Methods and apparatus for decoding and displaying multiple images using a common processor

A machine readable media, comprising computer executable instructions for controlling a system including a limited resource to process image data in a pre-selected amount of time, the image data corresponding to multiple images are displayed on a single display screen in a plurality of windows, the instructions comprising the steps of:

• determining if the amount of the fixed resource required to process the image data for display in said windows in the fixed amount of time will exceed the availability of the limited resource, each of said windows corresponding to a rectangular area;
• and
• if is determined that the amount of the fixed resource required to display the images will exceed the availability of the limited resource, performing the steps of:
• reducing a size of at least one of the windows thereby reducing the rectangular area of said at least one window;
• and
• using the limited resource to process at least some of the image data as a function of the reduced window size.

A system for processing data representing a plurality of video programs to generate a screen including a plurality of windows, each window corresponding to a different one of said video programs and having a window size, the system comprising:

• a system resource used to process the data representing said plurality of video programs;
• means for determining if a processing load that will be placed on said system resource given a set of window sizes to be used in displaying said plurality of windows will exceed the processing capacity of said resource;
• and
• means for adjusting at least one window size in said set of window sizes to reduce the processing load when it is determined that that the processing load that will be placed on said system resource will exceed the processing capacity of said resource.