Patent ID: 7373079

Claim:
A stream conversion apparatus for converting a first stream including video data and audio data multiplexed in a specific format to a second stream, the first stream having a structure for storing data segmented in first blocks, the second stream having a structure for storing data segmented in second blocks, the maximum data size of the first and second blocks being different, wherein with the constrained format, a specific number of consecutive first blocks in the first stream are managed as a unit (Multiplexing Unit), the specific number is set so that a total amount of data stored in the unit does not exceed an amount of data stored to one second block, and all data stored in the same unit are the same video stream or the same audio stream, an input start time to a system decoder of a destination second block to which the stream is converted is the same as the later one of a first candidate time and a second candidate time, the first candidate time being the input start time to the system decoder of a source unit being converted, the second candidate time being the time at which input to the system decoder of the second block immediately before the destination second block to which the source unit is converted ends, the stream conversion system comprises: a reading section operable to read the first stream from the recording medium; a conversion section operable to convert the read first stream to a second stream; and a recording section operable to record the converted second stream to the recording medium; and the conversion section converts, by unit, the first blocks composing the unit to one second block without changing the multiplexing order of the first blocks, and selects the later one of the first and second candidate times as the time stamp information of the converted second block to set the decoder input start time of the second block.