Video recorder scheduling code

VCR Plus+, G-Code, VideoPlus+ and ShowView are different names for the same scheduling system for programming VCRs and digital video recorders.

These names are all registered trademarks of Macrovision, whose corporate predecessor, Gemstar, developed these algorithms for use in integrated endecs.

The central concept of the system is a unique number, a PlusCode, assigned to each programme, and published in television listings in newspapers and magazines (such as TV Guide).

The system is branded as VideoPlus+/ShowView in Europe due to an existing trademark registration for "VCR" by Philips in that continent, and as G-Code (the "G" standing for the system's developer, Gemstar) in Japan because VCR is not a common abbreviation there ("VTR," for videotape recorder, is used instead).

The actual algorithms used to encode and decode the television guide values from and to their time representations were published in 1992, but only for six-digit codes or less.