Information recording disc and reproducing apparatus therefor

Claim 2

An information recording disc for use on a reproducing apparatus having a reproducing element for reproducing signals from the information recording disc, said information recording disc comprising a recording surface, a spiral track formed on said recording surface, said spiral track being made up of a plurality of track turns and being recorded with information signals including at least video signals, said information signals being related to a plurality of mutually different parallel programs only one of which parallel programs is selectively reproduced in a given reproducing time period, said information signals being switched in terms of a plurality of fields recorded in one track turn or in terms of a number of fields smaller than the number of fields recorded in one track turn, and a parallel program recorded region formed in at least a part of said recording surface, said parallel program recorded region comprising within a predetermined sector on said recording surface a plurality of adjacent track turns recorded with information signals of the same field and related to said plurality of parallel programs, characterized in that there are provided: a single program recorded region formed in a part of said recording surface and recorded with a single program which is to be reproduced after one of said plurality of parallel programs in said parallel program recorded region is reproduced, and a connecting region formed in a part of said recording surface between said parallel program recorded region and said single program recorded region for smoothly connecting said parallel program recorded region and said single program recorded region, each of said parallel program recorded region and said connecting region comprising track turns having vertical blanking parts recorded with vertical blanking periods of the video signals, at least one of said vertical blanking parts in each track turn being recorded with address signals each comprising a first code (N3) indicating whether a program recorded in a track turn of a region is a single program or another program, a second code (N4) indicating whether the region is the parallel program recorded region or the connecting region, a fourth code (N6) indicating the number of programs recorded in the region, and a fifth code (N7) indicating the program number of the program recorded in the region.

Claim 3

An information recording disc as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that m fields of the information signals are recorded in one track turn of said information recording disc, where m is an integer greater than or equal to two, and said connecting region comprises a fifth region in which one track turn among m track turns which is closest to said single program recorded region is successively recorded with first through m-th fields of the information signals, one track turn among the m track turns which is closest to said parallel program recorded region is recorded with the first field of the information signals only over a predetermined segment thereof corresponding to one field, said information signals of the first field are recorded in each of adjacent track turns among the m track turns, the information signals of the second field are recorded in each of adjacent track turns among the m-1 track turns excluding the track turn closest to said parallel program recorded region, and the information signals of the third through m-th fields are similarly recorded in each of successively decreasing number of adjacent track turns.

Claim 4

An information recording disc as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that said address signals each comprise a third code (N5) indicating a value required for calculating a number of track pitches over which the reproducing element of the reproducing apparatus is to be kicked from one track turn to another track turn within one or more blanking parts during a normal reproduction mode.

Claim 5

An information recording disc as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that there is further provided a recorded region formed immediately prior to said parallel program recorded region for moving the reproducing element of the reproducing apparatus to a first field of a parallel program in said parallel program recorded region having a preset program number.

