An image encoding / decoding method and apparatus are provided. An image decoding method according to the present disclosure may comprise obtaining a first flag specifying whether a
network abstraction layer (NAL) hypothetical reference decoder (HRD) parameter is present in a
bitstream and a second flag specifying whether a video coding layer (VCL) HRD parameter is present in the
bitstream, obtaining a third flag specifying whether a temporal distance between output times of consecutive pictures in the
bitstream has a fixed value, deriving output times of the pictures in the bitstream, based on at least one of the first flag, the second flag or the third flag, and
processing the pictures in the bitstream based on the derived output times. Based on the first flag having a second value specifying that the NAL HRD parameter is not present in the bitstream and the second flag having a second value specifying that the VCL HRD parameter is not present in the bitstream, it may be constrained that the third flag has a first value specifying that the temporal distance between the output times of the consecutive pictures in the bitstream has a fixed value.