Feature-dependent operating method between two connected equipments and an apparatus for controlling the operating method

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for accomplishing a requested operation selectively based upon features of other equipment between equippments connected through a digital interface such as the IEEE 1394. The feature-dependent operating apparatus consists of a connector sending and receiving data through the digital interface; a memory storing feature information of a connected equipment received through the connector; a pickup detecting video and/or audio data from a data storage medium; a controller controlling the pickup to detect data from the data storage medium based on the stored feature information, converting the format of the detected data into a format specified in the stored feature information, and generating an advisory message informing a mismatch between the format of data to offer and the format specified in the feature information; and a data sender transmitting data detected by the pickup or the generated message to the connected equipment through the digital interface. This feature-dependent operating apparatus is able to adjust functions and processing capacity of a equipment to the maximal or universal capacity of the connected equipment automatically, or to inform a viewer of the cause of possible malfunction if the features of the connected equipment are not same, when data by a requested operation are to be transmitted to the connected equipment, thereby improving the convenience of a viewer.

Description

isequippments equipment is received in advance is to judge on whether the data streams reproduced from the DVD 1 can be normally presented in the digital TV 200 before actual playback of the DVD 1.

If the microcomputer 13 of the DVD player 100 transmits a command requesting feature information to the microcomputer 22 of the digital TV 200 connected through the IEEE 1394 interface units 15 and 21, the microcomputer 22 of the digital TV 200 retrieves the feature information from the memory 29, that is, the device descriptor information in which all information on system specification, characteristics of acceptable video and audio data, and so on are written, and transmits the retrieved feature information to the microcomputer 13 of the DVD player 10. The device descriptor information of the digital TV 200 is stored in the memory 16 or an internal memory of the microcomputer 13.

In the condition that the device descriptor information of other equippments equipment are stored in the memory 16 or an internal memory of the microprocessor 13, when a key command requesting a playback of a DVD title is entered (S13) through the key entering means 50, the microcomputer 13 reads the device descriptor information of the digital TV 200 which is already stored in the memory 16, compares it with the characteristics of data of the requested title, and then judges on (S14) whether the video and audio data streams to be reproduced and transmitted will be presented into normal video pictures and sounds in the digital TV 200 based on the comparison result.

For example, if the video data of the DVD title to be reproduced are super high-quality pictures of ‘1280×1080’ pixels corresponding to a HD-TV (High Definition-TV) and the device descriptor information indicates that the resolution of the digital TV 200 is ‘704×408’, the microcomputer 13 concludes that the super high-quality video data to be transmitted to the digital TV 200 can not be normally presented in the digital TV 200, so that it transmits an advisory message (S17) informing that the reproduced data can not be normally displayed, instead.

If a viewer requests a detailed information for the message, the microcomputer 13 retrieves (S19) information on the displaying capacity in the device descriptor information stored in the memory 16, and transmits (S20) the retrieved detailed information and the characteristics of video data of the playback-requested DVD title to be displayed onto a screen of the digital TV 200.

If the video data to be reproduced are high-quality pictures of ‘704×408’ pixels suitable to the resolution of the digital TV 200, the microcomputer 13 concludes that the video data to be transmitted to the digital TV 200 are normally presented, so that it performs (S15) the requested playback operation, then transmits (S16) the reproduced video/audio data streams to the digital TV 200 through the IEEE 1394 interface unit 15.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a screen displaying the advisory message and the detailed information which may be provided at the same time by the DVD player 100 without the request of the detailed information.

As described above, when a power source of the DVD player 100 is turned on or a reset is occurred on a digital interface bus, the feature information of the digital TV 200 is received and stored after requesting it to the digital TV 200. Referring to this feature information of the digital TV 200, the DVD player 100 is able to prevent data streams to be reproduced and transmitted from being presented abnormally.

FIG. 5 is a playback flow diagram of the DVD player 100 which another feature-dependent operating method according to the present invention is applied to.

When a power is applied to the DVD player 100 or a reset is occurred (S30) on a digital interface bus, the microcomputer 13 checks (S31) the connection status of the connected equippments including the digital TV 200. If the digital TV 200 is connected through the IEEE 1394 interface, the DVD player 100 requests the device descriptor information to the digital TV 200, receives it from the digital TV (S32), and then stores it in the memory 16 or an internal memory.

Then, if a key command requesting playback of a DVD title is entered (S33) through the key entering means 50, the microcomputer 13 reads the stored device descriptor information of the digital TV 200, compares it with the characteristics of data of the requested title, and then judges on (S34) whether the video and/or audio data streams to be reproduced and transmitted will be normally presented in the digital TV 200, based on the comparison result.

For example, if the audio data of the DVD title to be reproduced and transmitted are multi-channel LPCM (Liner Pulse Code Modulation) data and the device descriptor information indicates that the digital TV 200 can accept AC3-formatted audio data, the microcomputer 13 checks whether a present play mode is the auto-change mode (S37). If the present play mode is an auto change mode, the microcomputer 13 converts (S38) the reproduced LPCM audio data into audio data of AC3 format specified in the device descriptor information, and transmits the AC3-formatted data. In addition, it transmits (S39) an advisory message informing that the format of the transmitted data is converted automatically, so that an advisory message shown in FIG. 6 is displayed onto a screen of the digital TV 200.

