The invention concerns a method (200) and system (100) for recording
multiple programs onto a storage medium. The invention includes the steps
of: receiving (210) a plurality of multimedia inputs; sampling (212) the
multimedia inputs such that the sampled multimedia inputs contain a
portion of the plurality of multimedia inputs; combining (214) the
sampled multimedia inputs; and encoding (216) the sampled multimedia
inputs such that the number of encoding devices required to encode the
sampled multimedia inputs is less than the number of the plurality of
multimedia inputs. The invention can also include the step of playing
back (220) the sampled multimedia inputs. In one arrangement, the playing
back step can further include the steps of: decoding (226) at least one
of the encoded sampled multimedia inputs to provide a decoded signal; and
processing (228) the decoded signal to enable the display of at least one
of the multimedia inputs.