Patent ID: 8141117

Claim:
An entertainment system comprising: a personal computer media center including a storage device for storing media signals and a first network interface to a home network, the first network interface for sending and receiving media signals to and from an extension device; a set top box comprising a tuner for tuning to a media signal and a conditional access feature for decrypting the media signal, wherein the set top box lacks a set top box network interface to the home network; and an extension device coupled to the set top box and in communication with the personal computer media center via the home network, wherein the extension device lacks a tuner and lacks a conditional access feature, and wherein the extension device and the set top box are separate devices, the extension device including: an input coupled to the set top box to receive a media signal directly from the set top box, wherein the input is configured to receive a media signal from only the set top box, the media signal being tuned to by the tuner and decoded by the conditional access feature of the set top box; an encoder coupled to the input to encode the media signal received from the set top box into a media stream; a second network interface to connect the extension device to the media center through the home network to allow the media stream to be sent to the media center and stored on the storage device; and a display interface to display the media signal on a television; wherein command data, audio streams, and video streams are carried between the personal computer media center and the extension device over the first network interface, through the home network, and through the second network interface; and wherein the home network supports contemporaneous connection to at least the personal computer media center, the extension device, and an additional device.