How TiVo Pauses and Rewinds Live Television
TiVo's 1998 patent on a digital video recorder that converts television signals into digital files, splits them into audio and video, and stores them on a hard drive to allow simultaneous recording and playback.
Original patent title: “Multimedia time warping system”
TiVo's 1998 patent on a digital video recorder that converts television signals into digital files, splits them into audio and video, and stores them on a hard drive to allow simultaneous recording and playback. Granted to Tivo Inc in 2001 with 65 claims and 798 forward citations.
Key facts
Coverage
What does this patent actually cover?
The system takes incoming television signals from sources like satellite or cable and converts them into a digital MPEG format. A component called a Media Switch parses this digital stream, separating it into distinct audio and video components. These components are stored onto a hard drive. Simultaneously, an Output Section pulls these stored audio and video pieces from the drive, reassembles them back into an MPEG stream, and sends them to a decoder to display on a television. This separation of input and output allows a user to pause a live broadcast, watch a recorded show while another is saving, or rewind a program currently being recorded.
The gap
What does this patent NOT cover?
- Does not cover systems that record and play back purely analog signals without converting them to a digital MPEG format.
- Does not cover streaming video systems that deliver media over the internet without tuning to a broadcast television signal.
- Does not cover devices that only record or only play back media, rather than performing both operations simultaneously.
- Does not cover software-only media players running on a general-purpose computer that do not parse and separate MPEG streams into audio and video components via a dedicated media switch.
These exclusions are unique to PatentBrief — derived from the actual claim language, not patent-office boilerplate.
What made this novel
Instead of forcing the main computer processor to handle the heavy, real-time demands of parsing video data, the system uses a dedicated Media Switch and circular buffers to store audio and video separately. This decoupling allows a low-cost, slower processor to manage complex tasks like pausing and rewinding live TV without stuttering.
Schematic visualization of the patent's claim structure. Hand-drawn diagrams in progress for each landmark patent.
Where you've seen this
Real-world examples
TiVo Series1 and Series2 DVRs
Dish Network DVR receivers (subject of early 2000s litigationlitigationA lawsuit over patent infringement. Litigated patents often signal commercial importance.Read more →)
Cable provider set-top boxes with built-in recording capabilities
Why it matters
The bigger picture
This patent is the foundation of the Digital Video Recorder (DVR) industry. It enabled TiVo to dominate the early television-recording market and led to massive patent infringementinfringementMaking, using, selling, or importing a patented invention without permission from the patent holder.Read more → lawsuits against television providers like EchoStar (Dish Network), resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements. It fundamentally changed how consumers watch television by shifting control of broadcast schedules to the viewer.
Filed
July 30, 1998
Granted
May 15, 2001
Market context
Who's building on this
Companies in this space
TiVo (now part of Xperi) remains the primary owner of this intellectual property portfolio. Major television providers like Comcast, Charter, and Dish Network have built their own physical and cloud-based DVR architectures, often licensing or settling disputes over TiVo's foundational patents.
Market impact
This patent triggered a wave of litigationlitigationA lawsuit over patent infringement. Litigated patents often signal commercial importance.Read more → in the 2000s, notably TiVo v. EchoStar, which established the strength of TiVo's hardware-software decoupling claimsclaimsThe numbered statements at the end of a patent that legally define what the inventor owns.Read more →. It forced the entire pay-TV industry to licenselicensePermission from the patent owner to make, use, or sell the invention — usually in exchange for payment. Doesn't transfer ownership.Read more → TiVo's technology or design complex workarounds, shaping the modern set-top box market.
Claim 1 — Plain English
What this patent covers
The system takes incoming television signals from sources like satellite or cable and converts them into a digital MPEG format. A component called a Media Switch parses this digital stream, separating it into distinct audio and video components. These components are stored onto a hard drive. Simultaneously, an Output Section pulls these stored audio and video pieces from the drive, reassembles them back into an MPEG stream, and sends them to a decoder to display on a television. This separation of input and output allows a user to pause a live broadcast, watch a recorded show while another is saving, or rewind a program currently being recorded.
The clever bit
Instead of forcing the main computer processor to handle the heavy, real-time demands of parsing video data, the system uses a dedicated Media Switch and circular buffers to store audio and video separately. This decoupling allows a low-cost, slower processor to manage complex tasks like pausing and rewinding live TV without stuttering.
What it does not cover
- Does not cover systems that record and play back purely analog signals without converting them to a digital MPEG format.
- Does not cover streaming video systems that deliver media over the internet without tuning to a broadcast television signal.
- Does not cover devices that only record or only play back media, rather than performing both operations simultaneously.
- Does not cover software-only media players running on a general-purpose computer that do not parse and separate MPEG streams into audio and video components via a dedicated media switch.
