Patent ID: 7603689

Claim:
A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions encoded thereon that, when executed by a computer, perform a method comprising: selecting a lead-in video stream transmission, wherein the selected lead-in video-stream transmission corresponds to a unique portion of a group-of-pictures (GOP) of a main video stream and has the same content as the unique portion of the GOP encoded at a first bit-rate, the selected lead-in video-stream transmission is encoded using a second lower bit-rate than that used by the first bit rate, wherein the second bit-rate represents a lower number of bits per frame than a number of bits per frame represented by the first bit-rate, and is scheduled for transmission during the scheduled transmission of one group-of-pictures (GOP) of the main video-stream transmission, wherein a GOP has only one access point, wherein the second bit-rate is determined by a function based at least in part on a request time and a next access point transmission time, the request time corresponding to a request to receive the main video-stream transmission, the next access point transmission time corresponding to transmission of a next access point in the main video-stream following the request time, wherein if a first difference between a first request time and the next access point transmission time is less than a second difference between a second request time and the next access point transmission time, a first calculated bit-rate associated with the first difference is smaller than a second calculated bit-rate associated with the second difference; receiving the selected lead-in video-stream transmission; presenting the selected lead-in video stream transmission; switching reception from the selected lead-in to the main video-stream transmission; switching presentation from the selected lead-in video-stream transmission to the main video-stream transmission.