Controlling buffer capacity for personal video recorder while displaying available disk space

Abstract From the Canadian patent

Allocating and storing media content (Fig.3A) instance files in a hard disk (300) of a storage device (373) of a media client device in a subscriber television system. In one embodiment, the system includes a memory for storing logic, a buffer space in the hard disk (300) for buffering media content instances as buffered media content instance files and a processor configured , with the logic to track the size of permanent media content instance files and the buffered media content instance files to provide an indication of available free space, such that the indication is independent of the buffer space.