 |
Description  |
|
|
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a picture recorder having a reservation means for
reserving and recording according a reservation any program of channels
transmitted by way of the space or cable.
2. Description of Related Art
The television broadcasting program is transmitted by way of the space or
the cable, namely cable television (CATV) to users.
A user selects a preferred program on the channel and watches the program
on a TV set or records the program on a picture recorder. Then, a program
is selected referring to a printed program table.
However, when many channels are available, for example 150 channels or like
that, it is not easy to search a preferred program on a program table on
which programs of, for example, 150 channels are listed.
For easy searching of a desired program, the method described herein under
has been used, that is, data of the program table of each channel is
inserted in the vertical blanking interval of the video signal of a
specific channel so that the insertion does not disturb the television
signal of the program, and such data is transmitted to users, a user views
the transmitted program table data on a television display, and searches
the channel to select the desired program of the channel.
This program table data is referred to as electronic program guide, the
electronic program guide can be displayed on a screen for individual
categories of program such as sports, news, and movies, and on the display
of the electronic program guide on a screen, a user can select a program
for receiving and can reserve for recording of a program.
One example of a program guide picture of such an electronic program guide
displayed on a television set is shown in FIG. 8. In the figure, the first
row shows the title of the program guide picture, "Program Guide" is
displayed, the second row shows month, day, and time, the month and day
"SEP. 7" and two grids of "8:00 p.m." and "9:00 p.m." are shown. In the
third and lower rows, channel names are shown in the left hand side and
the names of program which will be broadcasted in the time indicated in
the grids and the month and the day shown in the second row are shown in
the right side hand correspondingly to the channel names. For example, it
is shown that in the channel CSP2, NEWS1 will be broadcasted from 8:00
p.m. for one hour, and NEWS2 will be broadcasted from 9:00 p.m. Similarly,
in the channel 26, Famous American will be broadcasted from 8:00 p.m. for
2 hours.
Picture recording is reserved using a program guide picture as described
herein above, the detail of the method is described referring to FIG. 9. A
program guide picture as shown in FIG. 9A is displayed and the picture is
scrolled until a program to be recorded is displayed on the screen. When
the program to be recorded is displayed on the screen, a cursor is moved
to the row of the program to be recorded by operating the cursor moving
key. Then, the display where the cursor is moved to the row changes as
shown in FIG. 9A. This change involves the change in display mode such as
background color or reverse display.
In the example shown in the figure, a cursor is moved to the row of program
City Slickers to be broadcasted in the channel SHOW from 8:00 p.m. on SEP.
7 for 2 hours, and the display mode of the program row changes. Then, by
pushing the program reservation button (Rec key) in this condition, the
recording of this program is reserved.
Upon pushing the button, the display on the screen changes to the picture
for displaying the reserved program as shown in FIG. 9B, the program
reservation picture of the program to be broadcasted on the channel SHOW
from 8:00 p.m. on SEP. 7 for 2 hours is displayed for confirmation.
When a program is reserved using an electronic program guide on the
above-mentioned electronic appliance, if the program desired to be
reserved overlaps even over several minutes with a program which had been
reserved already, the electronic appliance determines that the program
desired to be reserved overlaps with a reserved program, and the
electronic appliance rejects the new program reservation which overlaps.
However, when a user wants to confirm a reserved program which is overlap
reserved, if the program desired to be reserved is displayed over a
plurality of pages of the program guide picture, it is difficult to find
the overlapped program.
Otherwise for example, when a program which overlaps with an already
reserved program is desired to be reserved, the user once cancels the
program reservation of the already reserved program and then operates the
new program reservation. Such operations are troublesome for a user.
Further, the program reservation using the program guide involves the
reservation by program unit, therefore the time of picture recording can
not be changed, for example, when the time of picture recording of a
program overlaps partially, the desire that the partial program for
picture recording which does not overlap, for example only the first half
(second half), is recorded can not be accepted. This is a problem of the
conventional program reservation system.
