Patent ID: 8923409

Claim:
A splicing apparatus for splicing a first encoded stream and a second encoded stream at a splicing point, said splicing apparatus comprising: decoding means for decoding only a predetermined number of frames included in a first predetermined section including a first splicing point set in the first encoded stream and for decoding only a predetermined number of frames included in a second predetermined section including a second splicing point set in the second encoded stream for generating first and second video data, respectively, at least some of the predetermined number of frames included in the first predetermined section preceding the first splicing point and at least some of the predetermined number of frames included in the second predetermined section following the second splicing point; re-encoding means for re-encoding the first and second video data by splicing said first and second video data at the respective first and second splicing points to generate a re-encoded stream containing the first and second predetermined sections, the re-encoded stream being adapted for subsequent decoding by a decoder; and splice control means for controlling the re-encoding means so as to control the amount of bits in the first predetermined section and to control the amount of bits in the second predetermined section of the re-encoded stream in accordance with data occupancy of a virtual buffer corresponding to an input buffer of the decoder to prevent overflow and underflow of the decoder input buffer.