JP2003046948A - Recording/reproducing apparatus for monitoring image - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a recording/reproducing apparatus for monitoring images wherein the reproducing request of a monitoring image data which includes a special reproducing is so received in the course of recording it continuously as to make reproducible immediately the desired image. SOLUTION: A monitoring image data is recorded continuously in a stream recording medium 109 by a stream recording means 105. Concurrently, an index information for specifying the location whereat a stream portion of the image data is recorded in the stream recording medium 109 is recorded in an index recording medium 111 by an index recording means 107. When occurring the reproducing request of the just recorded-off stream portion of the image data in the course of recording continuously the image data, the requested stream portion is so retrieved from the recorded-off index information by an index reading means 108 as to reproduce the requested stream portion by reporting the retrieving result to a stream reading means 106.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a monitor video recording / reproducing apparatus which receives a reproduction request during continuous recording of video data and transmits the video data.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, CCTV (Closed-circuit televi
In the fields such as sion), surveillance cameras are often used for the purpose of building and store security, and not only remote monitoring but also video recording and preparation for accidents such as theft occur. I often keep it. An apparatus for recording / reproducing an image in this case is a time-lapse video cassette recorder (VCR). This is for shooting a long-time video in low-speed recording mode at the time of shooting, and when playing back the video in the normal mode, which is faster than the recording mode. It is possible to achieve the efficiency of work such as.

When such a time-lapse type VCR is used for security purposes, there is a demand for viewing an abnormal recorded image listed in the log file while continuing to record the monitor image. However, there is a demand to immediately view an image recorded a few minutes or hours ago without stopping the recording operation. However, in the above-described method using the time-lapse VCR, in order to watch the surveillance video recorded in the past, the recording mode must be canceled before the video can be rewound and reproduced. Therefore, it is not possible to meet the demand for watching the recorded video while the monitoring video is being recorded. Therefore, there is a possibility that an important recording opportunity may be lost during the reproduction of the recorded video.

In order to cope with such a problem, there has been proposed a monitor video recording / reproducing apparatus which reproduces a video just before the completion of continuous recording even during recording. As shown in FIG. 10, this type of surveillance video recording / reproducing apparatus includes a central control unit including a CPU 1007, a memory 1008, and a hard disk (HDD) 1009, a plurality of optical disks for recording video information, and a storage for storing the optical disks. Parts 1005, 10
06, an information continuous recording device 1002 for recording and storing, a surveillance camera 1012 for photographing a video recording target, and a video processing unit 10 for converting the captured video into a predetermined format.
13, a controller 1014 for operating input / output instructions such as video reproduction and recording, an information continuous reproduction apparatus 1003 for reproducing the instructed video, and a near-term video recording / reproduction apparatus 1004.
By assigning one of a plurality of optical discs as a recording disc, allocating another optical disc for reproduction, and sequentially switching between them to perform continuous reproduction, a video that is on the verge of being recorded without waiting for continuous completion. Was reproduced (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-285504). Further, for the purpose of security such as theft prevention, an image of a desired installation place is photographed, recorded or stored, and reproduced as required.

[0005]

However, in such a conventional surveillance video recording / reproducing apparatus, since the information continuous recording apparatus, the information continuous reproducing apparatus and the near-term video recording / reproducing apparatus are respectively provided and a plurality of optical disks are provided. There was a problem that it would be a large-scale configuration.

The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and a monitoring video recording / reproducing apparatus capable of immediately reproducing a desired video upon receiving a reproduction request including special reproduction during continuous recording of monitoring video data. Is provided.

[0007]

A surveillance video recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention comprises a stream recording means for recording a stream obtained by encoding and multiplexing a video from a surveillance camera on a stream recording medium, and a stream recording means. An index creating unit that creates index information including the number of GOPs, the data size from the beginning of the stream, the GOP size, and the number of pictures in the GOP in units of GOPs, and the index information created by the index creating unit. Index recording means for recording, a user interface control means for inputting a command for controlling normal reproduction or special reproduction, an index reading means for reading out index information recorded on the index recording medium, and an index reading means for reading the index information. Issued With reference to the index information specifying a playback start position of the stream recorded in the stream recording medium, a stream reading means for reading the stream from the stream storage medium,
During video recording, the index information recorded on the index recording medium is searched according to the special reproduction command input from the user interface control means, the index information is read by the index reading means, and the stream indicated by the index information is read. An output control unit for special reproduction is provided which controls the stream reading unit to read out from the stream recording medium, put an end of code at the end of the I picture at the beginning of the GOP in the stream, and send it to the MPEG decoding unit. It has a different configuration. With this configuration, index information can be created in real time from the MPEG-encoded stream that has been sent, and special playback such as fast-forwarding, rewinding, or frame-feeding can be performed immediately from the created index information. . Further, it is possible to reproduce only a desired I picture without compounding a particular stream when MPEG is decoded during reproduction.

