DE19757385C2 - Advertising block detection device - Google Patents

Description

STATE OF THE ART

The present invention relates to an ad blocker nungseinrichtung, in particular for use at the Un suppression of the playback of broadcast advertising blocks connected television and / or radio receivers, so like suppressing their recording on connected NEN recording devices such. B. VCRs or tape recorders.

DE 41 06 246 C1 and EP 0 210 609 A2 can be found take that besides comparing image sequences too Sound sequences are used for advertising recognition can.

Although on advertising in any transmission / reception systems basically applicable, the present invention as well as the underlying problem with regard to a stationary connected television explained tert.

The sending of advertising blocks as an interruption of a sen dung, such as B. an exciting feature film many television viewers on rejection. The audience are forced to at least reduce advertising They don't want to pursue attention again entry into the program after the end of the advertising block miss.  

Since the television is not on when the advertising block begins can be switched off automatically or the volume can be reset bar, switches to another program or to egg other, possibly desired operating mode switches, these viewers are forced to measure themselves took like the ones described above at the beginning of an advertisement blocks to take if they are not interested in advertising to have.

However, this requires a certain discipline. Will she not upset, these spectators fit into it "Destiny" and are tracked by advertising in unwanted way with the content of the advertisement faced against their will and from the previous the broadcast being "ripped out".

It has been found to be particularly disadvantageous that the re-entry into the program after the end of advertising Blocks are often missed when viewers are watching of the advertising block, set the device to itself or turn it on switch another channel to increase the advertising time bridge.

The problems underlying the present invention So, in general, matik consists of such spectators to support that they are no longer themselves have to take care of suppressing the advertising block and the exit from the respective advertising block and the how  the entry into the program of interest automatically succeed.

In particular, an advertising block detection device should be included increased detection security can be created.

ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION

The advertising block detection device according to the invention with the features of claim 1 have the special before share that the viewers without their intervention from the annoying Must look at the advertising blocks with the greatest possible Er identification security can be exempted and - if ge wishes - through no unwanted commercials impressions to get distracted.

The idea underlying the present invention be is that the information is separated by Tonse sequence and image sequence are saved and evaluated and evaluations statistically to an overall result nis can be summarized. This turns an advertising block running signal and a complementary ad block running won signal for the analyzed broadcasters and an advertising box to the recipient, d. H. the television Showers or radio listeners provided.

This makes it possible to use the television or radio advises in another during the broadcasting time of the advertising block to switch their operating mode, for example the volume to steer down or to another station switch, etc. and after the end of the advertising block like the switch back to the same operating mode that the forward  the beginning of the advertising block. In the simplest case are the ad block runs signal and the complementary one Ad block does not run signal a simple multibitsi signal, with each bit corresponding to a broadcaster.

Advantageous Further can be found in the subclaims formations and improvements of the invention.

Expediently a at a centrally located service provider Database system used to recognize the advertising blocks and a variety of predetermined criteria for differentiation between advertising and non-advertising. The Criteria are weighted individually to make up a whole result of the evaluation.

DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the invention are in the drawings gene shown and nä in the following description ago explained.

Show it:

Figure 1 is a schematic representation of essential processes required in the detection of the advertising block by a service provider.

Fig. 2 is a more detailed schematic representation of the recognition of the advertising block;

Figure 3 is a schematic illustration of details in the evaluation of Ge in the database system stored information sequences.

Fig. 4 is a schematic representation of the operation of a promotion package;

Fig. 5 shows a more detailed schematic representation of the way we act of the advertising box; and

Fig. 6 is a schematic representation of essential, in the detection of the advertising block by a service provider required processes with a preferred addition that enables the learning of features.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Fig. 1 shows a schematic representation of essential processes required in the detection of an advertising block by a service provider.

In Fig. 1, reference numeral 2 denotes 1 audio signals of several television stations, the associated image signals of the transmitter 3a to 3c for each of the transmitters evaluation stations of Si gnale, 4a le a database for sender cross Merkma, 4b, a database for sender-specific features, 4c a database for film repetition characteristics and 6 the evaluation system essentially formed by the databases and the evaluation stations.

