Patent ID: 6851122

Claim:
An apparatus for encoding realtime and non-realtime interactive program guide (IPG) content comprising video content and guide data, the apparatus comprising: a non-realtime encoder configured to encode non-realtime content into encoded non-realtime content slices; a realtime encoder configured to encode the realtime content into encoded realtime content slices; a remultiplexer configured to repacketize the encoded non-realtime content slices and the encoded realtime content slices into transport packets; a slice combiner coupled to the realtime and non-realtime encoders and the remultiplexer, the slice combiner configured to combine slices of encoded realtive video content with slices of encoded non-realtime video data content in a predetermined order; and a re-timestamp unit coupled to the remultiplexer and configured to provide timestamps to be applied to the transport packets in order to synchronize the realtime and non-realtime content of said IPG.