Importance

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Abstract

A digital television receiver that decodes multiple programs concurrently to reduce the amount of time needed to display an adjacent channel in a channel surfing operation includes a single transport decoder and a single video/audio decoder. The transport decoder decodes multiple transport streams in a single channel. Each transport stream represents a respectively different minor channel transmitted in the major channel. When a channel change operation occurs, the audio/video decoder selects the next transport stream that is provided by the transport decoder. In another embodiment of the invention, the single video/audio decoder includes multiple buffers and concurrently decodes multiple program streams. When a program switch occurs, the program stream for a next buffer is provided to the video display. In yet another embodiment, the television receiver includes multiple tuners, each capable of receiving a respective channel. Each tuner is coupled to a respective transport decoder and each transport decoder is coupled to a respective decoder. In this embodiment of the invention, when a channel switch occurs, the video signal is immediately available at the output of one of the decoders and is displayed. At the same time, one of the tuners is tuned to the next channel in the sequence in anticipation of a subsequent channel switch operation.

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First Claim