Patent ID: 8233042

Claim:
A method related to data management, the method comprising: accepting input for a designation of a reference designator and a beginning demarcation designator and/or an ending demarcation designator in a video/audio data stream, wherein the beginning demarcation designator and/or the ending demarcation designator are defined relative to the reference designator; accepting input from a first device and retaining in a hardware device at a first resolution of a first portion of the video/audio data stream, the first portion beginning substantially at the beginning demarcation designator and ending substantially at the ending demarcation designator; and accepting input and recording from a second device for a retention at a second resolution of a second portion of the video/audio data stream, wherein the second resolution is less than the first resolution when a condition is met, wherein the second resolution is a function of a distance in the video/audio data stream between the first portion to be retained at the first resolution and the second portion of the video/audio data stream and includes degrading blocks of the second portion of the video/data stream according to their time distance from the first portion of the video/data stream, and wherein the retention of the second portion of the video/audio data stream at the second resolution is performed when a condition responsive to data received from the second device is met.