A near video-on-demand (VOD) service enabled using a digital video
recorder (DVR) for the simultaneous storage and playback of multimedia
data. A DVR is connected over a network to a multimedia network source. A
VOD selection is requested by the DVR from the network source. A
multimedia data signal is received by the DVR from the network source.
The data signal contains the requested VOD selection. A first received
portion of the received data signal is stored on the DVR. The first
received segment is played by the DVR for display on a display device.
Simultaneously during the playing of the first received segment, a second
received segment of the received data signal is received from the network
source and stored on the DVR while the first received segment is played
the display device. Thus, the requested VOD selection begins playing on
the display device prior to the reception of the entire compressed
multimedia data signal so that a requested VOD selection can begin being
displayed nearly instantaneously after the request for it is made. A
video-on-request (VOR) service is also enabled using a DVR. VOR selection
data is received by a centralized database device, such as a network
server, from a plurality of users. Each VOR selection data includes at
least one requested video selection and video recorder identifying
information for identifying each particular video recorder. A
transmission priority of requested video selections is determined
dependent on the frequency of requests `received from the plurality of
users. A transmission channel and time is determined based on the
transmission priority. DVR control signals are transmitted to
automatically tune in the determined transmission channel at the
determined transmission time and record the particular video selection.
