DIGITAL VIDEO RECORDER CONNECTABLE TO A SET-TOP BOX THROUGH DIGITAL INTERFACE

摘要

The present invention may be regarded as a digital video recorder (200) connectable to a set-top box (100). The digital video recorder (200) receives a real-time video signal (106) from the set-top box (100) and provides a recorded video signal (108) to the set-top box (100) during a playback interval. The digital video recorder (200) includes a disk (220) and a video data stream manager (230) that in response to the real-time video signal (106) provides a first video stream (222) to store a selected video segment on the disk (220). The video data stream manager (230), in response to commands from a microprocessor (140) in the set-top box (100), receives a second video stream (223) based on the selected video segment stored on the disk (220) to generate the recorded video signal (108). The set-top box (100) includes a multiplexer (140) that selects the real-time video signal (106) during a real-time interval and selects the recorded video signal (108) during the playback interval to generate an output video data stream to a display device (300).