The surveillance video recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention is
Stream recording means for recording a stream obtained by encoding and multiplexing the video from the surveillance camera on a stream recording medium, and G as a unit of GOP in the stream.
Index creating means for creating index information including the number of OPs, the data size from the beginning of the stream, the GOP size, and the number of pictures in the GOP, and the index recording means for recording the index information created by the index creating means on an index recording medium. A user interface control means for inputting a command for controlling normal reproduction or special reproduction, index reading means for reading index information recorded on the index recording medium, and index information read by the index reading means. A stream reading unit that refers to the reproduction start position of the stream recorded on the stream recording medium to read out the stream from the stream recording medium, and during video recording,
The index information recorded on the index recording medium is searched according to the trick play command input from the user interface control unit, the index information is read by the index reading unit, and the stream indicated by the index information is read by the stream reading unit. And a trick play output control means for controlling so that only the I picture at the head of the GOP in the stream is sent to the MPEG decoding means at the requested speed. There is. With this configuration, when there is a continuous special reproduction request such as fast-forward or rewind, the I-picture is transmitted at a desired timing by measuring the timing for transmitting the I-picture, so that the reproduction can be performed at the reproduction speed desired by the user.

The monitoring video recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention is
The index reading means is provided with a read-ahead buffer for expanding only a file including index information corresponding to a reproduction command from the user interface control means. With this configuration,
By expanding only the file requested by the user into the read-ahead buffer, it is possible to search for the desired index information at high speed by searching only the desired file among the huge number of files recorded on the index recording medium. Becomes

Further, in the surveillance video recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention, the index reading means simultaneously develops a file containing index information corresponding to a reproduction command from the user interface control means and files before and after this file. It has a structure in which a look-ahead buffer for doing so is provided. With this configuration, the file requested by the user and the files before and after it are also expanded in the read-ahead buffer at the same time, so that a jump playback request from the vicinity of the file requested to be played to the stream contained in the next file or the previous file When there is a request for jump reproduction to a stream contained in a file, the index information can be searched at high speed.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. [First Embodiment] As shown in FIG. 1, the first embodiment of the present invention
The monitoring video recording / reproducing apparatus 113 according to the embodiment of the present invention records the stream obtained by encoding and multiplexing the video from the monitoring camera 101 on the stream recording medium 109, and the GOP in the stream. An index creating unit 104 that creates index information including the number of GOPs, the data size from the beginning of the stream, the GOP size, and the number of pictures in the GOP in units of
Index recording means 107 for recording the index information created by the index creating means 104 in the index recording medium 111, user interface control means 112 for inputting a command for controlling normal reproduction or special reproduction, and the index recording medium 111. Index reading means 108 for reading the recorded index information and the index reading means 1
08, the reproduction start position of the stream recorded in the stream recording medium 109 is specified by referring to the index information read out, and the stream recording medium 1
09, the stream reading means 106 for reading the stream, and the index reading means for searching the index information recorded in the index recording medium 111 according to the special reproduction command input from the user interface control means 112 during video recording. The index information is read by 106, and the stream indicated by the index information is read by the stream reading unit 106.
09 from the beginning of the GOP in the stream
MPE with an end of code at the end of the I picture
The special reproduction output control means 110 for controlling the transmission to the G decoding means 114 is provided. The surveillance video recording / reproducing apparatus 113 captures and records a video of a desired installation place for the purpose of security such as theft prevention, and reproduces it if necessary.

In FIG. 1, a camera 101 captures a surveillance image. The MPEG encoding means 102 encodes the video imaged by the camera 101 according to the MPEG standard. The stream receiving means 103 receives a stream encoded by the MPEG standard. Stream recording means 1
Reference numeral 05 designates the received stream as the stream recording medium 10
Record at 9.

