Photoshop: Video timeline - hide part of a layer
In general, when you use a program as complex as Photoshop, you don't want to fight its idiomatic way of doing things, you want to use it instead.  The idiomatic way of hiding/revealing parts of an image (which, in turn, means parts of a layer or set of layers) is with a mask, which is typically its own layer.  The layering system of Photoshop is a major aspect of its functionality.  Don't fight it or try to not use it.  Learn it, master it, and then use it.