One with the recognition of the advertising blocks during the transmission service dealing with a variety of television channels leister simultaneously receives all those channels for which he believes in the suppression of commercial blocks viewers enjoyed his "Generate and  Transfer of the ad block runs and ad block runs does not offer Signals ".

The service provider processes the signals of the transmitters for the above-mentioned purpose appropriately separately for sound signal 1 and image signal 2 in several logically and physically separate branches, in the evaluation station 3 a the sound signals, in the evaluation station 3 b the image signals. The evaluation station 3 c summarizes the results of the stations 3 a and 3 b, which is described in more detail below.

Recognized and possibly previously separately read and stored commercials or certain parts of these, which are collectively referred to below as "features", are used as information sequences for the recognition of the commercial blocks during broadcasting in the database system 4 a, 4 b, 4 c saved.

An information sequence can in principle be of any length be, for practical reasons of space requirements and the computer speed is recommended Range from about 0.5 to a few seconds, preferably two in the order of the longest commercials.

Conveniently, analyzes the evaluation system 6, which contains the work stations 3 a, 3 b, 3 c, conventional PCs may be, and the database system incorporated, mationssequenzen the incoming signals of broadcasters as an information by comparison with the specific data stored in the database system 4 information sequences of the information sequences already recognized as belonging to advertising spots.

The database system 4 a, 4 b, 4 c is divided into three areas, each of which represents its own database and is explained in more detail below:

In the database 4 a for cross-sender characteristics, who initially saved all those characteristics that are not sent exclusively on one sender. Examples of this are e.g. B. Ads that are broadcast on multiple channels.

All branches of the evaluation system have access to this database 4 a. If an information sequence is recognized as advertising by the evaluation unit of a transmitter, this also leads to evaluation as advertising by all other evaluation units and thus by all other transmitters.

Is offered for the service continues to exist for each transmitter, the database 4b for transmitter-specific features. Information sequences that are specific to a particular station are stored here. Examples of this would be the so-called "trailers" of advertising blocks, such as the "Mainzelmännchen" from ZDF.

The third database 4 c is a memory for so-called repetition features of a broadcast film. If a film is interrupted by an advertising block, the last film sequence that was broadcast before the advertisement is often repeated when the film starts again, in order to remind the viewer of the last film scene. Otherwise, the film usually continues with a sequence that is very similar to the one immediately before the start of the advertising block. The new beginning of the film can be saved by comparison with the current, currently broadcast information sequence with the last in the memory 4 c ge be determined.

The evaluation system constructed in this way, if it has detected an advertising block in the course of the evaluation after having received the signals 1 , 2 from the starting point, initiates the transmission or transmission of the advertising block running or advertising block running signal.

The television viewers who use the service want to be in possession of those with their TV or Radio that can be communicative advertising box that there is set up to receive and to receive this signal process to the television or radio so control that during the transmission of the ad block running signal a predetermined other operating mode of the TV set in which no advertising emp will catch.  

The no branch in FIG. 1 is the case that the evaluation system has not recognized an advertising block. In this case, the procedure described above is repeated. The repetition frequency could be, for example, 10 Hz or higher, depending on the computing power.

The following are essential features to start with of the advertising block, which are recorded in the database, enumerated.

Subtitles for the hearing impaired: Subtitles are only for Films broadcast, but not for advertising. With the end of subtitles increases the likelihood of Advertising.

Change in picture format: Mostly advertising is not in the Cinemascope procedure recorded. When changing from Film on advertising disappear the black bars that characterize this procedure. This method also applies for films that are broadcast in the modern 16: 9 format the.

Two-channel sound: The same applies here as for subtitles, because advertising is usually not in multiple languages sent out.  

VPS signal: With the end or the beginning of the VPS signal films end or begin, so it is the beginning or the end of advertising marked.

Elimination of the transmitter logo: The transmitter logo is only used during broadcast content, not while rend advertising.

Logos of the advertising agency: These logos can through image detail recognition or through text recognition be located.

