Transcoding for consumer set-top storage application

Abstract

A consumer set-top terminal and method that receives and stores digital programming services such as television programs for subsequent playback by the user in a manner analogous to a conventional video cassette recorder (VCR). An interface allows the terminal's user to control a transcoding proces based on the desired quality level for the transcoded data, e.g., high, medium or low. The transcoding is provided without the expense and complexity of a full encoder. By performing transcoding at the terminal, the bit rate of the data can be reduced sufficiently to allow economical storage at the terminal. Moreover, the user can set the quality level to be different for different programs, different parts of the same program, or for different channels. The user input can be received via an interface, such as an on-screen display, which is optionally integrated with electronic program guide data. The user input can be established beforehand as well.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.