KR20170058829A - Apparatus for measuring broadcasting rating in multiple devices and method for gathering and analyzing data for measurement of broadcasting rating - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed are an apparatus for measuring a broadcasting rating for various viewer terminals and a data analyzing method for measuring a broadcasting rating. The apparatus for measuring a broadcasting rating according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a collection unit for collecting viewing data including a captured image capturing a screen for each viewing terminal in an N-screen environment and time information at a capturing time point, and an analysis unit which acquires information which is necessary for measuring the broadcasting rating by analyzing the collected viewing data. Accordingly, the present invention can efficiently measure the broadcasting rating of a program which a viewer watches.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a method for analyzing an audience rating of a viewer terminal,

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a broadcasting service technology, and more particularly, to a data collection and analysis technique for surveying audience ratings of various viewer terminals.

In order to investigate the audience rating of a fixed terminal such as a TV, a method of collecting and analyzing information generated in a broadcast using a person meter or a set-top box of a fixed terminal is used to examine the audience rating of the viewing program. N-screen, and the like, for example, mobile terminals, smart TVs, computers, and the like. The audience rating method using the people meter or the set-top box installed in the existing fixed terminal has a limit in collecting data for the audience rating survey on the N-screen.

As a method for collecting viewership usage data on contents of a mobile terminal, there is a method of collecting voice information and image information of contents from a mobile terminal and comparing and analyzing the voice information or image information of the contents secured in advance, There is a way. The method of recording and analyzing the voice information is collected due to the characteristics of the mobile terminal including the living noise, so that the accuracy of the analysis result is poor. If the method of recording video information does not support the function of collecting video information in OS, it is impossible to collect rating usage data according to the viewing terminal. In order to compare audio and video information of collected contents with audio and video information of original contents, it is necessary to construct a transmission DB for audio and video signals of original contents broadcasted in the analyzer for 24 hours.

According to one embodiment, there is provided an audience rating research device and a data analysis method for surveying audience ratings to effectively examine an audience rating of a program viewed by a viewer through an N-screen terminal including various TV terminals such as a smart TV, a computer, .

The audience rating research apparatus according to an embodiment includes a collection unit for collecting audience data including a captured image capturing a screen for each audience terminal and time information at a time of capturing in an N-screen environment; And acquires information necessary for the audience rating investigation.

The collecting unit according to an embodiment collects the screen selection information of the viewer in the captured image together with the captured image. The screen selection information may be position information including a coordinate value of the screen position at which the viewer tries to operate the screen.

The collecting unit collects the viewing data based on the determination that the viewing start or the end of the viewing is occurred when the viewer inputs a key input event on the screen. When the capture unit detects the occurrence of the key input event of the viewer, the collector captures the screen image at the key input time, extracts the coordinate value of the screen position where the key input is made from the captured image, and generates the time information at the time of capturing the image.

The collecting unit collects the viewing data by determining that the viewing start or the ending of the viewing is occurring when a traffic amount flowing into the viewing terminal or a buffered data amount changing event occurs. When the collector detects a change in the amount of traffic or the amount of data buffered in the audience terminal, it can generate trend information of traffic volume or data amount, capture a screen image at the time of detection, and generate time information at the time of image capture .

The collecting unit according to an embodiment detects the occurrence of a key input event and detects a change amount of a traffic amount or a buffered amount of data that is input to a viewing terminal when a key input event occurs and only when a change event is detected, It is determined that the streaming data according to the viewing start or end is viewed or collected and the viewing data is collected.

The collecting unit according to an embodiment captures a screen image of the viewing terminal before the viewing event occurs, stores the captured screen image and the time information of the capturing time in a temporary folder, and when the viewing event is detected, The captured image and the time information stored in the temporary folder within the time are transferred to the event folder and transmitted to the analysis unit.

When the collection unit detects the occurrence of a viewing event in the viewing terminal, the collecting unit captures the screen image of the viewing terminal during the preset collection period and the collection time, stores the captured screen image and the time information at the capture time in the event folder, When the data collection time ends from the event detection time, the viewing data stored in the event folder is transmitted to the analysis unit.

The collecting unit according to the embodiment stops the process of collecting and storing the viewing data according to the occurrence of the existing event and collects the data according to the kind of the new event when the new event occurs in the process of collecting and storing the viewing data according to the generation of the viewing event. . The collecting unit according to an exemplary embodiment counts an image capture period after a viewing event occurs, and generates a capture command at the time of arrival of a capture period to capture a screen image. The collecting unit can adjust the data collecting period and the collecting period according to the occurrence of the viewing event.

