JP2006053643A - Content management device, content management method, and content display method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To display an easily operable operation screen for easy visual recognition in transfer of contents between a server and a client. <P>SOLUTION: A content 1, content 3 and content 4 are selected as transfer objects, and content bars corresponding to the selected contents are displayed in the position shifted to the client mark 22a side. By this display, which contents are set for transfer can be recognized at a glance. When the contents 1, 3, and 4 are transferred from the server 1 to the client 1, colors of the content bars corresponding to the transferred three contents are changed to a color equal or similar to that of the client mark 22a. At the same time, the number of red circle lights for each of the contents 1, 3 and 4 is reduced one by one in a light information display part 24 for indicating transfer by the lights. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a content management apparatus, a management method, and a content management apparatus capable of accumulating contents such as audio data and video data in a server, transferring desired contents among the accumulated contents to a client, and reproducing them on the client side The present invention relates to a content display method.

Content ripped from CD (Compact Disc) or acquired through EMD (Electronic Music Distribution) on the hard disk of devices such as personal computers, television receivers, CD players, etc., MD (Mini Disc), hard disk, semiconductor memory It is known to transfer desired contents to a portable playback device using a storage medium such as the above. Transfer of content from the server to the client is sometimes referred to as check-out, and conversely, returning content from the client to the server is sometimes referred to as check-in. Usually, the content is compressed in order to reduce the use efficiency of the memory and the transfer time.

  In order to protect copyright, the number of times content can be transferred to a portable playback device is limited. For example, Patent Document 1 below shows an example of a window that displays music stored in a personal computer GUI (Graphical User Interface) and music stored in a portable playback device. Yes.

JP 2002-31522 A

  In Patent Document 1, characters such as title, artist name, and genre name are displayed in one line for each content, and rights information, for example, whether to move and the remaining number of checkouts are displayed at the top of each line. The

  The display of Patent Document 1 has a problem that it is difficult for the user to visually understand the right information and the transfer state of the content. That is, it is necessary for the user to know whether or not the content has been transferred by checking the content on the server side and the client side with separate windows. In particular, unlike a personal computer, in the case of a television receiver, a CD player, or the like, the resolution of a display on which a list of contents is displayed is low. Therefore, when these devices are used as servers, the resolution is relatively high. The GUI premised on the display of a personal computer has a problem that the transfer status of rights information and content is more difficult to understand.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a content management apparatus, a management method, and a content display method capable of displaying a user-friendly operation screen that is visually understandable and easy to operate.

In order to solve the above-described problem, the present invention provides a content management apparatus that manages content transfer when content is transferred between a server and a client.
A server mark indicating a server, a client mark indicating a client, and a content mark set between the server mark and the client mark and corresponding to the managed content are displayed on the server display screen.
This is a content management apparatus in which the display state of the content mark is changed according to the transfer state of the content corresponding to the content mark.

  According to the present invention, when content transfer is managed between the server and the client, the content and the right information accompanying the content can be displayed so that the user can easily understand visually. The present invention is suitable when an electronic device such as a CD player or a television receiver having a display device with a high resolution such as a computer screen is used as a server.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a system configuration of one embodiment. A server 11 and a client 12 are connected via an interface 13.

  The interface 13 is a wired interface such as SCSI (Small Computer System Interface), IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 1394, USB (Universal Serial Bus), or IrDA (Infrared Data Association), wireless LAN (Local Area Network), A wireless interface such as Bluetooth can be used.

  Specifically, the server 11 is a television receiver, a CD player, or the like. A personal computer can also be used. The server 11 includes storage means such as a hard disk for storing content, a display, a GUI using the display, and the like. As the input device, a remote control device, an input device combined with a direction key (a key for moving the cursor in any one of up, down, left and right directions) and a determination key are used.

  Content data is stored in the server 11 via a storage medium such as a CD 14 and the EMD 15. The content data is audio data, video data, electronic book data, and the like.

  The client 12 is a CD-R / RW drive, a portable device using MD, a portable device using semiconductor memory, or the like. For example, when a CD-R / RW drive is connected to a server via USB, content management software (with a CD-R / RW writing function) to which the present invention is applied is installed on the server, and the CD-R When the / RW drive is connected via USB, the CD-R / RW drive is recognized by the server. Thereafter, the content is transferred between the server and the CD-R / RW drive as will be described later. Of course, portable devices other than CD-R / RW drives can be connected in the same manner.

