Patent ID: 6963691

Claim:
A reproducing apparatus comprising: reproducing means for reproducing from a recording medium a plurality of image data which has been recorded in a plurality of independent areas on the recording medium and specified so as to be reproduced in predetermined order, said reproducing means having a pickup mechanism for seeking said independent areas on said recording medium prior to said reproducing of image data; a memory for storing the image data reproduced by said reproducing means; memory control means for controlling a writing and a read-out of said image data into/from said memory; and mode setting means for switching between first and second modes on the basis of positions of said plurality of areas on said recording medium and on a basis of a time for said seeking between said areas by said pickup mechanism, wherein in said first mode the image data recorded in said plurality of areas is reproduced by said reproducing means in an order different from said predetermined order and written in said memory and the image data reproduced from said plurality of areas is read out from said memory in said predetermined order by said memory control means, and in said second mode the image data recorded in said plurality of areas is reproduced in said predetermined order by said reproducing means and written in said memory and the image data reproduced from said plurality of areas is read out from said memory in said predetermined order by said memory control means.