Universal play system and method for surveillance tape files

The invention provides a universal play system and method for surveillance tape files. The method comprises the following steps that: video decoding container devices and image processing container devices provided by different manufacturers are encapsulated into corresponding manufacturer decoding sub-devices and image processing sub-devices; a user inputs the surveillance tape files; a surveillance manufacturer analyzing device analyzes the surveillance tape files according to file header information and file suffix to analyze the manufacturer source; then the video decoding container device decodes the surveillance tape files; the image processing container device carries out image sharpening on the images in a decoded image cache device; and a display device displays and outputs the images in the decoded image cache device. The surveillance tape files from different manufacturers can be played by the system. In addition, the universal play system and the universal play method capable of sharpening, clearly marking and accurately locating images in the decoding process are provided, so that the efficiency of public security departments and guards in finding and obtaining evidences from surveillance videos is improved.