A digital video signal record and playback device for recording on a recording medium a digital video signal coded by using a motion compensation prediction and an orthogonal transform and playing back data from the recording medium. In a data arrangement of a digital video signal, an I picture which can be independently represented in a picture is divided into n areas in the vertical direction, and the data is arranged from the front of one GOP in the unit of area by giving a priority to an area located at the center of the screen. A playback picture is outputted by playing back the I picture read from the recording medium in the unit of area unit. In the case where the whole I picture area cannot be read within a definite time, the area which cannot be read are interpolated by the use of the data of the preceding screen.