Method of performing time-shift function and television receiver using the same

1. A television receiver, comprising:

a tuner for receiving a broadcast program of at least one channel, said tuner tuning to a first channel as a currently viewed channel;

a personal video recorder for storing the received broadcast program of the at least one channel including the first channel;

a user interface for outputting a user command signal for performing at least one of a channel switching operation to change the currently viewed channel from the first channel to a second channel and a power-off operation; and

a controller for controlling, according to the channel switching operation, said personal video recorder to store together both the broadcast program of the first channel and a broadcast program of the second channel, and

if the user command for performing the power-off operation is output, the controller supplies power only to the tuner and the personal video recorder to continually store the received broadcast program of the first channel.

2. The television receiver of claim 1 , wherein the at least one channel includes a plurality of terrestrial broadcast channels, a plurality of cable broadcast channels, and channels corresponding to a plurality of external input sources.

3. The television receiver of claim 1 , wherein, in performing the power-off operation, said controller stops supplying power to components of the receiver that are not necessary for performing the time-shift function.

4. The television receiver of claim 1 , wherein, in performing the channel switching operation, the broadcast program of the first channel is stored in the personal video recorder until the broadcast program of the first channel ends.

5. The television receiver of claim 1 , wherein the controller determines whether the broadcast program of the first channel has been viewed and stored for at least a first predetermined time, and

if the first channel has not been viewed and stored for at least the first predetermined time, the controller controls the personal video recorder to store the broadcast program of the second channel and not to store the broadcast program of the first channel.

6. A method of performing a time-shift function in a television receiver having a tuner and a personal video recorder for storing broadcast programs of at least one channel, the method comprising:

storing in the personal video recorder the broadcast program of the at least one channel including a first channel that is currently viewed;

storing in the personal video recorder the broadcast program of a second channel and the broadcast program of the first channel, if the currently viewed first channel is switched to the second channel;

receiving a command for performing a power-off operation; and

supplying power only to the tuner and the personal video recorder to continually store the received broadcast program of the first channel.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

determining whether the broadcast program of the first channel has been viewed and stored at least for a first predetermined time; and

storing, if the first channel has not been viewed and stored at least for the first predetermined time, the broadcast program of the second channel in the personal video recorder, the broadcast program of the first channel not being stored in the personal video recorder.

8. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

determining whether the second channel is maintained without channel switching for a second predetermined time; and

storing, if the second channel is not maintained for the second predetermined time, the broadcast program of the first channel in the personal video recorder, the broadcast program of the second channel not being stored in the personal video recorder.

9. The method of claim 6 , wherein, in performing the channel switching operation, the broadcast program of the first channel is stored in the personal video recorder until the broadcast program of the first channel ends.

10. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

setting a time-shift lock function.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein said supply of power to the tuner and the personal video recorder causes a continuous storing of the broadcast programs of the first and second channels in the personal video recorder.

12. The method of claim 6 , wherein the at least one channel includes a plurality of terrestrial broadcast channels, a plurality of cable broadcast channels, and channels corresponding to a plurality of external input sources.

13. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

(a) determining whether a storage of at least one of the broadcast programs is requested according to the time-shift function;

(b) determining, if the storage of at least one of the broadcast programs is requested, whether sufficient unused storage area of within the personal video recorder is present;

(c) deleting, if insufficient unused storage area of within the personal video recorder is present, an oldest of the stored broadcast programs based on time of storage; and

(d) repeating said steps b and c until sufficient unused storage area of within the personal video recorder is present.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

storing in the personal video recorder the at least one of the broadcast programs requested according to the time-shift function.

15. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

determining whether a storage of at least one of the broadcast programs is requested according to the time-shift function;

determining, if the storage of the at least one of the broadcast programs is requested, whether an unused portion of a time-shift storage area of a storage medium within the personal video recorder exceeds a predetermined value;

repeatedly deleting, if the unused area of the time-shift storage area does not exceed the predetermined value, an oldest program among the broadcast programs stored in the time-shift storage area until, said repeated deletion continuing until the unused area of the time-shift storage area exceeds the predetermined value; and

storing in the personal video recorder the at least one of the broadcast programs requested according to the time-shift function, if the unused area exceeds the predetermined value.