Automatically setting a receiver display mode for an electronic programme guide (EPG).

摘要

The mode for displaying a received electronic programme guide (EPG) is automatically set by parsing or analysing a datastream (Step 20) containing programme guide information. The type of programme guide present is then determined (Step 22) and the display mode is set accordingly (Steps 24a or 24b). As shown, a schedule parser determines the whether the EPG is a 'schedule' EPG (Figure 1A) or a 'present/following' type EPG (Figure 1B), depending on the value (1 or 0) of a schedule flag contained in the bitstream. The method removes the need for the user to manually set the EPG mode, and automatically adjusts the display mode should the television service provider change EPG broadcast mode.