Sony Corporation

Yasuhiro Goto

Fumiyoshi Abe

Kenji Yamasaki

Munehiro Shimomura

In a picture data reproducing method of reproducing picture data recorded to a recording medium according the MPEG standard, there is provisionally stored, into a stream buffer, picture data grouped as a GOP which begins with an I picture, the picture data provisionally stored in the stream buffer is read sequentially starting with a previous picture and the read picture data is decoded in the course of a FORWARD reproduction being done, and picture data acquired from the recording medium is additionally supplied to the stream buffer. When the picture data provisionally stored in the stream buffer have been read in the decoding step to before last N frames, a predetermined amount of picture data is additionally supplied, in the data adding step, beginning at the head of a GOP including picture data in the remaining N-th frame in the stream buffer. Thus, a smooth variable-speed reproduction can be done according to the MPEG Standard.

Picture data reproducing apparatus and method

In an STC generating step, STCs (STC_d) delayed a time 'System_delay' from STC (STC_medium) in compressed picture data read from a recording medium in the normal-speed reproduction mode is sequentially generated. In this STC generating step, there is set at shift from a variable-speed reproduction to normal-speed reproduction an STC initial value on the basis of results of comparison between PTS (PTS_s) in display picture data at the time of reproduction mode shift and {STC_medium at the shift&#x2212;(delay due to the shift (shift_delay)+System_delay)}. Thus, when shifting the reproduction mode from a variable-speed one to normal-sped one in compliance with the MPEG standard, pictures can smoothly be displayed in the normal-speed reproduction mode without skipping over any displayed pictures.

Growing community of inventors

Kanagawa, Japan

Yasuhiro Goto