Patent ID: 7471875

Claim:
A method for displaying video data instantly in reverse order, the method comprising: receiving a compressed audio and video (A/V) stream from a source; demultiplexing the compressed A/V stream into an audio stream and a video stream, the video stream having a plurality of compressed video frames, the plurality of compressed video frames having a plurality of key frames, each key frame being followed by one or more associated frames; tagging each of the plurality of compressed video frames with a tag; storing the tag associated with each key frame and file position of each key frame in a table; decoding the plurality of compressed video frames to generate a plurality of decoded video frames while maintaining their corresponding tags; during normal play: storing the plurality of decoded video frames in a forward queue; and outputting the plurality of decoded video frames in the forward queue in a FIFO (first-in-first-out) order to a reverse queue and a display device for display, wherein the reverse queue operates in a FIFO manner by discarding the oldest decoded video frame stored in the reverse queue when the reverse queue is full; and during reverse play: recording the tag of the oldest decoded video frame in the reverse queue when a reverse play command is received; outputting the plurality of decoded video frames in the reverse queue in a LIFO (last-in-first-out) order to the forward queue and the display device for display, wherein the forward queue initially operates in a LIFO manner by discarding the most recently decoded video frame stored in the forward queue; using the recorded tag to retrieve one or more of the plurality of compressed video frames in the compressed A/V stream; tagging and decoding the retrieved one or more compressed video frames to generate one or more newly decoded video frames; and forwarding the one or more newly decoded video frames to the reverse queue.