In one embodiment, a method includes receiving fast channel change (FCC) data for a program, the FCC data having a first set of content identifiers, receiving a video stream for the program, the video stream having a second set of content identifiers, changing at least one of the first set of content identifiers of the FCC data or the second set of content identifiers of the video stream to a common set of content identifiers, and providing the changed FCC data and video stream to a decoder.

An image display apparatus and an image displaying method are provided. The image display apparatus includes a display; and a processor configured to parse information about a channel selected in response to a channel selection signal, determine whether to provide a plurality of services through the selected channel based on the parsed information, and, in response to the determining that the plurality of services are to be provided through the selected channel, obtain a plurality of service streams respectively corresponding to the plurality of services provided through the selected channel; and a decoder configured to decode one service stream from among the obtained plurality of service streams.

Embodiments of the present disclosure disclose and provide a method and terminal device for providing multimedia content. The method for providing multimedia content includes: receiving a download request for multimedia content from a client; generating a first predetermined quantity of download information items according to the download request, where the download information items include download addresses of content slices of the multimedia content respectively, and the first predetermined quantity of content slices are a beginning first quantity of content slices of the multimedia content; and sending the first quantity of download information items to the client. A playing starting speed of multimedia content can be increased by means of this method.

A method is provided for delivering a streaming media asset to a client device. For the method, a request is received over a communication network from a client device for playing a media asset in accordance with a streaming media technique. Prior to fully authorizing the client device to play the media asset, the client device is provided with access to a first cryptographic key that decrypts a subset of the media asset so that the client device is able to render the subset of the media asset before completion of the authorization. The subset of the media asset is less than all of the media asset. Subsequent to successfully fully authorizing the client device to play the media asset, the client is provided with access to at least one additional cryptographic key that decrypts a remainder of the media asset.

[Object] To provide a communication control device configured to efficiently secure bands of an IP network in order to transmit data streams.

[Solution] There is provided a communication control device including: a channel information acquisition unit configured to acquire, when AV streams are transmitted from a plurality of transmission apparatuses to one or more reception apparatuses on an IP network while being switched, all channel information from the transmission apparatuses to the reception apparatuses; a traffic calculation unit configured to calculate a maximum traffic generated in switching patterns of the transmission of the AV streams from the transmission apparatuses to the reception apparatuses, on the basis of the channel information acquired by the channel information acquisition unit; and a transmission band reservation unit configured to reserve a transmission band on the IP network, on the basis of the maximum traffic calculated by the traffic calculation unit.

One or more computing devices may be configured to identify information corresponding to a program change request associated with a multi-program data transmission. The information may comprise at least a link to a desired program within the multi-program data transmission. The one or more computing devices may communicate the link to the desired program to a client device over a specified time period. After the time period, the one or more computing devices may communicate the desired program to the client device using a single program data transmission. The single program data transmission may be derived from the multi-program data transmission.

Techniques described herein may be used to provide a media program (e.g., a television program, a sporting event, a movie, advertisement, etc.) to a user by obtaining portions of the media program from multiple, distinct media content sources. A client device, such as a set-top-box (STB), may receive present an ongoing media program to a user. The user may request for the client device to start the media program from the beginning, rewind the media program, or otherwise access a previous portion of the media program. Depending on the request, the client device may obtain different portions of the media program requested by the user from multiple, distinct media content sources. Examples of such sources may include a buffer of the client device, a digital-video-recording (DVR) component of the client device, a DVR server, a catch up server, and a video-on-demand (VoD) server.

Provided is an image display apparatus including: a communicator configured to receive, from a server, information about an integrated frequency band corresponding to a region where the image display apparatus is located; a display; a processor; a memory; and at least one program stored in the memory and executed by the processor, wherein the at least one program comprises instructions for scanning channels included in the integrated frequency band for a channel receivable by the image display apparatus, and displaying a result of the scanning on the display, and the integrated frequency band is a frequency band determined based on frequency bands receivable by other image display apparatuses located in the same region as the image display apparatus.

A video channel change system may include one or more processors and a memory. The one or more processors may receive first packets including first video frames associated with a first video channel and second packets including second video frames associated with a second video channel. The one or more processors may decode the first packets and display the first video frames while buffering, in a buffer, the second packets. The one or more processors may determine that a packet of the second packets includes a random access point without decoding the packet, discard the second packets from the buffer that were received prior to the packet, buffer additional second packets received subsequent to the packet, and decode the second packets stored in the buffer and display the second video frames included therein, in response to a request to change from the first video channel to the second video channel.

A receiving terminal in a hybrid network receives a video stream through a broadcasting network. The receiving terminal receives a high speed video stream streamed at a high speed for a defined first period from a first time when switching from the broadcasting network to a communication network depending on a receiving state of the broadcasting network is determined, receives a live video stream streamed in a live form from any one time of the first period, and generates a continuous video stream using the video stream received through the broadcasting network, the high speed video stream, and the live video stream.