An electronic appliance for picture recording is provided usually with a
reservation means for reserving a program by setting the picture recording
month and day, picture recording time, and picture recording channel. One
example is described referring to FIG. 10, FIG. 10 shows a picture display
of such a reservation means, in this example picture display, July 6 WED
is inputted and displayed as the picture recording month and day, 7:00
a.m. is inputted and displayed as the picture recording starting time,
8:00 a.m. is inputted and displayed as the picture recording ending time,
6 channel is inputted and displayed as the picture recording channel. A
user reserves a program when confirming this displayed picture.
As described herein above, some electronic appliances are provided with two
reservation means, namely, the first reservation means for reserving a
program using the electronic program guide displayed on the television
screen and the second reservation means for reserving a program by a
method in which a user sets the picture recording month and day, picture
recording time, and picture recording channel.
However, the first reservation means and the second reservation means
operate reservation independently, therefore, when reservations by two
reservation means overlap, the execution of reservation is involved in
confusion, the confusion is a problem.
The problem is described in detail referring to FIG. 11 and FIG. 12 herein
under. The first and second reservation means are executed by
microcomputers respectively, and the job is performed with one period of a
vertical synchronizing signal of a video signal as one cycle. The one
cycle is about 16.7 ms for NTSC system as shown in FIG. 11A, time shared
one period is assigned for execution time of various jobs. For example in
FIG. 11B, an example of a job executed by a microcomputer (.mu.con A) for
controlling the second reservation means is described, the job executed in
the second shared time is a job for communication with the microcomputer
(.mu.con B) for controlling the first reservation means, the job executed
in the fourth shared time is a job for controlling the execution of the
second reservation means.
In other words, when the condition that time passes the starting time of
the program reserved by the first reservation means is informed by the job
executed in the second shared time, picture recording starts. When the
time passes the starting time of the program reserved by the second
reservation means, picture recording starts by the job executed in the
fourth shared time.
If picture recording is reserved by the first reservation means and the
second reservation means for the same month and day and the same time, the
electronic appliance performs as described herein under.
When the picture recording starting time comes to the time point shown in
the upper portion in FIG. 12A, .mu.con A communicates with .mu.con B by
the job after the starting time, and .mu.con A informs .mu.con B that it
is the just time of starting time of the program reserved by the first
reservation means. Thereby, .mu.con A executes (B) picture recording of
the program reserved by the first reservation means.
Then, the control of the second reservation means is executed, by execution
of this job, it is found that it is the just time of starting time of the
program reserved by the second reservation means, .mu.con A executes (A)
picture recording of the program reserved by the second reservation means.
As described herein above, in this case, the recording program is changed
at a moment as shown in FIG. 12A, finally the program reserved by the
second reservation means is recorded.
Then, the time comes to the time point of picture recording starting time
as shown on the upper portion of FIG. 12B, .mu.con A executes control of
the second reservation means by the job after the starting time, it is
found that it is the just starting time of the program reserved by the
second reservation means, and .mu.con A executes (A) picture recording of
the program reserved by the second reservation means.
In the next period of vertical synchronizing signal, .mu.con A communicates
with .mu.con B, and .mu.con B informs .mu.con A that it is the just
starting time of the program reserved by the first reservation means.
Thereby, .mu.con A executes (B) picture recording of the program reserved
by the first reservation means.
As described herein above, in this case, finally the program reserved by
the first reservation means is recorded as shown in FIG. 12B. As described
hereinbefore, the reservation means by which the executed picture
recording program is reserved is different depending on when the stating
time comes, therefore the overlapped reservation causes confusion.
When an electronic appliance accepts a program reservation and then the
power supply is turned off, the electronic appliance remains in the
condition of reservation waiting, only when the electronic appliance is
remained in reservation waiting, the condition of reservation waiting is
displayed on the electronic appliance. However, when the program
reservation is executed using the electronic program guide, if the
electronic appliance is under supply of power, when the time comes to the
starting time of reserved program, the picture recording starts. In that
case, because the no indication of picture recording reservation is
displayed on the screen, the user can not recognize the picture recording
reservation, and a recording tape can not be prepared, this is another
problem.
The condition that a recording tape is not prepared means such conditions
that a recording tape set on the electronic appliance is not ready for
recording, that a recording tape with the length insufficient for
recording is set, and that a recorded recording tape which does not accept
substitute recording is set.
