Information recording apparatus, information reproducing apparatus, and related computer programs

1. An information recording apparatus comprising:

first means for capturing pictures and thereby generating moving-picture data representing a sequence of moving-picture fields;

second means for capturing at least one picture and thereby generating still-picture data representing at least one still-picture frame corresponding in picture capture timing to one of the moving-picture fields represented by the moving-picture data;

third means for removing components, which correspond to said one of the moving-picture fields, from the still-picture data generated by the second means to generate supplementary still-picture information;

fourth means for generating link information representing the picture capture timing correspondence between the still-picture frame and said one of the moving-picture fields; and

fifth means for recording the moving-picture data generated by the first means, the supplementary still-picture information generated by the third means, and the link information generated by the fourth means on a recording medium.

2. An information recording apparatus comprising:

first means for capturing pictures and thereby generating moving-picture data representing a sequence of moving-picture frames having a first predetermined pixel-number-based size;

second means for capturing at least one picture and thereby generating still-picture data representing at least one still-picture frame corresponding in picture capture timing to one of the moving-picture frames represented by the moving-picture data, the still-picture frame having a second predetermined pixel-number-based size greater than the first predetermined pixel-number-based size;

third means for oversampling a portion of the moving-picture data which represents said one of the moving-picture frames to generate data representing a frame having a size equal to the second predetermined pixel-number-based size;

fourth means for subtracting the data generated by the third means from the still-picture data generated by the second means to generate supplementary still-picture information;

fifth means for generating link information representing the picture capture timing correspondence between the still-picture frame and said one of the moving-picture frames; and

sixth means for recording the moving-picture data generated by the first means, the supplementary still-picture information generated by the fourth means, and the link information generated by the fifth means on a recording medium.

3. An information reproducing apparatus for reproducing moving-picture data, supplementary still-picture information, and link information from a recording medium which have been recoded by the information recording apparatus of claim 1 , the information reproducing apparatus comprising:

first means for reading out the supplementary still-picture information from the recording medium;

second means for reading out the link information from the recording medium;

third means for identifying one of moving-picture fields represented by the moving-picture data in response to the link information read out by the second means, the identified moving-picture field corresponding in picture capture timing to a still picture related to the supplementary still-picture information read out by the first means;

fourth means for reading out a portion of the moving-picture data from the recording medium which represents the identified moving-picture field; and

fifth means for combining the supplementary still-picture information read out by the first means and the moving-picture data portion read out by the fourth means to generate still-picture data representing an original still picture.

4. An information reproducing apparatus for reproducing moving-picture data, supplementary still-picture information, and link information from a recording medium which have been recoded by the information recording apparatus of claim 2 , the information reproducing apparatus comprising:

first means for reading out the supplementary still-picture information from the recording medium;

second means for reading out the link information from the recording medium;

third means for identifying one of moving-picture frames represented by the moving-picture data in response to the link information read out by the second means, the identified moving-picture frame corresponding in picture capture timing to a still picture related to the supplementary still-picture information read out by the first means;

fourth means for reading out a portion of the moving-picture data from the recording medium which represents the identified moving-picture frame;

fifth means for oversampling the moving-picture data portion read out by the fifth means to generate second moving-picture data; and

sixth means for combining the supplementary still-picture information read out by the first means and the second moving-picture data generated by the fifth means to generate still-picture data representing an original still picture.

5. A computer with peripheral devices and having a computer program that enables the computer and its peripheral devices to perform the following functions of:

capturing pictures and thereby generating moving-picture data representing a sequence of moving-picture fields;

capturing at least one picture and thereby generating still-picture data representing at least one still-picture frame corresponding in picture capture timing to one of the moving-picture fields represented by the moving-picture data;

removing components, which correspond to said one of the moving-picture fields, from the still-picture data to generate supplementary still-picture information;

generating link information representing the picture capture timing correspondence between the still-picture frame and said one of the moving-picture fields; and

recording the moving-picture data, the supplementary still-picture information, and the link information on a recording medium.

