Picture data reproducing apparatus and method

A picture data reproducing apparatus for reproducing, by decoding, picture data compressed by encoding according to the MPEG Standard, comprising:

• a stream buffer which provisionally stores the picture data grouped as a GOP which begins with an I picture;
• a decoding means for reading the picture data provisionally stored in the stream buffer sequentially starting with a next picture and decoding the picture data in the course of a REVERSE reproduction being done;
• and
• a data adding means for additionally supplying picture data acquired from a recording medium to the stream buffer;
• the data adding means additionally supplying, when picture data in a current GOP whose all grouped pictures are provisionally recorded in the stream buffer have been read by the decoding means to before last M frames, picture data in a previous GOP laid before at least the current GOP to the stream buffer.

A picture data reproducing method of reproducing picture data recorded to a recording medium according the MPEG standard, the method comprising the steps of:

• provisionally storing, into a stream buffer, picture data grouped as a GOP which begins with an I picture;
• reading picture data provisionally stored in the stream buffer sequentially starting with a previous picture and decoding the read picture data in the course of a FORWARD reproduction being done;
• and
• additionally supplying picture data acquired from the recording medium 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 being 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.

A picture data reproducing method of reproducing, by decoding, picture data compressed by encoding according to the MPEG Standard, comprising the steps of:

• provisionally storing the picture data grouped as a GOP which begins with an I picture to a stream buffer;
• reading the picture data provisionally stored in the stream buffer sequentially starting with a next picture and decoding the picture data in the course of a REVERSE reproduction being done;
• and
• additionally supplying picture data acquired from a recording medium to the stream buffer;
• in the data adding step, when picture data in a current GOP whose all grouped pictures are provisionally recorded in the stream buffer have been read in the decoding step to before last M frames, there is additionally supplied picture data in a previous GOP laid before at least the current GOP to the stream buffer.