The analysis unit analyzes at least one of the URL information, the time information, the application information, the broadcast channel, and the viewer selection program information from the captured image by analyzing the character content in the captured image received from the collection unit.

The analyzing unit according to an embodiment receives and analyzes the traffic change amount trend information from the collecting unit and determines that it is the view start time point when the traffic change rapidly increases according to the analysis result.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a data analysis method for an audience rating survey, the method comprising: detecting occurrence of a viewing event for each viewing terminal in an N-screen environment; detecting a viewing event when a viewing event is detected; Collecting the audience data including time information of the audience information, and analyzing the collected audience data to obtain information necessary for the audience rating investigation.

The step of collecting the audience data according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a step of detecting occurrence of a key input event on a screen of a viewer, a step of capturing a screen image at a time of key input and extracting a coordinate value of a screen position And generating time information of the time when the image is captured.

The step of collecting the audience data according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes the steps of: detecting a change in the amount of traffic or the amount of data to be buffered in the audience terminal; generating trend information on the amount of traffic or amount of data detected; Capturing a screen image at a change detection time point and generating time information at an image capturing time point.

The step of acquiring the information necessary for surveying the audience rating according to an exemplary embodiment includes the steps of analyzing the text content in the received captured image and extracting at least one of URL information, time information, application information, And acquiring one.

The method of analyzing data for surveying an audience rating according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes capturing a screen image of a viewing terminal and obtaining time information of a captured screen image and a capture time before a viewing event occurs, When the event occurrence in the terminal is detected, moving the captured image and the time information stored in the event folder within a preset time from the event occurrence time to the event folder.

According to the configuration of the present invention, it is possible to effectively check the audience rating of contents viewed by viewers through various viewing terminals in accordance with the N-screen age. A method of analyzing the audience rating of a conventional mobile terminal such as a mobile terminal is a method of recording an audio and video image on a viewing terminal and transmitting an analysis DB on the audio and video signals of the original content broadcasted in the analyzer 24 hours And a method of analyzing it is used. In contrast, the method proposed by the present invention does not need to construct a database DB of the original content, and can analyze the collected captured image and the additional information alone. In addition, costs and efforts such as the cost of generating digital information by analyzing the voice and image of the original contents, and DB construction for comparative analysis can be reduced.

1 is a block diagram of an audience rating system according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an audience rating system according to an embodiment of the present invention,
FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an audience rating survey method according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a data collection process for an audience rating survey when an event occurs according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a data collection process for an audience rating survey when an event occurs according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a data collection process for an audience rating survey when an event occurs according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG.
FIG. 7 is a reference view showing a captured image screen showing viewing data obtainable from a captured image according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;
8 is a reference view showing a captured image screen showing viewing data obtainable from a captured image according to another embodiment of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The advantages and features of the present invention and the manner of achieving them will become apparent with reference to the embodiments described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the concept of the invention to those skilled in the art. Is provided to fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art, and the invention is only defined by the scope of the claims. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout the specification.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the following description of the present invention, detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it may make the subject matter of the present invention rather unclear. , Which may vary depending on the intention or custom of the user, the operator, and the like. Therefore, the definition should be based on the contents throughout this specification.

Each block of the accompanying block diagrams and combinations of steps of the flowcharts may be performed by computer program instructions (execution engines), which may be stored in a general-purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other processor of a programmable data processing apparatus The instructions that are executed through the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing equipment will generate means for performing the functions described in each block or flowchart of the block diagram.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer usable or computer readable memory capable of directing a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to implement the functionality in a particular manner so that the computer usable or computer readable memory It is also possible for the instructions stored in the block diagram to produce an article of manufacture containing instruction means for performing the functions described in each block or flowchart of the flowchart.

And computer program instructions may be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing equipment so that a series of operating steps may be performed on a computer or other programmable data processing equipment to create a computer- It is also possible that the instructions that perform the data processing equipment provide the steps for executing the functions described in each block of the block diagram and at each step of the flowchart.

Also, each block or step may represent a portion of a module, segment, or code that includes one or more executable instructions for executing the specified logical functions, and in some alternative embodiments, It should be noted that functions may occur out of order. For example, two successive blocks or steps may actually be performed substantially concurrently, and it is also possible that the blocks or steps are performed in the reverse order of the function as needed.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the following embodiments of the present invention may be modified into various other forms, and the scope of the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described below. Embodiments of the invention are provided to more fully describe the present invention to those of ordinary skill in the art.

1 is a configuration diagram of an audience rating system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, an audience rating system includes audience terminals 10-1, 10-2, ..., 10-N and an analyzer 12.