Further, the index creating means 104 includes GOP (group of pictur) which is a plurality of data sets existing in the stream in real time from the received stream.
From e), index information including the number of GOPs, the data size from the beginning of the stream, the GOP size, and the number of pictures in the GOP is created. The GOP is a set of pictures including at least one I picture and serves as a unit at the time of editing.

The special reproduction output control means 110 is
When the user interface control means 112 instructs special reproduction such as fast forward, rewind, and frame advance, the reproduction speed of the stream read by the stream reading means 106 is managed, and the MPEG decoding means 114 is used.
Output to. The monitor 115 uses the MPEG decoding means 11
The video data from 4 is output for display. Controller 11
Reference numeral 6 controls the operation of the monitor video recording / reproducing device 113, and gives an instruction for normal reproduction or special reproduction via the user interface control means 112.

Next, a method of creating the index information will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 shows the structure of moving image data encoded by the MPEG method. The encoded moving image data of MPEG has a hierarchical structure,
From the upper layer to the sequence layer 201, the GOP layer 202, the picture layer 203, the slice layer 204, and the macroblock layer 2
05 and the block layer 206. Each layer from the sequence layer to the slice layer is provided with a unique 32-bit start code, which distinguishes each layer.

In general, the sequence layer stream 201
Is the encoded data of one entire program, and the stream 201 is composed of one or more GOPs 202. The GOP 202 indicates a set of one or more images. In the GOP 202, the independently encoded I picture 207 is arranged as the first encoded image, and then a predetermined number of B pictures 208 and P pictures 209 are arranged. The B picture 208 or P picture 209 is composed of the differential data of the I picture 207, and the MPEG decoding means 119 cannot decode and reproduce the image only with the B picture 208 or P picture 209. Therefore, the I picture 207 is used as a point for randomly accessing the MPEG data. Therefore, it is necessary to detect the I picture in the MPEG encoded stream.

Next, the method of detecting and indexing I pictures will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a flowchart for creating index information. First,
Stream input, data read step 301
The data is read out by step 302, and then it is determined in step 302 whether it is a start code. If it is a start code, in step 304 the GOP number counter, the I picture size counter, and the picture counter are reset respectively, and the next step 305 To count up the data counter. If it is determined in step 304 that the code is not the start code, the data counter is incremented in step 303.

Then, in step 306, it is determined whether the I picture starts. If it is determined that the I picture starts, the I picture counter is incremented in step 309, and then the picture counter is incremented in step 310. Further, step 31
It is determined in step 1 whether the I picture has ended. If it is determined that the I picture has not ended, the process returns to step 309. If it is determined that the I picture ends, step 3
At 12, it is determined whether the next picture has started. If it is determined to be the next picture, the picture counter is incremented in step 313. If it is determined that it is not the next picture, the processing of the first step 301 is performed again.

According to the above flow, the number of GOPs, the data size from the beginning of the stream, the I picture size,
Index information consisting of the number of pictures in a GOP is created.

Next, the created index information will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the created index information is stored in the index recording medium 111 in a fixed size for each GOP. Based on this index information, the position of the recording medium from which the stream requested by the controller 116 should be reproduced is searched.

Next, the index search method will be described. As the reproduction request of the stream recorded on the recording medium from the controller 116, a request method such as starting reproduction from a position of hours, minutes, seconds from the beginning is performed. In accordance with the request, the user interface control means 112 calculates the number of frames from the beginning from 30 frames / sec defined by the NTSC system, and stores the number of frames closest to the index information. Search for GOP number. The size from the beginning is read from the index information of the retrieved GOP number, the size is transmitted to the stream reading means 106, and the stream reading means 106 reads from the stream recording medium 109 based on the received size from the beginning. In this way, the video of the place requested by the user can be reproduced.

Next, an image processing method for special reproduction such as frame advance reproduction using a jog or the like will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 shows an image processing method for embedding an end of code at the end of an I picture in a stream. In the present embodiment, an end of code as shown in FIG. As a result, only the desired I picture can be played back without sending unnecessary streams.

