The invention relates to digital data recording medium, AV apparatus, and AV system which can easily control the recording or dubbing of a digital signal which is supplied from, for example, a television station or a digital VCR.
The invention also relates to a recording medium and a recording and reproducing apparatus which inhibits or restricts the recording (dubbing) and reproduction of a digital signal in order to protect its copyright.
In a digital recording and reproducing apparatus, for example, a digital VCR, there is hardly any deterioration of picture quality or sound quality during a dubbing (i.e., copying) process. Therefore, it is necessary to inhibit or restrict the dubbing or reproduction of certain data to protect a copyright. When an analog signal is input, converted to a digital signal and recorded, copyright protective information is superimposed in a vertical blanking period (V blanking period) of the analog signal to inhibit or restrict the dubbing of the digital signal.
In a pre-recorded tape for a conventional analog VCR, in order to protect the copyright, a copyright protective signal formed of a plurality of pairs, each comprising a sync pulse and a positive pulse, is superimposed in the V blanking period of the television signal. An Automatic Gain Control (AGC) of the recording section of a VCR is xe2x80x9cconfusedxe2x80x9d by such a signal, so that the dubbing cannot be performed. That is, in case of illegally copying a pre-recorded tape, the dubbed tape is copied so that it is unreproducible. Thus, the copyright is protected.
A VCR for an image compression system has been studied and developed. A digital VCR in which video and audio data are encoded, recorded and reproduced, such as the D1 component system, D2 composite system, and the like for business or professional use have been proposed with copyright protection. For instance, in an industrial-use digital VCR, signals such as the V blanking period and the horizontal blanking period (H blanking period) which do not represent image information are not recorded. Namely, only signals in the useful image portion are extracted, compressed, and recorded. Upon reproduction, such image data is subjected to processes opposite to those executed upon recording, so that the V and H blanking periods which were not recorded are added to the processed image data and the resultant data is output as a composite video signal.
FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an AV (audio/video) system for dubbing a pre-recorded tape onto a blank tape using digital VCRs. In FIG. 10, when a pre-recorded tape 101 is reproduced by a VCR 102, digital data, such as AV data, recorded on tape 101 is supplied through a cable 103 to a VCR in which a blank tape 105 is loaded. Tape 101, recorded by a compression system used in professional digital VCRs, as mentioned above, only contain data of the useful image portion; therefore, since there is no V blanking period, the analog VCR copyright protection techniques are not adequate when recording or dubbing signals using the digital VCR.
It is, therefore, an object of the invention to provide a digital data recording medium, an AV apparatus, and an AV system which easily permits, inhibits or restricts the recording or dubbing of a digital signal from a television station or a digital VCR.
It is particularly desired to protect the copyright since the digital video signal representing the copyrighted program does not deteriorate when it is dubbed. Therefore, copyright protective information is superimposed onto the transmitted or pre-recorded digital signal to thereby inhibit or restrict the dubbing or reproduction of the signal. Thus, the copyright can be properly protected.
It is, therefore, another object of the invention to provide a recording medium having copyright protective information to inhibit or restrict the dubbing and/or the reproduction of a protected signal stored thereon.
Another object of the invention is to provide a reproducing apparatus which inhibits or restricts the reproduction of a protected signal based on copyright protective information on the recording medium.
A further object of the invention is to provide a recording and reproducing apparatus which inhibits or restricts the dubbing and/or the reproduction of a protected signal based on copyright protective information on the recording medium.
There is provided a medium with copyright protective information and digital data stored thereon. A reproducing apparatus reproduces the digital data and outputs it to a recording apparatus during a dubbing operation; but the copyright protective information permits or inhibits recording of that signal. A copy permission signal in the recording medium acts with the copyright protective information to permit or prohibit recording of the digital data.
Another aspect of the invention provides A/V apparatus into which the medium is loaded to perform the reproduction/record or inhibit operation.
The copyright protective information is indicative of, for example, recording permission or inhibition; reproducing permission or inhibition; prepaid fee information for recording time information or its recording time; prepaid fee information for reproducing time information or its reproducing time; royalty per unit of recording time; royalty per unit of reproducing time, etc.
The copyright protective information is stored with the digital data or on the recording medium container, and in either case the A/V apparatus reads out the information and performs the designated function.
There are provided recording apparatus, reproducing apparatus, and recording and reproducing apparatus for using the recording medium and the information mentioned above to record, reproduce, and dub copyrighted information within legal bounds. Thus, an easier way to control access to the reproduction of copyrighted materials is provided.
The above and other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings.