Pioneer Electronic Corporation

Pioneer Corporation

Yoichi Yamada

Gen Inoshita

Takeaki Funada

Tomohiko Kimura

Hiroyuki Isobe

Koichiro Sakata

Ko Atsumi

Junichi Takagaki

Tetsuya Kikuchi

Takao Sawabe

Kaoru Yamamoto

Hidehiro Ishii

Tokihiro Takahashi

Shozo Ema

Yoshinori Hasegawa

Hirokazu Inotani

Hiroyasu Eguchi

Tatsuya Shiraishi

Yuuji Murai

Mituo Fukuda

Tomohisa Tsukui

An information playback apparatus is provided to obtain editing effects using an optical disc in the same sense as an analog record disc is manipulated. An audio editing apparatus for playing back an optical disc such as a CD is provided with a rotatable jog dial, detecting device for detecting the amount of rotation of the jog dial, and sensing device for sensing the presence or absence of a pressing force on the jog dial. When the jog dial is rotated while being depressed with a predetermined pressing force, processing for providing sound effects is performed on the playback data to be played back from the optical disc in response to the amount of rotation detected by the detecting device. It is thereby possible to provide the same feeling of operation as provided by rotating an analog record disc through hand operations to produce playback sounds.

Information playback apparatus

An audio signal mixer capable of performing a long mix editing with simple manipulations. A second audio signal producing means is prevented from producing a second audio signal when an operating member is positioned at a first end, while a first audio signal producing means is prevented from producing a first audio signal when the operating member is positioned at a second end. As the operating member is moved away from the first end or the second end, the first and second audio signals are mixed. As the operating member is moved toward the second end, the level of the first audio signal is gradually decreased while the level of the second audio signal is gradually increased. Conversely, as the operating member is moved toward the first end, the level of the second audio signal is gradually decreased while the level of the first audio signal is gradually increased. Thus, only by manipulating the operating member, it is possible to control two audio signal producing means such as CD players to reproduce or stop as well as to control a cross-fade operation for audio signals reproduced therefrom.

Audio signal mixer for long mix editing

A beat density detecting apparatus and an information playback apparatus are provided to detect distinctive characteristics that music or the like has and to provide the same as a novel information volume. Playback data read out from an information recording medium, such as an optical disc, and sub-code data containing the information of an elapsed track time indicating a recording position of the playback data are provided to a beat detecting unit and a beat position detecting unit, respectively. The beat detecting unit detects the number of occurrences of a change in amplitude at each predetermined frequency of the playback data, and the beat position detecting unit detects an elapsed track time from the sub-code data. Further, a beat density computing unit finds the number of occurrences with respect to the elapsed track time as the characteristics information of a beat density. By displaying the characteristics information of the beat density on a display unit in a way that the user or the like can visually recognize, it is possible to provide the distinctive characteristics that music or the like has not as instantaneous characteristics, but as the characteristics of a relatively long period, or the whole of the characteristics of a signal subject to audio playback.

Beat density detecting apparatus and information playback apparatus

An information playback apparatus is provided, which displays the status of playback in a way more suitable to the human sense as well as detects and then displays as new information the feature characteristic of audio information such as a music selection. The frequency of occurrence of variations in amplitude of audio information to be played back is measured at each predetermined frequency. The measured frequency of occurrence is displayed in a predetermined area of a display unit as the feature information of beat densities with respect to the playback elapsed time of the audio information to be played back. An index display unit is displayed in a substantially circular playback speed display unit. The amount of audio information to be sequentially played back corresponding to elapsed time is divided by a predetermined value to determine a remainder. The index display unit is displayed at an angular position corresponding to the remainder, while being rotatably moved along a virtual track, thereby displaying the status of playback.