The present invention is accomplished in view of solving these
above-mentioned problems, and it is an object of the present invention to
provide an electronic appliance having improved convenience for use when
programs reserved using the electronic program guide are overlapped and
having performance that, if picture recording reservations by two
reservation means overlap, the reservation is executed without confusion.
Further, it is another object of the present invention to provide an
electronic appliance which displays the existence of a program reservation
when the program is reserved and power supply is on.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
To achieve the object of the present invention, the present invention
provides the electronic appliance which electronic appliance displays the
electronic program guide information superposed on the television signal
and is provided with the first reservation means for reservation of
picture recording of a desired program based on the electronic program
guide information, wherein, the electronic appliance is provided with a
selection means for selecting one of overlapped programs reserved for
picture recording when the time zone of the specified and reserved
programs overlaps.
The electronic appliance is provided with a display means for displaying
the picture recording reservation information of the overlapped program
reserved for picture recording.
The starting time and/or ending time for the time zone where two or more
programs overlap is corrected by key operation or the picture recording
reservation of any one of overlapped programs are cancelled.
The electronic appliance of the present invention is provided with a
setting means for setting the preferential execution of either picture
recording reservations reserved by the first reservation means for
reservation of picture recording on the display of the electronic program
guide information superposed on the television signal or by the second
reservation means for reserving picture recording by inputting at least
recording time and recording channel.
In the above-mentioned picture recorder, the above-mentioned setting means
is a mechanical switch or menu picture displayed on the screen, and
further, the preference for execution of either picture recording
reservations by the first or second reservation means may be set
automatically depending on the specific information transmitted together
with the electronic program guide.
In another electronic appliance of the present invention used to achieve
the above-mentioned object, at least the first reservation means for
picture recording reservation on the display of the electronic program
guide transmitted is provided, and when a picture recording is reserved,
the reservation display for indicating the condition that the picture
recording is reserved is displayed always.
In yet another electronic appliance of the present invention, when a
picture recording is reserved by the above-mentioned first reservation
means, the above-mentioned reservation display may be displayed, and
further the above-mentioned reservation display may be displayed by
lighting on a light emitting diode or may be displayed by displaying an
icon superimposed on the screen.
According to the present invention, when programs reserved for picture
recording using the electronic program guide information overlap, the
overlapped reserved programs are displayed, then correction of the picture
recording starting time or picture recording ending time of the programs
or cancellation is operated on the program guide picture, thus the
convenience for use for picture recording reservation using the electronic
program guide is improved.
Further, according to the present invention, the picture recording
reservation is executed according to the preference for execution of
either picture recording reservations by the first reservation means or by
the second reservation means when the time comes to the picture recording
reservation time, therefore the confusion in execution of reservation is
prevented.
The display of picture recording reservation is displayed when a picture
recording is reserved, and a recording tape which is surely available for
recording is therefore set on the picture recorder.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a block diagram for illustrating a structure of an embodiment of
the picture recorder of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram for illustrating an option picture displayed on the
picture recorder of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a set of diagrams, when the execution of reservation B is
preferential in the picture recorder of the present invention, for
illustrating the job executed by .mu.con A when the time comes to the
starting time just after Vsync and the timing of picture recording
execution, and for illustrating the job executed by .mu.con A when the
time comes to the starting time just after communication processing with
.mu.com B and the timing of picture recording execution.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart for describing reservation execution control routine
of .mu.con A when the execution of reservation B is preferential in the
picture recorder of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a diagram for illustrating the transmission of contracted
information through a network.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart for describing reservation execution control routine
of .mu.con A for switching the reservation means depending on before or
after contract in the picture recorder of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a diagram for illustrating an example in which the existence of a
reservation is shown by an icon in the picture recorder of the present
invention.
FIG. 8 is a diagram for illustrating a menu picture of the electronic
program guide.
FIG. 9 is a set of diagram for illustrating a picture display of a method
for program reservation using the electronic program guide.
FIG. 10 is a diagram for picture display of a method for program
reservation by inputting picture recording month and day, and picture
recording time.
FIG. 11 is a diagram for illustrating timing of job executed by .mu.con A
in the conventional picture recorder.
FIG. 12 is a set of diagrams for illustrating the job executed by .mu.con A
when the time comes to the starting time just after Vsync and timing of
the picture recording execution, and for illustrating job executed by
.mu.con A when the time comes to the starting time just after
communication processing with .mu.con B and timing of the picture
recording execution.