As described above, the surveillance video recording / reproducing apparatus 113 according to the embodiment of the present invention records the stream obtained by encoding and multiplexing the video from the surveillance camera 101 on the stream recording medium 109. Means 105
And GO in units of GOPs in the stream
Index creating means 104 for creating index information including the P number, the data size from the beginning of the stream, the GOP size, and the number of pictures in the GOP, and the index information created by the index creating means 104 are recorded in the index recording medium 111. Index recording means 107, user interface control means 112 for inputting a command for controlling normal reproduction or special reproduction,
Index reading means 10 for reading the index information recorded on the index recording medium 111.
8 and the index information read by the index reading means 108 to identify the reproduction start position of the stream recorded on the stream recording medium 109, and read the stream from the stream recording medium 109. Reading means 106,
During video recording, the user interface control means 1
The index information recorded on the index recording medium 111 is searched in accordance with the special reproduction command input from 12, the index information is read by the index reading means 106, and the stream indicated by the index information is read on the stream recording medium 109.
A special reproduction output control means 110 for controlling the end of the I picture at the beginning of the GOP in the stream to be sent to the MPEG decoding means 114 is provided. In special playback such as frame forwarding, by sending an end-of-code after an I picture, it is possible to play back only the desired I picture without compounding extra streams when MPEG decoding during playback. You can

[Second Embodiment] FIG. 6 shows a second embodiment of the present invention.
An image processing method for special reproduction of the embodiment will be described.
Since the configuration of the entire apparatus is almost the same as that of the first embodiment, the same reference numeral is given to the same configuration as that of FIG. 1 and the description thereof is omitted. The second embodiment of the present invention further searches the index information recorded in the index recording medium 111 according to the special reproduction command input from the user interface control means 112 during video recording, unlike the first embodiment. , The index reading means 108 reads the index information,
The stream indicated by the index information is read from the stream recording medium 109 by the stream reading unit 106, and only the I picture at the head of the GOP in the stream is decoded by the MPEG decoding unit 114 at the requested speed.
Output control means 11 for special reproduction for controlling to output to
The difference is that 0 is provided. According to this configuration, when there are continuous special reproduction requests such as fast-forward and rewind, the timing for transmitting the I-picture is measured and the I-picture is transmitted at the desired timing. Therefore, the reproduction can be performed at the reproduction speed desired by the user. The effect that can be obtained is also obtained.

An image processing method for special reproduction such as fast forward and rewind will be described with reference to FIG. At the time of continuous special reproduction such as fast-forwarding and rewinding, only the I picture in the stream is transmitted, but the timing for transmitting the I picture at that time is transmitted by measuring the time by the special reproduction output control means 110. . For example, if the reproduction speed is 1/2, the reproduction can be performed at a desired speed by controlling the transmission so as to take a time twice as long as the normal reproduction speed.

[Third Embodiment] FIG. 7 shows a third embodiment of the present invention.
An image processing method for special reproduction of the embodiment will be described.
The configuration of the entire device is almost the same as that of the first embodiment except for the buffer 701. Therefore, FIG. The third embodiment of the present invention is different from the first embodiment in that the buffer 701 for expanding only the file including the index information corresponding to the reproduction command from the user interface control means 112 in the index reading means 108. The difference lies in that. According to this configuration, the desired index information can be searched at high speed by searching only the desired file without searching the huge amount of index information recorded on the index recording medium 111. The effect is also obtained.

Here, an index information reading method for the purpose of high-speed retrieval of index information will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 7, a buffer 701 is provided between the index recording medium 111 and the index reading means 108. In particular, it is characterized in that index information read out to the buffer 701 is collectively managed and developed as one file by a certain date or time unit.
In the example of FIG. 7, the index information for one week is collected as 1
It is expanded in the buffer 701 as one file. The file expanded in the buffer 701 is a file including the stream requested to be reproduced. However, the external controller 116 keeps track of which file contains the video of the time to be reproduced. By this operation, only the index information close to the stream requested to be reproduced is expanded in the buffer 701 without searching all the index information recorded in the index recording medium 111, so that the search can be performed faster. You can

[Fourth Embodiment] FIG. 8 shows a fourth embodiment of the present invention.
An image processing method for special reproduction of the embodiment will be described.
The configuration of the entire apparatus is substantially the same as that of the first embodiment except for the buffer 801, so that FIG. 1 will be used and the same reference numerals will be given to the same configurations, and description thereof will be omitted. The fourth embodiment of the present invention is different from the first embodiment in that the index reading means 108 includes a file including index information corresponding to a reproduction command from the user interface control means 112, and files before and after this file. The difference is that a buffer 801 for simultaneously developing and is provided. With this configuration, when there is a jump playback request from the vicinity of the file for which playback is requested to a stream included in the next file or a jump playback request to a stream included in the previous file, the index information is It is also possible to obtain an effect that the can be searched at high speed.

