Apparatus and method using compressed codes for recorder preprogramming
First Claim
1. A system for programming and automatically recording programs transmitted using video signals, by a video recorder, under control of sets of channel, date, time-of-day and program length commands, the system comprising:
- an input for receiving compressed coded indications into said system, each compressed coded indication incorporating the data represented in a set of individual channel, date, time-of-day and program length commands, wherein each of one or more of said compressed coded indications has a length that is less than the length of the concatenation of said incorporated individual channel, date, time-of-day and program length commands; and
a decoder for decoding and expanding each of one or more of said compressed coded indications into said set of individual channel, date, time-of-day and program length commands for control of the video recorder.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Encoded video recorder/player timer preprogramming information listed in a television calendar allows a timer preprogramming feature on a video cassette recorder VCR to be programmed using a compressed code of as few as 1 to 8 digits, which are decoded by a decoder built into either the video cassette recorder or a remote controller to convert the compressed code into channel, date, time and length information. The channel, date, time and length information is communicated to a VCR and used to automatically activate the VCR to record a given television program with the corresponding channel, date, time and length. Alternately, the channel, date, time and length information is decoded directly in a remote controller and only start record, stop record and channel selection commands are sent to the VCR at the appropriate times. The compressed code indications associated with each television program can be printed in a television program calendar in advance and used with a VCR or remote controller with the decoding means. The compressed codes for timer preprogramming can be utilized for just one program or repeatedly for daily or weekly use. Algorithms for decoding the compressed codes can be a function of time to ensure security of the decoding method. A method is included for use of the compressed codes with cable channels and a method and apparatus is described for timer preprogramming for a large number of programs.
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Citations
70 Claims
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1. A system for programming and automatically recording programs transmitted using video signals, by a video recorder, under control of sets of channel, date, time-of-day and program length commands, the system comprising:
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an input for receiving compressed coded indications into said system, each compressed coded indication incorporating the data represented in a set of individual channel, date, time-of-day and program length commands, wherein each of one or more of said compressed coded indications has a length that is less than the length of the concatenation of said incorporated individual channel, date, time-of-day and program length commands; and a decoder for decoding and expanding each of one or more of said compressed coded indications into said set of individual channel, date, time-of-day and program length commands for control of the video recorder. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. A method of programming and automatically recording transmitted using video signals, by a video recorder, under control of sets of channel, date, time-of-day and length commands, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving compressed coded indications into a video recorder controller, each compressed coded indication incorporating the data represented in a set of individual channel, date, time-of-day and program length commands, wherein each of one or more of said compressed coded indications has a length that is less than the length of the concatenation of said incorporated individual channel, date, time-of-day and program length commands; and decoding and expanding each of one or more of said compressed coded indications into said incorporated individual channel, date, time-of-day and program length commands for control of the video recorder. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70)
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Specification