ADAPTIVE AND PROGRESSIVE VIDEO STREAM SCRAMBLING

The invention relates to a method of distributing digital video sequences in the form of streams comprising data sequences containing digital images. The inventive method comprises a modification step involving the modification of the original stream, in which at least one part of the aforementioned data sequences is modified to produce a modified stream with the same nominal format as the original stream. The method also comprises a modified stream transmission step and a decoder-assisted reconstruction step. The invention is characterised in that the reconstruction is adaptive and progressive according to information originating from a digital profile of the recipient. In one particular embodiment, the modification produces a main modified stream and complementary information which enables the original stream to be reconstructed by a decoder. Said method comprises a modified stream transmission step and, in addition, a step involving the transmission of a subset of the complementary modification information to a recipient device, said subset being determined according to information originating from a digital profile of the recipient. The invention also relates to a system which is used to implement the inventive method.