Patent ID: 8644676

Claim:
A data processing apparatus comprising: a plurality of ports for inputting and outputting audio/video data having a plurality of data types; a memory for storing the audio/video data (a) prior to the audio/video data being recorded onto a recording medium and (b) when the audio/video data is played back from the recording medium, the memory partitioned into regions of at least 8 MB, each region stores only one type of audio/video data of the plurality of data types; determining means for determining whether audio/video data, for which a video data playback request designating one of the plurality of ports has been issued, is currently stored in the memory one of (a) prior to being overwritten after being recorded on the recording medium and (b) before being recorded onto the recording medium, using (1) data identification information for identifying the type of audio/video data of the plurality of data types stored in each region in the memory and (2) usage management information showing whether each region in the memory is currently being used by two or more of the ports; and processing means operable to have the audio/video data currently stored in the memory outputted from the designated port without accessing the recording medium for the video data for the playback request, when the determining means determines that the audio/video data is currently stored in the memory one of (a) prior to being overwritten after being recorded on the recording medium and (b) before being recorded onto the recording medium.