Patent ID: 7362907

Claim:
An image encoding apparatus to encode a moving picture sequence as a coded bit stream, comprising: a header multiplexer configured to multiplex header information into the coded stream, wherein the header information include an intra-code indicator that indicates whether a plurality of video object planes (VOP) of a video object layer (VOL) are intra-coded, wherein the intra-code indicator is separate from information indicating whether each individual VOP is intra-coded, and wherein the value of the intra-code indicator is based on an intra-coded instruction signal; and a video signal multiplexer configured to multiplex VOP data of the VOPs of the VOL into the coded bit stream, wherein the moving picture sequence includes one or more video object planes (VOPs), zero or more groups of VOP (GOV), one or more video object layers (VOL), and one or more video objects (VO), wherein a hierarchy of the moving picture sequence is such that each VO includes one or more VOLs, each VOL includes zero or more GOVs and/or one or more VOPs, and each GOV includes one or more VOPs, and wherein at least one VO describes an image object that is a component of the moving picture sequence.