Video data in an encoded frame is reduced by adjusting orthogonal transform coefficients in the encoded frame during trick play operation such as fast forward or fast reverse. The orthogonal transform coefficients are adjusted by selecting essential orthogonal transform coefficients with high energy and non-essential orthogonal transform coefficients with low energy, maintaining or strengthening the essential orthogonal transform coefficients and attenuating or removing the non-essential orthogonal transform coefficients. In an MPEG bit stream, the encoded frame is an I-frame and the orthogonal transform coefficients are discrete cosine transform (DCT) coefficients.