Method of skipping unrecorded areas while playing back a record medium on a drive
AssigneeSamsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
InventorJong-Sam Woo
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
There is disclosed a method of skipping unrecorded area during playback in order to minimize an interruption time upon playing back a recorded program in a tape drive. The method is performed while playing back a record medium, such that an area with no videos and audios is played back at a high speed and an area with videos and audios is played back at a normal speed, resulting in minimized time for playing back unrecorded areas, thus yielding another advantage in that an audience is kept from being bored and, furthermore, power is saved by automatically turning the power-off when the record medium playback is completed.
Claims9
A method of skipping unrecorded areas while playing back a record medium by operating a record medium drive, said method comprising the steps of:
- (a) checking whether an automatic detection mode for a synchronization signal is on;
- (b) playing back normally the record medium until no synchronization signal is detected when said automatic detection mode for synchronization signal is on;
- (c) playing back the record medium at a high speed while checking for the presence of video and audio signals by checking for the detection of a synchronization signal if no synchronization signal is detected in said step (b), and going back to said step (a) if a synchronization is detected;
- and
- (d) cutting off power supply to stop playback operation if no synchronization signal is detected over a certain length of time in said step (c).
A process for controlling a record medium driver, comprising:
- checking for key data input;
- setting a function flag to specify an operating mode corresponding to said key data input;
- reading a current operating mode;
- comparing the current operating mode with the operating mode of the function flag, thereby determining whether the means for driving the record medium driver must be controlled;
- driving the record medium according to the operating mode specified by the function flag;
- recording or playing back audio and video signals on the record medium if the operating mode specified by the function flag indicates a recording mode or playback mode, respectively;
- determining whether a synchronization signal must be automatically detected;
- checking the status of the function flag, to determine whether the current operating mode is the playback mode if there has been a determination that said synchronization signal must be automatically detected;
- checking whether the synchronization signal exists if the current operating mode is the playback mode;
- and
- setting a high speed search mode if no synchronization signal exists.
A record medium driver controller, comprising:
- a microcomputer;
- means for driving a record medium;
- means for recording audio, video and synchronization signals on the record medium;
- means for playing back audio, video and synchronization signals from the record medium;
- means for detecting synchronization signals on the record medium;
- means for feeding said detected synchronization signals to the microcomputer;
- a sensor and key matrix unit, disposed to detect the operating status of the system and to input any key data specified by an operator;
- wherein
- said microcomputer;
- checks for key data input from the sensor and key matrix unit;
- sets one of a plurality of function flags to specify an operating mode corresponding to said key data input;
- reads a current operating mode from the sensor and key matrix unit;
- determines whether the means for driving a record medium must be controlled by comparing the current operating mode with the operating mode specified by the function flag;
- operates the means for driving a record medium according to the specified operating mode;
- controls the means for recording and playing back audio and video signals according to the specified operating mode;
- checks whether a synchronization signal must be automatically detected to determine if an operating area of a record medium currently being played back is an area containing video or audio signals;
- determines whether the current operating mode is a playback mode by checking the set status of the function flag;
- checks whether the synchronization signal exists in the current operating area if the current operating mode is the playback mode;
- and
- initiates a high speed search mode if no synchronization signal exists.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.