FIG. 13 is a flowchart for illustrating the processing when program
reservation by the first reservation means in accordance with the
embodiment of the present invention overlaps.
FIG. 14 is a diagram for illustrating an example of picture display when a
program is reserved using the electronic program guide.
FIG. 15 is a set of diagrams for illustrating the overlap information
picture displayed when a program is reserved by the electronic program
guide and the position of a cursor displayed.
FIG. 16 is a set of diagrams for illustrating an example of picture display
when the picture recording reservation is corrected on a program guide
picture.
FIG. 17 is a set of diagrams for illustrating an example of picture display
when the picture recording reservation is corrected on a program guide
picture.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The structure of an embodiment of the picture recorder of the present
invention is shown in FIG. 1.
In the picture recorder shown in FIG. 1, a television signal inputted from
an antenna 1 is inputted to a tuner circuit 2. The television signal of
the channel selected by a user is converted to a video signal in the tuner
circuit 2, and inputted to a picture recording circuit 6, and also
inputted to a microcomputer device B 7 (.mu.con B). The tuner circuit 2
selects channels to which the electronic program guide is inserted in the
vertical blanking time period and outputs the electronic program guide
information to .mu.con B 7 during a specific time period while the picture
recorder is, for example, in stand-by condition. The .mu.con B 7 is
provided with a slice/decoding circuit 7-1 and display circuit 7-2, the
video signal from the tuner circuit 2 is inputted to the slice/decoding
circuit 7-1 of the .mu.con B 7.
The picture recording control signal is fed from the microcomputer device A
(.mu.con A) 5 to the picture recording circuit 6, and the picture
recording is controlled therein. The remote control signal is fed from the
remote control input circuit 3 to the .mu.con A 5, and the .mu.con A 5
outputs the reservation display information to the display means 9 such as
a display tube and LED. Further, for displaying reservation information on
the screen of a television set, the reservation information outputted from
the .mu.con A 5 is converted to a video signal in the display circuit 10.
For example, a character generator for displaying a display information
and frame memory for displaying are provided in the display circuit 10.
The remote control input circuit 3 receives a remote control key
information when the remote control key 4 is operated, demodulates
modulated remote control key information, and transmits the demodulated
remote control information to the .mu.con A 5. When, for example,
recording time data and recording channel data for picture recording
reservation are transmitted from the remote controller 4, these data are
fed to the .mu.con A 5 for picture recording reservation. The picture
recording reservation is controlled by the .mu.con A 5.
Further, a picture recording is reserved by the remote controller 4, and
then power supply to the picture recorder is turned off, when, the picture
recorder is brought in the waiting condition, a reservation waiting
information is fed from the .mu.con A 5 to the display means 9, the
condition that the picture recorder is in waiting condition is displayed
by the display tube or LED. Thereby, a user sees the display on the
display means 9 and recognizes the condition that the picture recorder is
in picture recording reservation.
When a picture recording is reserved by the remote controller 4, the
content of picture recording reservation inputted by key operation of the
remote controller 4 is displayed on the screen of the television set, it
is possible to reserve a picture recording with confirming the picture
displayed on the screen.
The change-over switch 11 is served for change-over controlling of a
picture displayed on the monitor screen. For example, when a user reserves
a picture recording or selects a channel using the electronic program
guide, by inputting the change-over key provided on the remote controller,
the change-over switch 11 is controlled so as to connect to the display
circuit 7-2. In this case, a picture of program guide is displayed as
shown in FIG. 8, then the user can select a desired program on the program
guide picture, and can reserve a picture recording and select a channel
for the program.
On the other hand, in the condition that the change-over switch 11 is
connected to the display circuit 10, for example, when a user inputs a
picture recording month and day, picture recording channel, and picture
recording time for picture recording reservation from the remote
controller or the operation means of the television set, the picture
recording reservation information is displayed.
The .mu.con B 7 is a microcomputer for controlling the information
concerning the electronic program guide inserted in the received video
signal, picks up the electronic program guide data inserted in the
vertical blanking interval (VBI) of the video signal of a channel selected
using the tuner circuit 2, decodes it, thereafter stores it in the memory
8 (SRAM). When, the slice/decoding circuit 7-1 executes waveform shaping
of the electronic program guide data, after the waveform shaping, decodes
the electronic program guide data.
