VIDEO SCRAMBLING SYSTEM

At least one new video signal is created by using portions taken from each signal of a plurality of original video signals to create at least one new video signal, with the sequencing of the assignments of the particular portions from any of the original video signals to any particular ones of the new video signals, or the positions therein, being the output of a cryptographic function. A cryptographic function is a function that employs a cryptographic algorithm to supply as an output an enciphered version of the values of at least one of its inputs. Because the portion assignment sequence is the output of a cryptographic function, the resulting arrangements of the portions from the original video signals within the new video signals appear random to a viewer of the new video signals. Thus, the information content of the original video signals is not intelligible when viewing the new video signals, either individually or in any combination. Moreover, one who does not know either which encryption algorithm is used as part of the cryptographic function, or any of the controlling parameters of the algorithm, can not determine the cryptographic function nor reconstruct any of the original video signals from the new video signals. Descramblers may be employed to reconstruct any of the original video signals from the new video signals by selecting only those portions that made up a particular original signal from among all of the portions in all of the new video signals.