Here, a method of reading index information for the purpose of speeding up reading of index information when performing special reproduction will be described with reference to FIG. 8 is shown in FIG.
Similarly to the above, a buffer 801 is provided between the index recording medium 111 and the index reading means 108, and is particularly characterized in that files before and after a file including a stream requested to be reproduced are simultaneously expanded. By expanding the index information in this way, when a playback request is made to jump to the next file or the previous file at the break of the index file of the stream being played, it is requested again. The buffer 801 can be searched immediately without reading the file including the stream being read from the index recording medium 111, and the searched stream can be reproduced.

[Fifth Embodiment] As shown in FIG.
According to the index information reading method of the fifth embodiment of the present invention, the index recording means 10 can be used in the same file.
The index information recorded in 7 is recorded on the index recording medium 111, and the stream recording medium 1 is written according to the written index number written at that time and a reproduction request from the user interface control means 112.
Managing the read index number in the special reproduction of the stream recorded in No. 09, and prohibiting the reading of the index information from the index recording medium 111 when the read index number catches up with the written index number. Is.

Here, a method of reading index information when performing special reproduction while recording is described with reference to FIG. In the present embodiment, the index reading means 108 is provided with a buffer in accordance with the third and fourth embodiments, and the index information recorded in the index recording medium 111 is summarized by a unit of time or date.
It manages as one file. FIG. 9 shows that both the read index number and the recorded index number of the index information are managed. As shown in FIG. 9, when the reproduced index number catches up with the recorded index number, the reproduction is stopped at the GOP. At the time of trick play, the index information is searched every time the stream is sent, so that it is possible to prevent reading of a stream that has not been recorded. It should be noted that the comparison between the recorded index number and the reproduced index number is performed within the same file that is managed on a date or time basis.

As described above, according to the index information reading method of the fifth embodiment of the present invention, the index information recorded by the index recording means 107 is recorded in the index recording medium 111 within the same file and is written at that time. And the written index number
A read index number in special reproduction of a stream recorded on the stream recording medium 109 is managed in accordance with a reproduction request from the user interface control means 112, and when the read index number catches up with the written index number, the index Since the reading of the index information from the recording medium 111 is prohibited, the reading of the reproduction stream from the stream recording medium 109 can be stopped.

[0033]

As described above, the present invention searches the index information recorded in the index recording medium according to the special reproduction command input from the user interface control means during video recording, and the index reading means searches the index information. The information is read, the stream indicated by the index information is read from the stream recording medium, and the I at the head of the GOP in the stream is read.
MPEG with an end of code at the end of the picture
By sending the data to the decoding means, immediately after the completion of continuous recording, even if the video data is being recorded, it can be immediately played back from any location, fast forward from any location, rewind, or frame advance. It is possible to provide a surveillance video recording / reproducing apparatus having an excellent effect that reproduction including special reproduction as described above can be performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of essential parts showing a surveillance video recording / reproducing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a structure of moving image data encoded by the MPEG system used in the surveillance video recording / reproducing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a method of creating index information according to the first embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating index information according to the first embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 5 is an I in a stream according to the first embodiment of this invention.
Diagram illustrating the image processing method that embeds the end of code at the end of the picture

