Disclosed in embodiments of the present invention are a method and system for reducing a cost of a seat management system. In the embodiments of the present invention, an operator does not experience a mouse operation delay introduced by an image delay because a mouse cursor displayed and manipulated at a decoder end is a local mouse cursor. In addition, a mouse operation event is sent to an encoder controller by means of a network, and a corresponding response operation is performed in a remote service system, such that the operator feels as if he/she is operating a mouse cursor at the remote service system. The present invention further employs an image processing technique to reduce a cost of the seat management system, thus ensuring normal functions and performance of the seat management system without purchasing high-performance hardware.