Hitachi, Ltd.

Other

Hitachi Video Engineering, Incorporated

Tadasu Otsubo

Hitoaki Owashi

Kyoichi Hosokawa

Yoshizumi Watatani

Atsushi Yoshioka

Nobuo Azuma

Hiroyuki Hayakawa

Shuichi Matsuo

Kazuhiko Yoshizawa

Kazuhiko Yoshikawa

A billing system for use in a chargeable program broadcasting is capable of reliably billing a subscriber for program reception while preventing unauthorized reception thereof. A receiving terminal includes a primary terminal,and a secondary terminal,. The primary terminal,receives a compressed video signal and confirms by an error checker,thereof whether there is a transmission error and bills, by a billing device,thereof, the receiving subscriber on the basis of an error information and a program information, etc., separated from the video signal by a separation circuit,. The compressed video data is time-axis multiplexed with a terminal identifying code and a key signal and transmitted to the secondary terminal,. In the secondary terminal,, a bill for the subscriber is confirmed by the terminal identifying code and the compressed data is decoded by a decoder circuit,thereof.

Interactive chargeable communication system with billing system therefor

A billing system for use in a chargeable program broadcasting is capable of reliably billing a subscriber for program reception while preventing unauthorized reception thereof. A receiving terminal includes a primary terminal 100 and a secondary terminal 150. The primary terminal 100 receives a compressed video signal and confirms by an error checker 113 thereof whether there is a transmission error and bills, by means of a billing device 114 thereof, the receiving subscriber on the basis of an error information and a program information, etc., separated from the video signal by a separation circuit 112. The compressed video data is time-axis multiplexed with a terminal identifying code and a key signal and transmitted to the secondary terminal 150. In the secondary terminal 150, a bill for the subscriber is confirmed by the terminal identifying code and the compressed data is decoded by a decoder circuit 166 thereof.

A video tape recorder/player capable of selectively recording a wide-band video signal including information for forming a picture of an aspect ratio a.sub.1, and a normal video signal for forming a picture of an aspect ratio a.sub.2. The video tape recorder/player comprises video signal discriminating means for discriminating between the reproduced wide video signal and the reproduced normal video signal reproduced from a magnetic recording medium, and time expansion means for expanding the time base of the reproduced video signal by a factor approximately equal to the ratio a.sub.1 /a.sub.2. Either the reproduced video signal or the output signal of the time expansion means obtained by expanding the time base of the reproduced signal by the time expansion means can be selected as an output signal when the video signal discriminating means detects the wide video signal.

Video tape recorder/player

In a magnetic video recording/reproducing apparatus having a recording circuit for recording two kinds of video signals for different aspect ratios a.sub.1 and a.sub.2, where a.sub.1 &gt;a.sub.2, a reproduced signal for aspect ratio a.sub.1 is subjected to a time-axis processing and then delivered to a monitor television having the aspect ratio a.sub.2 in order to avoid a picture on the monitor television from being so distorted as to be elongated vertically. During the time-axis processing, a Y/C interleave set-up processing and a time-axis variation correcting processing are also carried out as necessary. A reproduced signal for aspect ratio a.sub.2 is subjected to a time-axis processing and then delivered to a monitor television having the aspect ratio a.sub.1 in order to avoid a picture on the monitor television from being so distorted as to be elongated horizontally.

Magnetic video recording/reproducing apparatus for video signals of

Growing community of inventors

Chigasaki, Japan

Tadasu Otsubo