Patent ID: 7356247

Claim:
A data recording apparatus for recording and playing a stream of encoded digital data, said data recording apparatus comprising: a receiver unit operable to receive the stream of encoded digital data; an analyzer operable to detect a change in an attribute of the stream of encoded digital data received by said receiver unit and operable to output detection data containing information which indicates the detection of the change in the attribute of the stream of encoded digital data; a controller operable to generate management information containing the detection data output by said analyzer, time information indicating a time at which the change in the attribute of the stream of encoded digital data was detected, a first entry point, which is defined based on the time information, wherein the first entry point is an access point from which the stream of encoded digital data is operable to begin playing, and a second entry point, which represents a user-defined access point selected from any point within the stream of encoded digital data, from which the stream of encoded digital data is operable to begin playing; a drive operable to record the management information generated by said controller and operable to record the stream of encoded digital data received by said receiving unit to a data storage medium; and an input unit operable to receive a user input by which the user selects the user-defined access point from any point within the stream of encoded digital data, and operable to define the second entry point based on the user input and a playback path of the stream of encoded digital data.