Patent ID: 8266657

Claim:
An apparatus that provides an output stream over a network to a display device, the apparatus comprising: a switcher configured to control any of a plurality of different program sources responsive to control information received at the apparatus from the display device via the network to receive selected video information from the plurality of different program sources, wherein each of the plurality of different program sources is a source of multiple simultaneously available programs, and wherein the control information identifies one of the plurality of different program sources and the selected video information from the multiple simultaneous programs available from the identified program source, and wherein the control information is based upon an input received from a viewer at the display device, and wherein the apparatus directly controls the switcher and the identified program source of the plurality of program sources in response to the control information to select and obtain the selected video information from the controlled program source at the switcher; a processing unit configured to encode the selected video information, and to create a processed stream using the selected video information; a communications unit configured to manipulate the processed stream to produce an output stream; and a transmitter configured to transmit the output stream to the display device via the network.