1. A method of producing a plurality of encoded representations of an input media signal, the method comprising: providing the input media signal; encoding said input media signal to generate the plurality of encoded representations, wherein at least a portion of the media signal is included in a first encoded representation of said plurality of encoded representations and the same portion is also included in a second encoded representation of said plurality of encoded representations, and said first encoded representation is encoded according to a different set of encoding parameters than said second encoded representation; and designating a plurality of synchronization points such that switching between a decoding of one of said encoded representations and another of said encoded representations can be performed without any substantial discontinuity.