Patent ID: 7529465

Claim:
A process for a digital video recorder, comprising the steps of: storing a plurality of multimedia programs in digital form on at least one storage device; wherein a user selects previously recorded multimedia program(s) from said at least one storage device; simultaneously retrieving for play back a video segment from at least one of said selected previously recorded multimedia program(s) and a video segment from a multimedia program whose storage is in progress using video segment identifying information generated by the digital video recorder for at least one video segment in said at least one of said selected previously recorded multimedia program(s) and video segment identifying information generated by the digital video recorder for at least one video segment in said multimedia program whose storage is in progress to cause delivery of selected video segments to an output subsystem, the digital video recorder automatically generating video segment identifying information for specific video segments in multimedia programs as each multimedia program is being stored on said at least one storage device; and wherein said simultaneously retrieving for play back step allows playback rate and direction of each multimedia program to be controlled individually and simultaneously to perform any of: fast forward, rewind, frame step, pause, and play functions.