Patent ID: 6957386

Claim:
An apparatus for controlling display of an electrical program guide, comprising: broadcast program information storage means for storing, as broadcast information, the information relative to a number of broadcast programs extracted from predetermined positions of video signals; recorded program information storage means for storing recorded program information for display so as to be viewable by a user which includes (i) recording medium identification information and (ii) recording start and end position information of a number of programs stored in a number of recording mediums so as to provide for each recorded program information pertaining to the respective recording medium on which the respective program is recorded and the respective start position and end position thereof on the respective recording medium; and display control means capable of displaying, as an electrical program guide to provide the program-related information, the program information relative to the broadcast programs and the recorded programs on the basis of the broadcast program information stored in said broadcast program information storage means and also the recorded program information stored in said recorded program information storage means whereby both broadcast program information and recorded program information are processable by a single electrical program guide function so as to enable a user to select for more than one program the broadcast information and recorded program information associated therewith by activating the desired single electrical program guide function, said display control means further capable of displaying a command area to display items for selecting a manipulation command, wherein the information pertaining to the respective recording medium on which the respective program is recorded and the respective start position and end position thereof on the respective recording medium and the command area are all simultaneously displayable on a single image so as to be viewable by the user.