Patent ID: 7072404

Claim:
A decoding apparatus for decoding an input signal which includes a code stream and data having time management information about decoding of the code stream, comprising: buffering means for buffering the input signal; decoding means for reading out the input signal from said buffering means, decoding the input signal, and writing decoded data in a predetermined memory; output means for outputting the decoded data from the predetermined memory; and control means for controlling said buffering means and said decoding means on the basis of the time management information, wherein said control means checks a time necessary for decoding from the time management information, checks whether processing ends within a limit time, and when the time reaches the limit time before processing of all data ends, controls said decoding means to write decoded data in the predetermined memory, and wherein, when the time reaches the limit time before processing of all data ends, said control means checks whether the decoded data has an image quality not lower than a preset lowest image quality and, if the image quality is not higher than the lowest image quality, newly adds time management information to add a processing time of next data to a processing time of current data, and discards the next data.