Patent ID: 6185636
Filing Date: 2001-02-06
Classification: H04N

Abstract:
A media server system, comprising:a computer system including a memory media for storing multimedia data, wherein the computer system is configured to generate multimedia data transfers, wherein the computer system is configured to transfer a plurality of blocks of multimedia data prior to issuing a play command to begin play of said multimedia data, wherein play continues until a user-selected multimedia sequence has been entirely played; andone or more decoder boxes coupled to said computer system, wherein each of said one or more decoder boxes is adapted to receive data from said computer system, wherein each of said one or more decoder boxes includes:a plurality of data channels adapted for transmitting data simultaneously for display; anda buffer for each data channel for receiving data from said computer system, wherein said buffer receives and stores said plurality of blocks of multimedia data transferred by said computer system, wherein said buffer is substantially filled when said play command is received to reduce the possibility of the buffer becoming empty during play of said multimedia data.