The optimal choice of TV programs of recording and viewing

摘要

A system, apparatus , and method are provided to simultaneously select TV programs for recording and watching during a certain time period. For each TV program a value is provided for receiving and recording and an additional value for watching. The values represent the preferences of a viewer. A dynamic programming approach is provided that solves the selection and viewing problem to guarantee a result. The key idea behind the dynamic programming approach is the definition of the states, which represent all relevant information of previous steps needed to be able to judge a following step. A state definition includes time points at which the tuners are available after having received a program, and the time point at which the viewer is available again for watching the next program. Although the run time of the approach grows exponentially in the number of tuners and the number of TV programs considered, it is reasonable in a practical situation. Alternative embodiments are provided to reduce the run time considerably, without sacrificing the quality of the end result.