Using the Program Guide

Transcription

1 The Program Guide shows you what is on TV and when it airs. You can use the Program Guide to view listings, select programs, record programs, and purchase Pay Per View (PPV) programs. For more information on the recording features of Passport Echo, see Using the Digital Video Recorder (DVR) on page 237. This chapter explains how to use the Program Guide. It includes the following main sections: "About the Program Guide" on page 32 "Displaying the Program Guide" on page 33 "Displaying Information for a Few Days Ahead" on page 34 "Sorting the Program Guide" on page 35 "Displaying and Navigating the Program Guide by Time" on page 36 "Displaying and Navigating the Program Guide by Theme" on page 41 "Searching the Program Guide by Title" on page 44 "Searching the Program Guide by Keyword" on page 47 "Creating a Keyword Series Request" on page 51 "Selecting a Program in the Program Guide" on page 56 "Setting a Reminder Timer from the Program Guide" on page 58

2 ... About the Program Guide The Program Guide offers an overview of what is playing on each channel at specific times. The Program Guide enables you to select programs to watch, record, or purchase. The following figure illustrates various elements of the Program Guide. Information on the program highlighted in the Program Guide below Video and channel information for the currently selected program Time Grid display Highlighted Program The Program Guide displays the following: The time grid (shown above), or a list of programs sorted by theme or title In the upper-right corner, video and channel information (channel number and call letters) for the currently tuned program/channel and the current time In the upper-left corner, the following information for the program highlighted on the time grid: channel logo, name, number, title, start and ending time, and a brief description of the program, including the program s parental and critical ratings A highlight indicating the selected program Icons occasionally appear in the program information and the title. For an explanation of these icons, see Passport Echo Icons on page 28. You can display the Program Guide information by time or theme, or search by title or keyword. (By default, the information is displayed by time.) This view enables you to browse up to seven days of programming information for each channel.

3 Displaying the Program Guide 1 Press the GUIDE key. The Program Guide displays the time-and-channel grid. The current program is highlighted in the grid. Exiting the Program Guide 1 Press any of the following keys on the remote control to exit the Program Guide: GUIDE EXIT CH key (e.g., to change channels) MENU (will exit the Program Guide and display the QuickMenu) SETTINGS (will exit the Program Guide and display Quick Settings, or the QuickMenu if it is installed) Alternatively, the Program Guide will disappear automatically if you press no keys for a short period of time.

4 ... Displaying Information for a Few Days Ahead You can display programming information in the Program Guide for up to one week ahead. The following procedure describes how to quickly display information for a specific day instead of scrolling through the Program Guide in half-hour increments. To display information for one or a few days ahead: In the Program Guide: Press a number key (for example, 3 for three days from the present) and then press the right arrow within two seconds. Press the FAST FORWARD key to skip forward one day. Press the REWIND key to skip backward one day. If the information is not in memory, Passport Echo may display the message Loading new data, please wait. To redisplay the information for the current day: Press the number key you pressed previously (e.g., 3), then press the left arrow. -or- Press the GUIDE key to exit the Program Guide. Then press the GUIDE key again to re-display the Program Guide. 34 Passport Echo Customer Service Guide

5 Sorting the Program Guide You can sort the program content listed in the Program Guide in a variety of ways by pressing the (A), (B), or (C) key on your remote control. A. Time B. Theme C. Search (by Title or Keyword) Each of these methods is discussed in the following sections.

