EPG Data Processing Device for Time-Referenced Program Navigation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electronic program guide (EPG) data processing devices fail to simultaneously achieve speed, completeness, and coherence in displaying broadcast information, making user navigation cumbersome and prone to missing programs.
Innovation Solution
An EPG data processing device that determines time references based on earliest ending or latest starting times of channel programs to dynamically select and display data sets on pages, using different cell types and animated transitions to indicate program changes, ensuring intuitive navigation while maintaining coherence and completeness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If time markers are used to jump to the next time marker for navigation, then navigation speed is improved, but programs shorter than the time interval can be easily skipped (completeness deteriorates)
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the time interval adaptive rather than fixed. The system dynamically adjusts the time interval between markers based on program duration characteristics, using shorter intervals for short programs and longer intervals for long programs. This dynamic adjustment allows the system to maintain fast navigation for long programs while ensuring short programs are not skipped, thus resolving the contradiction between navigation speed and program completeness.
2Reliability
If all programmes of a channel are displayed on a single page, then completeness is improved, but the user cannot have an overview of what is or will be broadcast at a given time (coherence deteriorates)
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing the program list into multiple pages, each associated with a specific time reference (e.g., current time, next hour, next day). This segmentation allows the system to present all programs across multiple pages while maintaining time-based coherence on each individual page. Users can navigate between time-referenced pages to find specific programs, thus achieving both completeness and time-based coherence.
3Ease of operation
If one line per channel is dedicated displaying only one programme, then coherence is improved, but navigation becomes very slow (speed deteriorates)
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dimensionality change by introducing a time reference dimension to the traditional channel-based display. Instead of organizing programs solely by channel (one program per channel line), the system adds time-based pagination, allowing multiple programs per channel to be displayed across different time-referenced pages. This enables users to navigate efficiently through time-based groupings while maintaining channel organization, thus improving navigation speed without sacrificing coherence.
4Ease of operation
If grid display with cells proportional to program duration is used, then overview capability is improved, but short programmes become hard to distinguish (completeness deteriorates)
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by making the display format adaptive to program characteristics. For short programs, the system uses alternative display methods such as listing program titles with time indicators or using standardized cell sizes rather than duration-proportional cells. For long programs, the duration-proportional grid display is used to provide overview capability. This local adaptation of display quality ensures short programs remain visible and distinguishable while maintaining the benefits of proportional display for longer programs.
Data Source
AI summary
An EPG data processing device (D), for an electronic equipment (EE), comprises a processing means (PM) arranged i) to access to sets of data defining respectively channel programs and each comprising at least first data representative of a channel name and a channel program name, second data defining a channel program starting time, and third data representative of a channel program ending time, ii) either to determine amongst the accessed data sets which respectively follow each data set contributing to a displayed page of data the one which comprises the earliest ending time, in order to define a time reference just before this earliest ending time and associate this time reference to a following page of data to be displayed, or to determine amongst the accessed data sets which respectively precede each data set contributing to a displayed page of data the one which comprises the latest starting time, in order to define a time reference just after this latest ending time and associate this time reference to a preceding page of data to be displayed, iii) then to select amongst the accessed data sets each data set comprising second and third data defining a time interval including the defined time reference, and iv) finally to deliver these selected data sets in order they could be respectively displayed on different dedicated lines of a page associated to the determined time reference.