A surveillance
system having a plurality of MPEG compressed data streams each originating from a separate video / audio source. The data is stored on hard disk and streamed to tape in real time. The data is partitioned on the tape into about ten partitions, each partition including a plurality of data blocks, each data block including synchronized frames from each
stream, a
stream map,
telemetry information, roster information, and tape positioning data. Each partition includes a duplicate
stream map and a duplicate partition
directory, and each block within the partition includes duplicate
telemetry information. Set marks readable in fast forward or rewind mode are placed every second on the tape in a position just before the duplicate
telemetry, and a file mark is placed just before the duplication partition
directory. The tape cassette includes an
EEPROM which holds a duplicate partition
directory. The originating disk also includes a duplicate partition directory. In case of tape error, the tape automatically restores itself when inserted into the tape
deck