6 ... Displaying and Navigating the Program Guide by Time When you first display the Program Guide, the information is arranged in a time and channel grid. (If you displayed the Program Guide by theme or entered search mode, you can use the following procedure to display the Program Guide time and channel grid.) To display and navigate the Program Guide by time: 1 Press the GUIDE key. Passport Echo displays the time and channel grid. (If you are already in the Program Guide Theme or Search views, press the (A) key to display the time and channel grid.) 2 Press the up or down arrow to browse programs, or key in a channel number directly by pressing number keys on the remote. For future programs, press the right arrow. You can view listings for up to seven days of future programming. For past programs, press the left arrow. You can view listings for up to two hours of past programming. 36 Passport Echo Customer Service Guide

7 If desired, press the (A) key again to display sorting options. Passport Echo displays the sorting Options pop-up menu. This menu enables you to sort the time-and-channel grid in a variety of ways, as explained below. Sort 1, 2, 3: Sorts the channel listings numerically by channel number. ( This is the default setting. If you change the setting, then close and re-open the Program Guide, this option will be reset to Sort1,2,3--unless your cable company chooses to configure its IPG server with sticky settings.) Sort A, B, C: Sorts the channel listings alphabetically by call letters. List All: Displays all available listings on all channels. List Favorites: Displays listings for only those channels specified as Favorite Channels. (For more information on Favorite Channels, see "Adding or Deleting Favorite Channels" on page 87.) Custom...: Displays the Custom Line-Up Options panel, which enables you to sort channel listings in several ways. For more information, see "Custom Time Sort Options" on page To exit, press the EXIT key.

8 ... Custom Time Sort Options The Custom Line-Up Options panel enables you to create a customized line up of channels for display in the Program Guide. Follow the steps below to choose a custom sorting option. This feature can be configured by the cable company. Depending on the configuration established by the cable company, some part of this functionality may or may not be available. To specify a custom sorting option: 1 Highlight and select the Custom... menu option on the sorting Options pop-up menu. Passport Echo displays the Custom Line-Up Options panel (see figure below). (For more information, see the procedure "Displaying and Navigating the Program Guide by Time" on page 36.) 2 Press the up or down arrow to highlight Display or Hide, then press the right arrow. Passport Echo moves to the right column to enable you to select specific options to Display or Hide. 3 Press the up or down arrow to highlight an option (e.g., List Favorite Channels) and then press SELECT. You can highlight and select additional options in most cases (for example, List Favorite Channels and List Music Channels). To do so, press the up or down arrow, then press SELECT. Refer to the table on page 40 for an explanation of each setting.

9 Do one of the following: Use Now: Press the A key to accept the options settings and save your custom line-up temporarily. (The setting will reset to Sort 1,2, 3 the next time you close and then re-open the Program Guide.) Use Always: Press the B key to accept the options settings and save them permanently. (The settings will remain in effect even after a reboot. You will be able to modify the settings only by using the Custom Line-Up Options dialog.) Press the C key to cancel your changes to the settings.

10 ... Custom Line-Up Options Display List All Channels Displays all available channels in the Program Guide. List Favorite Channels List Music Channels List On Demand Channels List Pay Per View Channels List HDTV Channels Includes Favorite Channels in the customized Program Guide line up. Includes music channels in the customized Program Guide line up. Includes On Demand channels in the customized Program Guide line up. Includes Pay Per View channels in the customized Program Guide line up. Includes high-definition channels in the customized Program Guide line up. Hide Hide Skipped Channels Excludes Skipped Channels from the customized Program Guide line up. Hide Locked Channels Hide Music Channels Hide On Demand Channels Hide PayPerView Channels Hide HDTV Channels Excludes locked channels from the customized Program Guide line up. Excludes music channels from the customized Program Guide line up. Excludes On Demand channels from the customized Program Guide line up. Excludes Pay Per View channels from the customized Program Guide line up. Excludes high-definition channels from the customized Program Guide line up. If the Program Guide is currently displaying a customized line up of channels, Passport Echo displays the customized line up icon next the (A) button. Customized line-up icon

11 Displaying and Navigating the Program Guide by Theme You can display the Program Guide with content arranged by theme. The left column of the grid shows theme categories and icons. Themes include movies, sports, lifestyle, news, family, and series. In the list, theme categories appear in an upper-case characters; individual themes are lower-case with an initial capital letter. To display and navigate the Program Guide by theme: 1 Press the GUIDE key to display the Program Guide, if necessary. 2 Press the (B) key. Passport Echo displays a list of themes. For more information on available theme categories and subcategories, see "List of Themes" on page Press the up or down arrow to scroll through the list of themes. To quickly jump from one theme category to another, press the (B) key. For each theme selected, the Program Guide displays all available programs for that theme in the Program window at right. 4 To scroll through the list of programs, press the right arrow to move the highlight into the list of programs, then press the up or down arrow to scroll. Currently airing programs are marked by a dot to the left of the program title. For faster scrolling, press the PAG E + or PAG E - keys. 5 To again display the theme list, press the left arrow. 6 To exit, press the EXIT key.