To display the electronic program guide decoded on the screen of the
television set, the electronic program guide is converted to the video
signal by the display circuit 7-2, and the video signal is inputted to the
one fixed contact of the change-over switch 11. The display circuit 7-2 is
provided with a character generator and frame memory for displaying.
In the condition that the change-over switch 11 is switched as shown in
FIG. 1, the electronic program guide picture is displayed on the screen of
the television set, by operating the remote controller 4 on the electronic
program guide picture, a user can select a desired program and reserve the
program for picture recording.
As described herein above, data of the electronic program guide are
inserted in the vertical blanking interval (VBI) of video signal, the
electronic program guide data covers, for example, programs in the period
of 7 days, therefore the memory 8 has a memory capable of storing the
electronic program guide data for 7 days covering about 70 channels.
The .mu.con A 5 and .mu.con B 7 are structured so as to communicate each
other, a reservation information for picture recording reservation under
the control by the .mu.con B 7 and remote control information transmitted
from the remote controller 4 is transferable mutually.
Next, the picture recorder structured as described herein above is provided
the first reservation means for picture recording reservation using the
electronic program guide as shown in the above-mentioned FIG. 9 and the
second reservation means for picture recording reservation by inputting
picture recording month and day, picture recording time, and picture
recording channel as shown in the above-mentioned FIG. 10 for picture
recording reservation.
In the picture recorder of the present invention advantageously, a user can
select as desired the priority between the picture recording reservation
reserved by the first reservation means and the picture recording
reservation reserved by the second reservation means.
Herein, the method for picture recording reservation using the first
reservation means is described in detail herein under. The channel in
which the electronic program guide data are inserted in VBI is selected by
the tuner 2, and the video signal of the channel is inputted to the
.mu.con B 7. The .mu.con B 7 separates and decodes the electronic program
guide data from the input video signal, converts it to the video signal of
the menu picture as shown in FIG. 9A, and outputs it in the display
circuit 7-2. The video signal is inputted to a television set not shown in
the figure through the switch 11, and the electronic program guide as
shown in FIG. 9A is displayed on the screen.
The electronic program guide contains programs for all channels, therefore
when the number of channels are large, one picture can not display all the
programs, in that case, the picture is scrolled until a desired electronic
program guide is displayed on the screen. When the program to be reserved
for picture recording is displayed, cursor moving keys of the remote
controller 4 are operated to move the cursor to the row of the program
desired to be reserved. When, the background color or display condition of
the row where the cursor is moved is changed to a special display
condition such as reverse printing as shown in FIG. 9A.
In the example shown in FIG. 9A, the cursor is moved to the program row of
City Slickers which will be broadcasted on the channel of SHOW from 8:00
p.m. on SEP. 7 for 2 hours, the display condition of the program row is
changed. In this condition, by pushing the picture recording reservation
button (Rec key) of the remote controller 4, this program is reserved for
picture recording.
Then, the picture display changes to a picture display as shown in FIG. 9B
for indicating the program which was reserved for picture recording,
thereby the user can confirm the picture recording reservation of City
Slickers which will be broadcasted on the channel of SHOW from 8:00 p.m.
on SEP. 7 for 2 hours.
The picture recording can be reserved by the first reservation means as
described herein above, the .mu.con B 7 controls the display which
involves picture recording reservation.
Next, a method is described herein under referring to FIG. 13 to FIG. 17
for correcting the picture recording reservation when a program desired to
be reserved by the first reservation means is overlapped with a program
which was already reserved for picture recording.
FIG. 13 is a flowchart for describing the first reservation correcting
method for correcting on a program guide picture when picture recording
reservations by the electronic program guide are overlapped.
First, in the case that a user reserves picture recording on a program
guide picture, in the step S001, the existence of a program which was
already reserved for picture recording is determined, if it is YES, in the
step S002, whether the reserved time of the program which is now reserved
for picture recording is overlapped with the reserved time of the program
which was already reserved for picture recording is determined.
If the determination is NO, the process proceeds to the end, but if the
determination is YES, the process proceeds to the step S003.
