Patent EP0668695A2 successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
EP0668695A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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Method for restricting data reproduction
Assignee: Victor Company of Japan Ltd
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Filing: 1995-02-14
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2015-02-14
Abstract
Abstract In a reproduction apparatus, for reproducing an original signal conveyed as main data by a data medium such as a recording disk or broadcasting system, with medium protection data which are specific to the data medium being conveyed together with the main data, the apparatus includes a section (12) for generating apparatus protection data which are specific to the reproduction apparatus, a section (13) for combining the apparatus protection data with the medium protection data to define a protection level, and a section (14) for applying the protection level to restrict reproduction of of the original signal, with stepwise variations in restriction occurring in accordance with changes in protection level. The medium protection data may include information for specifying restricted reproduction of portions of the original signal, such as by producing degraded resolution within specified regions of specified frames of a video signal. <IMAGE>
Inventors
- 👤 Takayuki Sugahara
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-02 19:42
CPC Classifications
G; G11; G11B; G11B20/00; G11B20/10; H; H04; H04N; H04N9/00; H04N9/79; H04N9/87; G06; G06F; G06F21/00; G06F21/10; G06F21/106; G06F21/1063; G11B20/00007; G11B20/00086; G11B20/00094; G11B20/00137; G11B20/00159; G11B20/00188; G11B20/00731; G11B20/00739; G11B20/00746; G11B20/00753; G11B20/00768; G11B27/00; G11B27/10; G11B27/102; G11B27/105; G11B27/19; G11B27/28; G11B27/30; G11B27/3027; G06F2211/00; G06F2211/007; G06F2221/00; G06F2221/21; G06F2221/2101; G06F2221/2107; G06F2221/2113; G06F2221/2149; G11B2020/00014; G11B20/10527; G11B2020/10537; G11B2220/00; G11B2220/20; G11B2220/25; G11B2220/2537; G11B2220/2545; H04N5/00; H04N5/76; H04N5/84; H04N5/85; H04N9/80; H04N9/804; H04N9/8042; H04N9/806
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 18
Claim 1
Independent Claim
104 words
A reproduction protection method comprising: attaching medium protection data, which are specific to a data medium, to main data which represent an original signal, and conveying said medium protection data and main data by said data medium; supplying said main data and medium protection data via said data medium to a reproduction apparatus; generating apparatus protection data which are specific to said reproduction apparatus, within said reproduction apparatus; determining a protection level by combining the medium protection data and the apparatus protection data; and controlling said reproduction apparatus to utilize said main data to reproduce said original signal in accordance with said protection level.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
103 words
A reproduction apparatus providing reproduction protection, for operating on main data which are conveyed by a data medium and represent an original signal and on medium protection data which are specific to said data medium and are conveyed by said data medium, the apparatus comprising: means for generating apparatus protection data which are specific to said reproduction apparatus; means for defining a protection level based on said medium protection data and apparatus protection data in combination; and means for executing reproduction of said original signal by utilizing said main data, including means for selectively restricting said reproduction in accordance with said protection level.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
105 words
A reproduction apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the apparatus further includes: means (10,11) for detecting said medium protection data to obtain a medium protection signal expressing said medium protection level; said generating means comprises means (12) for generating an apparatus protection signal expressing an apparatus protection level which has been assigned to said reproduction apparatus; said defining means comprises means (13) responsive to said medium protection signal and apparatus protection signal for determining a final protection level in accordance with a combination of said medium protection level and apparatus protection level, and generating a final protection level signal expressing said final protection level.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
165 words
A reproduction apparatus providing reproduction protection, for operating on main data which are conveyed by a data medium and represent an original signal and on medium protection data which are specific to said data medium and are conveyed by said data medium, the apparatus comprising: means (10,11) for detecting said medium protection data to obtain a medium protection signal expressing said medium protection level; means (12) for generating an apparatus protection signal expressing an apparatus protection level which has been assigned to said reproduction apparatus; means (13) responsive to said medium protection signal and apparatus protection signal for determining a final protection level in accordance with a combination of said medium protection level and apparatus protection level, and generating a final protection level signal expressing said final protection level; means (15) for utilizing said main data to execute reproduction of said original signal, including means (14) responsive to said final protection level signal for selectively restricting said reproduction in accordance with said final protection level.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
78 words
