Patent ID: 7292772

Claim:
A decoding apparatus for decoding a coded stream, comprising: input means for inputting a speeded-up coded stream, comprising a plurality of coded streams; a plurality of decoding means for decoding said speeded-up coded stream; a plurality of decoding control means for controlling said plurality of decoding means such that said plurality of decoding means operate in parallel; selection means for selecting a particular one of a plurality of picture data decoded and output by said plurality of decoding means; and output control means for outputting, at an arbitrary playback speed, a picture corresponding to each of said plurality of coded streams of said speeded-up coded stream decoded by said plurality of decoding means, wherein said plurality of decoding means output an end signal indicating completion of decoding to said selection means, said selection means includes storage means for storing a value corresponding to a processing state of each of said plurality of decoding means such that when values stored in said storage means all become equal to a first value, a value stored therein corresponding to decoding means outputting said end signal indicating completion of decoding is changed from said first value to a second value.