Patent ID: 6137950
Filing Date: 2000-10-24
Classification: G06K,H04N

Abstract:
A method of controlling a VCR with a television calendar having a rectangular grid of cells arranged in horizontal rows and vertical columns, a television program descriptor located in each cell, a first set of bar codes arranged along one side of the grid, a second set of bar codes arranged along another side of the grid perpendicular to the first set so each cell lies at the intersection of a bar code in the one set that represents time and a bar code in the other set that represents channel, the method comprising the steps of:selecting a descriptor of a television program to be recorded on the VCR;reading the bar code in one of the sets that corresponds to the cell in which the selected descriptor is located to identify the time of the selected descriptor;reading the bar code in the other set that corresponds to the cell in which the selected descriptor is located to identify the channel of the selected descriptor;converting the read bar codes to time and channel signals; andapplying the time and channel signals to the VCR to record the program represented by the selected descriptor.