  FIG. 2 shows a specific example of a content mark (hereinafter referred to as a content bar) used in the GUI according to an embodiment. The content bar shown in FIG. 2A is obtained by displaying the content title and artist name in a bar display extending in the horizontal direction. The content bar shown in FIG. 2B displays the title and album name. The content bar shown in FIG. 2C displays the album name and artist name. As shown in these examples, a bar to which characters or the like for explaining contents are added is a content bar.

  The content bar is displayed in a predetermined color. That is, when the content exists on the server side, the content bar is the same color as or similar to the server mark on the screen, and when the content exists on the client side, the content bar is displayed on the screen. The same color or similar color as the client mark. Further, when the color changes during the data transfer operation, the color switching position gradually moves from the left end to the right end of the bar according to the data transfer.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment will be described in more detail with reference to an example of a GUI screen of a server. FIG. 3 shows a screen display when the server 11 is in the initial state. FIG. 4 shows a screen display when the client 12 is connected to the server 11 via the interface 13. The display shown in FIG. 4 is made in a state where no content exists in the client.

  The operation screen is displayed as a server mark 21a corresponding to the server 1 located on the left side of the screen, a client mark 22a corresponding to the client 1 located on the right side, and a content extending in the horizontal direction between them. The content bar display unit 23 displays a bar in an overlapping manner, and the rights information display unit 24 located between the server mark 21 a and the content bar display unit 23. The client mark 22a is displayed on the screen when the client is connected to the server. Further, a capacity display section on the client side, various buttons, and the like are displayed.

  In the drawing, for simplicity, the server mark 21a and the client mark 22a are drawn in a simple block shape, but an icon of an image imitating an actual device is used. For example, if the client is a CD-R, an icon simulating a disk is used.

  In the system of FIG. 1, one server 11 and one client 12 are shown. However, in one embodiment, a total of four devices including two servers (server 1 and server 2) and two clients (client 1 and client 2) can be connected. FIG. 4 shows a state in which the client 1 is connected to the server 1.

  The content bar display unit 23 displays a plurality of, for example, eight content bars of eight contents 1 to 8 managed by the server 1 in an aligned manner. In each content bar, as described with reference to FIG. 2, characters for explaining the content are displayed. For example, a maximum of 10 content bars can be displayed. The color of the content bar is, for example, the same color as that of the server mark 21a or a similar color.

  The rights information display unit 24 displays rights as rights information. On the left side of each content bar, three rights are indicated by three predetermined colors, for example, red circles. On the server side, the maximum number of rights associated with each content is three, and on the client side, the maximum number of rights that can be held for each content is one. “Rights” refers to the right to transfer the content managed by the management apparatus or the management software to which the present invention is applied, and to be played back by the receiving side.

  In one embodiment, the process of transferring content and rights (also referred to as checkout) from the server to the client is performed in two steps. That is, a content to be transferred is selected from a plurality of displayed contents, and then a predetermined button, for example, a transfer button on the screen or a commander of the remote controller is pressed to set and reserve transfer.

  Next, by pressing a predetermined button, for example, a start button on the screen or the commander of the remote controller, the designated content is transferred to the client. As described above, the transfer process is performed in two stages, that is, the step of setting the transfer of the selected content and the step of transferring the selected content. As another example of the transfer process, there is a transfer process in which a content to be transferred is selected and then a predetermined button is pressed to transfer the content. The present invention can also be applied to transfer processing that does not go through such setting steps.

  FIG. 5 shows a display after the transfer setting is performed, and FIG. 6 shows a display after the transfer is completed. Here, content 1, content 3 and content 4 are selected, and transfer of the selected content is set. At the stage of transfer setting, as shown in FIG. 5, the content bar corresponding to the selected content is displayed at the second position, that is, the position shifted to the side closer to the client mark 22a (right side in the figure). The The position of the content bar corresponding to the content not selected is located at the first position closer to the server mark side. This display makes it easy to see at a glance which content has been set for transfer (reserved). However, at the transfer setting stage, in order to indicate that the content is still on the server side, the content bar remains in the same color or similar color as the server mark 21a, and the display of the rights information display unit 24 also changes. do not do.

  When the contents 1, 3 and 4 are transferred from the server 1 to the client 1, as shown in FIG. 6, the colors of the content bars corresponding to the three transferred contents are recognized so that the contents are transferred. Changes to the same color as the color of the client mark 22a or a similar color. The color is gradually switched from the left end to the right end during the transfer operation. At the same time, in order to show that the rights have been transferred together with the contents, the red circle of each of the contents 1, 3, and 4 is reduced by one in the rights information display unit 24. For example, a circle indicating a light turns blue. Since the content bar corresponding to the contents 1, 3 and 4 is on the client mark 22a side, it can be easily understood that these contents have been transferred.

