In this paper, we present an effective approach for video browsing and retrieval on the video server over low bitrate channel. To enable random access, a new stream is generated based on the analysis of the original stream. The random access point is prudently selected with the aim to best fit the user’s browsing requirement. By switching between the two streams, the overhead of transporting periodic I-frames can be avoided; furthermore, the user’s unconcerned data can be greatly reduced in the transportation. With the transcoding technique, the quality can be improved by nearly 2.2dB. With this algorithm, browsing efficiency, picture quality and disk space occupation can be well balanced.