VIDEO DATA DECODING METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR HIGH-SPEED REPRODUCTION

A video data decoding method and apparatus for high-speed reproduction of variable length encoded video information is provided to realize a more acceptable high-speed reproduced picture within a faster time. Each picture unit of data in the Group Of Pictures (GOP) layer has a picture header which contains user data which specifies the exact encoded length of that picture unit of data. If during high-speed reproduction that particular unit of picture data is to not to be displayed, then the whole unit of data may be skipped according to the user data which specifies how long the data unit is. Otherwise, there would be no way of knowing a priori how long the picture unit of data has been encoded to be and the entire unit must be read to search for the beginning of the next picture unit of data. As a result of the placement of information regarding the picture unit of data in the picture header, P-picture data as well as I-picture data may feasibly be used for high-speed reproduction.