Multi-coded content substitution

1. A method of substitution of digital content at a content player device, comprising:

accessing a stream of digital content having substitutable portions, the stream of digital content being encoded using a first encoding method;

identifying a segment the digital content using a first segment identifier; wherein

a plurality of sets of substitute segments of digital content are associated with at least one part of the segment of digital content, identified by a corresponding plurality of segment identifiers;

determining that one of the plurality of segment identifiers correspond to the sets segments of substitute content that are to be substituted;

determining that the stream of digital content contains the one of the plurality of segment identifiers;

inserting into the stream of digital content the substitutable portion having the one of the plurality of segment identifiers and disregarding the substitutable portions in the stream of digital content;

wherein the plurality of sets of substitute segments of digital content are encoded using a second encoding method;

upon determining a substitution point in the stream of digital content, switching from a first decoder that decodes content encoded using the first encoding method to a second decoder that decodes content encoded using the second encoding method; and

upon completion of decoding the inserted substituted portion, switching from the second decoder back to the first decoder.

2. The method according to claim 1 , where the first and second decoders comprise a single programmable decoder that is switched from operation using a first decoding method to a second decoding method.

3. The method according to claim 1 , where the first digital encoding method comprises MPEG-2 encoding.

4. The method according to claim 1 , where the second digital encoding method comprises AVC encoding.

5. The method according to claim 1 , where the content segments are sent as MPEG-2 Transport Stream packets and identified using packet identifiers (PIDs) serving as segment identifiers.

6. The method according to claim 1 , where the content segments are sent as Internet Protocol (IP) packets and identified using one of IP address and port numbers, and content identification fields within IP packets.

7. A method of substitution of digital content at a content player device, comprising:

accessing a segment of digital content having substitutable portions, the segment of digital content being encoded using a first digital encoding method;

identifying a fixed segment of the digital content using a first segment identifier;

accessing a plurality of sets of substitute segments of digital content forming a part of the segment of digital content which are identified by a corresponding plurality of segment identifiers;

where the plurality of sets substitute segments of digital content are encoded using a second encoding method and sent ahead of the primary segments they would be replacing, and

where the second encoding method produces differently compressed digital content than the first encoding method;

determining that one of the plurality of segment identifiers corresponds to the sets of segments of substitute content that are to be substituted by reference to a stored instruction stored in a memory device;

determining that the content contains the one of the plurality of segment identifiers;

inserting the substitutable portion having the one of the plurality of segment identifiers and disregarding the substitutable portions not identified by the one of the plurality of segment identifiers; and

upon encountering a substitution point in the content, switching from a first decoder that decodes content encoded using the first encoding method to a second decoder that decodes content encoded using the second encoding method, and

upon completion of decoding the inserted substituted portion, switching from the second decoder back to the first decoder.

8. A method of substitution of digital content at a content player device, comprising:

accessing a stream of digital content having substitutable portions, the stream of digital content being encoded using a first digital encoding method;

identifying a segment of the digital content using a first segment identifier;

wherein a plurality of sets of substitute segments of digital content are associated with the segment of digital content which are identified by corresponding plurality of segment identifiers;

where the plurality of sets of substitute segments of digital content are encoded using a second encoding method;

determining that one of the plurality of segment identifiers correspond to the sets of segments of substitute content that are to be substituted;

inserting the substitutable portion having the one of the plurality of segment identifiers and disregarding portions of the stream of digital content not identified by the on of the plurality of segment identifiers;

upon encountering a substitution point in the stream of digital content, switching from a first decoder that decodes content encoded using the first encoding method to a second decoder that decodes content encoded using the second encoding method, and

upon completion of decoding the inserted substituted portion switching from the second decoder back to the first decoder, and

where the first and second decoders comprise a single programmable decoder that is switched from operating using a first decoding method to a second decoding method.

9. The method according to claim 8 , where the second encoding method produces more highly compressed digital content than the first encoding method.

10. The method according claim 8 , where the first digital encoding method comprises MPEG-2 encoding, and where the second digital encoding method comprises AVC encoding.

11. A device, comprising:

a digital content player that is configured to receive a stream of digital content having substitutable portions,

the stream of digital content being encoded using a first encoding method where the digital content has a first segment of the digital content identified using a first segment identifier, and a plurality of sets of substitute segments of digital content forming a part of the segment of digital content which are identified by a corresponding plurality of segment identifiers;

a memory device that stores one of the plurality of segment identifiers corresponding to the sets of segments of substitute content that are to be substituted;

a logic circuit to:

determine that the content contains the one of the plurality of segment identifiers;

insert the substitutable portion having the one of the plurality of segment identifiers, disregarding substitutable portions not identified by the one of the plurality of segment identifiers;

upon determining a substitution point in the content, switching from a first decoding method corresponding to the first encoding method to a second decoding method to decode the substitutable portion inserted, the second decoding method corresponding to a second encoding method, where the second encoding method produces differently encoded digital content than the first encoding method.

12. The device according to claim 11 , further comprising a second decoder that is configured to decode content encoded using the second encoding method, where the plurality of sets of substitute segments of digital content are encoded using the second encoding method, where the second encoding method produces differently compressed digital content than the first encoding method.

13. The device according to claim 12 , further comprising a processor that is configured to:

upon encountering a substitution point in the content, switch from the first decoder that decodes content encoded using the first encoding method to the second decoder that decodes content encoded using the second encoding method, and

upon completion of decoding the inserted substitute portion switch from the second decoder back to the first decoder.

14. The device according to claim 12 , where the first and second decoders comprise a single programmable decoder that is switched from a first decoding method to a second decoding method.

15. The device according to claim 12 , where the second digital encoding method comprises AVC encoding.

16. The device according to claim 11 , where the first digital encoding method comprises MPEG-2 encoding.

17. The device according to claim 11 , where the content segments are sent as MPEG2 Transport Stream packets and identified using segment identifiers in the form of packet identifiers (PIDs).

18. The device according to claim 11 , where the content segments are sent as Internet Protocol (IP) packets and identified using segment identifiers in the form of one of IP address and port numbers, and content identification fields within IP packets.