N (N is a positive integer) - As the screen service is activated, the environment for watching broadcasting using various viewing terminals 10-1, 10-2, ..., 10-N is increasing. The audience rating survey system 1 collects and analyzes information for effectively checking the content rating in the audience terminals 10-1, 10-2, ..., 10-N that are N-screen terminals.

The viewing terminals 10-1, 10-2, ..., 10-N are various apparatuses for the viewer to view contents. For example, the viewing terminals 10-1, 10-2, ..., 10-N may be mobile terminals, smart TVs, computers, and the like. In particular, the viewing terminals 10-1, 10-2, ..., 10-N may be terminals that the viewer can carry. The analyzer 22 analyzes various types of audience data collected through the audience terminals 10-1, 10-2, ..., 10-N and utilizes the collected audience data as data for audience rating investigation. The analyzer 22 may be in the form of a server. The target audience can be any type of content that can be output to the screen through the audience terminals 10-1, 10-2, ..., 10-N. The content may be broadcast through a broadcast channel.

The audience rating survey system 1 according to an embodiment uses a method of collecting captured images captured by an image of a screen being viewed and analyzing the captured images instead of a video recording and a voice recording method, which are mainly used for audience rating research. The captured image includes various characters, and the character content of the captured image can be analyzed through the analyzer 12 to acquire information necessary for the audience rating investigation. For example, URL information, time information, application information, broadcast channel, viewer selection program information, and the like can be obtained from the captured image.

The viewing terminal 10-1, 10-2, ..., 10-N according to the embodiment captures a viewing screen on the viewing terminals 10-1, 10-2, ..., 10-N, Time information of the time point. The time information of the capture time can be obtained from the time in the captured image. The audience terminals 10-1, 10-2, ..., 10-N may collect additional information for the audience rating survey, for example, collecting screen selection information of a viewer in the captured image. The screen selection information may be position information including a screen touch coordinate value of the viewer. As another example, the traffic amount information or the trend information of the amount of buffered data is collected through the audience terminals 10-1, 10-2, ..., 10-N.

The viewing terminal 10-1, 10-2, ..., 10-N according to the embodiment captures a screen image before and after the viewing event. Before the event occurs, the screen image is captured at preset intervals and stored in the temporary folder together with the capture time information. Then, when an event occurs, the screen image at the time of event occurrence is captured and stored in the event folder, and the latest data stored in the temporary folder is moved to the event folder. Accordingly, in the N-screen environment, it is possible to more accurately confirm the start or end of the viewing from the screen capture images before and after the occurrence of an event occurring in each of the viewing terminals, and can be utilized as data for the audience rating investigation.

Also, by collecting and analyzing character contents included in the captured image, coordinate values indicating the screen position at which the viewer tries to operate the screen, image capturing time, and traffic change trend information and the like, channel information, application information, viewing program, It is possible to acquire information necessary for the audience rating investigation.

2 is a configuration diagram of an audience rating system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2, the audience rating research apparatus 2 includes a collection unit 20 and an analysis unit 22. [ The collecting unit 20 may be located in the audience terminals 10-1, 10-2, ..., 10-N of FIG. The analysis unit 22 may be located in the analysis apparatus 12 of FIG. 1, but may be located in the audience terminals 10-1, 10-2,..., 10-N. The collecting unit 20 and the analyzing unit 22 may be connected to each other through wired / wireless communication means. In this case, the collecting unit 20 transmits the collected data to the analyzing unit 22, and the analyzing unit 22 receives the collected data from the collecting unit 20 and analyzes the collected data. The collecting unit 20 and the analyzing unit 22 may be implemented through a processor. In this case, the collection unit 20 may be implemented through a viewing data collection program, and the analysis unit 22 may be implemented through a viewing data analysis program. Such collection and analysis programs can be stored in memory.

The collecting unit 20 collects the screen selection information of the viewer in the captured image together with the captured image of the screen of the audience terminals 10-1, 10-2, ..., 10-N. The screen selection information may be position information including a coordinate value of the screen position at which the viewer tries to operate the screen.

The collecting unit 20 collects viewing data based on a determination that viewing is started or ended when a viewing event occurs. At this time, the viewing event occurrence condition may be a change occurrence such as a generation of a key input on the screen of the viewer, a traffic amount flowing in, or a sudden increase or decrease in the amount of buffered data. For example, the viewer can determine that the key input on the screen is an event occurrence. Upon detecting the occurrence of a key input event of the viewer, the collection unit 20 captures a screen image at a key input time, extracts coordinate values of a screen position where a key input is made from the captured image, and generates time information at an image capture time .

