Method and apparatus for recording analog video signal in compressed digital format

A digital video signal recording apparatus for recording recording data for 1 field in M (M:

• an integer greater than integer N) tracks in an ordinary recording mode and in about M/N intermittent tracks in a long recording mode (M/N not being limited to an integer), said apparatus comprising:
• a magnetic tape feeding means for feeding a magnetic tape at a constant speed;
• a rotary head for recording digital recording data in tracks on said magnetic tape;
• a recording means for recording said recording data on said magnetic tape in said ordinary recording mode, and recording data in said long recording mode at a data rate of 1/N (where N can be any integer greater than 1) of the data rate adopted in recording in said ordinary recording mode, said recording means comprising:
• an A/D converter for producing digital video signals from analog video signals,
• data compression means, directly receiving an output of said A/D converter, for compressing said digital video signals at a data rate of 1/N of the data rate adopted in recording in said ordinary recording mode, and
• selector means, directly receiving an output of said A/D converter and directly receiving an output of said data compression means, for selecting said output of said A/D converter when in said ordinary recording mode and selecting said output of said data compression means when in said long recording mode;
• and
• a control means for controlling said magnetic tape feeding means in said long recording mode so that the feeding rate of said magnetic tape is 1/N of the rate in said ordinary recording, and controlling said recording means in a long recording mode so that the recording data for 1 field are recorded in the recording time of 1/N as long as the recording time in said ordinary recording mode.

In a digital video signal recording system for recording recording data which is produced from digital video signals and supplied to a rotary head in tracks of a magnetic tape which is fed at a constant speed, the improvement comprising a method of recording in one of an ordinary recording mode and a long recording mode including the steps of:

• selecting one of said ordinary recording mode and said long recording mode;
• compressing said recording data at a rate of 1/N (where N can be any integer greater than one) of a data rate adopted in recording in said ordinary recording mode when said long recording mode is selected, thereby producing compressed data;
• sending said compressed data directly to an encoder to encode said compressed data and adding an error-correcting code;
• feeding said magnetic tape at a speed of 1/N of the speed adopted in recording in said ordinary recording mode;
• and
• recording said recording data for 1 field in a recording time of 1/N as long as the time for recording in said ordinary recording mode, whereby said recording data for 1 field which are recorded in M (M:
• an integer) tracks in said ordinary recording mode are recorded in about M/N intermittent tracks in said long recording mode.

A digital video signal recording apparatus for recording data, representative of analog video signals, in either an ordinary recording mode or in a long recording mode, said apparatus comprising:

• an A/D converter for producing digital video signals from analog video signals, p1 data compression means for compressing the digital video signals at a data rate of 1/N of the data rate used in recording in said ordinary recording mode, N being an integer,
• means for directly coupling said A/D converter to said data compression means,
• selector means having first and second inputs corresponding respectively to ordinary and long recording modes,
• means for coupling the A/D converter directly to said first input of said selector means,
• means for coupling the output of the data compression means to the second input of said selector means,
• encoding means for encoding data, the encoding means receiving data from the selector means,
• means for recording data, the means for recording data receiving data from the encoding means, and
• a control means, responsive to selection of said ordinary or long recording modes, for controlling said selector means and for controlling the means for recording such that one field of data is recorded in a plurality of tracks, if the ordinary recording mode is selected, and is recorded in at least one track plus a portion of an adjacent track, if the long recording mode is selected.

A digital video signal recording apparatus for recording and reproducing recording data for 1 field in M (M:

• an integer greater than integer N) tracks in an ordinary recording mode and in about M/N intermittent tracks in the long recording mode (M/N not being limited to an integer), said apparatus comprising:
• a magnetic tape feeding means for feeding a magnetic tape at a constant speed;
• a rotary head for recording digital recording data in tracks on said magnetic tape, said rotary head reproduces said recording data recorded on said magnetic tape and outputs said data as reproduced data;
• means for reproducing data for M tracks in said ordinary recording mode and reproducing data for about M/N intermittent track in said long recording mode in the form of video signals for one field;
• a recording means for recording said recording data on said magnetic tape in said ordinary recording mode;
• and recording data in said long recording mode at a data rate of 1N (where N can be any integer greater than one) of the data rate adopted in recording in said ordinary recording mode, said recording means comprising:
• an A/D converter for producing digital video signals from analog video signals,
• data compression means, directly receiving an output of said A/D converter, for compressing said digital video signals at a data rate of 1/N of the data rate adopted in recording in said ordinary recording mode, and
• selector means, directly receiving an output of said A/D converter and directly receiving an output of said data compression means, for selecting said output of said A/D converter when in said ordinary recording mode and selecting said output of said data compression means when in said long recording mode;
• and
• a control means for controlling said magnetic tape feeding means in said long recording mode so that the feeding rate of said magnetic tape is 1/N of the rate in said ordinary recording mode, and controlling said recording means in a long recording doe so that the recording data for 1 field are recorded in the recording time of 1/N as long as the recording time in said recording mode.

A digital video signal recording apparatus for recording data, representative of analog video signals, in either an ordinary recording mode or in a long recording mode, said apparatus comprising:

• an A/D converter for producing digital video signals from analog video signals,
• data compression means for compressing the digital video signals at a data rate of 1/N of the data rate used in recording in said ordinary recording mode, N being an odd integer,
• means for directly coupling said A/D converter to said data compression means,
• selector means having first and second inputs corresponding respectively to ordinary and long recording modes,
• means for coupling the A/D converter directly to said first input of said selector means,
• means for coupling the output of the data compression means to the second input of said selector means,
• encoding means for encoding data, the encoding means receiving data from the selector means,
• means for recording data, the means for recording data receiving data from the encoding means, and
• a control means, for controlling said selector means as for controlling the means for recording in response to the selection of recording modes.

A digital video signal recording apparatus for recording data, representative of analog video signals, in either an ordinary recording mode or in a long recording mode, said apparatus comprising:

• an A/D converter for producing digital video signals from analog video signals,
• data compression means for compressing the digital video signals at a data rate of 1/N of the data rate used in recording in said ordinary recording mode,
• means for directly coupling said A/D converter to said data compression means,
• selector means having first and second inputs corresponding respectively to ordinary and long recording modes,
• means for coupling the A/D converter directly to said first input of said selector means,
• means for coupling the output of the data compression means to the second input of said selector means,
• encoding means for encoding data, the encoding means receiving data from the selector means,
• means for recording data, the means for recording data receiving data from the encoding means and wherein the means for recording data includes a plurality of rotary heads,
• a control means, responsive to the selection of recording mode, for controlling said selector means and for controlling the means for recording such that one field of data is recorded by the plurality of recording heads in a first format, if the ordinary recording mode is selected, and is recorded by the plurality of recording heads in a second format, if the long recording mode is selected, the second format being compressed.