It is one objective of the present invention to provide an arrangement for employing peripheral pixels to perform fast decoding, and in particular to perform fast decoding while taking into account the timing whereat the values of peripheral pixels are obtained. To achieve this objective, a decoding apparatus, which decodes each pixel based on a plurality of peripheral pixels, comprises: a plurality of memories, each of which corresponds to a set of first and second statuses that are obtained from a specific pixel and which is used to store a predetermined parameter that is required for decoding; determination means for determining read addresses in the plurality of memories based on a third status obtained from peripheral pixels other than the predetermined peripheral pixel; and selection means for receiving the first and the second statuses obtained from the predetermined pixel and for selecting one of the plurality of memories in accordance with the first and second statuses that are received.