As another example, the collecting unit 20 determines that the viewing start or the ending of viewing occurs when a traffic volume or buffered data amount changing event occurs in the viewing terminal and collects the viewing data. When the collector 20 detects a change in the amount of traffic or the amount of data to be buffered, the controller 20 generates traffic information of a traffic volume or a data amount, captures a screen image at a sensing point, Can be generated.

As another example, when both of the key input event occurrence and the traffic change occurrence are satisfied, it is determined that the start or end of the viewing is started. For example, the collecting unit 20 detects the occurrence of a key input event, detects a change amount of a traffic amount or a buffered amount of data that is input to the view terminal when a key input event occurs, and only when a change event is detected It is determined that the streaming data according to the key input event is started or terminated, and the viewing data is collected.

The collecting unit 20 periodically captures the screen image of the audience terminal and stores the captured screen image and the time information of the capture time in the captured image in the temporary folder before the viewing event occurs. When the event occurrence is detected, the captured image and the time information stored in the event folder are moved to the event folder within the preset time from the recent event occurrence time.

The capture unit 20 according to an exemplary embodiment captures a screen image of a viewing terminal during a preset collection period and a collection time and detects time information of a captured screen image and a capture time in an event folder . When the data collection time ends from the time of the viewing event detection, the viewing data stored in the event folder is transmitted to the analyzing unit 22 so as to be utilized as data for the viewing rate.

The collecting unit 20 according to the embodiment stops the process of collecting and storing the viewing data according to the occurrence of a new event when the new event occurs in the process of collecting and storing the viewing data according to the event, The process is renewed.

The collecting unit 20 according to an exemplary embodiment counts an image capture period after an event occurs and generates a capture command at the time of arrival of a capture period to capture a screen image. The collecting unit 20 may adjust the data collection period and the collection period according to the occurrence of the event.

The analysis unit 22 collects the audience data collected through the collection unit 20 and analyzes the collected audience data to obtain data for the audience rating survey. The analysis unit 22 according to an embodiment receives the screen capture image from the collection unit 20 and analyzes character contents in the received capture image to extract URL information, time information, application information, broadcast channel, And acquires at least one of the selected program information. As another example, the analyzing unit 22 receives the traffic change amount trend information from the collecting unit 20 and analyzes it. According to the result of the analysis, if the traffic change rapidly increases, it is determined to be the viewing start time point, and if the traffic change rapidly decreases, the viewing end time point can be determined.

The viewing data collection process of the collection unit 20 and the data analysis process of the analysis unit 22 will be described later in detail with reference to the drawings described later.

3 is a flowchart illustrating an audience rating survey method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 and 3, the collecting unit 20 collects audience data for surveying the audience rating in the audience terminal. In order to collect the viewing data, a viewing data collection program can be installed in the viewing terminal. The viewing data collection program can be automatically activated at the time of starting the viewing terminal and may be activated or deactivated according to the viewer setting.

The collection unit 20 captures a screen image of the viewing terminal before the viewing event is detected (300). At this time, the collecting unit 20 can capture a screen at a predetermined interval. Then, the collecting unit 20 stores the captured screen image in the temporary folder (302). The time information at the capture time can be mapped to the captured image and stored together in the temporary folder. The captured image and the time information stored in the temporary folder may be overwritten in a first-in first-out (FIFO) manner in consideration of the storage capacity of the temporary folder.

When the event occurrence in the viewing terminal is detected (304) during the image capturing and the saving operation to the temporary folder, the collecting unit 20 stops (306) image capturing and saving to the temporary folder, The recently stored captured image and time information are moved to the event folder (308). Here, the most recent period means a period within a predetermined time from an event occurrence detection point. The collecting unit 20 senses the occurrence of an event and performs a predetermined data collection operation according to the event type (310). For example, data collection for surveying viewership such as image capture and image capture time information generation for a predetermined period and time is performed. The various data collection processes according to the event occurrence type will be described later with reference to FIG. 4 to FIG.

Then, the collecting unit 20 stores the collected viewing data in the event folder (312). At this time, the images captured after the time when the event occurs can be mapped to the time information included in the captured image and stored in the event folder. Thereafter, it is checked whether a predetermined time has elapsed to perform the data collection operation from the time when the event occurs (314). If the collection time has not ended, the data collection operation is periodically repeated (310). If the collection time has elapsed from the time when the event occurred, the data collection and storage is ended (316).

