Method and apparatus to display graphically recording timer conflicts
View Patent ↗The present invention is a method and apparatus for displaying conflicts between two or more recording timers. These conflicts are displayed graphically for the user to resolve. Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention and the accompanying drawings.
1. A method of displaying recording timer conflicts in a television converter device, comprising:
storing information regarding a first television program to be recorded using a given channel selecting resource;
determining whether a second television program to be recorded requires the same channel selecting resource as the first program to be recorded; and
displaying graphically that the first television program to be recorded and the second television program to be recorded require the same channel selecting resource;
wherein said step of displaying graphically that the first television program to be recorded and the second television program to be recorded require the same channel selecting resource comprises:
displaying a two dimensional grid of cells having a time axis representing show times and a timer axis representing timers for programs to be recorded;
displaying a first timer for said first program to be recorded, wherein the first program is displayed as first timer cell wherein the graphical length of the first timer cell along the time axis corresponds to the temporal length of the first television program to be recorded;
displaying a second timer for said second television program to be recorded, wherein the second program is displayed as a second timer cell wherein the graphical length of the second timer cell along the time axis corresponds to the temporal length of the second television program to be recorded; and,
whereby a conflict is graphically displayed when the first timer cell and the second timer cell extend along at least some of the same portions of the time axis.
2. A method according to claim 1 , wherein a visual indicia is placed in the cell of the first program or second program.
3. A method according to claim 2 , wherein a recording conflict is identified with a marker in the cell.
4. A method according to claim 1 , wherein a recording conflict is identified with a banner over a column of the grid for which the recording conflict exists.
5. A method according to claim 1 , wherein a recording conflict is identified by shading one or more cells, for which the recording conflict exists, in a different color than other cells of the grid.
6. A method according to claim 5 , wherein a recording conflict is identified by shading cells for which the recording conflict exists in a same color as each other.
7. A television converter device capable of displaying recording timer conflicts, the device comprising:
a storage device configured to store information regarding a first television program to be recorded using a given channel selecting resource; and
a processor configured to determine whether a second television program to be recorded requires the same channel selecting resource as the first program to be recorded, and configured to display graphically that the first television program to be recorded and the second television program to be recorded require the same channel selecting resource;
wherein the processor is configured to display graphically that the first television program to be recorded and the second television program to be recorded require the same channel selecting resource by:
displaying a two dimensional grid of cells having a time axis representing show times and a timer axis representing timers for programs to be recorded;
displaying a first timer for said first program to be recorded, wherein the first program is displayed as first timer cell wherein the graphical length of the first timer cell along the time axis corresponds to the temporal length of the first television program to be recorded;
displaying a second timer for said second television program to be recorded, wherein the second program is displayed as a second timer cell wherein the graphical length of the second timer cell along the time axis corresponds to the temporal length of the second television program to be recorded; and,
whereby a conflict is graphically displayed when the first timer cell and the second timer cell extend along at least some of the same portions of the time axis.
8. A television converter device according to claim 7 , wherein the processor is configured to identify a cell associated with at least one of the first program and the second program to display a recording timer conflict.
9. A television converter device according to claim 7 , wherein the processor is configured to identify a recording conflict with a banner over a column of the grid for which the recording conflict exists.
10. A television converter device according to claim 7 , wherein the processor is configured to identify a recording conflict by shading one or more cells, for which the recording conflict exists, in a different color than other cells of the grid.
11. A television converter device according to claim 10 , wherein the processor is configured shade cells for which the recording conflict exists in a same color as each other.
12. A television converter device according to claim 7 , wherein the processor is configured to identify a recording conflict with a marker in the cell.