The starting time of the advertising blocks is defined: the advertising The broadcasters do not completely block broadcast lig, but mostly in a fixed time blocks before or after films. Even the beginning of Films will be announced in the media beforehand. Therefore increases with the approach to the planned start time point of the advertising block the probability of it Occur.

Technical differences of the received image signal: This includes cutting signals or sub to understand different in the picture quality. Various Recording and playback devices produce another Noise or other color temperature, for example that can be recognized.  

Comparison of image sequences: a very important feature is the comparison of the current information sequence with already recognized as advertising, stored in the databases saved commercials, as already explained above. The detection probability is with this characteristic very high and accurate.

Logos or language / music: Advertising can also be done through text, Speech or music recognition by examining Single images and the sound signal as such who recognized the. Thus, e.g. B. existing logos such as "Lenor", "Persil" or other well-known advertising slogans or a ty recognized music.

Statutory advertising trailer: The most important Characteristic for recognizing the beginning and end of advertising is the clear identification prescribed in the media law advertising blocks through appropriate identification sequences zen, so-called trailer. With the help of these trailers, advertising can Under certain circumstances, it is already only clearly identified become.

Identifying the end of the is a little more difficult Advertising blocks. If this is not, or about to be late notices, the user becomes significant in his movie enjoyment disturbed since he was re-entering the actual Sen would miss.  

In principle, the recognition of the end of the advertising block applies the same basic features as for the detection of the Beginning of commercials. However, there are more additional marks exist that mark the end of advertising can be reliably determined:

The duration of the advertising blocks is usually constant, i.e. H., with increasing duration of the advertising blocks, or number of individual spots also increases the likelihood of End of the advertising block too. The length also exceeds of advertising blocks usually not a certain maximum time.

The station logo: With the restart of the film the station logo is also shown again.

Comparison of film sequences: When restarting un Broken film programs are usually the previous one Sequence repeated again to show the viewers the how to facilitate entry. If this is not the case, then is the new sequence that was last shown before the advertisement Most of the sequences are very similar and can be recognized.

Regarding other programs or their individual logos or identifier: If the advertising at the end of a Broadcast film, it is mostly from announcements, Wet ter report or news followed, their logos in turn can be recognized.  

The recognition or differentiation of different people bespots is important in order to additionally set an exact limit for to recognize the end of advertising blocks. In addition to the characteristics len for determining the end and beginning of advertising blocks, the following relationship can go further can be exploited to create a commercial as such know:

If there is a new, thus far unknown, spot between two advertising spots already recognized, this spot must also be an advertising spot. Thus its start and end are defined and the spot can be saved accordingly (see also description in FIG. 2).

Becomes an information corresponding to a commercial quenz recognized as advertising based on company logos and followed by a recognized spot, so the new spot stored in one of the databases.

Fig. 2 shows a more detailed schematic representation of the detection of advertising blocks by the evaluation system 6 of the service provider.

In FIG. 2, the same reference numerals as in FIG. 1 show the same parts or process sequences, 64 denotes an intermediate store.

The figure is essentially line to line from left to right read right and top down. The time passed runs from left to right.

At 60 , a particular station is received with a film in 16: 9 widescreen format. At least essential parts of the information contained in the image or / and in the sound are stored in an intermediate memory 64 and each time again overwritten by the "fresh" information after a specific clock sequence. At 62 there is suddenly no longer a 16: 9 picture format. The last picture and / or sound information, which still comes from the 16: 9 format, is stored in the database 4 c for film repetition features.

With the next line in the figure, which can be seen as a temporal development from the first line, a comparison begins at 62 of the signal, which is no longer in 16: 9 format, with information sequences or characteristics that are stored in databases 4 a or 4 b are present. At 66 , a short time after 62 , the identity between a sent and an already saved advertising trailer was discovered. As a result, the evaluation system sends the advertising block running signal.

