Abstract: A networked multimedia system comprises a plurality of workstations and at least one storage server. A signal path interconnects the workstations and the storage server. Each workstation includes video and audio reproduction capabilities, as well as video and audio capture capabilities. Any given storage server comprises a set of storage cells that operate under the direction of a storage cell manager. A storage cell may include one or more encoding and/or transcoding converters configured to convert or transform audio and video signals originating at a workstation into a form suitable for storage. A storage cell may further include one or more decoding converters configured to convert stored signals into a form suitable for audio and video signal reproduction at a workstation. Each storage cell additionally includes at least one storage device and storage device controller capable of storing, for later retrieval, signals generated by one or more converters.