12 ... List of Themes The information in the tables below depends on the availability of metadata from the companies that provide data to populate the Program Guide. NEWS FAMILY OTHER Public Affairs Cartoons Product Info Children s Shopping Family Movies CC SAP HDTV

13 LIFESTYLE SERIES/SPEC MOVIES SPORTS Arts Adult New Release Baseball Biz/Finance Adventure PayPerView Basketball Cooking Cartoon Action-Adv. Boxing Consumer Children s Adult Equestrian Crafts Comedy Biography Football Health&Fit. Cmdy-Drama Comedy Golf Home Impr. Crime Drama Cmdy-Drama Hockey House/Garden Documentary Crime Drama Outdoors Instructional Drama Documentary Racing Parenting Educational Drama Soccer Self Improve. Entertainment Fantasy Tennis Travel Fantasy Horror Water Sports Other Game Show Musical Winter Sports Horror Mystery Wrestling Mini Series Romance Other Sports Music Sci-Fi Sports Misc. Mystery Suspense Live Sports Reality Western SPORTS Religious Cinema Baseball Sci/Nature Pelicula Basketball Sci-Fi Other Movies Boxing Sitcom Letterbox Equestrian Soap Opera Rated-G Football Talk Show Rated-PG Golf Variety Rated-PG13 Hockey Western Rated-R Outdoors Other Series Not Rated Racing Rated TV-Y Soccer Rated TV-Y7 Tennis Rated TV-G Water Sports Rated TV-PG Winter Sports Rated TV-14 Wrestling Rated TV-MA Other Sports Sports Misc. Live Sports

14 ... Searching the Program Guide by Title You can search the Program Guide by title or keyword. The procedures on the following pages describe both methods you can use to search through seven days of Program Guide information. To search the Program Guide by Title: 1 Press the GUIDE key to display the Program Guide. 2 Press the (C) key. The Search button displays a pop-up list of two search options: Titles and Keywords. You can confirm that Passport Echo is in Title Search mode by making sure Search by Title is displayed in the upper-left corner and Title is displayed above the character selection matrix. 3 If necessary, press the up or down arrow to highlight the Title option, then press the SELECT key. Passport Echo enters Title Search mode. 4 Press the arrow keys to highlight the first letter of the program title you seek, then press the SELECT key. The letter you selected appears on the Title line. Only letters that are viable options for the second letter in the desired title remain selectable. The other letters fade to grey.

15 Press the arrow keys to highlight the second letter of the program title, and then press the SELECT key. The second letter appears on the Title line. Passport Echo filters the list to exclude titles that do not meet the search criteria. You may need to enter only a few letters to locate the desired title. 6 Repeat for the subsequent letters until the desired program title is displayed in the right window. To clear all letters from the Title line or to start a new search, press the arrow keys to highlight NEW and then press the SELECT key. To back up one space, use the arrow keys to highlight the BACK option and then press the SELECT key. 7 To access the list of displayed programs, press the right arrow key repeatedly to move the highlight to the right window (i.e., the program list window). Passport Echo highlights the first program in the list. 8 To scroll through the list, press the up or down arrow keys. (You can also use the PAGE + or PAGE - keys to page up or down.) Programs that are currently playing are marked by a dot to the left of the program title. If there are several instances of a program (e.g., a series), the Series Header icon is displayed to the left of the item. To display all the individual instances of the program (expand the list), highlight the Series Header item and press the SELECT or the right arrow key. To hide (or collapse) the list, press the left arrow key or highlight the Series Header item and again press SELECT. To return to the title search, press the left arrow key. You can also search for upcoming episodes of a particular program by highlighting the program in the Program Guide, pressing the REC key, and then selecting List upcoming episodes from the Recording Options Dialog. For more information, see "Using the Recording Options Dialog" on page 264.