At 68 , an undefined signal, an information sequence, is determined by comparison with the features in the databases 4 a, 4 b, which could possibly be another, new commercial because there is still no 16: 9 picture format as an indication of the beginning of the film is available, and the information sequence does not match any of the spots already stored. There is a comparison with the information sequences stored in the database 4 c, in which no match or similarity is found. The undefined information sequence was temporarily stored in an area of the memory 64 . At 70 in lines three and four of the figure, the beginning of an already known commercial is recognized by the evaluation system. From this it is concluded that the undefined area between 68 and 70 was also a commercial. He is therefore stored as a new spot in the Da tenbank 4 b.

The same new recognition occurs in the bottom line of the figure between 72 and 74 for the recognition of a new trailer after the end of the known commercial and before the film starts again in the 16: 9 aspect ratio. Therefore, the new trailer is chert b Stored in the database 4, after also by comparing the current infor mationssequenz in 16: 9 format with a c in the database 4 stored for film repetition characteristics information properly to the new start of the film and thus the end of the advertising block detected has been.

In this way, advertising blocks can also be difficult Conditions (occurrence of a new commercial) recognized and the information of the new  Advertising blocks for the purpose of later use for white more comparisons are used as above, with the Ides certification of the same, but then new commercials can be done quickly.

Fig. 3 shows a schematic representation of a detail in the evaluation of the information sequences stored in the database system.

In Fig. 3 the same reference numerals as in Fig. 1 denote the same parts and 3 c a control (evaluation) station.

The image and sound signals 2 and 1 are preferably analyzed separately in the evaluation stations 3 a and 3 b. The results of both investigations are then combined to form an overall result, which leads to a decision as to whether or not an advertising block is present during the current reception. This summary ge it at their one with the Auswertestionen 3 a and 3 b ge coupled control station 3 c, and is based on a ge weighted evaluation of the illustrated above N features whose presence or absence of p _i be distinguished (i = 1 ... N).

The parameters p _i assume values between 0 and 1. The value 0 is assigned if the associated characteristic was not recognized, the value 1 if it was identified with a predominant probability. Intermediate stages are of course also conceivable. Also, individual characteristics can be assigned a certain "effective time" who, a time span after the first occurrence of a characteristic, within which the presence of the characteristic is still faked as existing, although it may no longer exist in the current evaluation. Proven fuzzy logic evaluation methods could also be incorporated.

Preferably, each of the features is additionally assigned an individual weighting factor α _i , which expresses its importance in relation to the other features and can be changed afterwards in the course of an optimized method design.

The overall result WP - the probability of the current presence of an advertising block - can then be represented as follows on the basis of the presence or absence of the individual features:

WP = p ₁ . α ₁ + p ₂ . α ₂ + .. + p _N. α _N

The right-hand printout can still be used if necessary to be standardized for mathematical purposes Adapt standard evaluation methods.

The value of the evaluation result from WP is now higher a given time above a given one  Threshold value, it is based on the presence of an advertising block recognized and the transmission of the ad block bit sequence with the ad block running signal. If it lies below so this is not done. Then the ad block bit sequence with the advertising block-runs-not-signal.

Furthermore, this evaluation also includes logical boundary conditions, on the basis of which, for example, the existence of an advertising block or the information sequence of an advertising spot can be deduced indirectly. All rules are preferably implemented in one or more programs that run on the computers of the evaluation system 6 .

The evaluations of the sound and image signals 1 and 2 ge preferably takes place in separate computer units 3 a, 3 b, for which replacement units are kept ready in the event of an error. This can ensure a certain level of security against failure.

Since, moreover, the computing load with regard to the evaluation of a The transmitter may fluctuate greatly in time can, if a unit should be overloaded, ei ne additional unit can be added. This means tet that not only the evaluation of the two types of signals is parallelizable, but also the evaluation of the Signals themselves. This can be the case with image recognition for example by separating the procedures (recognition of repetition sequences, recognition of text, etc.) ge  happen. Furthermore, there would also be a separation after Single images possible. Single images are here on meh distributed computing units. The same can be done at Tonsigna len be moved.

When summarizing an overall result, mutually exclusive features are also considered in order to achieve the greatest possible recognition reliability. In the control station 3 c, methods can also be summarized that must be considered together. The control station 3 c, as well as the upstream units 3 a, 3 b, is implemented as an interchangeable module, so that there is no reduction in reliability.

