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US 7,890,972 B2Granted
Apparatus for generating electronic program guides and control method therefor
AssigneeCanon Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsKazuhiro Matsubayashi, Kazuna Maruyama, Koji Mito, Hirofumi Urabe
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In an EPG generating apparatus, a controller specifies a program which meet a predetermined condition and extends the display area of the specified program as a popup portion. When extending the display area of a specified program, the controller changes the configuration of the display area of the specified program so that the display area of the specified program does not overlap the display area of another specified program positioned close to the display area of the specified program.
Claims9
An apparatus for generating an electronic program guide including:
- program information concerning a plurality of programs, which program information is arranged on a two-dimensional coordinate system having a coordinate axis corresponding to a first program attribute and a coordinate axis corresponding to a second program attribute, the apparatus comprising:
- a specifying unit configured to specify a program which meet a predetermined condition from among the plurality of programs;
- a determination unit configured to determine a priority level for each program specified by the specifying unit on the basis of a predetermined condition;
- and
- an extension unit configured to extend a display area of the program specified by the specifying unit as a popup portion in descending order of higher priority levels determined by the determination unit,
- wherein, when extending the display area of a first specified program as a popup portion, the extension unit is configured to change a configuration of the display area of the first specified program so that the display area of the first specified program does not overlap a display area of a second specified program positioned close to the display area of the first specified program, and
- wherein, when extending the display area of the first specified program if the display area of the second specified program has not yet been extended, the extension unit restricts an extension of a portion of the display area of the first specified program so as to not overlap the display area of the second specified program before being extended, and if the display area of the second specified program has already been extended, the extension unit restricts an extension of a portion of the display area of the first specified program so as to not overlap the display area of the second specified program after being extended.
4 more elements
A control method for an apparatus for generating an electronic program guide including:
- program information concerning a plurality of programs, which program information is arranged on a two-dimensional coordinate system having a coordinate axis corresponding to a first program attribute and a coordinate axis corresponding to a second program attribute, the control method comprising the steps of:
- specifying a program which meets a predetermined condition from among the plurality of programs;
- determining a priority level for each program specified in the specifying step on the basis of a predetermined condition;
- and
- extending, as a popup portion in descending order of higher priority levels determined in the determining step, a display area of the program specified in the step of specifying,
- wherein, in the step of extending, when extending the display area of a first specified program as a popup portion, a configuration of the display area of the first specified program is changed so that the display area of the first specified program does not overlap a display area of a second specified program positioned close to the display area of the first specified program, and
- wherein, when extending the display area of the first specified program, if the display area of the second specified program has not yet been extended, an extension of a portion of the display area of the first specified program is restricted so as to not overlap the display area of the second specified program before being extended, and if the display area of the second specified program has already been extended, an extension of a portion of the display area of the first specified program is restricted so as to not overlap the display area of the second specified program after being extended.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.