Sony Corporation

Tomoo Hayakawa

Fumiyoshi Abe

Tsukasa Hashino

Fumihiro Nagasawa

Toshinori Kouzai

Toshitaka Yoshihiro

Takuro Enomoto

Yoichiro Tauchi

Hiroshi Takiduka

139 sync blocks, each having 111 bytes, are disposed on each track of a magnetic tape. Among the 139 sync blocks, 121 sync blocks each consist of a two-byte detection pattern for detecting the sync block, three-byte identification information for identifying the sync block, 96-byte main data, and 10-byte inner error correcting code added to the identification information and the main data. In the remaining 18 sync blocks, instead of the main data, 96-byte outer error correcting code is included. The outer error correcting code is provided for each group of the 139 sync blocks. Such a group of 139 sync blocks is obtained by dividing 2224 sync blocks contained in sixteen tracks by sixteen planes, 1668 sync blocks contained in twelve tracks by twelve planes, or 1112 sync blocks contained in eight tracks by eight planes. The sync blocks are arranged on the magnetic tape so that the distance between the sync blocks belonging to the identical plane is constant among the planes.

Magnetic tape recording apparatus and method, magnetic tape format, and recording medium therefor

An information recording apparatus for recording information on a predetermined recording medium includes a creation unit for creating search data from main image data; and a recording unit for recording the search data created by the creation unit and the main image data on the recording medium, wherein the creation unit creates first data by which an image can be displayed over one entire one screen, and second data for enhancing the image quality of the image displayed by the first data each as the search data, and the recording unit records the first data and the second data in a predetermined sequence.

Information recording apparatus and method, information reading apparatus and method, magnetic tape format, and recording medium

Data for variable-speed reading (such as 16-times-faster reading) is distributed and recorded at positions where a trace is to be made during the variable-speed reading. When data recording is performed by an MPEG method, for example, data for generating an I picture is recorded.

Magnetic-tape recording apparatus, magnetic-tape recording method, magnetic tape, and recording medium

DCT coefficient data obtained by transforming inputted picture data at a DCT (Discrete Cosine Transform) circuit is quantized by selected one of plural quantizers at a quantizing circuit to allow the quantized data to undergo variable length encoding at a variable length encoding circuit to output it. A class designation circuit compares DCT coefficient data from the DCT circuit with threshold values Th , Th , Th in macro block units to carry out class designation to output activity code AT. A code quantity estimation section estimates total encoded data quantity when data corresponding to 1 video segment which is 5 macro blocks of DCT coefficient data which have been read out from a zigzag read-out circuit is quantized by respective quantizers to allow the quantized data thus obtained to undergo variable length encoding to send, to the quantizing circuit quantizer number for determining an optimum one of the quantizers in which the estimated data quantity is reference value or less. Any different one of reference values of the code quantity estimation section and threshold values Th , Th , Th of the class designation circuit are read out from the compression factor table in dependency upon information of a desired compression factor from a terminal Thus, a desired compression factor can be easily obtained in compression-encoding.

Method and device for encoding data

A picture signal encoding apparatus and a picture signal decoding apparatus are disclosed. The picture signal encoding apparatus includes: first compression coding device for converting and compression-coding basic picture signals having a sampling frequency ratio of a luminance signal and two color-difference signals of 4:2:2 to have a sampling frequency ratio of the luminance signal and the two color-difference signals of 4:1:1 or 4:2:0 so as to generate first compressed data; encoding residual extracting device for extracting an encoding residual between the basic picture signals and the compressed data; and second compression coding device for compression-coding the extracted encoding residual so as to generate second compressed data. The picture signal decoding apparatus includes: first expansion decoding device for expansion-decoding basic picture data of a predetermined signal standard having a sampling frequency ratio of a luminance signal and two color-difference signals of 4:1:1 or 4:2:0, the basic picture data being generated by compression-coding original picture signals; second expansion decoding device for expansion-decoding enhancement data having a sampling frequency ratio of a luminance signal and two color-difference signals of 4:2:2; and synthesizing device for synthesizing outputs from the first expansion decoding device and the second expansion decoding means so as to generate extended picture data having a sampling frequency ratio of a luminance signal and two color-difference signals of 4:2:2.

Picture signal encoding apparatus and picture signal decoding apparatus

A digital information data recording and reproducing apparatus is disclosed which can reduce an ineffective data portion in a recording data and can effectively use a capacity of a recording medium such as a hard disk, etc. In the apparatus, after the digital information data is compressed and coded, it is subjected to a framing process which uses a fixed length format. An ineffective data is removed from a framing data of the fixed length format obtained by the framing process, and then the data is recorded in the recording medium.

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Kanagawa, Japan

Tomoo Hayakawa