Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Panasonic Corporation

Keisuke Matsuo

Ian Cameron Mercer

Chiyoko Matsumi

Nobuyasu Takeguchi

Harutoshi Miyamoto

Kevin Leigh LaChapelle

Yasuyuki Torii

Toshihiko Mizukami

Yoshifumi Yanagawa

Toshio Inaji

Sako Asayama

Brian James Walker

Hiroshi Kase

Kevin Leigh La Chapelle

Eiji Ueda

Takakazu Shiomi

Mitsuharu Matsuo

Optimizing operation of a media player during rendering of media files. The invention includes authoring software to create a data structure and to populate the created data structure with obtained metadata. The invention also includes rendering software to retrieve the metadata from the data structure and to identify media files to render. In one embodiment, the invention is operable as part of a compressed media format having a set of small files containing metadata, menus, and playlists in a compiled binary format designed for playback on feature-rich personal computer media players as well as low cost media players.

Optimizing media player memory during rendering

A first control unit outputs, to a lighting control unit, a lighting signal that causes a plurality of light-emitting units provided for each of a plurality of keys for operating to be sequentially lighted for each of groups determined in advance. Based on a signal for selecting a group outputted from a first selection unit and an output signal from the first control unit, a first comparison/judgment unit outputs a group whose light-emitting unit had been lighted upon selection as a finalized group. A second control unit outputs a lighting signal that causes light-emitting units included in the finalized group to be respectively sequentially lighted, and based on the output signal and a signal for selecting a key outputted from a second selection unit, a second comparison/judgment unit judges that a key corresponding to a light-emitting unit that had been lighted upon selection as a finalized key.

Key input device for remote control apparatus, key input method of key input device for remote control apparatus, program, and recording medium

An STB (), which reduces operating load of a user and causes a television () and an amplifier () to be appropriately linked, includes: a receiving unit () which receives a broadcast signal including an application program written in Java (registered trademark); a Java VM () which executes the application program; a CEC () which performs HDMI-CEC-compliant communication between each of the television () and the amplifier (); and a device control library () which performs conversion between data handled by an application program and data communicated by the CEC (), so that the television () and the amplifier () can be controlled by the application program executed by the Java VM ().

Device linkage apparatus and device linkage method

A device linkage apparatus, which reduces the operating load on a user and causes a television and an amplifier to be appropriately linked, includes: a correspondence table storage unit in which is stored a mode correspondence table indicating, for each TV-program genre, the audio output mode corresponding to the genre; an attribute obtainment unit which obtains the genre of a TV-program to be reproduced; a mode identification unit which identifies, from among the audio output modes indicated in the mode correspondence table, the audio output mode that corresponds to the genre obtained by the attribute obtainment unit; and a linkage execution unit which causes the operations of a television and an amplifier to be linked accordance to the audio output mode identified by the mode identification unit.

Device linkage apparatus

Updating automatically generated playlists in response to media content being edited. Aspects of the invention associate a playlist type or other code with each playlist to define the structure of the playlist. When media content is added to or deleted from a collection of media files, one or more playlist types corresponding to the media content are identified. The playlists with the identified playlist types are updated to reflect the addition or deletion of the media content.

Creating standardized playlists and maintaining coherency

A recording and reproducing system includes a DVD-RAM medium having a plurality of data files of storing predetermined data, file recording means of recording, in a play list file held by the DVD-RAM medium, a play list of describing reproduction order of reproducing the predetermined data stored in each of all or a part of the data files out of the plurality of data files by using a file name of the data file and a unique directory ID provided to a directory to which the data file belongs, and file reproducing means of reproducing the predetermined data stored by each of all or a part of the data files out of the plurality of data files based on the recorded play list.

Method and apparatus for reproducing play lists in record media

There has been a problem that play list reproduction cannot be performed at a data processing level of a CD player and so on which cannot interpret a play list file in an HTML format. A recording and reproducing system has a CD-RW mediumof holding a plurality of data files of storing predetermined data, a file recording meansof recording in a play list fileheld on the CD-RW mediuma play list describing reproduction order of reproducing predetermined data stored by all or a part of a plurality of data files respectively by using a unique contents ID given to each data file, and a file reproducing meansof reproducing the predetermined data stored by all or a part of the plurality of data files respectively based on the recorded play list.

A motor speed control apparatus is provided in which the controllable frequency band of the control system can be sufficiently enhanced with a comparatively simple structure even if the frequency generator equipped into the motor is low in output frequency and the rotational accuracy can be highly improved even if the disturbance of high frequency components of load torque is applied to the motor. The frequency band of the control system can be improved by using the estimated speed signal as the speed feedback signal. A motor speed control apparatus superior in disturbance control characteristic can be realized through the feed forward compensation of an estimated load torque.

Motor speed control apparatus for motors

The motor speed control apparatus according to the present invention controls the rotation speed of a motor to be constant in a state where a disturbance torque is present. The motor speed control apparatus includes a disturbance torque observer 1. The disturbance torque observer 1 estimates a disturbance torque .tau..sub.d based on a detected speed signal v detected by a speed detector 105 and a drive signal D supplied to a drive circuit 150, and cuts off high-frequency components thereof by means of filters 13 and 2 so as to output an estimated disturbance signal d. A comparator 130 outputs a speed error signal .DELTA.v, which is a difference between the detected speed signal v and a desired speed signal v.sub.r. An arithmetic unit 140 outputs a control signal c in accordance with the speed error signal .DELTA.v. A torque correction unit 3 corrects the control signal c by using the estimated disturbance signal d so as to output the drive signal D. The drive circuit 150 supplies a motor 100 with a drive current I.sub.a which is in accordance with the drive signal D.

Motor speed control apparatus using phase-advance based estimated

A motor control apparatus controls a motor speed according to a detected period of a frequency signal whose frequency is in proportion to the motor speed and drives the motor so as to keep its speed fixed according to a drive signal. The motor control apparatus includes a disturbance torque observer receptive to the drive signal and the detected period which produces a estimated disturbance signal corresponding to a conversion of a disturbance torque into an electrical signal. A comparator produces a period error signal which is a difference between the detected period and a desired period. An arithmetic unit produces the control signal in accordance with the period error signM. A torque correcting unit produces the drive signal by adding the estimated disturbance signal to the control signal.

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Ikoma, Japan

Keisuke Matsuo