16 ... 9 When you have highlighted the desired program in the program list, press the SELECT key. If you selected a current program, Passport Echo displays the channel that shows the program. If you selected a future program, Passport Echo displays the panel at right. The options include: Record this show Record entire series Remind me about this show View this channel now For information about recording the show (Record this show), see Recording a Program on page 249. For information about recording an entire series (Record entire series), see Recording a Series on page 260. For information about setting up a Reminder Timer (Remind me about this show), see "Setting a Reminder Timer" on page 122. To display the channel that will eventually air the program, select View this channel now. If you selected a Pay Per View program, Passport Echo displays the PPV graphic. For more information, see Purchasing Pay Per View (PPV) Programs on page 213. If you selected a Video on Demand program, Passport Echo displays a Video on Demand graphic. For more information, see the Video on Demand information provided by your cable company. 10 To exit, press the EXIT key.

17 Searching the Program Guide by Keyword You can search the Program Guide by keyword. Keywords can refer to subject matter or names of actors or directors. Passport Echo searches the program title and description for information that matches the keyword you enter. To search the Program Guide by Keywords: 1 Press the GUIDE key to display the Program Guide. 2 Press the (C) key. The Search button displays a pop-up list of two search options: Titles and Keywords. 3 Press the down arrow to highlight the Keywords option, then press the SELECT key. Passport Echo enters Keyword Search mode. You can confirm that Passport Echo is in Keyword Search mode by making sure Search by Keyword is displayed in the upper-left corner and Keyword is displayed above the character selection matrix.

18 ... 4 Press the arrow keys to highlight the first letter of your keyword, then press the SELECT key. The letter you selected appears on the Keyword line. If there are 200 or fewer matches for your keyword, Passport Echo displays them in a list. If there are more than 200 matches, Passport Echo displays the following message in the Keyword line: more than 200 matches followed by Please narrow your search by entering more letters in the Program window. 5 Press the arrow keys to highlight the second letter of the keyword (if necessary), then press the SELECT key. The second letter appears on the Keyword line. Each time you enter an additional letter, Passport Echo filters the list further. 6 Repeat for the subsequent letters until the desired information (e.g., name of actor) is displayed in the right window (i.e., program list window). To clear all letters from the Keyword line or to start a new search, press the arrow keys to highlight NEW and then press the SELECT key. To back up one space, use the arrow keys to highlight the BACK option and then press the SELECT key.

19 To scroll through the list of displayed programs and names, press the right arrow key repeatedly to move the highlight to the right window. Passport Echo highlights the first item in the list. 8 To scroll through the list, press the up or down arrow keys. (You can also use the PAGE key to page up or down.) If there are several instances of a matching name or subject, the Keyword Header icon is displayed to the left of the item. To display all the individual instances of the name or subject (expand the list), highlight the item and press the SELECT or the right arrow key. To hide (or collapse) the list, press the left arrow key. To return to the keyword search, press the left arrow key. 9 When you have highlighted the desired program in the program list, press the SELECT key. If you selected a current program, Passport Echo displays the channel that shows the program. If you selected a future program, Passport Echo displays the panel at right. The options include: Record this show Record entire series Remind me about this show View this channel now For information about recording the show (Record this show), see Recording a Program on page 249. For information about recording an entire series (Record entire series), see Recording a Series on page 260. For information about setting up a Reminder Timer (Remind me about this show), see "Setting a Reminder Timer" on page 122. To display the channel that will eventually air the program, select View this channel now.

