JPH01177796A - Television broadcasting identity discriminating system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To accurately discriminate the identity of two television broadcastings, to reduce the quantity of data, and to decrease the cost of equipment by converting the signal levels of the specific frequency band components of audio signals of television signals from analog to digital in order to compare them with each other. CONSTITUTION:In a reception part 1, tuners 1A-1H are provided corresponding to the channels of respective broadcasting stations. In case of comparing two television broadcastings with each other, respective television signals are separated into audio signals SA and video signals SV by the reception part 1, and the respective signals SA are inputted to BPF 23A-1, etc., via a multiplex broadcasting detection circuit 21A, so that signals of specific frequency band component only are taken out. Then these signals are rectified and integrated by a rectification and integrating circuit 24A-1, etc., thereafter, sampled at the timing of the vertical synchronizing signal of the respective signals SV then A/D-converted, and thus obtained data is compared with each other in order to discriminate the identity of the two television broadcastings. In such a way, the discrimination can be achieved accurately through a computer 3, furthermore, the use of a vertical synchronizing signal helps reduce the quantity of data hence the cost is also decreased.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a television broadcast identity determination method applicable to broadcast program check systems, audience rating measurement systems, and the like.

(Prior art and its problems) Since many people are involved in the operation of a television station, and signals are sent out via complicated equipment, it is not always possible to broadcast the content as scheduled. Not exclusively.

In particular, for TV commercials, etc., the broadcast time is scheduled in advance, but the TV commercial may not actually be broadcast at that time.
In such a case, it becomes a serious problem for the sponsor because the intended purpose cannot be achieved. For this reason, it is necessary to set up a designated TV set for each broadcast area and designated channel.
A task exists to check whether a commercial has been broadcast at a predetermined time.

By the way, the current situation is that this kind of work has traditionally been carried out exclusively by human eyes and ears, which requires a great deal of human effort, and because it is done by humans, confirmation errors occur, and reliability is poor. There was a drawback that it was not expensive.

Additionally, several systems have been proposed for automatic confirmation systems (broadcast program check systems), but there are
In other words, the technology for determining whether the reference television broadcast based on the available materials and the actually broadcast television broadcast is the same is insufficient and has not yet entered the practical stage.

(Means for solving the problem of good fortune) The present invention has been proposed in view of the above points, and its purpose is to provide a method that can accurately determine the identity of two television broadcasts. It's about doing. The television broadcast identity determination method of the present invention can be used not only in the above-mentioned broadcast program check system, but also in an audience rating measurement system and the like to detect a receiving channel.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention separates each of two television broadcasts to be compared into an audio signal and a video signal from the television signal, extracts only a predetermined frequency band component from the audio signal, and converts this signal into an audio signal and a video signal. Television broadcasting characterized by rectifying and integrating, sampling this signal at the timing of the vertical synchronization signal of the video signal, A/D conversion, and comparing the obtained data with each other to determine identity. The gist is the identity determination method.

(Function) In the television broadcast identity determination method of the present invention, the signal levels of specific frequency band components of the audio signal of the television signal are digitized and compared, so accurate determination can be performed by a computer or the like. Furthermore, since the vertical synchronization signal included in the video signal of the television signal is used as the sampling timing for digitization, the amount of data is small, and the cost of the processing device can be significantly reduced.

(Example) DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to drawings showing embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a broadcast program check system to which the television broadcast identity determination method of the present invention is applied.

In FIG. 1, an antenna ^NT, a receiving section 1. The data converter 2 is a part that receives television broadcasts currently being broadcast and obtains digitized data, and the output of the data converter 2 is input to the computer 3 in real time. On the other hand, data mixing section 4. Videotape recorder5. The monitor television 6 and the data converter 7 are parts that once record the broadcast signal obtained from the receiver 1 and create master data that becomes a standard for comparison.
The data is inputted into the computer 3 at the appropriate time. The data mixing section 4 adds data for searching and the like to the television broadcast recorded on the video tape recorder 5. Further, the computer 3 compares the data input in real time from the data converter 2 with internally stored master data to identify a program. Note that data, commands, etc. can be input using the keyboard 8.