Patent timeline
Application submitted to the patent office
Application published, typically 18 months after filing
Patent officially issued
PatentBrief Score
Impact Score
Strong
Citation count
40/40
Highly cited
Claim breadth
20/20
Very broad protection
Recency
0/20
Older than 20 years
Assignee scale
0/20
Independent or smaller assigneeassigneeThe entity that owns the patent — usually the inventor's employer or a company.Read more →
PatentBrief Impact Score — based on citation count, claim breadth, recency, and assignee scale. Not a legal assessment.
Heuristic Value Estimate
What this patent might be worth
$108K – $346K
Midpoint $216K · expired or expiring · industry ×1.5
Heuristic only — blends forward/backward citation counts, claim scope, time remaining, litigation history, and CPC-derived industry baseline. Real valuations need a professional appraisal.
The original legal language
Original claims
65 claims as filed with the patent office.
Concepts involved
Citations
Patent lineage
Cite this patent
McInnis, R. J., Kao, J. S., Goodman, A. M., Chow, C. T., Moskowitz, A. S., & Barton, J. M. (2001). How TiVo Pauses and Rewinds Live Television (U.S. Patent No. 6,233,389). U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/6233389/dvr-trick-play
Auto-generated from the patent record. Double-check author order and the issue date against the official USPTO document before submitting.
Embed
Add this patent to your site
Drop this plain-English patent card into any blog post or article — free, no signup. It always links back to the full breakdown here.
<div data-patentlens-widget data-patent-number="US6233389"></div> <script src="https://patentbrief.org/embed.js" async></script>
Stay in the loop
Get a weekly digest of new patents.
One email per week. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Keep exploring
Related patents you should know
US 4683195 · 1987
How to Make Billions of Copies of a DNA Segment
This patent describes the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), a method to rapidly create many copies of a specific piece of DNA or RNA, enabling its detection and analysis.
Cetus Corp
US 8697359 · 2014
How to Edit Genes in Human Cells Using an Engineered CRISPR System
This patent describes an engineered CRISPR-Cas9 system for precisely cutting DNA in eukaryotic cells to change how genes work, opening the door for gene editing in complex organisms.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
US 7657849 · 2010
How the iPhone's Slide-to-Unlock Gesture Works
Apple's 2010 patent describes unlocking a device by dragging a specific graphical image across the touchscreen along a predefined path, a gesture that became iconic with the original iPhone.
Apple Inc
US 4733665 · 1988
How Doctors Implant a Permanent Stent Using a Balloon
This patent describes the method for placing a permanent, expandable wire mesh tube inside a blood vessel or other body tube using a balloon-tipped catheter to widen it and keep it open.
Expandable Grafts Partnership
US 4965188 · 1990
How to Make Many Copies of a DNA Piece with Heat
This patent describes the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) method, a technique to make millions of copies of a specific DNA segment using a heat-resistant enzyme and repeated temperature changes.
Cetus Corp
US 4235871 · 1980
How to Encapsulate Active Materials in Lipid Bubbles Efficiently
This patent describes a method for trapping biologically active substances inside tiny, multi-layered fat bubbles called liposomes, using a specific water-in-oil emulsion and gel-forming process to improve how much material gets captured.
Individual
More to explore
More in Consumer Electronics
US 7657849 · 2010 · Apple Inc
How the iPhone's Slide-to-Unlock Gesture Works
US 7479949 · 2009 · Apple Inc
How Touchscreens Understand Your Finger Swipes and Scrolls
US 4528643 · 1985 · FPDC Inc
How Stores Make Custom Products On-Demand with Remote Approval
US 7469381 · 2008 · Apple Inc
How Touchscreens Show and Snap Back When You Scroll Past an Edge
New to patents?
Common Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
What does How TiVo Pauses and Rewinds Live Television cover?
TiVo's 1998 patent on a digital video recorder that converts television signals into digital files, splits them into audio and video, and stores them on a hard drive to allow simultaneous recording and playback.
Who owns patent US 6233389?
Tivo Inc owns this patent, granted in 2001.
When does this patent expire?
This patent has expired and is now in the public domain — anyone can use the invention freely.
What is patent US 6233389 cited by?
This patent has been cited by 798 later patents that build on its ideas.
What problem does this patent solve?
This patent is the foundation of the Digital Video Recorder (DVR) industry. It enabled TiVo to dominate the early television-recording market and led to massive patent infringement lawsuits against television providers like EchoStar (Dish Network), resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements. It fundamentally changed how consumers watch television by shifting control of broadcast schedules to the viewer.
What does this patent NOT cover?
Does not cover systems that record and play back purely analog signals without converting them to a digital MPEG format.
Patent monitoring