METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DEFINING ENTRY POINTS IN A DATA STREAM

摘要

The invention relates to a method and an apparatus for defining entry points for a data stream, in particular a stream of audiovisual information. Entry points in the stream are defined at a predetermined interval. This may be atime interval, a byte interval or any other interval. It is an object of the invention to provide an entry point table having a limited size. This object is achieved by increasing the interval between entry points if the table exceeds a predetermined size. This size may be defined in bytes, in the number of entry points or even in the number of sub-tables. After redefinition of the interval between entry points, entry points are redefined. The invention also relates to an apparatus for defining the entry points and to a record carrier with a data stream incorporating entry points defined by the method according to the invention.