  FIG. 7 shows a display in which the client 1 is disconnected from the server 1 from the state shown in FIG. 6, for example, the USB plug is removed. The client mark disappears. The content bar display unit 23 is in a state where content bars corresponding to all the contents are located on the server side. The display on the rights information display unit 24 is the same as in FIG. Since it is displayed in the rights information display section 24 that the contents 1, 3 and 4 have changed to two, the contents 1, 3 and 4 will be transferred to other devices up to twice thereafter. You can see that it can be transferred.

  FIG. 8 shows a display when the client 1 is connected again in the state of FIG. Since the contents 1, 3 and 4 are in the client 1, the same display as in FIG. 6 is performed.

  FIG. 9 shows a display in a state where setting (reservation) is made (sometimes referred to as check-in) to return the content 4 to the server side from the state shown in FIG. The content bar of the content 4 is selected from the plurality of displayed contents, and then a predetermined button, for example, a transfer button on the screen or the commander of the remote controller is pressed to set and reserve transfer for returning. The content bar corresponding to the content 4 is displayed in a state where it is returned to the position on the server side. However, the color remains the same as or similar to the client mark 22a, and it is displayed that the content 4 still exists on the client 1 side.

  Next, the designated content 4 is transferred from the client 1 to the server 1 by pressing a predetermined button, for example, a start button on the screen or the commander of the remote controller. FIG. 10 shows a state where the process of returning the content 4 is finished. The content bar corresponding to the content 4 is the same color or similar color as the server mark 21a, the number of rights corresponding to the content 4 is changed to three red circles, and it is displayed that the content 4 has returned to the server. .

  The process of transferring the content from the client to the server also includes the step of selecting the content to be returned and setting the return process (display shown in FIG. 9) and the step of actually transferring the selected content (shown in FIG. 10). Display). However, the present invention can also be applied to a one-step process for starting the return process after selecting the content to be returned.

  FIG. 11 shows a display in a state where the client 1 is disconnected from the server 1 from the state shown in FIG. The client mark disappears. The content bar display unit 23 is in a state where content bars corresponding to all the contents are located on the server side. The display on the rights information display unit 24 is the same as in FIG. Since it is displayed in the rights information display section 24 that the contents 1 and 3 have changed to two, it can be seen that the contents 1 and 3 can transfer the rights to another device up to twice thereafter. .

  FIG. 12 shows a state in which another client 2 is connected in the state of FIG. A client mark 22b corresponding to the client 2 is displayed. The client mark 22b is an icon simulating the image of the client 2 device. Since it is assumed that no content exists in the initial state of the client 2, the display of the content bar display unit 23 does not change when the client 2 is connected to the server 1.

  FIG. 13 shows a display after the transfer setting for the client 2 is performed, and FIG. 14 shows a display after the transfer is completed. Here, contents 2 and 3 are selected, and transfer of the selected contents is set. At the stage of transfer setting, as shown in FIG. 13, a content bar corresponding to the selected content is displayed at a position shifted to the client mark 22b side (right side). This display makes it easy to see at a glance which content has been set for transfer (reserved). However, at the transfer setting stage, in order to indicate that the content is still on the server side, the content bar remains in the same color or similar color as the server mark 21a, and the display of the rights information display unit 24 also changes. do not do.

  When the contents 2 and 3 are transferred from the server 1 to the client 2, as shown in FIG. 14, the color of the content bar corresponding to the two transferred contents is changed to the client so that the contents are transferred. It changes to the same color as the color of the mark 22b or a similar color. The color is gradually switched from the left end to the right end during the transfer operation. At the same time, in order to show that the rights have been transferred together with the contents, the red circle of each of the contents 2 and 3 is reduced by one in the rights information display section 24 and changed to blue. Since the content bar corresponding to the contents 2 and 3 is on the client mark 22b side, it can be easily understood that these contents have been transferred.

  FIG. 15 shows a display in a state where the client 2 is disconnected from the server 1 from the state shown in FIG. The display of the client mark 22b disappears. The content bar display unit 23 is in a state where content bars corresponding to all the contents are located on the server side. The display on the rights information display unit 24 is the same as in FIG.

  FIG. 16 shows a display of the initial state of the other server 2. From this display, it can be seen that the server 2 has contents 9 and 10 different from the contents of the server 1 described above and three rights corresponding to the contents.

