Systems and methods for reducing cut-offs in program recording

Abstract

A media recording system may be provided. The recording system may include features for reducing recording cut-off of a particular media event due to changes in the start time and end time of what is scheduled to be recorded. The recording system may provide a user with an opportunity to select a program by for example, selecting a listing, to have that program automatically recorded at a scheduled time for presentation to viewers. Changes in the schedule of programs may be compensated manually or automatically when the recording system receives information about actual or predicted time changes. In a manual mode, a user may adjust start or end times based on time change information that is displayed. For an automatic mode, the recording system may automatically compensate for predicted or actual time changes that are known by automatically adjusting the start and end times of recording.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method for use in a recording system for reducing cut-offs when programs are recorded, comprising: 
 providing time change information about a scheduled program; and    recording the program to compensate for a time change based on the time change information.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the time change information comprises time delay information.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2  wherein the time delay information is an actual time delay.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2  wherein the time delay information is a predicted time delay.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4  wherein the predicted time delay is based on previously logged time changes.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  wherein providing time change information comprises displaying the time delay information for the program.  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the time change information comprises time extension information.  
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7  wherein the time extension information is an actual time extension.  
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 7  wherein the time extension information is a predicted time extension.  
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9  wherein the predicted time extension is based on previously logged time changes.  
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1  wherein providing time change information comprises displaying the time extension information for the program.  
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising providing a user with an opportunity to select a recording start time.  
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising automatically selecting the recording start time.  
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13  further comprising providing a user with an opportunity to select to have automatic selection of the recording start time.  
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising providing a user with an opportunity to select a recording end time.  
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising automatically selecting the recording end time.  
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16  further comprising providing a user with an opportunity to select to have automatic selection of the recording end time.  
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising monitoring a data stream that is related to the program.  
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18  further comprising providing the data stream to be a program data stream that is distributed for the program.  
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19  further comprising providing a cue in the program data stream to indicate when the program is starting.  
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 19  further comprising providing a cue in the program data stream to indicate when the program is ending.  
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 20  further comprising recording the program with the time delay when the cue is received.  
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 20  further comprising recording the program with the time extension when the cue is received.  
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising displaying an icon in a program listing for that program that indicates that time change information is present.  
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising displaying an icon in a program listing for that program that indicates that the program is to be recorded.  
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising trimming a recording time of the scheduled program or an adjacent program to reduce the cut-off in a program recording.  
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 26  wherein trimming the recording time comprises trimming based on a confidence level in time change information for the scheduled program and the adjacent program.  
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 27  wherein trimming comprises trimming a time changed recording time of the scheduled program when time change information for the scheduled program has a lower confidence level than the adjacent program.  
     
     
         29 . A recording system that reduces cut-offs when programs are recorded, comprising: 
 control circuitry that is configured to receive time change information about a scheduled program; and    a media recording device that is responsive to the control circuitry and that is configured to record the program to compensate for a time change based on the time change information.    
     
     
         30 . The system of  claim 29  wherein the time change information comprises time delay information.  
     
     
         31 . The system of  claim 30  wherein the time delay information is an actual time delay.  
     
     
         32 . The system of  claim 30  wherein the time delay information is a predicted time delay.  
     
     
         33 . The system of  claim 32  wherein the predicted time delay is based on previously logged time changes.  
     
     
         34 . The system of  claim 29  wherein the control circuitry displays the time delay information for the program.  
     
     
         35 . The system of  claim 29  wherein the time change information comprises time extension information.  
     
     
         36 . The system of  claim 35  wherein the time extension information is an actual time extension.  
     
     
         37 . The system of  claim 35  wherein the time extension information is a predicted time extension.  
     
     
         38 . The system of  claim 37  wherein the predicted time extension is based on previously logged time changes.  
     
     
         39 . The system of  claim 29  wherein the control circuitry displays the time change information for the program.  
     
     
         40 . The system of  claim 29  wherein the control circuitry provides a user with an opportunity to select a recording start time to compensate for the time change.  
     
     
         41 . The system of  claim 29  wherein the control circuitry automatically selects a recording start time to compensate for the time change.  
     
     
         42 . The system of  claim 41  wherein the system is configured to provide the user with an opportunity to select to have the control circuitry automatically select a recording start time.  
     
     
         43 . The system of  claim 29  wherein the control circuitry provides the user with an opportunity to select a recording end time to compensate for the time change.  
     
     
         44 . The system of  claim 29  wherein the control circuitry automatically selects a recording end time to compensate for the time change.  
     
     
         45 . The system of  claim 44  wherein the system is configured to provide the user with an opportunity to select to have the control circuitry automatically select the recording end time.  
     
     
         46 . The system of  claim 29  further comprising an extractor for monitoring a data stream that is related to the program.  
     
     
         47 . The system of  claim 46  wherein the data stream is a program data stream that is distributed for the program.  
     
     
         48 . The system of  claim 47  wherein the control circuitry is configured to receive a cue in the program data stream to indicate when the program is starting.  
     
     
         49 . The system of  claim 47  wherein the control circuitry is configured to receive a cue in the program data stream to indicate when the program is ending.  
     
     
         50 . The system of  claim 48  wherein the media recording device records the program with the time delay when the cue is received.  
     
     
         51 . The system of  claim 48  wherein the media recording device records the program with the time extension when the cue is received.  
     
     
         52 . The system of  claim 29  wherein the control circuitry displays an icon in a program listing for that program that indicates that time change information is present.  
     
     
         53 . The system of  claim 29  wherein the control circuitry displays an icon in a program listing for that program that indicates that the program is to be recorded.  
     
     
         54 . The system of  claim 29  wherein the control circuitry is configured to trim the recording time of the scheduled program or an adjacent program to reduce the cut-off in a program recording.  
     
     
         55 . The system of  claim 54  wherein the control circuitry is configured to trim the recording based on a confidence level in time change information for the scheduled program and the adjacent program.  
     
     
         56 . The system of  claim 55  wherein the control circuitry is configured to trim a time change recording time of the scheduled program when time change information for the scheduled program has a lower confidence level than the adjacent program.