A reproduction apparatus according to claim 2, 3 or 4, wherein said main data are conveyed by said data medium after having been compressed and encoded, wherein said reproduction apparatus includes means (15a, 15b, 15c) for decoding and means for decompressing said main data, and wherein said means for selectively restricting reproduction of the original signal comprise means for controlling at least one of said decoding means and said decompressing means in accordance with said final protection level.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
89 words
A reproduction apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said main data comprise video data which are conveyed by said data medium after having been compressed by applying a transform operation upon each of fixed-size blocks of pixel values within each frame of a video signal, wherein said decompressing means includes means (15c) for applying an inverse transform operation, and wherein said means for selectively restricting reproduction of the original signal serves to selectively eliminate specific ones of a plurality of transform coefficients utilized in executing said inverse transform operation.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
66 words
A reproduction apparatus according to any of claims 2 to 6, wherein said main data are conveyed by said data medium after having been compressed, quantized and encoded, wherein said reproduction apparatus includes means (15b) for dequantizing said main data, and wherein said means for selectively restricting reproduction of the original signal comprise means for controlling said dequantizing means in accordance with said final protection level.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
47 words
A reproduction apparatus according to any of claims 2 to 7, wherein said means for selectively restricting reproduction of the original signal comprise means (52, 62) for periodically omitting selected portions of said main data from use by said reproduction control means in reproducing said original signal.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
20 words
A reproduction apparatus according to claim 8, wherein each of said selected portions comprises at least one digital data sample.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
33 words
A reproduction apparatus according to claim 8 or claim 9, wherein said main data express a digital video signal, and wherein each of said selected portions comprises at least one video signal frame.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
49 words
A reproduction apparatus according to any of claims 2 to 10, wherein said means for selectively restricting reproduction of the original signal comprises gradation control means (51, 63) for selectively varying a number of signal amplitude gradations which can be expressed by each data sample of said main data.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
49 words
A reproduction apparatus according to any af claims 2 to 11, wherein said means for selectively restricting reproduction of the original signal comprises controllable digital low-pass filter means (61) for filtering said main data, to thereby controllably vary a bandwidth of a reproduced original signal obtained from said apparatus.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
52 words
A reproduction apparatus according to any of claims 2 to 12, wherein said medium protection data specify a medium protection level and protection position information, and wherein said protection position information specifies a portion of said main data which is to subjected to reproduction restriction in accordance with said final protection level.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
38 words
A reproduction apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said main data comprise a digital video signal, and wherein said protection position information specifies at least one region within each of a plurality of frames of said video signal.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
45 words
A reproduction apparatus according to any of claims 2 to 14, further comprising protection severity modification means, operable for modifying said final protection level which is determined by said combination of medium protection data and apparatus protection data, to obtain a modified final protection level.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
71 words
A reproduction apparatus according to claim 15, wherein said severity modification means comprise a manually operable switch (31) provided on said reproduction apparatus, and severity modification circuit means (30) coupled to said switch and coupled to receive a signal representing said final protection level, for modifying said final protection level in accordance with a setting position of said switch and thereby producing an output signal expressing a modified final protection level.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
69 words
A reproduction apparatus according to claim 16, wherein said final protection level has a value which defines one of a plurality of successively increasing degrees of restriction of reproduction of said original signal, extending between a minimum and a maximum degree of restriction, and wherein said severity modification means is responsive to a change in said setting position of the switch for changing only said minimum degree of restriction.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
82 words
A data medium for transferring main data representing an original signal to a reproduction apparatus, to reproduce said original signal by said reproduction apparatus, wherein said data medium further transfers medium protection data which are specific to said data medium and wherein said reproduction apparatus generates apparatus protection data which are specific to said reproduction apparatus, said medium protection data and apparatus protection data in combination specifying a degree of restriction on said reproduction of the original signal by said reproduction apparatus.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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