Claim 6

A reproducing apparatus for reproducing signals from an information recording disc (11) comprising a recording surface, a spiral track (T) formed on said recording surface, said spiral track being made up of a plurality of track turns and being recorded with information signals including at least video signals, said information signals being related to a plurality of mutually different parallel programs only one of which parallel programs is selectively reproduced in a given reproducing time period, said information signals being switched in terms of a plurality of fields recorded in one track turn or in terms of a number of fields smaller than the number of fields recorded in one track turn, a parallel program recorded region formed in at least a part of said recording surface, said parallel program recorded region comprising within a predetermined sector on said recording surface a plurality of adjacent track turns recorded with information signals of the same field and related to said plurality of parallel programs, a single program recorded region formed in a part of said recording surface and recorded with a single program which is to be reproduced after one of said parallel programs in said parallel program recorded region is reproduced, and a connecting region formed in a part of said recording surface between said parallel program recorded region and said single program recorded region for smoothly connecting said parallel program recorded region and said single program recorded region, each of said parallel program recorded region and said connecting region comprising track turns having vertical blanking parts recorded with vertical blanking periods of the video signals, at least one of said vertical blanking parts in each track turn being recorded with address signals each comprising a first code (N3) indicating whether a program recorded in a track turn of a region is a single program or another program, a second code (N4) indicating whether the region is the parallel program recorded region or the connecting region, a fourth code (N6) indicating the number of programs recorded in the region, and a fifth code (N7) indicating the program number of the program recorded in the region, said reproducing apparatus comprising a reproducing element (12) for scanning over said spiral track of said information recording disc, demodulating means (17, 18) for demodulating signals reproduced by said reproducing element into original information signals, kicking means (28, 15) for kicking said reproducing element from one track turn to another track turn responsive to kick pulses applied thereto, said reproducing element being kicked over a number of track pitches in a direction dependent on a number and the polarity of said kick pulses applied to said kicking means, respectively, selecting means (31-34) for selecting externally of said reproducing apparatus a program number of a parallel program which is to be reproduced from among said plurality of parallel programs, and an address signal reproducing circuit (35) for detecting and reproducing said address signals from an output reproduced signal of said demodulating means, characterized in that there is further provided control means (29, 36, 37) supplied with output address signals of said address signal reproducing circuit (35) for calculating a number of track pitches over which said reproducing element (12) must kicked in each of said vertical blanking parts in one track turn of the information recording disc (11) in order to reproduce the selected parallel program in a normal reproducing mode and for supplying to said kicking means (28, 15) the calculated number of kick pulses having a polarity dependent on the direction in which said reproducing element is to be kicked.

Claim 7

A reproducing apparatus for reproducing signals from an information recording disc (11) comprising a recording surface, a spiral track (T) formed on said recording surface, said spiral track being made up of a plurality of track turns and being recorded with information signals including at least video signals, said information signals being related to a plurality of mutually different parallel programs only one of which parallel programs is selectively reproduced in a given reproducing time period, said information signals being switched in terms of a plurality of fields recorded in one track turn or in terms of a number of fields smaller than the number of fields recorded in one track turn, a parallel program recorded region formed in at least a part of said recording surface, said parallel program recorded region comprising within a predetermined sector on said recording surface a plurality of adjacent track turns recorded with information signals of the same field and related to said plurality of parallel programs, a single program recorded region formed in a part of said recording surface and recorded with a single program which is to be reproduced after one of said parallel programs in said parallel program recorded region is reproduced, and a connecting region formed in a part of said recording surface between said parallel program recorded region and said single program recorded region for smoothly connecting said parallel program recorded region and said single program recorded region, each of said parallel program recorded region and said connecting region comprising track turns having vertical blanking parts recorded with vertical blanking periods of the video signals, at least one of said vertical blanking parts in each track turn being recorded with address signals each comprising a first code (N3) indicating whether a program recorded in a track turn of a region is a single program or another program, a second code (N4) indicating whether the region is the parallel program recorded region or the connecting region, a fourth code (N6) indicating the number of programs recorded in the region, and a fifth code (N7) indicating the program number of the program recorded in the region, said reproducing apparatus comprising a reproducing element (12) for scanning over said spiral track of said information recording disc, demodulating means (17, 18) for demodulating signals reproduced by said reproducing element into original information signals, kicking means (28, 15) for kicking said reproducing element from one track turn to another track turn responsive to kick pulses applied thereto, said reproducing element being kicked over a number of track pitches in a direction dependent on a number and the polarity of said kick pulses applied to said kicking means, respectively, selecting means (31-34) for selecting externally of said reproducing apparatus a program number of a parallel program which is to be reproduced from among said plurality of parallel programs, and an address signal reproducing circuit (35) for detecting and reproducing said address signals from an output reproduced signal of said demodulating means, characterized in that there is further provided control means (29, 36, 37) supplied with output address signals of said address signal reproducing circuit (35) for calculating a number of track pitches over which said reproducing element (12) must kicked in each of said vertical blanking parts in one track turn of the information recording disc (11) in order to reproduce the selected parallel program in a normal reproducing mode and for supplying to said kicking means (28, 15) the calculated number of kick pulses having a polarity dependent on the direction in which said reproducing element is to be kicked.