Furthermore, the control station 3 c can also distribute computing power by assigning a possibly free computer capacity to another group of computers, if necessary, to a group of currently overloaded computers. In this respect, the computer groups must be networked with each other.

Further parallelization can take place not only at the signal level, but also at the transmitter level. The three units described in FIG. 1 can be installed per transmitter. This ensures that the failure or overload of a unit does not affect the function of the entire system. All computer groups can then work independently of one another, provided that they operate different transmitters, but are connected by the database system.

If a suitable operating system is used, the a high level of reliability with simultaneous expiry Tasks guaranteed, the computing load could also in other rer way to the existing computers.

As described, this procedure has the aim of reducing the susceptibility to errors and overloading of the system and increasing the reliability. By installing the control station 3 c, the probability of incorrect detection of an advertising block is reduced.

Most of the time, advertising is likely not through one only feature recognized, but it hits several at the same time. By adding new rules new features are defined and the system in the course adjusted to the times and to new requirements be adjusted. Of course, for radios that only audio features are applied.

Fig. 4 shows a schematic representation of the effect of the advertising box.

Reference numeral 10 denotes a transmission device, 12 the advertising box, 14 , 16 the inputs or receiving devices, 18 processing logic, 20 the output or transmission device, 21 an input of the television set, 22 the television set, 24 a video recorder.

The advertising box 12 can basically communicate with devices of entertainment electronics of different device classes. For this reason, when recognizing advertising and responses, they have to be viewed differently, since their use and the interfaces for communication are different. Currently, the device classes TV receivers, video devices and radios come into question, but an application of the invention for other media that are yet to be realized is also conceivable analogously.

The advertising box 12 has the input 14 for receiving the advertising block-running signal or the advertising block-runs-not-signal signal as an advertising block bit sequence, the input 16 for receiving an IR signal, the processing logic 18 for processing the Advertising block bit sequence and the IR output 20 in the form of an IR transmitter for controlling the IR sensor 21 of the television set 22 .

The advertising box 12 reacts by receiving the advertising block-running signal or the advertising block-running-not-signal signal or the change from the advertising block-running-signal state to the advertising block-running-not-signal state or vice versa.

In continuation of the method, as described above with reference to FIG. 1, a transmission device 10 , which is within the access range of the service provider, sends a periodically transmitted advertising block bit sequence for each transmitter for which the service provider offers its service , he transmitted a signal to the television viewer. As an advertising block-running signal, it indicates the current presence of an advertising block on the transmitter and as a differently shaped advertising block-running-not signal its absence.

The signal would come from a digital, error redundant Transmission as core content, for example a bit sequence with usual header information, followed by a bit chain in question, which provides a 1-bit flag per transmitter. The flag could jump from logic zero to logic one to show the beginning of the ad block, then select The advertising block remains set to the existing display of the advertising block and to a logical zero jump back when the end of the advertising block has been recognized and remain set as such as long as no new who beblock is recognized.

This bit sequence is periodically, for example with a frequency of 10 Hz, sent and received by the advertising box 12 at the television viewer and processed accordingly. Therefore, from a permanent evaluation of the signal, the presence or absence of the advertising block and from the transition when the signals change, the beginning and end of an advertising block can be recognized.

One way to transmit the signal would be Radio transmission. Here the signals are over Radio waves from the transmitting station to the advertising box when closed shower sent. Lang is particularly suitable here wave transmitter similar to the DCF77 for the atomic clock signal. The advantage of this technology is the interference-free transmission, which is also possible over very long distances. For this only very small, inexpensive receivers with a very small antenna needed. But that is also possible Transmission over other frequencies, such as B. FM. Here can use existing services that are similar to the RDS signal or send similar additional signals.

Another service that is also available is the radio telephone network according to the GSM standard, via which Services can be transferred.

