Images reproducing method capable of skipping reproduction of collateral information during reproduction in a special mode

Claim 2

A reproducing method for reproducing images by reading an image signal recorded on a recording medium, the image signal including (i) a plurality of basic blocks each including basic image data capable of independently representing an image and (ii) a plurality of collateral blocks each including collateral image data capable of representing the image when supplemented with basic image data, each of the basic blocks and collateral blocks including additional data capable of identifying a block as a basic block or as a collateral block, said reproducing method comprising the steps of: reading the image signal from the recording medium in a reverse sequence which is reverse from a recording sequence; discriminating whether a block included in the reverse read image signal is a basic block or a collateral block in accordance with the additional data included in the block; and reproducing, in accordance with the results of said discriminating step, only the basic image data from the reverse-read image signal.

Claim 3

A reproducing method according to claim 1, wherein the recording medium comprises a disc recording medium.

Claim 4

A reproducing method according to claim 1, wherein said reproducing method includes a normal reproduction mode and a reverse reproduction mode, and wherein said reading step comprises the step of selecting one of the normal reproduction mode, in which the basic blocks and the collateral blocks are read in a sequence corresponding to a recording sequence of the image signal, and the reverse reproduction mode, in which the basic blocks and the collateral blocks are read in a reverse sequence which is reverse from a recording sequence of the image signal.

Claim 5

A reproducing method according to claim 3, wherein, when the reverse reproduction mode is selected, the basic image data is reproduced and at least a portion of the collateral image data is not reproduced, and wherein, when the normal reproduction mode is selected, the basic image data is reproduced and the collateral image data is reproduced.

Claim 6

A reproducing method according to claim 1, wherein the basic image data and the collateral image data have been compressed by encoding, and wherein said reproducing step comprises a step of decoding the encoded image data.

Claim 7

A reproducing method according to claim 1, wherein the collateral image data represents a partial image to be superimposed on an image represented by the basic image data.

Claim 8

A reproducing apparatus for reproducing images by reading an image signal recorded on a recording medium, the image signal including (i) a plurality of basic blocks each including basic image data capable of independently representing an image and (ii) a plurality of collateral blocks each including collateral image data capable of representing the image when supplemented with basic image data, each of the basic blocks and collateral blocks including additional data capable of identifying a block as a basic block or a collateral block, said reproducing apparatus comprising: reading means for reading the image signal from the recording medium; setting means for setting a mode of the reproducing apparatus from among a plurality of modes including a normal reproduction mode, in which basic blocks and collateral blocks are read by said reading means in a sequence corresponding to a recording sequence of the image signal, and a reverse reproduction mode, in which the basic blocks and collateral blocks are read by said reading means in a sequence reverse to a recording sequence of the image signal; discriminating means for discriminating whether a block in the image signal read by said reading means is a basic block or a collateral block by using the additional data included in the block, and for producing a discrimination output; and reproducing means for reproducing, in accordance with the discrimination output of said discriminating means, only basic image data in the reverse reproduction mode and for reproducing data from both the basic blocks and collateral blocks in the normal reproduction mode.

Claim 9

A reproducing apparatus for reproducing images by reading an image signal recorded on a recording medium, the image signal including (i) a plurality of basic blocks each including basic image data capable of independently representing an image and (ii) a plurality of collateral blocks each including collateral image data capable of representing the image when supplemented with basic image data, each of the basic blocks and collateral blocks including additional data capable of identifying a block as a basic block or a collateral block, said reproducing apparatus comprising: reading means for reading the image signal from the recording medium; setting means for setting a mode of the reproducing apparatus from among a plurality of modes including a normal reproduction mode, in which basic blocks and collateral blocks are read by said reading means in a sequence corresponding to a recording sequence of the image signal, and a reverse reproduction mode, in which the basic blocks and collateral blocks are read by said reading means in a sequence reverse to a recording sequence of the image signal; discriminating means for discriminating whether a block in the image signal read by said reading means is a basic block or a collateral block by using the additional data included in the block, and for producing a discrimination output; and reproducing means for reproducing, in accordance with the discrimination output of said discriminating means, only basic image data in the reverse reproduction mode and for reproducing data from both the basic blocks and collateral blocks in the normal reproduction mode.

Claim 10

A reproducing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the basic image data and the collateral image data have been compressed by encoding, and wherein said reproducing means comprises a decoding circuit for decoding the encoded image data.