If the present play mode is not an auto change mode, other another advisory message informing of a data type mismatch is transmitted (S40) because the LPCM-formatted audio data may not be processed normally in the digital TV 200. Then, if a user requests (S41) a detailed information for the advisory message, the microcomputer 13 retrieves (S42) information on the audio decoding method specified in the device descriptor information stored in the memory 16, and transmits (S43) the retrieved detailed information and the characteristics of audio data of the playback-requested DVD title to be displayed onto a screen of the digital TV 200.

If the format of the audio data to be reproduced is AC3 which is decodable format in the digital TV 200, the microcomputer 13 concludes that the audio data to be transmitted are normally decoded into sounds in the digital TV 200, so that it performs (S35) the requested playback operation, then transmits (S36) the reproduced video/audio data streams to the digital TV 200 through the IEEE 1394 interface unit 15.

According to the above-explained embodiments, data streams to be reproduced and transmitted are prevented from being presented abnormally in the digital TV 200.

The embodiments explained till now are for the case that the requested feature information is received, however the requested feature information can not be received due to various problems.

The flow chart of FIG. 7 which is for the case that the feature information is not received will now be described.

The embodiment of FIG. 7 is for audio data, however, it will be equally applied for video data without departing from essential characteristics thereof. For explaining the flow diagram of FIG. 7, it is supposed that the digital TV 200 is a low-price model manufactured only for presenting high-quality video and audio, so that it has not its own feature information on its capacity for data processing and displaying, or it does not equip the function of exchanging feature information with other equipments.

On this assumption, feature information of the connected equippments is requested at the initial stage of a equipment or an interface bus (S80˜S82). This process is the same as described above.

After requesting the feature information, the microcomputer 13 checks (S83) whether the requested feature information is received from each equipment. If the feature information was received from the digital TV 200, the microcomputer 12 would execute the same steps of S13 to S20 in FIGS. 3 or S33 to S43 of FIG. 5 (S90). However, since the feature information of the digital TV 200 is not received, the microcomputer 13 memorizes the fact that the feature information of the digital TV 200 is not acquired.

Then, if a playback is requested (S84) from a viewer, the DVD player 100 reads default information designating a processing method for the case of no feature information before playback, and reproduces a requested DVD title and transmits reproduced audio data (S85) in a pre-specified format of the default information which is low-grade or lowermost format applicable to the type of a digital TV, for example, 2-channel LPCM format. At this time, the microcomputer 13 sends (S86) an advisory message telling that the format of audio data transmitted to the digital TV is 2-channel LPCM. FIG. 8 is an example of the advisory message displayed onto the digital TV 200. This advisory message includes all supportable audio formats besides current format of the transmitted audio data. The advisory message may be also displayed on an LCD display panel integrated in the DVD player 100.

Accordingly, a viewer can distinguish the format of the audio data transmitted from the DVD player 100 easily based on the advisory message displayed on the digital TV 200. Thus, if sounds are not outputted normally because of the mismatch between an acceptable format of the digital TV and a format specified in the default information stored in the memory 16, a viewer sees the formats supportable in the DVD player 100 from the displayed advisory message, selects one format acceptable to the digital TV 200 among the displayed supportable several formats, and requests the DVD player 100 (S87) to convert the reproduced audio data into the data of the selected format.

For example, a viewer selects the format AC3, MPEG 1 layer 2, or MPEG 1 layer 3 to convert the LPCM audio data after seeing the advisory message shown in FIG. 8. Accordingly, format-converted audio data acceptable to the digital TV 200 are transmitted (S88) from the DVD player 100, so that the audio data are presented in normal sounds by the digital TV 200.

Meanwhile if the digital TV 200 detects that it can not process the audio data transmitted from the DVD player 100, it may display an error message informing that input audio data are not able to be processed and which format is supportable onto a screen as shown in FIG. 9. In this case, a viewer examines whether the audio data transmitted from the DVD player 100 are normally outputted as changing decoding format among supportable formats of the digital TV 200, and if sounds are normally outputted, the format set at that time is fixed to process input audio data.

The DVD player 100 may be connected with various digital appliances through the digital interface. If reproduced audio data are destined to a digital audio equipment which cannot present video pictures, the DVD player 100 may provide a voice message informing the contents shown in FIG. 8. Also, in the case that the feature information of an audio equipment is not received, the reproduced audio data are provided for the audio equipment in the audio format pre-designated in the default information the same as in the above-mentioned method for the digital TV 200.

The feature-dependent operating method between mutually-connected equippments equipment and the apparatus for controlling the operating method adjust functions and processing capacity of an equipment to the maximal or universal capacity of the connected equipment automatically, or inform informing a viewer of the cause of possible malfunction if the features of the connected equipment are not same, when data by a requested operation are to be transmitted to the connected equipment, thereby improving the convenience of a viewer.

Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention have been disclosed or illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as recited in the accompanying claims.

