Interactive television system with one-touch recording and conflict detection features

Abstract

A full service television system and method are provided. The system comprises a cable headend, at least one fiber transport, at least one distribution hub, at least one hybrid fiber coax plant, and a plurality of set-top terminals. The system delivers television programs, advanced cable services, and online services. Programs and services are transmitted to the set-top terminals in both digital and analog formats to maintain downward compatibility with existing systems. The set-top terminal includes a central processing unit, a unified memory architecture, a memory management unit, communications circuitry, I/O control circuitry, and audio and video output circuitry. Through these components, the set-top terminal provides advanced cable services such as a comprehensive channel navigator, an interactive program guide, one-touch recording, recording conflict detection and resolution, and advanced configuration controls. The set-top terminal also provides online services such as World Wide Web browsing, Internet e-mail, and home shopping.

1 . A method of recording at least one television program using an interactive program guide, the interactive program guide having displayable information pertaining to a plurality of television programs, the method comprising:
 displaying the interactive program guide on a display;   highlighting on the display information in the program guide pertaining to a selected television program;   receiving a single record-key actuation; and   in response to receiving only the single record-key actuation, automatically recording the selected television program when the selected television program is broadcast.   
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the automatically recording comprises automatically programming apparatus operative to record a television program with broadcast channel and start and stop times associated with a broadcast of the selected television program as highlighted in the interactive program guide. 
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising displaying an indicator on the interactive program guide display in response to receiving the record-key actuation, the indicator confirming acceptance of the selected television program for recording. 
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising after receiving the record-key actuation and before automatically recording: displaying a banner on the display indicating a recording conflict. 
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 4  further comprising after receiving the record-key actuation and before displaying the banner:
 automatically determining whether the recording of the selected program will exceed capabilities of apparatus operative to record television programs; and   in response to automatically determining that the capabilities of the apparatus will be exceeded, generating the banner indicating a recording conflict.   
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 5  wherein the capabilities of the apparatus include a maximum number of television programs that can be programmed for recording by the apparatus at any one time. 
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 5  wherein the capabilities of the apparatus include a maximum amount of storage that can be used by the apparatus to record one or more television programs. 
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 4  further comprising after receiving the record-key actuation and before displaying the banner:
 automatically determining whether any portion of the selected program to be recorded is to occur simultaneously with any portion of at least one other television program to be recorded;   in response to automatically determining that portions of two or more television programs are to be recorded simultaneously, automatically determining whether capabilities of recording apparatus to record portions of two or more television programs simultaneously will be exceeded; and   in response to automatically determining that the capabilities of the recording apparatus will be exceeded, generating the banner indicating a recording conflict.   
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 8  wherein the capabilities of the recording apparatus include a maximum number of television programs that can be recorded at any one time. 
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 4  further comprising after displaying the banner: displaying a plurality of actuators for resolving the recording conflict. 
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 10  further comprising receiving a cancel-most-recent-record-key actuation. 
   
   
       12 . A method of recording at least one television program using an interactive program guide, the interactive program guide having displayable information pertaining to a plurality of television programs, the method comprising:
 receiving a record-key actuation pertaining to a selected television program having information in the interactive program guide highlighted on a display;   retrieving broadcast information from the interactive program guide pertaining to the selected television program;   determining whether a television program recorder has previously-programmed broadcast information that conflicts with the retrieved broadcast information;   in response to determining that no conflict exists:
 programming the television program recorder with the broadcast information retrieved from the interactive program guide to record the selected television program when the selected television program is broadcast, and 
 displaying an indicator on the display confirming acceptance of the selected television program for recording; and 
   in response to determining that a conflict exists, displaying a plurality of actuators for resolving the conflict.   
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the broadcast information includes broadcast channel and start and stop times associated with a broadcast of the selected television program as indicated in the interactive program guide. 
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the conflict is one of exceeding the number of television programs programmable in the television program recorder at any one time, exceeding the storage capacity of the television program recorder, or exceeding the number of television programs that can be recorded simultaneously by the television program recorder. 
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the plurality of actuators for resolving the conflict includes at least one actuator for:
 canceling the most recent record-key actuation;   accepting the most recent record-key actuation and canceling conflicting previously-programmed broadcast information; or   entering a general setting menu to modify previously-programmed broadcast information.   
   
   
       16 . A method of recording at least one television program using an interactive program guide, the interactive program guide having displayable information pertaining to a plurality of television programs, the method comprising:
 displaying the interactive program guide on a display;   highlighting on the display information in the program guide pertaining to a first selected television program;   receiving a first record-key actuation;   automatically programming recording apparatus to record the first selected television program when that television program is broadcast;   highlighting on the display information in the program guide pertaining to a second selected television program;   receiving a second record-key actuation;   automatically determining whether the recording of the second selected program will exceed capabilities of the recording apparatus;   in response to determining that the capabilities of the recording apparatus will not be exceeded, automatically programming the recording apparatus to record the second selected television program when the second selected television program is broadcast; and   in response to determining that the capabilities of the recording apparatus will be exceeded, displaying a banner indicating a recording conflict.   
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 16  wherein the capabilities of the recording apparatus include a maximum number of television programs that can be programmed for recording by the recording apparatus at any one time. 
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 16  wherein the capabilities of the recording apparatus include a maximum number of television programs that can be recorded by the recording apparatus at any one time. 
   
   
       19 . The method of  claim 16  wherein the capabilities of the recording apparatus include a maximum amount of storage that can be used by the recording apparatus to record one or more television programs. 
   
   
       20 . The method of  claim 16  further comprising after displaying the banner: displaying a plurality of actuators for resolving the recording conflict.