| 摘要 |
An apparatus and a method for locating and presenting pre-recorded information, and more particularly, locating and presenting any of a plurality of messages which are recorded on video medium such as video disc or video tape. In one aspect, the apparatus may adopt the form of an informational display system which provides information regarding consumer products or services. The apparatus includes an imput mechanism such as a plurality of manually operable imput switches, a video display screen and a controller, which controls a video tape unit in the apparatus for locating and presenting a selected message. In another aspect, the apparatus is designed to locate any of a plurality of messages pre-recorded on tape, such as video tape, in a relatively short search time. In this embodiment, the apparatus comprises a plurality of tape units including at least a first tape unit and a second tape unit. A separate tape is used for each tape unit, and essentially the same messages are recorded on each tape. A controller in the apparatus assigns to the first tape unit a first group of the messages which are to be located and presented and a second group of the messages which are to be located and presented to thereby reduce the amount of search time. Further, an initial start position is located intermediate and preferably midway between the first and last messages in each group assigned to each tape unit. When a selection is made, the tape unit having that selection in the assigned group will move the tape either to the right or left from the start position to the selected message. In this way, it is only necessary to move the tape a relatively short distance to the selected message.
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