Claims

1. A feature-dependent operating method between mutually-connected equipments through a digital interface, comprising the steps of:

(a) requesting feature information of a connected equipment through the digital interface;

(b) receiving the requested feature information through the digital interface and storing the received feature information; and

(c) performing a requested operation or not based on the stored feature information.

2. A method set forth in claim 1, wherein said step (c) comprises the steps of:

(c1) judging on whether the data to be reproduced and transmitted are normally presented in the connected equipment based on the stored feature information; and

(c2) performing the requested operation based on the judgement, or transmitting a message informing a result of the judgement.

3. A method set forth in claim 2, wherein the message is about the format of the data to be transmitted.

4. A method set forth in claim 1, wherein the feature information is descriptor information including a system specification of a digital displaying equipment and characteristic information of video and audio data acceptable to the digital displaying equipment.

5. A method set forth in claim 4, wherein the system specification includes information on the resolution of the digital displaying equipment.

6. A method set forth in claim 4, wherein the characteristic information includes information on data format which is acceptable to the digital displaying equipment.

7. A feature-dependent operating method between mutually-connected equipments through a digital interface, comprising the steps of:

(a) requesting feature information of a connected equipment through the digital interface;

(b) receiving the requested feature information through the digital interface and storing the received feature information; and

(c) converting the format of data to be offered to the connected equipment by a requested operation based on the stored feature information, and transmitting the format-converted data.

8. A method set forth in claim 7, wherein said step (c) comprises the steps of:

(c1) judging on whether the data to be reproduced and transmitted are normally presented in the connected equipment based on the stored feature information; and

(c2) converting the format of the data into a format which is acceptable to the connected equipment based on the judgement, and transmitting the format-converted data.

9. A method set forth in claim 8, wherein said step (c2) further transmits a message informing that data format is converted.

10. An apparatus for controlling an operation between mutually-connected equippments through a digital interface, comprising:

a connecting means sending and receiving data through the digital interface;

a storing means storing feature information of a connected equipment received through said connecting means;

a data acquisition means obtaining video and/or audio data from a data storage medium;

a controlling means controlling said data acquisition means to or not to obtain data from the data storage medium based on the stored feature information; and

a transmitting means transmitting data obtained by said data acquisition means to the connected equipment through the digital interface.

11. An apparatus set forth in claim 10, wherein said controlling means judges on whether the data to be obtained and transmitted are normally presented in the connected equipment based on the stored feature information, and performs a requested operation or not based on the judgement.

12. An apparatus set forth in claim 10, wherein said controlling means judges on whether the data to be obtained and transmitted are normally presented in the connected equipment based on the stored feature information, and transmits a message informing a result of the judgement without performing a requested operation.

13. An apparatus set forth in claim 10, wherein said controlling means judges on whether the data to be obtained and transmitted are normally presented in the connected equipment based on the stored feature information, changes the format of the data based on the stored feature information, and transmits the format-changed data.

14. A method for providing data between mutually-connected equippments through a digital interface, comprising the steps of:

(a) requesting feature information of a connected equipment through the digital interface;

(b) checking whether the requested feature information is received or not; and

(c) transmitting the data to be offered according to a requested operation to the connected equipment in a format pre-specified for the connected equipment if the requested feature information is not received.

15. A method set forth in claim 14, wherein the connected equipment is a video displaying equipment or an audio equipment which can accept digital data.

16. A method set forth in claim 14, wherein the pre-specified format is 2-channel LPCM.

17. A method set forth in claim 14, wherein said step (c) transmits data together with a message informing the format of the transmitted data.

18. A method set forth in claim 14, further comprising the step of converting the format of the data to be offered into a format specified by an external request.

19. A method set forth in claim 14, wherein the pre-specified format is low-grade one applicable to the type of the connected equipment.

20. A method for communicating with a connected external device, the method being performed by a device and comprising:

obtaining, by the device, an attribute information of the external device;

changing, by the device, a current data format to a new data format according to the obtained attribute information; and

transmitting, by the device, data formatted in the new data format to the external device.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

determining, by the device, whether or not the current data format is to be changed based on the obtained attribute information.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the determining step determines the current data format is to be changed, if the new data format is supported by the external device based on the attribute information.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein the changing step changes the current data format to the new data format, if the determining step determines the current data format is to be changed.

24. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

identifying, by the device, the connected external device.

25. An apparatus for communicating with a connected external device, the apparatus comprising:

an interfacing unit configured to transmit data to the external device and/or receive data from the external device; and

a controller configured to:

obtain, through the interfacing unit, an attribute information of the external device,

change a current data format to a new data format according to the obtained attribute information, and

transmit, through the interfacing unit, data formatted in the new data format to the external device.

26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the controller is further configured to determine whether or not the current data format is to be changed based on the obtained attribute information.

27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the controller is further configured to determine the current data format is to be changed, if the new data format is supported by the external device based on the attribute information.

28. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the controller is further configured to change the current data format to the new data format, if a result of the determination indicates the current data format is to be changed.

29. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the controller is further configured to identify the connected external device.