Device for simultaneous recording and playback of television images

Claim 2

Device according to the claim, 1 characterized in that it uses a recording medium of the type dual port rotating direct access storage; that it consists of several (N) reading mechanisms and several (M) recording mechanisms; that it consists of additional buffer memories for speed adaptation; that the reading functions are performed in the buffer memory, and that the buffer memory is filled in advance by the N reading mechanisms from N adjacent tracks of the rotating memory; that the recording functions are performed in the buffer memory, and that the buffer memory is emptied by the M recording mechanisms onto M adjacent tracks of the rotating memory.

Claim 3

Device according to one of the claims 1 or 2 characterized in that it copies recordings from one place of the recording medium to another place of this same recording medium; that the reading mechanism reads the television image and the associated sound signals from the storage cell indicated by the RAR, transmits them to the recording mechanism which writes them into the storage cell indicated by the WAR, and reproduces them on the television screen for control.

Claim 4

Device according to one of the claims 1, 2 or 3 characterized in that the reading mechanism(s) reproduce(s) and/or that the recording mechanism(s) record(s) the television images in one of the following modes: normal speed forward, accelerated speed forward, reduced speed forward, normal speed backward, accelerated speed backward, reduced speed backward, still image, image by image forward, image by image backward.

Claim 5

Method of recording television images and their reproduction in near-realtime, and of reducing by reading at accelerated speed the time during which commercial breaks and other sequences of a television program disturb the television viewer, characterized in that it consists of the following steps: - one records the television image on a recording medium of the type double port direct access storage: a) a write address register (WAR) is initialized to zero b) as soon as a television image with the associated sound signals is received from the television receiver, a recording mechanism writes it, possibly after formatting, into the storage cell indicated by the WAR c) a "1" is added to the value of the WAR such that the next image will be written into the next storage cell d) the sequence b), c) is repeated until one stops the recording or until the WAR reaches the number L of available storage cells; - one waits the time T that corresponds approximately to the duration of all commercial breaks one wants to eliminate from the program one wishes to watch; - one starts the reading from the same recording medium in order to reproduce the recorded images on the television screen: e) a read address register (RAR) is initialized to zero f) a reading mechanism reads the television image with the associated sound signals from the storage cell indicated by the RAR and stores it in buffer memories g) from the buffer memories, possibly after formatting, and at the normal frequency of F television images per second, the image is transmitted to the television screen for restitution h) a "1" is added to the value of the RAR such that the next image will be read from the next storage cell i) the sequence f), g), h) is repeated until one goes to the next step of the method, until one stops the reading, or until the RAR reaches the number L of available storage cells; - at the beginning of each commercial break, one reproduces the images through reading at N times accelerated speed, such that one can reduce by a significant factor the duration of the interruption due to a commercial break, while still being able to identify the end of the commercial break: j) the reading mechanism reads the television image with the associated sound signals from the storage cell indicated by the RAR and stores it in the buffer memories k) from the buffer memories, possibly after formatting, and at the normal frequency of F television images per second, the image is transmitted to the television screen for restitution l) N is added to the value of the RAR such that the next image will be read from the N-th storage cell that follows the cell one was just reading m) the sequence j), k), l) is repeated until one goes to the next step of the method, until one stops reading, or until the RAR reaches the number L of available storage cells; - at the end of the commercial break, one reproduces the recorded images at the normal speed: n) the reading mechanism reads the television image with the associated sound signals from the storage cell indicated by the RAR and stores it in the buffer memories o) from the buffer memories, possibly after formatting, and at the normal frequency of F television images per second, the image is transmitted to the television screen for restitution p) a "1" is added to the value of the RAR such that the next image will be read from the next storage cell q) the sequence n), o), p) is repeated until one asks again for reading at accelerated speed, until one stops the reading, or until the RAR reaches the number L of available storage cells.

