Patent attributes
Heretofore, there have been problems in which data prerecorded on a recording medium cannot readily be played back in synchronism with data downloaded via a network because the simultaneous use of a plurality of download data has not been taken into consideration. To solve such problems, data is played back by using a first buffer memory for temporarily storing a stream that is received at one input terminal, a demultiplexer for demultiplexing packets output from the first buffer memory in accordance with packet ID numbers, second buffer memories for temporarily storing a stream that is input from another input terminal, and a packet switcher for operating selector switches to select and output either packets output from the demultiplexer or packets output from the second buffer memories.