Method and device for displaying frozen pictures on video display device

1. A method for constructing a frozen picture to be displayed on a display device in a video data decoding system, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving video data to be spatially and temporally reconstructed in the decoding system;

first determining whether a descriptor of the video data for indicating types of source material from which the video data has originated is in error;

second determining whether the descriptor indicates progressive or non-progressive;

sending a frame picture of the video data to display, for constructing a frozen picture when the descriptor is not in error in the first determining step and the descriptor indicates progressive in the second determining step; and

sending one of a plurality of field pictures of the video data to display, for constructing a frozen picture when the descriptor is in error in the first determining step or the descriptor indicates non-progressive in the second determining step.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the video data is compliant with the MPEG standards.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the descriptor includes a flag for indicating progressive or non-progressive.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein when the descriptor indicates non-progressive in the second determining step, the step of sending one of the plurality of field pictures includes steps of:

selecting one of a plurality of field pictures constituting a picture; and

sending the selected one of the field pictures for a time period to display the field pictures constituting the picture.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the field pictures are two field pictures for an interlaced display, one of the two field pictures being for even-numbered raster lines of the picture and the other for odd-numbered raster lines of the picture.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein when the descriptor is in error in the first determining step, the step of displaying one of field pictures includes the steps of:

dividing a frame picture for a progressive display into the fields constituting a picture when the video data has originated from progressive source material;

selecting one of the fields; and

sending the selected one of the fields to the display device for a time period to display the frame picture.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the fields divided from the frame picture are two fields, one for even-numbered raster lines of the frame picture and the other for odd-numbered raster lines of the frame picture.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein when the descriptor is in error in the first determining step, the step of sending the selected one of the fields includes the steps of:

selecting one of fields constituting a picture in a non-progressive display; and

sending the selected one of the fields to the display device for a time period to display the fields constituting the picture.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the fields are two field pictures for an interlaced display, the two field pictures being one for even-numbered raster lines of the picture and the other for odd-numbered raster lines of the picture.

10. The method of claim 1 , further including filtering video data of the selected one of the fields to improve quality of the frozen picture.

11. A apparatus for constructing a frozen picture to be displayed on a display device in a video data decoding system, comprising:

means for receiving video data to be spatially and temporally reconstructed in the decoding system;

means for first determining whether a descriptor of the video data for indicating types of source material from which the video data has originated is in error;

means for second determining whether the descriptor indicates progressive or non-progressive;

means for sending a frame picture of the video data to display, for constructing a frozen picture when the descriptor is not in error in the first determining step and the descriptor indicates progressive in the second determining step; and

means for sending one of a plurality of field pictures of the video data to display, for constructing a frozen picture when the descriptor is in error in the first determining step or the descriptor indicates non-progressive in the second determining step.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the video data is compliant with the MPEG standards.

13. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the descriptor includes a flag for indicating progressive or non-progressive.

14. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the field pictures are two field pictures for an interlaced display, one of the two field pictures being for even-numbered raster lines of the picture and the other for odd-numbered raster lines of the picture.

15. The apparatus of claim 11 , further including:

means for filtering video data of the selected one of the fields to improve quality of the frozen picture.