System and method for extended recording
View Patent ↗Embodiments of the disclosed invention include an apparatus, method, and computer program product for enabling a user to configure a media receiving device to auto-extend a recording of a program beyond its scheduled end recording time. For instance, in one embodiment, a computer implemented method for extending recording of a broadcast is disclosed. The method comprises recording a program associated with a broadcast signal until a scheduled ending time; determining whether an end of program indicator within the broadcast signal has been detected in response to reaching the scheduled ending time; and extending the recording of the program associated with the broadcast signal based upon a user selected setting associated with a set of user configurable options for extended recordings.
1. A computer implemented method for extending recording of a broadcast, the method comprising:
recording a program associated with a broadcast signal until a scheduled ending time;
monitoring for an end of program indicator within the broadcast signal;
responsive to a determination that the end of program indicator within the broadcast signal has not been detected by the scheduled ending time, extending the recording of the program associated with the broadcast signal based upon a user selected setting associated with a set of user configurable options for extended recordings, wherein the set of user configurable options includes a first option for always extending the recording until the end of program indicator within the broadcast signal has been detected, a second option for extending the recording of the program if a recorder is available, a third option for extending the recording of the program if the recorder is not available based on a priority level assigned to the program in comparison with a conflicting scheduled recording program, and a fourth option for disabling the auto extend recording feature;
wherein the program and the conflicting scheduled recording program are each assigned a numerical priority level by a user; and
wherein the third option of auto extending the recording if the recorder is not available based on the priority level assigned to the program in comparison with the conflicting scheduled recording program includes a fifth user selectable option for resolving a scenario when a first priority of the program and a second priority of the conflicting scheduled recording program are the same, wherein the fifth user selectable option enables a user to select whether the program or the conflicting scheduled recording program is recorded when the scenario occurs.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the end of program indicator is a predetermined string of consecutive 0 bits.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the broadcast signal is an analog signal and the end of program indicator is a signal having a predetermined frequency indicating an end to the program.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising recording the program until the scheduled end time of the program even if the end of program indicator within the broadcast signal is detected prior to the scheduled end time of the program.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising ending recording the program prior to the scheduled end time of the program in response to detecting the end of program indicator within the broadcast signal prior to the scheduled end time of the program.
6. A media receiving device comprising:
a communication interface for receiving a broadcast signal containing media content;
a memory component for storing computer executable instructions;
a processing unit for executing the computer executable instructions to:
record a program associated with the broadcast signal until a scheduled ending time;
monitor for an end of program indicator within the broadcast signal;
extend the recording of the program associated with the broadcast signal based upon a set of user configurable options for extended recordings in response to a determination that the end of program indicator within the broadcast signal has not been detected by the scheduled ending time, wherein the set of user configurable options includes a first option for always extending the recording until the end of program indicator within the broadcast signal has been detected, a second option for extending the recording of the program if a recorder is available, a third option for extending the recording of the program if the recorder is not available based on a priority level assigned to the program in comparison with a conflicting scheduled recording program, and a fourth option for disabling the auto extend recording feature;
wherein the program and the conflicting scheduled recording program are each assigned a numerical priority level by a user; and
wherein the third option of auto extending the recording if the recorder is not available based on the priority level assigned to the program in comparison with the conflicting scheduled recording program includes a fifth user selectable option for resolving a scenario when a first priority of the program and a second priority of the conflicting scheduled recording program are the same, wherein the fifth user selectable option enables a user to select whether the program or the conflicting scheduled recording program is recorded when the scenario occurs.
7. The media receiving device of claim 6 , further comprising a cable tuner for decoding the broadcast signal.
8. The media receiving device of claim 6 , further comprising a recorder module for enabling a user to schedule recording of the program.
9. The media receiving device of claim 6 , further comprising an overtime extender module for enabling a user to configure options for dynamically extending the recording of the program beyond the scheduled ending time if the end of program indicator associated with the program has not been detected by the media receiving device.
10. A computer program product comprising a tangible, non-transitory, computer readable medium having a computer readable program code embodied therein, said computer readable program code comprising instructions to cause a media receiving device to:
record a program associated with the broadcast signal until a scheduled ending time;
monitor for an end of program indicator within the broadcast signal;
determine whether an end of program indicator within the broadcast signal has been detected by the media receiving device in response to reaching the scheduled ending time, wherein recording of the program is continued until the scheduled ending time in response to detecting the end of program indicator prior to the scheduled ending time;
extend the recording of the program associated with the broadcast signal based upon a user selected setting associated with a set of user configurable options for extended recordings in response to a determination that the end of program indicator within the broadcast signal has not been detected by the scheduled ending time, wherein the set of user configurable options includes a first option for always extending the recording until the end of program indicator within the broadcast signal has been detected, a second option for extending the recording of the program if a recorder is available, a third option for extending the recording of the program if the recorder is not available based on a priority level assigned to the program in comparison with a conflicting scheduled recording program, and a fourth option for disabling the auto extend recording feature;
wherein the program and the conflicting scheduled recording program are each assigned a numerical priority level by a user; and
wherein the third option of auto extending the recording if the recorder is not available based on the priority level assigned to the program in comparison with the conflicting scheduled recording program includes a fifth user selectable option for resolving a scenario when a first priority of the program and a second priority of the conflicting scheduled recording program are the same, wherein the fifth user selectable option enables a user to select whether the program or the conflicting scheduled recording program is recorded when the scenario occurs.
11. The computer program product of claim 10 , wherein the computer readable program code further comprises instructions to generate a user interface comprising of the set of user configurable options for extended recording of the program beyond the program's scheduled ending time.
12. The computer program product of claim 10 , wherein the computer readable program code further comprises instructions to stop recording of the program at the scheduled ending time in response to a determination that the end of program indicator within the broadcast signal is detected prior to the scheduled ending time.
13. The computer program product of claim 10 , wherein the computer readable program code further comprises instructions to stop recording of the program as soon as the end of program indicator within the broadcast signal is detected.