FIG. 2 is a detailed configuration diagram of the main parts in FIG. 1, and corresponding parts are given the same reference numerals.

Although only one antenna is shown in Figure 1 for simplicity, here we will use the antenna ANT for VHF in practice.
V and an antenna ANTu for UHF are shown.

In FIG. 2, the receiver 1 is provided with tuners 1^ to IH corresponding to the channels of each broadcasting station targeted for HIHlt, and the audio signal SA and video signal Sv from each tuner are sent to the data converter. It is designed to be given to 2. Note that it goes without saying that the number of tuners is not limited to what is illustrated. Next, in the data converter 2, the tuner IA is provided with a multiplex broadcast detection circuit 21A, a synchronization separation circuit 22A, and bandpass filters 23A-1 to 23A.
A-10° rectifier/integrator circuit 24A-1 to 24A-10,
A/D converters 25A-1 to 25A-10 are provided, and although not shown in the figure, similar circuits are connected to other tuners IB to IH. In addition,
Ten sets of bandpass filters, m currents/11 times m, and A/D converters are provided in the figure in order to improve the reliability of discrimination, but the number is not limited to this number, and theoretically, 10 sets are provided. Can also be used in pairs.

The multiplex broadcast detection circuit 21A detects when the audio signal SA received from the tuner IA is a stereo broadcast or a bilingual broadcast and sends a signal to that effect to the computer 3, and the input audio signal SA is processed as is. The signal is applied to bandpass filters 23A-1 to 23A-10. Bandpass filter 23A-1 to 23A
-10 is for performing spectral decomposition in order to grasp the characteristics of the audio signal from multiple aspects and increase the accuracy of comparison, and each pass frequency band is different, and the output of each is rectified/integrated circuit 24A- 1 to 24A-10. Rectifier/integrator circuit 24^-1~
24A-10 is for converting the characteristics of the audio signal to be converted into data into an average value signal in order to make it more macroscopic rather than determining the instantaneous value of the signal, and performs full-wave rectification. At the same time, appropriate integration is performed by a time constant circuit, and the output is sent to the A/D converter 25A-
1 to 25A-10.

As is well known, the A/D converters 25A-1 to 25A-10 are for converting analog signals into digital signals that can be easily processed by a computer, etc., and the output thereof is given to the computer 3. It has become. Note that in the present invention, the video signal S received from the tuner IA
A/D converters 25A-1 to 25 at the timing of the vertical synchronization signal V extracted from V using the synchronization separation diagram $22A.
One feature is that sampling in A-10 is performed.

That is, FIG. 3 shows the output (
This shows the relationship between the input signal SA' of the A/D converter 25A-1 and the video signal Sv. A sampling pulse is given from the separation circuit 22A. -Generally, in order to accurately convert the characteristics of an audio signal into data, it is necessary to sample at a sufficiently high frequency compared to the signal frequency, and there is a problem that the amount of data becomes enormous. When sampling is performed using the timing of the vertical synchronization signal as in the present invention, about 60 samplings per second are sufficient in Japan, so there is an advantage that a much smaller amount of data is required. Note that this is possible because the timing of the video signal and audio signal is accurately set in the same television broadcast (particularly commercials).

Hereinafter, referring back to FIG. 1, the overall operation of 9 will be explained.

The procedure is to first record the television broadcast received by the receiving section 1 on the video tape recorder 5 via the data mixing section 4, then extract commercial spots etc. using the monitor TV 6, and then record the television broadcasts received by the data converting section 7. Create master data and input it to computer 3. Note that the data converter 7 has exactly the same configuration as the data converter 2 for one channel. Furthermore, data for enabling identification of what television broadcast (commercial) is being broadcast using the keyboard 8 is added to the master data.

