An information processing apparatus can display an object image and a line drawing overlapping each other. An area of the object image can be zoomed (enlarged or reduced) while the line drawing is left the same size, or optionally the line drawing can be zoomed in proportion to the object image zooming, so that the information displayed by the relative positional relationship between the object image and the line drawing is maintained.

Television viewers are presented with the opportunity to be diverted during intervals such as display of commercials, delays pending initiation of a near video on demand signal stream, and the like. The diversions take the form of overlaying on a frozen or continuing moving frame of visual images various game playing constructs manipulable by the remote control used to perform other control functions for the display device. The display device may be a television receiver linked to a set top device, an intelligent television receiver, or a personal computer provided with television image reception and display capability. Overlaying occurs over a frozen frame in certain disclosed diversions and over moving images in others. The accompanying audio signal stream may also be modified.

A title can be easily inserted in a video image while taking a video picture. A touch panel is provided on a display screen of an LCD panel. An analog switch section supplies coordinate values Vx, Vy representative of a position of a touch panel pressed by a pen to a microcomputer. The microcomputer adjusts and processes the coordinate values Vx, Vy such that they match a picture angle of the LCD panel and a dot appears at the position pressed by the pen and writes the dot data in the corresponding address of an SRAM. A RAM controller reads the dot data from the SRAM in synchronism with a pick-up video signal under control of the microcomputer and controls selection of switches in response to the dot data. A white level signal corresponding to the dot data is superimposed on the pick-up video signal to generate a display video signal and a recording video signal.

A system and method of determining representative frames of a video sequence to form a visual table of contents for a video tape is disclosed. A representative frame is identified on the occurrence of an event, such as the beginning of a recording sequence, which may follow a record command, a pause-release command, some form of special effect command, or a user-initiated marking command. The representative frame, and location data associated therewith, may be marked along the length of a video tape in a camcorder or VCR, or, the representative frame may be identified and stored, along with the location data therefor, on a MIC. In the case where the representative frame location data is stored on the tape, a scanning mechanism is provided for scanning the recorded video tape to locate the representative frames. In either form of the invention, multiple representative frames and their location data are placed in a storage mechanism, either temporarily or permanently, and then recorded at a single location, either at the beginning of the video tape or in the MIC. A peripheral storage mechanism may also be provided, in the form of a computer, which may be used to add additional information to the representative frame, and which may also be used in editing the video tape.

A user programmable smart card interface system is disclosed having a smart card (10) and a reader/writer (1) which is able to read data from, and write data into, an electronic memory (19) carried by the card. A user terminal (100) having processing capacity can be used by a user to write customised data into the electronic memory (19). The user is then able to utilise his own data to control a data controlled equipment (120) as the user desires. A storage apparatus (1000) for smart cards and smart cards (501) with a tactile operating surface arc also disclosed.