Patent ID: 8041194

Claim:
A decode control apparatus for decoding encoded data and generating reverse playback image data, the apparatus comprising: means for controlling the reading of the encoded data at a specified playback speed; means for generating, from the encoded data read under the control of the read control means, a plurality of shortened encoded data groups; means for distributing the plurality of shortened encoded data groups among a plurality of decoders operable to provide decoding of the plurality of shortened encoded data groups at the specified playback speed; and means for generating the reverse playback image data responsive to the specified playback speed based on the decoding of the plurality of shortened encoded data groups by the plurality of decoders, the means for generating the reverse playback image data selecting a plurality of pictures from within each of the plurality of shortened encoded data groups, wherein the encoded data is read on a basis of a predetermined group having a predetermined number of image frames, wherein a number of image frames included in each shortened encoded data group is less than that that of the predetermined group, wherein each shortened encoded data group includes two types of image frames: a first type of image frame are to be selected to generate the reverse playback image; and a second type of image frames are required ones during a decoding of the first type of image frames, and wherein the plurality of pictures from within each of the plurality of shortened encoded data groups are selected based on the specific playback speed set from among a plurality of playback speeds.