Then, the collecting unit 20 transmits (318) the viewing data including the captured image and the time information stored in the event folder to the analyzing unit 22 to utilize the data as data for examining the audience rating. After the process of collecting the viewing data through the event detection and transmitting the collected viewing data to the analyzing unit 22 is completed, the process of storing the captured image periodically in the temporary folder is performed again (300). If a new event has occurred in the data collection 310 and the storage 312 according to the occurrence of the event in operation 320, the data collection 310 and the storage 312 according to the occurrence of the existing event are all stopped 322, A data collection process according to the event occurrence type is newly performed (310).

In the present invention, the event occurrence conditions for the audience rating investigation can be variously defined in various viewing terminals. However, in the present invention, the events according to the traffic changes such as the event generation through the key input of the viewer key, the streaming data inflow, Generation and so on. FIG. 4 shows a data collection process for viewing an event based on a viewer's key input, FIG. 5 shows an event according to a traffic change, and FIG.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a data collection process for an audience rating survey when an event occurs according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 and 4, the collecting unit 20 senses a key input event of the viewer (400). The key input event may be, for example, a touch of a viewer's screen, a mouse click, a remote control operation, and the like. The start of the viewing and the end of the viewing can be known through the key input event.

When the key input event is detected 400, the collecting unit 20 stops capturing the image and storing the captured image into the temporary folder (300, 302 in FIG. 3) 402, The captured image for a predetermined period that has been stored in the folder is moved to the event folder (404). At the same time, the capture unit 20 captures the key input screen image, extracts position information including coordinate values operated by the viewer in the captured image (Step 406), and generates time information of the image capture time (Step 408). In addition, based on the coordinate value information, the captured image at the time of event occurrence is stored in the event folder together with the position information of the point where the viewer manipulation in the screen occurs (410). Through this, the viewer can secure the data operated by the viewer through the screen at the time when the viewer starts and ends the viewing.

After the event detection, the capture period is counted to capture an image for a predetermined period of time, and when a predetermined capture period is reached, an additional capture command is generated (412). Then, an image is additionally captured (414), time information of the time of capturing the image is generated (416), and the collected data including the captured image and time information of the image capturing time are stored in the event folder (418). At this time. The time information at the capture time may be mapped to the captured image and stored in the event folder.

Next, the collecting unit 20 checks whether a predetermined time has elapsed to perform the data collecting operation from the time when the event occurred (420). If the collecting time has not ended, the data collecting operation is periodically repeated 412-420). On the other hand, if the collection time elapses from the time when the event occurs, the collection of data is stopped. After the data collection is completed, the data collected in the event folder is transmitted to the analyzer 22, the image is periodically captured, and the process of storing the data in the temporary folder is performed again. When the occurrence of a new event is detected (422) during the data collection operation according to the occurrence of the event, the data collection and storage processes according to the occurrence of the existing event are all stopped and the data collection process according to the kind of the new event is newly performed.

Through this, the image of the screen generated by the viewers about the time of starting or ending the watching through the key input, the coordinate value of the screen operation and the time of capturing the image are collected and utilized as data for surveying the audience .

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a data collection process for examining an audience rating when an event occurs according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 5, the collecting unit 20 monitors a transition of a traffic amount or an amount of data to be buffered to a viewing terminal, and detects an event in which the trend changes. A change in the amount of incoming traffic or the amount of buffered data means starting or ending the viewing. For example, when a viewer watches a streaming broadcast, inflow traffic or buffered data surges at a certain amount or more at the start of watching. On the other hand, at the point of time when the broadcast is terminated regardless of the broadcast automatic ending point (termination through key input) or regardless of the user's intention according to the network environment (no key input), traffic or buffered data It will decrease rapidly. Accordingly, the collecting unit 20 determines a time point at which the amount of traffic flowing into the viewing terminal or the amount of data to be buffered surges and a time point at which the amount of buffered data rapidly decreases.

The capture unit 20 stores the captured image before and after the occurrence of the event, the time information at the time when the captured image is captured, and the traffic change amount trend information in the event folder do. Accordingly, it is possible to secure still picture data of the contents to be viewed on the screen and time information related to the viewing at the time when the viewer starts and ends the viewing. Further, it is possible to grasp the time point at which the viewer starts to watch (rapid increase in the amount of traffic change) and the point in time at which the end of the viewing (rapid decrease in traffic change) through the traffic change amount trend information.

The collecting unit 20 monitors the amount of traffic flowing into the viewing terminal or the amount of data to be buffered, and detects a change in the amount of traffic or the amount of buffering measurement that exceeds a predetermined threshold, . If the event occurs, the process of collecting data into the temporary folder is interrupted (502). The image stored in the temporary folder and the captured time information before the abrupt change (the buffering data is suddenly changed) Move to the event folder and store 504.

