Patent ID: 7712116

Claim:
A program-display control apparatus, comprising: a storage unit operable to store program-table data having a predetermined display configuration; a display-configuration modification unit operable to change the display configuration of the program-table data read out from the storage unit to a new display configuration in accordance with a display-configuration modification command; a program-table creation unit operable to create data of a program table based on the new display configuration and to output the data to a predetermined display; and a display-line comparison unit operable to compare a number of programs in a given time frame with a maximum number of display lines that can be included in the given time frame and to determine whether the number of programs in the given time frame is smaller than, is equal to, or is greater than the maximum number of display lines, in response to the display-line comparison unit determining that the number of programs in the given time frame is smaller than the maximum number of display lines, the display-configuration modification unit being further operable to find a display-line count of each individual program in the given time frame as a quantity proportional to a time duration of the individual program and allocate as many display lines to each individual program in the given time frame as indicated by the display-line count found for the individual program in a descending-duration order starting with a program having a longest time duration, in response to the display-line comparison unit determining that the number of programs in the given time frame is equal to the maximum number of display lines, the display-configuration modification unit being further operable to allocate display lines composing a minimum display-area unit to each of the programs, and in response to the display-line comparison unit determining that the number of programs in the given time frame is greater than the maximum number of display lines, the display-configuration modification unit being further operable to display an identifier for indicating that undisplayed programs exist and allocate remaining lines composing the minimum display-area unit to each of the programs in a descending-duration order starting with a program having a longest time duration.