Patent ID: 7877768

Claim:
A method for adjusting start and end times of a program recording schedule and resolving recording conflicts in a computer environment, comprising: selecting a particular program to record in response to user input, the particular program has a start and end availability time; setting a program start recording time for the particular program to the start availability time and setting a program end recording time for the particular program to the end availability time; allowing the user to select between an option of either adding or subtracting a first relative padding value specified in a first entry field to the program start recording time for the particular program and/or select between an option of either adding or subtracting a second relative padding value specified in a second entry field to the program end recording time for the particular program, the first relative padding value is displayed in the first entry field when the user specifies the first relative padding value to adjust the program start recording time in the first entry field and the second relative padding value is displayed in the second entry field when the user specifies the second relative padding value to adjust the program end recording time in the second entry field; adjusting the program start recording time for the particular program using the first relative padding value specified by the user in the first entry field and/or adjusting the program end recording time for the particular program using the second relative padding value specified by the user in the second entry field; determining whether any programs that have been previously scheduled for recording have start or end recording times that conflict with the particular program's adjusted program start recording time and/or adjusted program end recording time; resolving any conflicts determined by the determining step by automatically adjusting recording characteristics for the particular program or for a conflicting program that was previously scheduled for recording; scheduling a recording for the particular program; and storing a program on at least one storage device in a digital format.