A transmitter for transferring a data stream to multiple receivers, the transmitter being configured to sample a first portion of the data stream to form a first sample dataset, encode the first sample set to form a first encoded dataset and transmit the first encoded dataset to a first one of the receivers; sample a second portion of the data stream to form a second sample dataset, encode the second sample set to form a second encoded dataset and transmit the second encoded dataset to a second one of the receivers; and to perform at least part of the step of sampling the second portion of the datastream while the first sample dataset is being encoded or the first encoded dataset is being transmitted.