20 ... If you selected a Pay Per View program, Passport Echo displays the PPV graphic. For more information, see Purchasing Pay Per View (PPV) Programs on page 213. If you selected a Video on Demand program, Passport Echo displays a Video on Demand graphic. For more information, see the Video on Demand information provided by your cable company. 10 To exit, press the EXIT key.

21 Creating a Keyword Series Request If you would like Passport Echo to locate and record all programs related to a particular topic of interest, you can create a keyword series request. Keywords can refer to a particular subject matter, or to the names of actors or directors, etc. For example, if you are interested in the guitar, you could create a keyword series for guitar. Passport Echo will then continuously scan the Program Guide data to locate programs for which the description or title includes the word guitar. Passport Echo will then automatically record each qualifying program. The keywords you specify may happen to refer to an extremely large number of programs. In this case, it is possible that your keyword series requests will cause Passport Echo to record an extremely large number of programs, which may quickly consume the available space on the hard disk and make it impossible to record other programs. Create your keyword series with caution, and check frequently to make sure that your keyword series requests have not used up too much hard disk space. To check the estimated amount of hard disk space that is currently available for new recordings, you can check the Saved Shows Information panel. To do so, press the DVR LIST key, then press the (A) key. For more information, see Using the Saved Shows Panel on page 273. If a keyword search yields more than 50 matches, Passport Echo will not allow you to schedule a series recording. You can create a keyword series request whether or not a search of the Program Guide yields any matching programs. Follow the procedures below. In the first procedure, the search of the Program Guide yields a number of matching programs. In the second procedure, no matches are found. In both procedures, Passport Echo creates a keyword series request.

22 ... To create a keyword series request: 1 Follow the procedure for searching the Program Guide by keyword as described in Searching the Program Guide by Keyword on page 47. However, key in the word or name for which you want to create a keyword series request. Passport Echo displays a list of keyword headers and icons. ( Keyword headers always appear in capital letters.) Each Keyword Header contains the keyword you entered, but in many cases it will also contain additional words or variations of the word you entered. A sub-list of programs is contained within each keyword header (folder). 2 Press the right arrow key repeatedly to move the highlight to the right window. If necessary, press the up or down arrow to move the highlight to the desired keyword header. Passport Echo highlights the keyword header. You can press SELECT to expand the keyword header folder to view the program titles it contains to make sure that you want to record them all. Press the left arrow to collapse the keyword header list. 3 Press the REC key. Passport Echo displays a dialog that asks whether you want to record all shows associated with the keyword, or only movies. If you select Record all matching movies, Passport Echo will not record regular (non-movie) television programs. 4 Press the up or down arrow to highlight Record all matching shows or Record all matching movies, then press the SELECT key. Passport Echo displays the Series Options dialog.

23 Use the Series Options dialog to specify your preferences about which Episodes to Record, Channels, Air Times, etc. Press the (A) key to confirm your selections. For more information, see "Recording a Program" on page 249. The Series Manager will display the keyword series title with a magnifying glass next to it. For more information about the Series Manager, see "Using the Series Manager Panel" on page 291.

24 ... You can also create a keyword series request even if your search of the Program Guide does not generate any matches. If matching programs come along in the future, Passport Echo will record them automatically. To create a keyword series request if your search yields no matches: 1 Follow the procedure for searching the Program Guide by keyword as described in Searching the Program Guide by Keyword on page 47. However, key in the word or name for which you want to create a keyword series request. Be certain to spell the keyword correctly. (In the example at right, the keyword is Guitar. ) 2 Press the REC key. Passport Echo displays a dialog that asks if you want to record all programs associated with the keyword, or only movies. If you select Record all matching movies, Passport Echo will not record regular (non-movie) television programs. 3 Press the up or down arrow to highlight Record all matching shows or Record all matching movies, then press the SELECT key. Passport Echo displays the Series Options dialog. 4 Use the Series Options dialog to specify your preferences about which Episodes to Record, Channels, Air Times, etc. Press the (A) key to confirm your selections. For more information, see "Recording a Program" on page 249.