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an image processing method for continuous special reproduction such as fast-forwarding and rewinding according to the second embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an index information reading method for high-speed search of index information according to the third embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a method of reading index information when performing special playback according to the fourth embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a method of reading index information when performing special reproduction at the same time as recording according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of essential parts of a conventional surveillance video recording / reproducing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 camera 102 MPEG decoding means 103 stream receiving means 104 Index creating means 105 stream recording means 106 stream reading means 107 index recording means 108 index reading means 109 stream recording medium 110 Output control means for special reproduction 111 index recording medium 112 User Interface Control Means 113 Surveillance video recording / playback device 114 MPEG decoding means 115 monitor 116 controller 201 Sequence layer (stream) 202 GOP layer (stream) 203 Picture layer (stream) 204 slice layer (stream) 205 Macroblock layer (stream) 206 block layer (stream) 301 Data reading step 302 Start code judgment step 303 Data counter step 304 Initialization step 305 Data counter step 306 GOP header determination step 307 GOP number counter step 308 I picture start determination step 309 I picture size counter step 310 Picture counter step 311 I picture end determination step 312 Picture start determination step 313 Picture counter step 701 and 801 buffers (prefetch buffer) 1001 carrier 1002 Information continuous recording device 1003 Continuous information reproducing device 1004 Video recording / playback device 1005, 1006 Storage cell 1007 CPU 1008 memory 1009 hard disk 1010 drive controller 1011 Transport controller 1012 camera 1013 Video processing unit 1014 controller 1015 optical disc

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) G11B 20/12 103 G11B 27/00 E 5D077 27/00 27/10 A 5D110 27/034 H04N 5/76 B 27/10 7/18 U H04N 5/76 5/91 K 7/18 7/13 Z 7/24 G11B 27/02 K F term (reference) 5C052 AA01 AB03 AB04 AC02 AC04 AC05 AC08 CC06 CC11 DD04 5C053 FA12 GA11 GB06 GB08 GB37 HA22 HA24 HA25 HA29 JA21 LA01 LA06 5C054 AA01 CA01 CC01 CH01 EA07 FE23 GB01 HA01 HA18 5C059 KK36 MA00 MC24 PP05 PP06 PP07 RB09 RB15 SS14 SS16 5D044 AB07 BC01 CC04 CC09 DE02 DE03 DE23 DE29 DE37 DE58 DE92 DE37 DE58 DE92 DE54 DE52 DE92 DE58 DE92 AA38 BA08 BB07 BB16 CA02 CB04 CB14 DC08 DC16 5D110 AA13 AA29 BB23 BC05 CA07 DA11 DB10

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A stream recording means for recording a stream obtained by encoding and multiplexing video from a surveillance camera on a stream recording medium, and a GOP in the stream.
Index creating means for creating index information including the number of GOPs, the data size from the beginning of the stream, the GOP size, and the number of pictures in the GOP, and the index information created by the index creating means is recorded on the index recording medium. Index recording means, user interface control means for inputting commands for controlling normal reproduction or special reproduction, index reading means for reading index information recorded on the index recording medium, and index reading means for reading the index information. Stream reading means for identifying the reproduction start position of the stream recorded in the stream recording medium by referring to the index information and reading the stream from the stream recording medium;
During video recording, the index information recorded on the index recording medium is searched according to the special reproduction command input from the user interface control means, the index information is read by the index reading means, and the stream indicated by the index information is read. An output control unit for special reproduction is provided which controls the stream reading unit to read out from the stream recording medium, put an end of code at the end of the I picture at the beginning of the GOP in the stream, and send it to the MPEG decoding unit. A monitoring video recording / reproducing device characterized by the above. 2. A stream recording means for recording a stream obtained by encoding and multiplexing video from a surveillance camera on a stream recording medium, and a GOP in the stream.
Index creating means for creating index information including the number of GOPs, the data size from the beginning of the stream, the GOP size, and the number of pictures in the GOP, and the index information created by the index creating means is recorded on the index recording medium. Index recording means, user interface control means for inputting commands for controlling normal reproduction or special reproduction, index reading means for reading index information recorded on the index recording medium, and index reading means for reading the index information. Stream reading means for identifying the reproduction start position of the stream recorded in the stream recording medium by referring to the index information and reading the stream from the stream recording medium;
During video recording, the index information recorded on the index recording medium is searched according to the special reproduction command input from the user interface control means, the index information is read by the index reading means, and the stream indicated by the index information is read. An output control unit for special reproduction is provided which controls the stream reading unit to read from the stream recording medium and send only the I picture at the head of the GOP in the stream to the MPEG decoding unit at a requested speed. A surveillance video recording / reproducing apparatus characterized in that 3. The read-ahead buffer for expanding only a file including index information corresponding to a reproduction command from the user interface control means is provided in the index reading means. The surveillance video recording / playback device described. 4. The index reading means is provided with a read-ahead buffer for simultaneously expanding a file including index information corresponding to a reproduction command from the user interface control means and files before and after this file. The surveillance video recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: