Patent ID: 8275242

Claim:
A recording/reproducing apparatus for recording a content in a recording medium or reproducing a content from the recording medium, comprising: a recording unit for recording said content in said recording medium, a reproducing unit for reproducing said content from said recording medium; and a control unit for controlling said recording unit and said reproducing unit, wherein said control unit implements a thumbnail image display method of displaying a thumbnail image representative of said content, in accordance with a view state of said content, wherein said thumbnail image display method implemented is one of a plurality of predetermined thumbnail image display methods selectable in said recording/reproducing apparatus; said control unit implements as said thumbnail image display method a first display method of displaying a portion of characteristic portions of said content excluding a portion having a high importance degree, if the view state of said content indicates that said content has already be viewed; and said control unit implements said thumbnail image display method in accordance with a record method used for recording said content, if the view state of said content indicates that said content has not been viewed.