25 Viewing Additional Information About a Program You can use the Program Guide to get additional information about a program. The following display shows an example of additional information in the Program Guide. You can view this additional information from any of the Program Guide displays: Time, Theme or Search. To view more information about a program: 1 In the Program Guide, press the arrow keys to highlight the program for which you want more information. 2 Press the INFO key. Passport Echo displays an extended description of the selected program. 3 To again display the Program Guide, press the (C) key (or the INFO key again).

26 ... Selecting a Program in the Program Guide While browsing the Program Guide, you can select a program to watch. The following procedure applies to all non-ppv programs. The procedure is similar for PPV programs, but you will need to purchase the selected program before you can view it. For additional information, see Purchasing PPV Programs from the Program Guide on page 220. To select a program from the Program Guide: 1 Press the GUIDE key. Passport Echo displays the Program Guide. For information about viewing the Program Guide by time, see Displaying and Navigating the Program Guide by Time on page 36. For information about viewing the Program Guide by theme, see Displaying and Navigating the Program Guide by Theme on page 41. For information about searching the Program Guide by title, see Searching the Program Guide by Title on page 44. For information about searching the Program Guide by keyword, see Searching the Program Guide by Keyword on page Press the up or down arrow to highlight a program. 3 Press the SELECT key to select the program. If you selected a current program, Passport Echo removes the Program Guide and displays the channel showing the program you selected. If you selected a future program, Passport Echo displays the menu at right, which indicates that the desired program will air in the future (and not presently). Press the up or down arrow to select an option, then press the SELECT key. For more information on recording, see: Recording a Program on page 249 Manual Recording on page 257 Recording a Series on page 260

27 For information about setting up a Reminder Timer (Remind me about this show), see "Setting a Reminder Timer" on page 122. You can also choose to List Upcoming Episodes (although this option does not appear in the example of the future show menu on page 56). Selecting List Upcoming Episodes will display a list of all upcoming episodes of the program that are currently listed in the program guide data. The result is the same listing you would get if you executed a Search by Title in the Program Guide. (For more information, see "Searching the Program Guide by Title" on page 44.) If you selected a PPV channel, Passport Echo displays a Pay Per View barker graphic. For additional information, see Purchasing PPV Programs from the Program Guide on page 220. If you selected a Video on Demand program, Passport Echo displays a Video on Demand graphic. For more information, see the Video on Demand information provided by your cable company.

28 ... Setting a Reminder Timer from the Program Guide From the Program Guide, you can set a Reminder Timer that will alert you one minute before a desired program is about to air. (For information about setting a Reminder Timer (Remind me about this show) from the General Settings menu, see "Setting a Reminder Timer" on page 122.) To set a Reminder Timer from the Program Guide: 1 Press the GUIDE key. Passport Echo displays the Program Guide. For information about viewing the Program Guide by time, see Displaying and Navigating the Program Guide by Time on page Press the arrow keys to highlight a future program, then press the SELECT key. Passport Echo displays the menu at right. 3 Press the down arrow key to highlight Remind me about this show, then press the SELECT key. Passport Echo will display a Reminder Timer icon in the cell in the Program Guide.

29 One minute before the program airs, Passport Echo will display an alert banner, similar to the one shown at right.

30 ... Canceling a Reminder Timer from the Program Guide You can cancel a Reminder Timer from the Program Guide. Programs for which you have set a Reminder Timer will display the Reminder Timer icon in the program guide cell. To cancel a Reminder Timer from the Program Guide: 1 Press the GUIDE key. Passport Echo displays the Program Guide. (For information about viewing the Program Guide by time, see Displaying and Navigating the Program Guide by Time on page 36.) 2 Press the arrow keys to highlight the future program for which you want to cancel a Reminder Timer. The Program Guide cell will be highlighted in red and will display a timer icon. 3 Press the SELECT key. Passport Echo displays the menu at right. 4 Press the arrow keys to highlight Cancel this reminder, then press the SELECT key. Passport Echo cancels the Reminder Timer and removes the timer icon from the Program Guide cell.