PURPOSE: To instantly display the auxiliary pattern required to the information retrieval such as menu patterns and icon patterns at the time of screen transition in the electronic publishing system where animation and still pictures recorded in the HDTV system are organically coupled.

CONSTITUTION: A host computer 1 reproduces the auxiliary pattern required to be instantly displayed according to the transition of the screen from a picture CD-ROM at the initializing processing and writes it in the overlapping picture development area of the plain memory of an HDTV decoder 8. In the case of being the auxiliary pattern required to be newly displayed according to the transition of screen, the auxiliary pattern is read out from the overlapping picture development area and overwrites it on the base picture area which functions as a video RAM. Thus, the required auxiliary pattern can be instantly displayed.