  FIG. 17 shows a display when the client 1 whose content has already been transferred from the server 1 is connected to the server 2. A client mark 22a corresponding to the client 1 is displayed. The content bars of the contents 1 and 3 held by the client 1 and the rights of these contents are displayed. It can be seen from the fact that the contents 1 and 3 still exist only on the client side because there is no rights (red circle) and the content bar is the same color or a similar color as the client mark 22a. That is, since the server 2 originally did not have the contents 1 and 3, it does not have any rights regarding the contents 1 and 3.

  FIG. 18 shows a display in a state where transfer settings (reservation) for transferring the content 10 from the server 2 to the client 1 and transferring the content 3 from the client 1 to the server 2 in the state of FIG. As can be seen by comparing FIGS. 17 and 18, the content bar corresponding to the content 10 moves to the client mark 22a side, and the content bar corresponding to the content 3 moves to the server mark 21b side. However, the color of the moved content bar remains the original color.

  FIG. 19 shows a display state after the contents 3 and 10 are actually transferred after the setting of FIG. The fact that the transfer has been completed is displayed from the change in the color of the content bar and the rights information in the rights information display section 24.

  FIG. 20 shows a display in a state where the client 1 is disconnected from the server 2 in the state shown in FIG. The display of the client mark 22a disappears, and the content bar and rights information corresponding to the content 1 held only by the client 1 disappears. Further, the content bar display unit 23 is in a state where content bars corresponding to all the contents are located on the server side. The display of the rights information display unit 24 regarding the remaining contents is the same as that in FIG. In the rights information display section 24, it is displayed that the content 3 content has been increased to one and the content 10 has been decreased by one.

  FIG. 21 shows a display in a state where erasure of the content 10 possessed by the server 2 is set (reserved) from the state of FIG. In the erasure reservation, the content bar of the content 10 is selected from a plurality of displayed contents, and then a predetermined button such as an erasure setting button on the screen or the commander of the remote control is pressed, and erasure is set and reserved. . In order to indicate the erasure reservation, the rights information and the content bar corresponding to the content 10 are changed to colors that can be distinguished from other colors.

  FIG. 22 shows a state in which the content 10 has been erased from the state of FIG. Deletion is executed by pressing a predetermined button such as a start button on the screen or the commander of the remote controller. The content bar and the rights information display of the content 10 disappear from the screen, indicating that the erasure is complete.

  In the above description, the color of the content bar is not changed at the transfer setting stage, but the color of the content bar is changed at the stage where the transfer is completed. That is, the two-stage color is switched. However, the color may be changed at the transfer setting stage, and the color may be further changed upon completion of the transfer.

  FIG. 23 shows a display example of the content bar when the color is changed in three stages in this way. FIG. 23A shows a state in which transfer of contents 1 and 3 is set. The content bars corresponding to the contents 1 and 3 move to the right side (client side). At the same time, the color is changed from orange (same color as the server mark) to green, for example.

  Next, when the transfer of the contents 1 and 3 is started, the color of the content bar changes from the left end to purple as shown in FIG. 23B during the transfer of the contents 1. Then, at the stage where the transfer of the contents 1 and 3 is completed, the content bars corresponding to the contents 1 and 3 are purple as shown in FIG. 23C. Purple is the same as the color of the client mark. In this way, since the color is changed to purple when transfer or deletion is set, the user can easily know that the transfer has been performed.

  Further, according to the present invention, as described above, in addition to the server mark, the client mark, the content bar display section located between them, and the rights information display section, the capacity display on the client side is displayed on the same screen. Made.

  FIG. 24 shows an example of the capacity display. When content transfer is set when there is no content in the client storage medium connected to the server in the initial state, a green capacity bar A1 having a height C1 corresponding to the set data amount is displayed. Is done. When the content transfer is executed, as indicated by the capacity bar A2, the color of the bar changes from purple to purple according to the data transfer. When the transfer is completed, the bar color is purple.

  Next, when transfer of other content is set for the same client, as shown by the capacity bar A4, the newly set content is transferred to the purple bar having the height C1 corresponding to the transferred content. A green bar having a height C2 corresponding to the amount of data is stacked. When the transfer of the newly set content is completed, a capacity bar A6 that is entirely purple and has a height of (C1 + C2) is displayed. Although not shown, when the content is transferred from the client to the server, the height of the capacity bar becomes lower corresponding to the data amount of the transferred content. As the capacity display, a display indicating the full capacity on the connected client side may be performed.

  As mentioned above, although each embodiment of this invention was described concretely, this invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, The various deformation | transformation based on the technical idea of this invention is possible. For example, the present invention can be applied to transfer of contents other than audio data, for example, image data. In addition to the content bar, display in which the position changes according to the content transfer state is possible. For example, a reduced image corresponding to the content content may be used instead of the content bar, and when transferred from the server side to the client side, the reduced image may be displayed so as to move to the right side.

