quote:

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In yet another illustrative example, a dual head system as illustrated in FIG. 2 could provide the ability to edit, review or output sensor acquired data without interfering with an input data stream. On a consumer level, a two-headed recording-reading optical video disk system would provide advantageous features over the current generation of magnetic tape video cassette recorder (VCR) equipment. For example, with the magnetic tape VCR technology, the viewing of a recorded broadcast can only begin after the broadcast has been completed and the tape is rewound. With a dual head disk system, such as is shown in FIG. 2, however, regular or even accelerated viewing could begin any time after the recorder was activated. In a home/consumer setting, a consumer might begin recording a program at 7:00 p.m. but begin viewing the program at 7:10 p.m. The disk system would thus contain ten minutes of buffered video data. As the viewer encountered parts of the recorded broadcast he did not wish to watch, he could easily "fast forward" over the segments. In the above situation, independent read and write mechanisms would suffix. Dual recording-reading heads would provide the additional capability to record and/or play two inputs simultaneously. Since the recording heads move independently and can be positioned anywhere along the tracks of the spinning disk, one of the heads could be tied to the video input from the television, for example, while the other head outputs a delayed video signal to the television screen. While the first head is receiving input information from the receiver of the television, the second head would be reading tracks previously recorded by the first head ten minutes before.

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Back in 2006, a jury ruled that Dish Network DVRs infringed upon a TiVo patent, and forced the company to pay TiVo $73.9 in damages --

Echostar has to pay full damages plus interest -- a tidy sum of $104 million --