At the same time, the collecting unit 20 generates the change amount change information or the change amount change information in which the traffic has rapidly increased after the occurrence of the event (change in traffic amount occurred) (506). The traffic change amount trend information is used when the analyzing unit 22 grasps the starting point of view (rapid increase in traffic change) and the ending point of view (rapid decrease in traffic change). The collecting unit 20 captures an image at the time of event occurrence (506). Then, the time information of the captured time point is generated (508), and the generated traffic change amount information and the captured image are stored in the event folder (510).

The capture cycle is counted to capture the image for a predetermined period of time after the event is detected, and an additional capture command is generated in a predetermined capture cycle (512). In addition, an image is captured (514), an image captured time information is generated (516), and captured image data and captured time data such as captured image data are stored in an event folder (518). At this time, the time information of the captured time may be mapped to the captured image and stored in the event folder.

Next, it is checked whether a predetermined time has elapsed to perform the data collection operation from the time when the event occurs. If the collection time is not ended, the data collection operation is periodically repeated (512-520). When the collection time has elapsed from the time when the event occurred (520), the data collection is terminated (316 in Fig. 3). After the data collection is completed, the data collected in the event folder is transmitted to the analyzer 22 (318 in FIG. 3), and the image is periodically captured to store the data in the temporary folder again 3, 300). When the occurrence of a new event is detected (522) during the data collection operation according to the occurrence of the event, all the data collection and storage processes according to the occurrence of the existing event are stopped (322 in FIG. 3) (310 in Fig. 3).

Through this, the collection unit 20 stores the image of a predetermined period before and after the point of time when the traffic or the buffered data to the audience terminal suddenly changes (the amount of data increases or decreases rapidly beyond the threshold) as an event folder, Or an image at the time of termination and time information for viewing.

In order to reduce the amount of viewing data collected by the collecting unit 20 and transmitted to the analyzing unit 22, conditions for collecting data through event generation may be used in combination. When the user starts viewing or terminates the viewing through the key input, the traffic or buffered data flowing into the viewing terminal increases or decreases rapidly. Also, it has different traffic flow than data generated through normal key input, not streaming viewing. For example, streaming traffic has a characteristic in which a certain amount of traffic continuously flows into a viewing terminal and is buffered for a predetermined time after a surge in traffic flow. At the time of ending the viewing, a certain amount of traffic continues to flow into the viewing terminal, and data flowing and buffering data is reduced rapidly. Using the various traffic behaviors of the streaming traffic, it is possible to distinguish the inflow of other types of traffic from the streaming viewing case. In the case where the key input event occurs and the behavior of the traffic determined as the inflow of the streaming traffic immediately after Only event generation can be limited.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a data collection process for examining an audience rating when an event occurs according to another embodiment of the present invention. Specifically, FIG. 6 shows a process of collecting data using a combination of data collection conditions according to event occurrence.

6, when a key input event is detected (600), the process of collecting data into the temporary folder is terminated (612), and an image for a predetermined period stored in the temporary folder immediately before the event is detected Move to the event folder (614). At the same time, the collecting unit 20 extracts coordinate values or the like operated by the viewer on the screen (602), generates time information for capturing an image (604), and generates position information on the basis of the stored coordinate values An image at the time of event occurrence is stored (606).

Then, the collecting unit 20 monitors the amount of traffic flowing into the viewing terminal or the amount of data to be buffered, and processes 608 that the event occurs when a traffic or data measurement amount changes beyond a threshold value. If there is no event due to a change in the amount of traffic flowing into the audience terminal, the process moves to a process of periodically collecting data into a temporary folder and collects data at regular intervals (610). This process can be performed through the process of detecting the occurrence of the event shown in FIG. 3 and capturing the screen image of the viewing terminal periodically in the absence of an event and storing the captured image as a temporary folder. If there is no need to collect data through the process of storing in the temporary folder, if there is no event through the change of the amount of traffic flowing into the audience terminal, the process 610 of collecting data into the temporary folder is not performed , It can move to the process of detecting the occurrence of the key input event and wait in the event detection state (indicated by a dotted line in Fig. 6).

If an event is detected according to a change in the amount of traffic flowing into the viewing terminal, it is determined that an event for watching or ending streaming according to the key input event has occurred (608). At the same time, the change amount change information or the change amount change information in which the traffic has rapidly increased after occurrence of an event (change in traffic amount) is generated (616). The traffic change amount trend information is used when the analyzing unit 22 grasps the starting point of view (rapid increase in traffic change) and the ending point of view (rapid decrease in traffic change). Then, an image at the time of event occurrence is captured (616). The generated traffic variation amount information and the captured image are generated (618) so as to map the time information at the time of capturing to the corresponding image, and stored in the event folder (620).