Another possibility is the transmission of the advertising block bit sequence over unused lines in the television signal. This technology is already used by teletext and the VPS signal and is immediately available. When the television signal is transmitted, more lines are transmitted than can actually be seen on the screen. The analog conversion of the advertising block bit sequence, which is filtered out and interpreted by the advertising box 12, could then be encoded in these lines. In addition to the advantage of immediate availability without excessive technical outlay, there is also a high transmission speed.

If a radio transmission should cause problems, the advertising block running signal and the advertising block running signal can be transmitted via the Internet or other online services. For this purpose, the signals are made available as with a real audio player or with time clients. The user can then log into this service and periodically retrieve the ad block bit sequence. The advertising block running signal or the advertising block running signal would then be made available via the serial interface or a USB bus to the advertising box 12 .

Techniques similar to satellite television or telephones can be used for satellite transmission. This would achieve great global accessibility similar to that of terrestrial transmitters. Existing resources can be used via the satellite antenna and the information received can be made available to the advertising box 12 .

The functioning of the advertising box 12 is described in more detail below with a renewed reference to FIG. 4 and with reference to FIG. 5.

Fig. 5 shows a more precise, schematic representation of the operation of the advertising box.

In Fig. 5, reference numerals 30 , 32 and 34 denote broadcasting periods of three different stations, 40 blocks each without advertising, 42 blocks with advertising, shaded areas indicate the broadcasting periods presented to the television viewer by measures of the advertising box 12 .

The advertising box 12 can, as in the exemplary embodiment, also be programmable in such a way that a popularity scale of transmitters can be programmed, according to the order in which the stations are selected, in the event that an advertising block is also being sent on the next station. This can be recognized by evaluating the cyclically updated and sent advertising block bit sequence before the choice of the new transmitter is made by the advertising box 12 . In the present case, the 34 has a higher priority than the transmitter 32 .

Assume that the advertising box 12 receives on the third sensor, which is viewed by the viewer as a consciously set transmitter and is shown in FIG. 5 as a time bar 30 , starting from the time t _0, only advertising block-not-running signals and registered to one given time t1 the ad block running signal. This means that the service provider indicates the start of an advertising block and transmits the advertising box 12 by means of the processing logic 18 egg nes from a selection of selectable control signals through the IR output 20 to the IR sensor as the input 21 of the television set 22 . The control signal causes the television set 22 to be switched to a second operating state which was different from the first output state. In the present example, the second operating status of the television set is the receiving operation of another, preselected transmitter. The advertising box checks whether the highest "alternative transmitter" at time t ₀ or shortly after there may also be advertising before it gives the control signal to switch to transmitter 34 . By evaluating the advertising block bit sequence, the advertising box determines that advertising is also currently running in the transmitter 34 . Then she checks whether there is advertising in the next, next station, the transmitter 32 . This is not the case. This has the consequence that the advertising box switches to the transmitter 32 and the viewers neither see the advertising block of the third transmitter 30 , nor that of the transmitter 34 , but rather follow the first transmitter 32 .

The advertising block bit sequence is generally continuously monitored. The advertising box 12 is now programmed so that the alternative transmitter, which was set first, should fill the suppression phase of the transmitter preset by the viewer as fully as possible as coherently as possible. Therefore, it remains switched on when, at time t _2, the end of the advertising block was recognized on the actually higher-ranking transmitter 34 .

At time t ₃ , an advertising block begins on the alternative transmitter 32 . The alternative search strategy that has already been mentioned above is now repeated. It is found that the transmitter 34 does not send an advertising block. Therefore, the advertising box 12 now switches to the transmitter 34 .

If the advertising block in the preselected transmitter 30 is now complete at time t ₄ , this can be recognized by changing the corresponding bit flag at the position in the advertising block bit sequence assigned to the transmitter 30 and is recognized and evaluated in a corresponding manner by the advertising box . Therefore, a corre sponding control signal is then given to the output 20 of the advertising box 12 and to the television set, which switches back to the original transmitter 30 . Thus, the advertising block on transmitter 30 has been suppressed for the viewer, the associated time has passed without having to see advertisements.

Three possible alternatives for switching are given in Fig. 5 below. 41 denotes a video corder phase between t ₁ and t ₄ .

