PURPOSE: To improve the quality of a reproduced picture at search by recording a data important for decoding a high efficiency coding on a track highly possible of reproduction among tracks at search reproduction in which a recording tape medium is driven at a speed being a prescribed number of multiple of the usual tape speed.

CONSTITUTION: One frame of a recording data generated from frame processing circuit 6 is recorded on a magnetic tape as one track or several parallel tracks. The arrangement of recording data of one track is dependent on number of multiple of the search. For example, when the search speed is a double speed, an additional code is added respectively to a block TS1 corresponding to the position of a start of the track and a block TS2 corresponding to the position of an end of the track, and a code signal DT is arranged for a block T1 corresponding to the position in the middle of the track. When a double speed search is implemented, since a rotary head reproduces a signal not subject to the effect of the border of the track at both ends of the track, the rate of correct reproduction of the additional code being an important word is improved.