Abstract: A decoding control portion of a video content playback apparatus determines, for each of the video contents, whether any delay occurs, based on an amount of delay acquired at the time when the decoding comes to an end relative to a scheduled time concerning the displaying or the decoding of a moving image stream data. The decoding control portion controls a decoding operation executed by a moving image decoding portion so that a video content with no delay is decoded in an ordinary playback mode that decodes the whole input moving image stream data, and a video content with delay is decoded in a slow playback mode that decodes the content by lowering an amount of throughput of decoding processing with per unit time than that of the ordinary playback mode or in a skipping playback mode that decodes only a part of the input moving image stream data.

Abstract: Provided is a multi-screen display capable of displaying more images with no sense of discomfort by using multi-screen display while reducing a load on the decoding processing of encoded image contents. The multi-screen display for displaying a plurality of images composed of encoded data including mixed pictures (I, P, B) on a single screen comprises a highlight screen determining section for specifying a screen in which a highlight image out of the images is displayed every predetermined time and a load reducing section for reducing the processing load in a decoding processing section on images other than the image displayed on the screen determined by the highlight screen determining section by deleting the picture (B). With this, a highlighted image is displayed while being changed for each predetermined time, whereby the line of sight of the user can be so navigated as to face a smooth image.