Recording medium having data structure for managing presentation duration of still pictures recorded thereon and recording and reproducing methods and apparatuses

An apparatus for recording a data structure for managing presentation duration of still picture data on a recording medium, comprising:

• a drive for driving an optical recording means that records data on the recording medium;
• an encoder for encoding the still picture data;
• and
• a controller for controlling the drive to record the encoded data on the recording medium,
• wherein the controller controls the drive to record a still picture stream including at least one still picture having finite presentation duration and at least one still picture having infinite presentation duration, and to record management information for the still picture stream, said management information having sequence information to divide said still picture stream to logical sequences based on the still picture having infinite presentation duration.

A method for reproducing a recording medium having a data structure for managing presentation duration of still picture data thereon, comprising the steps of:

• reproducing from the recording medium a still picture stream including at least one still picture having finite presentation duration and at least one still picture having infinite presentation duration;
• reproducing from the recording medium management information for the still picture stream, said management information having sequence information to divide said still picture stream to logical sequences based on the still picture having infinite presentation duration;
• and
• making presentation of a last still picture of each sequence infinitely while waiting a specific command from a user.

An apparatus for reproducing a data structure for managing presentation duration of a still picture data recorded on a recording medium, comprising:

• a drive for driving an optical reproducing device to reproduce data recorded on the recording medium;
• a decoder for presenting the reproduced data;
• and
• a controller for controlling the drive to reproduce a still picture stream including at least one still picture having finite presentation duration and at least one still picture having infinite presentation duration, and to reproduce management information for the still picture stream, said management information having sequence information to divide said still picture stream to logical sequences based on the still picture having infinite presentation duration, wherein the controller further controls the decoder to conduct infinite presentation of a last still picture pertaining to each sequence while waiting a specific command from a user.