Claim 6

Method according to claim 5 characterized in that one removes commercial breaks and other sequences one does not want to keep from the recording medium, by copying successively the sequences of the recording one wants to keep, one after the other, and in that it consists of the following steps: - one positions the recording mechanism at the beginning of the recording medium or after the first sequence of the recording one wishes to keep: a) the write address register (WAR) is initialized to zero, or b) the write address register (WAR) is initialized to the value of the read address register (RAR); - one positions the reading mechanism at the beginning of the sequence of the recording one wishes to keep: c) the RAR is not modified; - one makes a copy with the recording mechanism of the television images read by the reading mechanism, while reproducing these images on the television screen for control: d) the reading mechanism reads the television image with the associated sound signals from the storage cell indicated by the RAR, stores it in the buffer memories, and passes it to the recording mechanism e) the recording mechanism writes the television image with the associated sound signals into the storage cell indicated by the WAR f) from the buffer memories, possibly after formatting, and at the normal frequency of F television images per second, the image is transmitted to the television screen for restitution g) "1" is added to the value of the RAR h) "1" is added to the value of the WAR i) the sequence d), e), f), g), h) is repeated until one goes to the next step of the method, until one stops copying, or until the RAR or the WAR reaches the number L of available storage cells; - at the beginning of each commercial break, one stops making the copy, leaving the recording mechanism in place, and one searches the end of the commercial break, by reproducing the images through reading at accelerated speed: j) the recording mechanism is stopped k) the reading mechanism reads the television image with the associated sound signals from the storage cell indicated by the RAR and stores it in the buffer memories l) from the buffer memories, possibly after formatting, and at the normal frequency of F television images per second, the image is transmitted to the television screen for restitution m) N is added to the value of the RAR such that the next image will be read from the N-th storage cell that follows the cell one was just reading n) the sequence k), l), m) is repeated until one goes to the next step of the method, until one stops reading, or until the RAR reaches the number L of available storage cells; - at the end of each commercial break, one makes a copy with the recording mechanism of the television image read by the reading mechanism, while reproducing these images on the television screen: o) the reading mechanism reads the television image with the associated sound signals from the storage cell indicated by the RAR, stores it in the buffer memories, and passes it to the recording mechanism p) the recording mechanism writes the television image with the associated sound signals into the storage cell indicated by the WAR q) from the buffer memories, possibly after formatting, and at the normal frequency of F television images per second, the image is transmitted to the television screen for restitution r) "1" is added to the value of the RAR s) "1" is added to the value of the WAR t) the sequence o), p), q), r), s) is repeated until one goes to the next step of the method, until one stops copying, or until the RAR or the WAR reach the number L of available storage cells.

Claim 7

Method according to claim 6 characterized in that one makes the copy of the television images in one of the following modes: normal speed forward, accelerated speed forward, reduced speed forward, normal speed backward, accelerated speed backward, reduced speed backward, still image, image by image forward, image by image backward.

Claim 8

Method according to one of the claims 5, 6 or 7 characterized in that, at the beginning of the commercial break, the search for the end of the break is performed by the series of two functions: first, a rapid movement of the reading mechanism on the recording medium; then, reading at accelerated speed: a) the value of the reading mechanism displacement register (RMDR) is added to the value of the read address register (RAR) such that the television image with the associated sound signals will be read from the storage cell that is located a number of cells corresponding to the value of the RMDR further on the recording medium than the one one was just reading b) the reading mechanism reads the television image with the associated sound signals from the storage cell indicated by the RAR and stores it in the buffer memories c) from the buffer memories, possibly after formatting, and at the normal frequency of F television images per second, the image is transmitted to the television screen for restitution d) N is added to the value of the RAR such that the next image will be read from the N-th storage cell that follows the cell one was just reading e) the sequence b), c), d) is repeated until one asks again for reading at normal speed, until one stops the reading, or until the RAR reaches the number L of available storage cells; in that, prior to the use of this function, the RMDR is initialized with the number of television images that corresponds to the duration of the shortest commercial break.

Claim 9

Method according to one of the claims 5, 6, 7 or 8 characterized in that the recording mechanism is moved rapidly from one place of the recording medium to another, by initializing the WAR with the sum of the values of the WAR and the WMDR; that the WMDR can be initialized with the number of television images that corresponds to the duration of the recording one wishes to jump over before recommencing the recording; that the reading mechanism is moved rapidly from one place of the recording medium to another, by initializing the RAR with the sum of the values of the RAR and the RMDR; that the RMDR can be initialized with the number of television images that corresponds to the duration of the recording one wishes to jump over before recommencing the reading; that with a negative contents of the WMDR or the RMDR, the movement is done backwards.