6. A computer with peripheral devices and having a computer program that enables the computer and its peripheral devices to perform the following functions of:

capturing pictures and thereby generating moving-picture data representing a sequence of moving-picture frames having a first predetermined pixel-number-based size;

capturing at least one picture and thereby generating still-picture data representing at least one still-picture frame corresponding in picture capture timing to one of the moving-picture frames represented by the moving-picture data, the still-picture frame having a second predetermined pixel-number-based size greater than the first predetermined pixel-number-based size;

oversampling a portion of the moving-picture data which represents said one of the moving-picture frames to generate oversampled data representing a frame having a size equal to the second predetermined pixel-number-based size;

subtracting the oversampled data from the still-picture data to generate supplementary still-picture information;

generating link information representing the picture capture timing correspondence between the still-picture frame and said one of the moving-picture frames; and

recording the moving-picture data, the supplementary still-picture information, and the link information on a recording medium.

7. A computer with peripheral devices and having a computer program that enables the computer and its peripheral devices to perform the following functions of:

reading out supplementary still-picture information from a recording medium;

reading out link information from the recording medium;

identifying one of moving-picture fields represented by moving-picture data in response to the read-out link information, the identified moving-picture field corresponding in picture capture timing to a still picture related to the read-out supplementary still-picture information;

reading out a portion of the moving-picture data from the recording medium which represents the identified moving-picture field; and

combining the read-out supplementary still-picture information and the read-out moving-picture data portion to generate still-picture data representing an original still picture.

8. A computer with peripheral devices and having a computer program that enables the computer and its peripheral devices to perform the following functions of:

reading out supplementary still-picture information from a recording medium;

reading out link information from the recording medium;

identifying one of moving-picture frames represented by moving-picture data in response to the read-out link information, the identified moving-picture frame corresponding in picture capture timing to a still picture related to the read-out supplementary still-picture information;

reading out a portion of the moving-picture data from the recording medium which represents the identified moving-picture frame;

oversampling the read-out moving-picture data portion to generate second moving-picture data; and

combining the read-out supplementary still-picture information and the second moving-picture data to generate still-picture data representing an original still picture.

9. A method comprising the steps of:

capturing pictures and thereby generating moving-picture data representing a sequence of moving-picture fields;

capturing at least one picture and thereby generating still-picture data representing at least one still-picture frame corresponding in picture capture timing to one of the moving-picture fields represented by the moving-picture data;

removing components, which correspond to said one of the moving-picture fields, from the still-picture data to generate supplementary still-picture information;

generating link information representing the picture capture timing correspondence between the still-picture frame and said one of the moving-picture fields; and

recording the moving-picture data, the supplementary still-picture information, and the link information on a recording medium.

10. A method comprising the steps of:

capturing pictures and thereby generating moving-picture data representing a sequence of moving-picture frames having a first predetermined pixel-number-based size;

capturing at least one picture and thereby generating still-picture data representing at least one still-picture frame corresponding in picture capture timing to one of the moving-picture frames represented by the moving-picture data, the still-picture frame having a second predetermined pixel-number-based size greater than the first predetermined pixel—number-based size;

oversampling a portion of the moving-picture data which represents said one of the moving-picture frames to generate oversampled data representing a frame having a size equal to the second predetermined pixel-number-based size;

subtracting the oversampled data from the still-picture data to generate supplementary still-picture information;

generating link information representing the picture capture timing correspondence between the still-picture frame and said one of the moving-picture frames; and

recording the moving-picture data, the supplementary still-picture information, and the link information on a recording medium.

11. A method comprising the steps of:

reading out supplementary still-picture information from a recording medium;

reading out link information from the recording medium;

identifying one of moving-picture fields represented by moving-picture data in response to the read-out link information, the identified moving-picture field corresponding in picture capture timing to a still picture related to the read-out supplementary still-picture information;

reading out a portion of the moving-picture data from the recording medium which represents the identified moving-picture field; and

combining the read-out supplementary still-picture information and the read-out moving-picture data portion to generate still-picture data representing an original still picture.

12. A method comprising the steps of:

reading out supplementary still-picture information from a recording medium;

reading out link information from the recording medium;

identifying one of moving-picture frames represented by moving-picture data in response to the read-out link information, the identified moving-picture frame corresponding in picture capture timing to a still picture related to the read-out supplementary still-picture information;

reading out a portion of the moving-picture data from the recording medium which represents the identified moving-picture frame;

oversampling the read-out moving-picture data portion to generate second moving-picture data; and

combining the read-out supplementary still-picture information and the second moving-picture data to generate still-picture data representing an original still picture.