Patent ID: 8213777

Claim:
A recording/reproducing apparatus, comprising: at least two channel selecting mechanisms for taking in a plurality of television signals delivered over a plurality of channels including the television signal delivered over a program guide providing channel and in which an electronic program guide is stored at a predetermined timing, and for selecting the television signal delivered over a desired channel from among the plurality of channels; at least two signal processing mechanisms for performing predetermined processing to said television signal delivered over said desired channel; electronic program guide extracting mechanism for extracting said electronic program guide from said television signal delivered over said program guide providing channel; switching mechanism for switching connections of said channel selecting mechanisms to output to one or more of said at least two signal processing mechanisms and said electronic program guide extracting mechanism; and control mechanism for controlling said switching mechanism such that, in a first operating case, the signal processing mechanisms are each connected to one of said channel selecting mechanisms and the electronic program guide extracting mechanism is connected to another one of said channel selecting mechanisms so that (i) a plurality of predetermined different processing is simultaneously performed on said television signal on said desired channel by each of said signal processing mechanisms while (ii) said electronic program guide is obtained from said television signal by said electronic program guide extracting mechanism, the at least two signal processing mechanisms simultaneously performing compressive coding processing to the television signal delivered over the desired channel such that each one of the at least two signal processing mechanisms performs compressive coding processing at a respective compression rate that is different than that at which any other of the at least two signal processing mechanisms performs compressive coding processing.