital television set through the asynchronous channel of the
interfacing unit 33.
[0062] As with the explanation for the case of FIG. 9, the
transmitted data of a menu page are also composed of an I-picture
and one or more P-pictures, which are sent in their recorded order,
and repeatedly, as shown in FIG. 11. The unique difference between
the cases of FIGS. 9 and 11 is that a basic menu page in which an
OSD data will emphasize a selected menu item is transmitted in FIG.
11 whereas a menu picture in which a selected menu item has been
already marked distinctly is sent in FIG. 9.
[0063] The above explained embodiments of the present invention
provide for management of a selection menu for a high-density
recording medium that a digital television set displays as a still
picture. The embodiments further provide for differentiating the
display of a selected menu item distinctly from other menu items so
that it is possible for a user to know which menu item is selected
at present and to choose a menu item of a title or a chapter to be
reproduced from a high-density recording medium.
[0064] The invention may be embodied in other specific forms
without departing from the sprit or essential characteristics
thereof. The present embodiments are therefore to be considered in
all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.
* * * * *