For example as shown in FIG. 14, the News which will be broadcasted on the
channel A from 8:00 p.m. on SEP. 7 for 2 hours is already reserved, and
when the user reserved now a picture recording of the Movie which will be
broadcasted on the channel B, in the step 002, the reserved time for
picture recording of the Movie program which is now reserved is determined
to be overlapped with the News program which was already reserved for
picture recording.
In the step S002, if the determination is YES, an overlap information
picture (Overlapped Event) for indicating the overlapped programs in
picture recording time as shown in FIG. 15A is pop-up displayed on the
program guide picture (S003).
On the overlap information picture, the reservation information such as a
channel, a day of the week, a starting time of picture recording, a title
of program, and a picture recording time is displayed as shown in FIG. 15A
on the upper portion of the picture, and the bar indication of a picture
recording reservation time of the overlapped programs is displayed on the
lower portion of the picture. Further, the flickering cursor is displayed
at the right end of the one bar of the bar indication (S004).
The position of the flickering cursor can be moved by operating "{character
pullout}, {character pullout}, <, >" cursor moving keys provided on the
remote controller, for example, by operating "<" cursor moving key in the
condition that the flickering cursor is positioned at the right end of the
bar indicator, the cursor is moved to the head of the bar indicator of the
channel A as shown in FIG. 15B.
By operating "{character pullout}" cursor moving key, the cursor is moved
to the tail of the bar indicator of the channel B.
When the user corrects a starting time of the overlapped program which is
reserved for picture recording, the cursor is moved to the head of the bar
indicator of the program to be corrected. When the ending time is
corrected, the cursor is moved to the tail of the bar indicator of the
program to be corrected (S005, S006), and "Enter Key" key is inputted,
then the cursor is changed from flickering to lighting on, and the mode is
changed to the correction mode of the picture recording reservation time
(S007 and S008).
Next in the step S009, the existence of "Exit Key" key input is determined,
when "Exit Key" key is inputted, the overlapped picture recording
reservation inputted later is erased forcedly, thus the correction
processing is brought to an end (S009 and S010).
On the other hand, if the determination is NO in the step S009, the process
returns to the step S004 and again whether the cursor is flickering is
determined. Therefore, this sequence of operations is repeated until
"Enter Key" key is inputted to change the cursor to lighting on condition
in the step S007 or "Exit Key" key is inputted to end the correction
processing in the step S009.
In the step S004, if the condition of the cursor is determined to be not in
flickering but in lighting on, the process goes to the branch step S011 to
determine the existence of input of "<, >" cursor moving key. When, for
example, the cursor is lighting on at the tail of bar indicator of the
channel A, if "<" cursor moving key is inputted, the picture recording
ending time on the channel A is shortened by, for example, 10 minute unit.
When the cursor is lighting on at the head of the bar indicator of the
channel A, if ">" cursor moving key is inputted, the picture recording
starting time on the channel A is delayed by, for example, 10 minute unit
(S012).
When the cursor is lighting on, if "Clear Key" key is inputted, the picture
recording reservation where the cursor is positioned is erased (S013 and
S014).
FIG. 16A shows an example that, in the overlapped information picture as
shown in FIG. 15A, the ending time of the program of A channel is
expedited by 1 hour to eliminate the overlapping with the program of B
channel, FIG. 16B shows another example that the ending time of the
channel A is expedited by 30 minutes, thereafter the cursor is moved to
the channel B, the starting time of picture recording on the channel B is
delayed by 30 minutes, thus the overlapping is corrected and eliminated.
FIG. 16C shows yet another example that "Clear Key" key is inputted in the
condition of the cursor being positioned on the bar indicator of the
channel B to erase the picture recording reservation of the channel B.
Then in the step S015, whether the picture recording reservation is
overlapped is determined, if the determination is NO, the correction
processing goes to the end.
On the other hand, in the step S015, if the determination is YES, in the
step S009, the existence of "Exit Key" key input is determined again, if
the determination is NO, the process returns to the step S004 to determine
the flickering of the cursor, and the correction processing of picture
recording time is continued.
As described herein above in the picture recorder in accordance with the
embodiment of the present invention, overlapping of the reservation time
of a program reserved for picture recording using the program guide is
determined, if the reservation time is overlapped, an overlapped
information picture is displayed to inform a user the overlapped program
reserved for picture recording. Then the starting time or ending time of
reserved programs can be corrected or desired reserved program can be
erased for convenience in use.
Next, the second reservation correcting method for correcting the
overlapping of the picture recording reservation using the electronic
program guide on the program guide picture is described referring to FIG.
17.
When the picture recording is reserved using the program guide picture, a
program desired to be reserved is selected on the program guide picture
and "Rec Key" key is operated, thereby the picture recording is reserved,
in this case, for example, the News program on the channel A is reserved
for picture recording as shown in FIG. 17A, the background color of the
program row of this program is changed to red.
In the condition that a program is reserved for picture recording, for
example, if a user moves the cursor to the Movie program which will be
broadcasted on the channel B, then pushes the picture recording
reservation button "Rec Key", the picture recording time overlaps with
that of the News program of the channel A which was already reserved for
picture recording, then ? mark is displayed at the head of the title of
the Movie program of the channel B to be reserved now for picture
recording as shown in FIG. 17B, and, for example, the background color of
the overlapped programs reserved for picture recording of the channels A
and B is changed from red to yellow, thus the overlapping of the program
reservation is indicated to the user.
When the overlapping of recording time of the channel A and channel B is
eliminated so that a user can reserve picture recording of the Movie
program of the channel B, for example, by shortening the recording time of
the News program of the channel A, the cursor is moved to the program row
of the News program of the channel A displayed in yellow, and the picture
recording reservation button "Rec Key" is pushed again. Thereby, the
program row of the channel A begins flickering, and by pushing "<" key out
of the right and left cursor moving keys of the remote controller in the
condition of flickering, the picture recording time of the channel A is
shortened (for example 10 minute unit) as shown in FIG. 17C. When the
overlapping of the recording time of the program of the channel A with
that of the program of the channel B is eliminated, that is, when the
overlapped picture recording reservation is eliminated, the background
color changes to red which indicates the normal reserved picture recording
condition, thus the picture reservation is completed.
Otherwise, for example, in the condition that the program row reserved for
picture recording is flickering, ">" key out of right and left cursor
moving keys of the remote controller is pushed, the reservation starting
time can be delayed by, for example, 10 minute unit. When the picture
recording starting time or picture recording ending time is corrected
wrong by moving the cursor moving keys, the picture recording reservation
is returned to the initial condition by pushing "CANCEL Key" provided on
the remote controller.
Such correction of the picture recording reservation time is possible not
only in the condition that the picture recording reservation is overlapped
with the displayed program row colored yellow but also in the condition
that the picture recording reservation is normal with the displayed
program row colored red.
In the example described herein above, the overlapped picture recording
reservations are displayed on the same program guide picture, therefore a
user can correct easily the reserved time with confirming the program row,
however in the case that many channels are available and the program guide
information is displayed over a plurality of pages, and the overlapped
picture recording reservations are displayed on different pages, it is not
easy to find out the overlapped programs.
When the program guide information of overlapped programs reserved for
picture recording is displayed on a plurality of pages, for example, "List
Key" of the remote controller is pushed.
Thereby, an overlapped information picture is displayed on the monitor as
shown in FIG. 17 (e), the user can confirm the list of the overlapped
programs. Further, the picture recorder may be structured so that the
picture recording reservation is corrected on this picture display by
operating the cursor moving keys to cancel the picture recording
reservation, expedite the ending time of the picture recording
reservation, or delay the picture recording starting time.
In the above-mentioned correction method for correcting picture recording
reservation time, the picture recording ending time is shortened by 10
minute unit or the picture recording starting time is delayed by 10 minute
unit by operating the cursor moving keys on the screen, otherwise, the
picture recorder may be structured so that the picture recording starting
time or picture recording ending time is corrected to the point sufficient
for eliminating the overlap.
Though the number of days included in the electronic program guide stored
in the picture recorder is restricted by the memory capacity or the
quantity of transmitted data, for example, even when the program which
will be broadcasted on the month and day when the electronic program guide
data is not stored yet is selected, the picture recording reservation and
correction of picture recording reservation are possible.
Next, a method for picture recording reservation for the second reservation
means is described. In the rese | | |