Playback apparatus for displaying angular position based on remainder corresponding to elapsed time

An information playback apparatus is provided to obtain sound effects by using an optical disc in much the same way an analog record is manipulated. A pressing pressure applied onto a rotatable jog dial is detected by providing a pressure sensing layer to the jog dial. When no pressing pressure is applied onto the jog dial, audio information is played back from an optical disc at a normal tempo. When an end of the jog dial at rest is pressed with a pressing pressure within a predetermined range, a tempo of a playback sound played from the audio information is changed in response to the pressing pressure. When an end of the jog dial at rest is pressed with a large pressing pressure, a tempo of a playback sound played from the audio information is changed in such a manner that playback of a playback sound is stopped eventually. When the pressing pressure is released from the jog dial at rest, a tempo of a playback sound played back from the audio information is changed in such a manner that a playback sound is eventually played back at the normal tempo. Also, a tempo of a playback sound is changed in various manners in response to a pressing pressure onto the jog dial by providing manipulation keys for adjusting a quantity of change when changing a tempo of a playback sound in response to the level of a detection signal.

A music reproducing apparatus is provided. The apparatus reproduces music on the basis of music data which includes music information representing music to be reproduced and beat information representing a beat of the music and which is recorded on a recording medium. The music information is divided into a plurality of music information pieces whose time length are equal to each other. The beat information is divided into a plurality of beat information pieces. Each of the beat information pieces includes information for designating one of the music information pieces in which the beat of the music is present. The apparatus includes: a reading device that reads the music data from the recording medium; a reproduction device that extracts the music information pieces from the read music data, and that reproduces the music on the basis of the extracted music information pieces; and a beat signal output device that extracts one of the beat information pieces from the read music data, and that designates one of the music information pieces in which the beat of music is present, and that outputs a beat signal representing the beat of the music at the same time that the designated one of the music information pieces is reproduced by the reproduction device.

Apparatus for and method of reproducing music together with information representing beat of music

An apparatus for detecting the number of beats in that second time measuring means starts to measure time from a time point when the level of a predetermined frequency component of an input audio signal is once higher than a predetermined level and, after a predetermined period T1 elapses from the time point, the measurement of time by the second time measuring means is terminated at a time point when the level of the predetermined frequency component of the input audio signal is again higher than the predetermined level, thereby to convert a measured period T2 at termination of measuring of the second time measuring means into BPM i.e., the number of beats per predetermined unit time regarding as a unit beat.

Apparatus for detecting the number of beats

An optical disc reproducing apparatus repeatedly reproduces information recorded on an optical disc over a desired repeated reproduction interval from a starting position to an ending position. The apparatus is provided with: an optical pickup; a reproducing unit; a moving unit for moving the optical pickup from the ending position back to a predetermined position, which is positioned at a vicinity of the starting position, in a repeated reproduction operation; and a first memory for storing the information, which is recorded from the starting position to the predetermined position. The predetermined position is predetermined such that the information stored in the first memory have an information amount corresponding to a time enough for the moving unit to move the optical pickup from the ending position back to the predetermined position. The apparatus is also provided with a controller for controlling the reproducing unit to switch an object of reproduction from the information read by the optical pickup to the information of the first memory when the optical pickup arrives at the ending position and to reproduce the information of the first memory while the moving unit moves back the optical pickup.

Optical disc reproducing apparatus

A subcode graphics reproduction control apparatus which can automatically execute fade operations between ordinary video images and graphics images. A memory for storing graphics data presenting particular images and transparency data defining transparency of the particular images is provided, the graphics data is read out in a subcode signal format from the memory according to a fade command and sent to a decoder, and with this operation a graphics video signal is generated. Also, the transparency data is read out from the memory according to a fade command, the transparency data value is gradually changed from a specified value in one direction, and a video signal input from outside and the graphics video signal output from the decoder are mixed at a mixing ratio corresponding to the transparency data. With the configuration as described above, fade operations to gradually fade out moving picture images and fade in graphics images or to gradually fade in moving picture images and fade out graphics images are automatically executed.

Growing community of inventors

Saitama-ken, Japan

Yoichi Yamada