An operations center for video program delivery via cable and for adapting program menus to the type of cable headends

摘要

The present invention is an operations center 202 that organizes and packages television programs for transmission in a television delivery system 200. The center is capable of receiving, storing, packaging and delivering countless programs in various signal formats. The center's primary components are a receiver 300, system controller 312, video storage 308, computer assisted packaging system 316, and ouptut equipment 320. The components can receive, convert, store, select, retrieve, encode and otherwise process multiple program signals, gather program identities of analog and/or digital programs, generate menus, package programs efficiently based on subscriber needs and the available bandwidth, and output packaged program products to multiple remote sites 208. To perform these functions, the CAP 316 creates program lineups, menus, instructions on the packaging of programs, and/or allocates available bandwith. In the preferred embodiment, the packages program products contain programs, control information, and menus. IMAGE