It is a block diagram which shows the outline of the content transfer system which can apply this invention. It is a basic diagram which shows some examples of the content bar in one Embodiment of this invention. It is a basic diagram which shows the operation screen when a server is in an initial state. It is a basic diagram which shows the operation screen when a client is connected with respect to the server. It is a basic diagram which shows the operation screen of the state which performed the transfer setting of the contents 1, 3, and 4. FIG. It is an approximate line figure showing an operation screen in the state where transfer of contents 1, 3, and 4 was completed. It is a basic diagram which shows the operation screen of the state which isolate | separated the client from the server. It is a basic diagram which shows the operation screen of the state which connected the client again with respect to the server. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating an operation screen in a state where transfer settings for a content from a client to a server are performed. It is an approximate line figure showing an operation screen in the state where transfer of contents 4 was completed. It is a basic diagram which shows the operation screen of the state which isolate | separated the client from the server again. It is a basic diagram which shows the operation screen when another client is connected with respect to the server. It is a basic diagram which shows the operation screen of the state which performed the transfer setting of the contents 2 and 3. FIG. It is a basic diagram which shows the operation screen of the state which the transfer of the contents 2 and 3 was complete | finished. It is a basic diagram which shows the operation screen of the state which isolate | separated the other client from the server. It is a basic diagram which shows the operation screen when another server is in an initial state. It is a basic diagram which shows the operation screen when a client is connected with respect to another server. It is a basic diagram which shows the operation screen of the state which performed the transfer setting of the contents 10 and 3. FIG. It is a basic diagram which shows the operation screen of the state which the transfer of the content 10 and 3 was complete | finished. It is a basic diagram which shows the operation screen of the state which isolate | separated the client from the server. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating an operation screen in a state where deletion setting of content is performed. It is a basic diagram which shows the operation screen of the state which erase | eliminated content 10 was completed. It is a basic diagram for demonstrating the other example of a display of a content bar. It is a basic diagram for demonstrating a capacity | capacitance display.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Server 12 ... Client 13 ... Interface 21a, 21b ... Server mark 22a, 22b ... Client mark 23 ... Content bar display unit 24 ... Rights information display unit

Claims (10)

In a content management apparatus that manages content transfer when transferring content between a server and a client,
A server mark indicating a server, a client mark indicating a client, and a content mark set between the server mark and the client mark and corresponding to the managed content are displayed on the server display screen.
A content management apparatus in which a display state of the content mark is changed according to a transfer state of content corresponding to the content mark. In claim 1,
A content management apparatus configured to transfer right information indicating whether or not the managed content can be transferred together with the content, and display the right information on the display screen. In a content management apparatus that manages content transfer when transferring content between a server and a client,
A server mark indicating a server, a client mark indicating a client, and a content mark set between the server mark and the client mark and corresponding to the managed content are displayed on the server display screen.
The display position of the content mark can be located at one of a first position closer to the server mark side and a second position closer to the client mark side,
A content management device that changes the content mark of the content to be transferred from the first position to the second position when transferring the content having the content mark at the first position to the client. In claim 3,
A content management device that changes the content mark of the content to be transferred from the second position to the first position when transferring the content mark at the second position back to the server. In claim 3 or 4,
A content management apparatus that changes a color of the content mark at the second position in a state where transfer of the content is completed. In claim 3,
A content management apparatus that changes the content mark from the same color or the same color as the server mark to the same color or the same color as the client mark in a state where the transfer of the content is completed. In claim 4,
A content management apparatus that changes the content mark from the same color or the same color as the client mark to the same color or the same color as the server mark in a state where the transfer of the content is completed. In claim 1,
Furthermore, a content management apparatus that displays the amount of data transferred to the client. In a content management method for managing content transfer when transferring content between a server and a client,
A server mark indicating a server, a client mark indicating a client, and a content mark set between the server mark and the client mark and corresponding to the managed content are displayed on the server display screen.
A content management method for changing a display state of the content mark in accordance with a transfer state of content corresponding to the content mark. In a content display method for managing content transfer when transferring content between a server and a client,
A server mark indicating a server, a client mark indicating a client, and a content mark set between the server mark and the client mark and corresponding to the managed content are displayed on the server display screen.
The display position of the content mark can be located at one of a first position closer to the server mark side and a second position closer to the client mark side,
A content display method for changing the content mark of the content to be transferred from the first position to the second position when transferring the content having the content mark at the first position to the client.

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