Patent ID: 8036516

Claim:
An apparatus, comprising: a recorder, operable to generate reproduction range information and to record the reproduction range information on a recording medium; and a reproducer, operable to perform either a reproduction of image data recorded on the recording medium according to a VR format or a display of a representative image representatively showing a content of the image data in accordance with the reproduction range information, wherein: the reproduction range information includes at least one of: first information, designating at least one of a program of an original program chain and a program chain of a user-defined program chain; second information, designating an entry point of at least one of a program of an original program chain and a program chain of a user-defined program chain; third information, designating a first time point that the reproduction is begun and a second time point that the reproduction is finished; and mode information, designating one of the first information, the second information and the third information; the reproducer is operable to reproduce a moving image corresponding to a part of the image data designated by the first information as the representative image, in a case where the mode information designates the first information; the reproducer is operable to reproduce a moving image corresponding to a part of the image data designated by the second information as the representative image, in a case where the mode information designates the second information; and the reproducer is operable to reproduce a moving image corresponding to a part of the image data designated by the third information as the representative image, in a case where the mode information designates the third information, wherein the representative image is displayed as a still picture and is changed to a moving picture in response to user instructions, and wherein the representative image is a moving picture having a reduced size.