PURPOSE: To provide a simplified image display device and an image database system by reducing a memory amount required as a buffer in an image display device cutting and displaying the image of a display size from a large image in which images are connected horizontally and vertically.

CONSTITUTION: In the case the rectangular area of a certain range is displayed from an image becoming the title of connected images, at first, the specication of elemental images to be expanded and the positional coordianates from which an expansion is started are calculated from the position of the specified rectangular area with an address generating part 1. An expansion starting control signal 7 of a decoder part 3 is generated from the positional coordinates by a decoder control part 2, then the decorder part 3 starts the expanding of elemental images being inputted compressed data 6 by the expansion starting control signal 7. Moreover, only an area in which the display of expanded elemental images is specified is written in a display memory part 5 by a memory writing control signal 8 generated from a memory control part 4 using addresses x, y of the positional coordinates from the address generating part 1 and the expansion starting control signal 7. The rectangular area specified by the image becoming the title is displayed by repeating this.