Method and apparatus for visual search control of digital video files

摘要

A visual search control of digital video files capable of realizing a high quality image even in the fast forward and fast reverse modes, while facilitating a quick mode switching among the normal playback mode and the fast forward and fast reverse modes. Each digital video file contains: normal playback data for a normal playback mode; fast forward and fast reverse data for fast forward and fast reverse modes; and a frame management information containing an entry for each frame in the normal playback data and the fast forward and fast reverse data, where each entry registers a frame number of each frame, and a switching target frame number indicating a frame number of a next frame to be read out next when a mode switching occurs; such that when a mode switching request is received along with a currently displayed frame number from a user terminal, an entry in the frame management information which registers the frame number identical to the received currently displayed frame number is looked up to obtain the switching target frame number registered therein and the requested mode switching is made by making an access to the next frame indicated by the obtained switching target frame number, reading out digital video data starting from the next frame, and transferring the read out digital video data to the user terminal.