When suppressing advertising blocks, depending on which TV of the relevant device class to the Advertising box is connected, different function assign the advertising box possible and also necessary.  

In a video recorder 24 (indicated schematically in FIG. 3) connected to a television or directly to the advertising box 12 , which is intended to record a film sent together with advertising blocks, the recording would have to be sensibly interrupted, however, with connected radios or television sets, the be used directly by the audience to listen to the radio or watch TV, e.g. B. switched to another transmitter, or the volume back-controlled who the.

Depending on the device class, the advertising box 12 reacts differently to the beginning and end of advertising.

The communication channels between the Advertising box and the TV described in more detail.

Communication from the television set 22 to the advertising box 12 is necessary so that the advertising box of the transmitter currently set on the television for reception is known. Furthermore, the advertising box must know which device class the connected device belongs to, since the control measures that the advertising box effects on the device are different depending on the device class and the viewer's wishes.

Via the communication direction from the advertising box 12 to the connected device, the advertising box tells the device how it should react to the advertising. So z. B. Vi deorecordern a pause signal, TVs can be switched to another channel, or the picture switched to black and the sound can be reduced. Detailed, further control measures for initiating the second operating state are described below.

Communication can take place via the video control signal. This means that all new, modern devices with such a connection are operated. Via this port, the advertising box 12 can communicate with the television set 22 , ie the television set thus tells which transmitter is currently set and in which operating status it is. Likewise, the advertising box 12 can now control the television and put it in a different operating state.

Provided that the advertising box is set up in the cone of the remote control belonging to the television set, it can also receive which program the user has set. Likewise, it can also transmit the signal for "turn off TV" or "switch" to the TV set if advertising should start. In the exemplary embodiment, this control takes place directly from the advertising box 12 to the television 22 via an infrared transmission link between the infrared output 20 of the advertising box and the infrared input 21 of the television. Therefore, the advertising box 12 must be in the cone of the remote control, with its IR input 16 for remote control and its rem IR output 20 directed to the television 22 . This is compatible with all devices that are controlled with a remote control.

Communication can also take place via an emulated remote control. This option can be used very universally for televisions and video devices. In this case, the advertising box 12 emulates both the infrared receiver of the television and the infrared transmitter of the remote control. The technology used is the same as that used for programmable remote controls and is therefore immediately available.

Communication with old devices that still have pressure switches use for channel selection is also possible.

Does the user have the right transmitter on the advertising box? (e.g. via keyboard or remote control), so can, for example, in the event of the appearance of advertising the television signal on black and the sound on quietly and the advertising is suppressed. In order to can the technology of the advertising box also for older or such Devices are used that use the newer techniques of Do not allow IR communication.

In the following, some "second operating states" listed, which is relevant to the respective device class could be sufficient.  

For TV reception, these are u. a. Show a preselected picture, switching to another station (e.g. news or music channel), display of additional information mations similar to teletext. Here would be, for example Market prices, the current weather forecast, news or Traffic news worth a separate mention or switching to playback from one to the TV connected VCR.

When directly controlling a recording of a movie on VCRs may include a. switching recording pause or stop recording or fade in that of a predefined image is conceivable.

For radio reception, these are u. a. Switch to one other station (e.g. news or music channel), switching CD or cassette playback or mute the Radios.

Below 2 advantageous developments of the method are to the invention OF INVENTION with reference to Fig. 6 and re-loading train to Fig. Explained.

Fig. 6 shows a rough, schematic representation of wesent Licher, in the detection of the advertising block by the service provider required processes with a preferred addition that enables the learning of features.

Based on the fact that in Fig. 1 advertising, ie features io senses were recognized, a learning process of the evaluation system 6 can be carried out by updating the database 4 a and possibly the database 4 b, insofar as this appears useful. This is done with special reference to FIG. 6 by the branch 50 , which leads to a learning process with regard to these features. For this purpose, who are the and vergli chen with the existing information sequence in the database 4 a or contain 4 b to the detected information sequence by the entspre sponding evaluation stations 3 a and 3 b "sender across" or see shoot "sender-specific".