After the event is detected, a capture command is generated (622) at a predetermined capture period by counting the capture period in order to capture the image for a predetermined constant time. In addition, an image is captured (624), an image captured time information is generated (626), and the collected data such as the captured image and the captured time information is stored in an event folder (628). At this time, the information of the time at which the captured image is captured can be mapped to the captured image and stored in the event folder.

In operation 630, it is determined whether a predetermined time has elapsed to perform the data collection operation from the time when the event occurred. If the collection time is not terminated, the data collection operation is periodically repeated 622 to 630. When the collection time elapses from the time when the event occurs (630), the data collection is stopped. After the data collection is stopped, the data collected in the event folder is transmitted to the analyzer 22, and the image is periodically captured and stored in the temporary folder again. However, if the process of storing data in the temporary folder is unnecessary, the process of collecting data into the temporary folder may be omitted. When the occurrence of a new event is detected (632) during the data collection operation according to the occurrence of the event, the data collection and storage processes according to the occurrence of the existing event are all terminated and the data collection process according to the type of the new event is newly performed.

It is possible to determine whether or not to collect data by analyzing the traffic flowing into the viewing terminal and the trend of the data being buffered at the same time as the key input occurrence event, . ≪ / RTI > This allows the amount of data stored in the event folder to be kept to a minimum.

In addition, it is possible to adjust the amount of data that can be ensured by allowing the collection unit 20 to flexibly set the data collection period and period according to the occurrence of an event. If the data collection period according to the event occurrence is set to be short, the data immediately after the event occurrence can be collected, thereby minimizing the amount of collected data. On the other hand, if a large amount of data is required for analysis, setting a long data collection period and shortening the collection interval allows a lot of data to be collected after the occurrence of the event. In addition, if the data collection end time is set to unlimited, data can be continuously collected until a new event is detected. That is, data is continuously collected from when an event due to broadcast viewing is generated until a viewing end event occurs.

7 is a reference view showing a captured image screen showing viewing data obtainable from a captured image according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 7, the analyzer 22 obtains data for a viewer rating of each viewer terminal from a screen capture image transmitted from the viewer terminal. For example, the screen capture image transmitted through the key input event includes a coordinate value 720 that the viewer operates through the screen for viewing, thereby allowing the viewer to try the viewing selected on the screen, The desired viewing channel and viewing program can be analyzed. The analyzer 22 can analyze the screen image information within a predetermined area around the coordinate value 720 to obtain information selected by the viewer. Furthermore, the analyzer 22 may read the URL information 710 and the time information 700 from the received captured image to obtain additional information necessary for the audience rating investigation.

8 is a reference view showing a captured image screen showing viewing data obtainable from a captured image according to another embodiment of the present invention.

2 and 8, the analyzer 22 analyzes the application information 810, the broadcast channel, and the channel information from the screen capture image transmitted through the generation of the event due to the change of the incoming traffic amount or the buffered data amount, The viewing program 820 and the viewing time information 800 selected by the viewer can be obtained. In addition, the viewing start time and the ending time can be grasped by using the captured time information and the trend information of the traffic inflow generated together with the captured image. The captured image can be judged to be the viewing start time when the traffic inflow is rapidly increased and the viewing end time can be determined when the captured image is the test result in which the traffic inflow is rapidly decreased. Through this, it is possible to analyze the viewing duration of a specific viewing program.

A variety of techniques for image analysis can be used for analyzing the contents of a still image using a still image. For example, characters (URI, channel information, application information, time information, and broadcast programs, etc.) By using a character recognition function such as OCR or the like, it is possible to grasp the program and additional time information of the viewing channel or the viewing application and the viewing video.

Another method of analyzing the captured image is to generate digital information of the image using the still image transmitted to the analyzing unit 22 and to obtain data for surveying the audience by comparing the digital information of the still image created through the original content can do. The method of generating the digital information of the still image screen and comparing with the information of the digital image generated from the still image of the original contents is used in addition to the above-described method of recognizing the character recognition to improve the accuracy of the analysis and increase the reliability of the analysis tool Can be utilized.

In addition, a variety of techniques for analyzing images using captured images can be used to analyze data for surveying ratings. In the present invention, techniques for analyzing still images are not limited to specific techniques.

The embodiments of the present invention have been described above. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. Therefore, the disclosed embodiments should be considered in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense. The scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all differences within the scope of equivalents thereof should be construed as being included in the present invention.

