US 5,132,992 · Granted 1992-07-21

The 1991 Patent That Dreamed Up Compressed Video Delivery

Before streaming services existed, this patent imagined sending compressed video and audio over phone lines, cable, and satellite to your home for later playback. It's the granddaddy of the technology that would eventually become Netflix, YouTube, and every streaming service you use today.

Curated and verified by the IsItPatented Editorial team

The plain-English version

What it protects

The claim covers a system for taking audio or video, compressing it using digital signal processing, encoding it, and transmitting it over standard communication channels (telephone, cable, or satellite) to a receiver that stores it for later playback. What's protected here is the combination of compression, encoding, transmission method, and storage for on-demand viewing—essentially the core workflow of modern streaming.

Why it matters

Filed in 1991, this patent captures the fundamental idea behind on-demand video distribution years before the internet became mainstream. While it doesn't name specific algorithms, it stakes an early claim to the concept of digitally compressing and sending video over existing infrastructure for later consumption. This type of foundational patent often becomes strategically valuable as an industry develops around the core concept, and it represents thinking ahead of its commercial time.

Real-world use

Every time you download or stream a movie to watch later, you're using the same basic workflow this patent describes—compressed video sent over a network and stored on your device for playback whenever you want.

Original USPTO abstract

A system of distributing video and/or audio information employs digital signal processing to achieve high rates of data compression. The compressed and encoded audio and/or video information is sent over standard telephone, cable or satellite broadcast channels to a receiver specified by a subscriber of the service, preferably in less than real time, for later playback and optional recording on standard audio and/or video tape.

Patent details

Publication number: US 5,132,992
Filing date: 1991-01-07
Grant date: 1992-07-21
Assignee: Paul Yurt / Browne H Lee
Inventor(s): YURT; PAUL, BROWNE; H. LEE
CPC class: H04N7/54

View original record on Google Patents →

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