If an information sequence is recognized as new advertising on a transmitter-specific basis, it is classified and stored in the associated transmitter-specific database 4 b based on its characteristics. It is immediately available for recognition.

It is more precisely determined by querying all databases 4 a for all transmitters whether the feature is already contained in one of these databases and is therefore transmitter-specific. If it is not found, it will b in the database 4 of the transmitter entered on which it was received. It is in a database 4 b of another station is found and so the feature in the database 4 a is stored for sen derübergreifende characteristics. In this way, the evaluation system "learns" the features "by heart".

This has the advantages that information sequences zen no longer examined for their complete content a simple comparison is sufficient with the contents of the databases. Accelerated from it the search by simplifying the comparison process, because advertising that is recognized on a channel will be immediately recognized as such by others. Further the databases are always up to date.

These measures make detection more likely advertising is continually increasing as the system creates new advertisers exercise recognizes independently. If a feature fails it can be replaced seamlessly by others. Each of the License plate increases the probability of recognition.

Although the present invention is based on a preferred one Embodiment described above is it is not limited to this, but to a variety of ways can be modified.

In particular, the design of the evaluation system 6 of the service provider can be designed differently. It is only essential to carry out the comparisons of the received signal sequences with stored sequences and / or stored features or events.

Furthermore, the transmission of the signal between between advertising and non-advertising  lovely transmission lines, u. a. also as an analog signal be designed.

In particular, the advertising box can be installed in new devices be or be retrofitted in old devices or externally be provided. The advertising box could also be in principle the remote control or a computer.

Reference list

1

Sound signal

2nd

Image signal

3rd

a Evaluation station for sound signal

3rd

b Evaluation station for image signal

3rd

c control station

4th

aDatabase for cross-channel characteristics

4th

bDatabase for transmitter-specific characteristics

4th

cDatabase for repeat features

6

Evaluation system (

3rd

a-

4th

c)

10th

Transmission device

12th

Advertising box

14

Entry for ad block bit sequence

16

IR input

18th

Processing logic

20th

IR output

21

IR input of the TV

22

TV

24th

VCR

30th

third, consciously tuned station

32

first transmitter

34

second transmitter

40

Broadcasting period without advertising

41

VCR phase

42

Broadcasting period with advertising

64

Cache

66-74

Times

Claims (4)

1. Advertising block detection device ( 6 ) with:
a comparison device ( 3 a, 3 b, 3 c) for obtaining an advertising block-running signal and an advertising block-not-running signal with respect to a received signal from the entertainment electronics from a comparison of a signal section which is temporarily stored in a buffer ( 64 ), variably adjustable length with certain information stored in a database system ( 4 a, 4 b, 4 c);
the information being stored separately according to sound sequence and picture sequence and the comparison device ( 3 a, 3 b, 3 c) is designed in such a way that it carries out the comparison for sound sequence and picture sequence in parallel; and
wherein the comparison device ( 3 a, 3 b, 3 c) summarizes the results of the two comparisons for sound sequence and image sequence in such a way that the advertising block-running signal and the advertising block-running-not signal consist of a weighted sum of the results of the comparisons wins for sound sequence and image sequence. 2. advertising block detection device ( 6 ) according to claim 1, characterized in that the information contained in the database system ( 4 a, 4 b, 4 c) in logically separate databases ( 3 a, 3 b, 3 c) separated according to cross-transmitter characteristics and transmitter-specific Features of commercials recognized as advertising and after film repetition features are stored. 3. advertising block detection device ( 6 ) according to claim 2, characterized in that the comparison device ( 3 a, 3 b, 3 c) is designed such that it determines a parameter lying between zero and one and different features when comparing the presence of a feature summed up to an overall comparison result with the respective weighting. 4. advertising block recognition device ( 6 ) according to claim 3, characterized in that it contains a learning device which is designed such that it a signal sequence, the overall comparison result is greater than a predetermined threshold, as a recognized advertising sequence in the database system ( 4 a, 4 b , 4 c) saves if it is not saved there.