Claims (20)

A collection unit for collecting viewing data including a captured image captured by each viewing terminal and time information at a time of capturing in an N-screen environment; And
An analysis unit for analyzing the collected audience data to acquire information necessary for the audience rating investigation;
And an audience rating monitoring unit for monitoring the audience rating. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the collecting unit
And collects the screen selection information of the viewer in the captured image together with the captured image. 3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the screen selection information is position information including a coordinate value of a screen position at which a viewer attempts to operate the screen. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the collecting unit
And when the in-screen key input event of the viewer occurs, it is determined that the start or end of the viewing is started and the viewing data is collected. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the collecting unit
Wherein when a key input event of a viewer is sensed, a screen image at a key input time is captured, coordinate values of a screen position where a key input is made from the captured image, and time information at an image capture time is generated . The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the collecting unit
Wherein the viewing rate determination device determines whether or not the viewing start or end of the viewing event occurs when an amount of traffic flowing into the viewing terminal or a buffered amount of data change event occurs. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the collecting unit
When detecting a change in the amount of traffic or the amount of data to be buffered in the viewing terminal, it generates trend information of traffic volume or amount of data, captures a screen image at the time of detection, and generates time information at an image capture time Rating system. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the collecting unit
Detects a key input event occurrence, and detects a change amount of a traffic amount or a data amount to be buffered when a key input event occurs, detects streaming data corresponding to a key input event only when a change event is detected Or collects the viewing data based on the determination that the viewing has ended. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the collecting unit
The screen image of the viewing terminal is captured and the captured screen image and the time information of the capturing time are stored in the temporary folder before the viewing event is generated. When the occurrence of the viewing event is detected, And transmits the image and time information to the analysis unit after moving the image and time information to the event folder. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the collecting unit
When the occurrence of the viewing event in the viewing terminal is detected, the screen image of the viewing terminal is captured during the preset collection period and the collection time, the captured screen image and the time information of the capture time are stored in the event folder, And transmits the viewing data stored in the event folder to the analyzing unit when the viewing is finished. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the collecting unit
When the new event occurs in the process of collecting and storing the viewing data according to the occurrence of the viewing event, the process of collecting and storing the viewing data according to the occurrence of the existing event is stopped and the data collection process according to the type of the new event is newly performed. Investigation device. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the collecting unit
Counting an image capturing cycle after occurrence of a viewing event, and capturing a screen image by generating a capture command at the time of arrival of the capturing cycle. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the collecting unit
And adjusts the data collection period and the collection period according to the occurrence of the viewing event. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the analyzing unit
And acquires at least one of URL information, time information, application information, a broadcast channel, and viewer selection program information from the captured image by analyzing the character content in the captured image received from the collection unit. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the analyzing unit
Receives the traffic change amount trend information from the collecting unit, analyzes the traffic change amount trend information, determines the start time of the traffic if the traffic change rapidly increases according to the analysis result, and determines the end time of the traffic when the traffic change rapidly decreases. Detecting a viewing event occurrence for each of the viewing terminals in an N-screen environment;
Capturing a screen image at the time of occurrence of an event and collecting viewing data including time information at the time of the event when the occurrence of the viewing event is detected; And
Analyzing the collected audience data to obtain information necessary for the audience rating survey;
The method comprising the steps of: 17. The method of claim 16, wherein collecting the viewing data comprises:
Detecting an occurrence of a key input event on a screen of a viewer;
Capturing a screen image at a key input point and extracting a coordinate value of a screen position at which the key input is performed from the captured image; And
Generating time information at an image captured time;
The method comprising the steps of: 17. The method of claim 16, wherein collecting the viewing data comprises:
Detecting a change in the amount of traffic or the amount of data to be buffered in the viewing terminal;
Generating trend information of a traffic amount or a data amount in which a change is detected; And
Capturing a screen image at a change detection time point and generating time information at an image capturing time point;
The method comprising the steps of: 17. The method according to claim 16, wherein the step of acquiring information necessary for the audience rating examination
Analyzing character content in the received captured image; And
Obtaining at least one of URL information, time information, application information, broadcast channel, and viewer selection program information from the analysis result;
The method comprising the steps of: 17. The method of claim 16,
Capturing a screen image of the viewing terminal and obtaining time information of the captured screen image and the capturing time before the viewing event is generated, and storing the obtained time information in the temporary folder; And
Moving a captured image and time information stored in a preset time from an event occurrence time to an event folder when detecting an event occurrence in a viewing terminal;
The method further comprising the steps of:

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