Patent ID: 7869700

Claim:
A method for recording and managing received input data in a digital video recording system, comprising: encoding the input data to provide at least two digital data streams combinable to produce a high quality representation of the input data, the at least two data streams including a first subset of digital data corresponding to a first portion of a complete digital data stream, the first portion capable of reconstructing a reduced quality reproduction of the complete digital data stream, the at least two data streams including a second subset of digital data corresponding to a second portion of the complete digital data stream, the second subset being combinable with the first subset to form a reconstructed high quality reproduction of the complete digital data stream; separately recording the at least two digital data streams to a storage medium; and in response to an event, retaining portions of both the first and second subsets recorded during a first time period associated with the event, and retaining portions of only the first subset recorded during a second time period associated with the event.