On the other hand, during normal use, the receiving section 1 always receives the television broadcast that is being broadcast at the moment, converts it into data via the data section 2, and inputs it to the computer 3. Computer 3 compares all of the master data that has already been stored, and based on matches and mismatches, TV broadcasts (commercials) are made.
If there is a match, data identifying the television broadcast is stored along with data such as date, 2 hours, channel, etc. In addition, those that could not be determined are also memorized. Then, commercials that cannot be determined are picked up at appropriate intervals and used as targets for creating new master data.

Next, FIG. 4 is a block diagram in which the television broadcast identity determination method of the present invention is applied to a reception channel determination device in an audience rating measurement system.

In FIG. 4, a broadcast signal to be subjected to channel determination (generally detected from a television receiver to be investigated) is converted into data via a data converter 11 and provided to a comparator 12. Further, the output of the receiving section 14 which is connected to the antenna ANT and independently receives television broadcasting, and whose receiving channel is controlled via the channel selection control section 13 based on the output of the comparing section 12, is also transferred to data via the data converting section 15. is converted into and given to the comparison section 12. The data converter 11.15 has the same configuration as the data converter 2 for one channel in FIGS. 1 and 2, but has two sets of bandpass filters, flow/integrator circuits, and A/D converters. It is enough.

If the target broadcast signal and the broadcast signal received by the receiving section 14 are different broadcasts, the data converting section 11. The output data of Is are naturally different, and the comparator 12 outputs a signal indicating non-identity. Assuming that the channel selection unit 13 is configured to periodically change the reception channel of the reception unit 14 until the comparison unit 12 outputs a signal indicating the same, in the above case of non-identity, Advance the receive channels one by one. If the target broadcast signal is applied to a channel that can be scanned by the receiving section 14, a point where the two are the same will definitely be found. 13 (Generally, the channel selection control section 13 is composed of a clock oscillator and a counter, and the digital output signal of the counter is directly or converted into voltage and given to the receiving section 14. The digital output signal represents the channel selection state.) can be used as channel data.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, in the television broadcast identity determination method of the present invention, each of two television broadcasts to be compared is separated from the television signal into an audio signal and a video signal, and a predetermined signal is extracted from the audio signal. By extracting only the frequency band components, rectifying and integrating this signal, sampling and A/D converting this signal at the timing of the vertical synchronization signal of the video signal, and comparing the obtained data with each other, identity can be determined. (a) Since it is a digital process, it can be accurately determined by a computer, etc.

(b) Since the vertical synchronization signal included in the video signal of the television signal is used as the sampling timing for digitization, the amount of data is small, and the cost of the processing device can be significantly reduced.

There are other effects.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a broadcast program check system to which the television broadcast identity determination method of the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is a detailed configuration diagram of the main parts in FIG. 1, and FIG.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an operation related to A/D conversion, and FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a receiving channel discriminating device in an audience rating measurement system. 1... Receiving section, 2... Data converting section, 3
・Old...Computer, 4...Data mixing section,
5...Video tape recorder, 6...Mountain monitor television, 7...Data converter, 8...
Keyboard, IA-IH...Tuner, 21A
...Multiple broadcast detection circuit, 22A...Synchronization separation circuit, 23A-1 to 23^-10...Band pass filter, 24A-1 to 24A-10...・
... Rectifier/integrator circuit, 25A-1 to 25A-10...
...A/D converter, ^NT, ANTV. ^NTu...Antenna, 11...Data conversion section, 12...Comparison section, 13...
Tuning control section, 14... Receiving section, 15...
・Data Conversion Department Patent Applicant Video Research Co., Ltd. Agent Patent Attorney Michio Takayama ・1 other person

Claims (1)

[Claims] Separate each of the two television broadcasts to be compared into an audio signal and a video signal from the television signal, extract only a predetermined frequency band component from the audio signal, rectify and integrate this signal, and convert this signal into a vertical signal of the video signal. A television broadcast identity determination method characterized by sampling at the timing of a synchronization signal, performing A/D conversion, and comparing the obtained data with each other to determine identity.