EP1300015A1 - Systemes et procedes de codage et de decodage radiodiffuses - Google Patents

Systemes et procedes de codage et de decodage radiodiffuses

Info

Publication number
EP1300015A1
EP1300015A1 EP01948510A EP01948510A EP1300015A1 EP 1300015 A1 EP1300015 A1 EP 1300015A1 EP 01948510 A EP01948510 A EP 01948510A EP 01948510 A EP01948510 A EP 01948510A EP 1300015 A1 EP1300015 A1 EP 1300015A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
image
descrambler
opaque
bars
broadcasted
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP01948510A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Inventor
James J. Carides
James T. Pittman
Cynthnia L. Thompson
Charles Henry
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Quebecor World USA Inc
Original Assignee
Quebecor World USA Inc
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Quebecor World USA Inc filed Critical Quebecor World USA Inc
Publication of EP1300015A1 publication Critical patent/EP1300015A1/fr
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/43—Processing of content or additional data, e.g. demultiplexing additional data from a digital video stream; Elementary client operations, e.g. monitoring of home network or synchronising decoder's clock; Client middleware
    • H04N21/44—Processing of video elementary streams, e.g. splicing a video clip retrieved from local storage with an incoming video stream or rendering scenes according to encoded video stream scene graphs
    • H04N21/4408—Processing of video elementary streams, e.g. splicing a video clip retrieved from local storage with an incoming video stream or rendering scenes according to encoded video stream scene graphs involving video stream encryption, e.g. re-encrypting a decrypted video stream for redistribution in a home network
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/20—Servers specifically adapted for the distribution of content, e.g. VOD servers; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/23—Processing of content or additional data; Elementary server operations; Server middleware
    • H04N21/234—Processing of video elementary streams, e.g. splicing of video streams or manipulating encoded video stream scene graphs
    • H04N21/2347—Processing of video elementary streams, e.g. splicing of video streams or manipulating encoded video stream scene graphs involving video stream encryption
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N7/00—Television systems
    • H04N7/16—Analogue secrecy systems; Analogue subscription systems
    • H04N7/167—Systems rendering the television signal unintelligible and subsequently intelligible
    • H04N7/171—Systems operating in the amplitude domain of the television signal

Definitions

  • This invention relates to the scrambling and unscrambling of images, and more particularly to products and methods for unscrambling encrypted images using electronically broadcasted descramblers.
  • a hidden image is present on a substrate and can be read only after a coating is removed, for example, by scratching the coating off the substrate exposing the hidden image.
  • hidden images on a substrate appear only after a chemical solution is applied to the substrate or after a reaction occurs when the substrate is subjected to artificial or natural light.
  • Hidden images can also be made to appear only after the substrate is subjected to a significant temperature change or when the encrypted image is observed in special kind of light. Yet other images are made visible only when viewed through special optics.
  • the above described methods for displaying encrypted images do not work well if the descrambler or encrypted image is electronically broadcasted. For instance, a coating cannot be placed over an image broadcasted over the Internet or onto a television screen. Nor could an electronically broadcasted image be subjected to chemicals. In effect, the above mentioned techniques do not work favorably with descramblers or hidden images that are electronically broadcasted either on a television or over the Internet.
  • Another technique for producing a scrambled image involves suppressing from view some of the area of an image.
  • the image is typically suppressed from view in an ordered manner, such as along a series of parallel, evenly-spaced stripes.
  • the series of parallel, evenly-spaced stripes, or other manner in which the image is suppressed is referred to herein as a "base image.”
  • base image the series of parallel, evenly-spaced stripes, or other manner in which the image is suppressed.
  • extraneous and meaningless imagery is printed onto the image and the base image and also in the background of the image. The extraneous and meaningless imagery thereby confuses and scrambles the image, rendering it unintelligible.
  • a mask may be created from the base image. The mask generally takes the form of the base image.
  • the base image will decode the scrambled image.
  • the bars of the base image must be aligned in phase with the scrambled image in order to decode the image.
  • the width of the bars and the width of the clear space between the bars must have the proper spacing to decode the image without distortion.
  • the spacing of the bars and the alignment of the base image are imperative to properly descramble the hidden image.
  • computers vary in the way they interpret and display data.
  • the displayed image can also be distorted due to the monitor's resolution, the type of software used to produce the base image and also because of the hardware used to display the image.
  • televisions vary in color, resolution and image quality.
  • a monitor's resolution can effect the spacing of the bars as well as the width of the opaque and clear bars causing the hidden image to be distorted and potentially unreadable.
  • the descrambler must overcome any distortion caused by the software or hardware used to broadcast and display the image.
  • the invention overcomes the above mentioned disadvantages by providing descramblers that oscillate and zoom while being displayed.
  • the invention includes an interactive Internet, television or media scrambler and decoding mechanism.
  • a fixed or variable encrypted image is printed onto a clear or translucent film and is placed in front of a broadcasted descrambler to decode the hidden image.
  • An oscillating, zooming image is projected on the monitor or television screen, which aligns in proper phase with the scrambled image, thereby disclosing the hidden image.
  • the scrambled image and descrambler can also be reversed to maintain control of the hidden image at the website or television transmission site.
  • Conventional inks may be used with sufficient scuff resistance to create the printed image, or a primer may be applied for added protection.
  • the oscillating, zooming image provides a means for uniformity between equipment, processors, software and browsers.
  • the present invention seeks to accomplish one, multiple or combinations of the following objectives:
  • FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a transparent substrate onto which has been printed a scrambled image shown in FIG. 6.
  • FIG. 2 is an exemplary image capable of being scrambled by a bar encryption.
  • FIG. 3 is a top plan view of a base image used to scramble images by the bar encryption technique discussed herein.
  • FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the exemplary image of FIG. 2 over which the base image of FIG. 3 has been laid.
  • FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the image of FIG. 4 partly scrambled by phase transition of part of the base image.
  • FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the image of FIG. 5 fully scrambled by the addition of clear and opaque pixels.
  • FIG. 7 shows a block diagram of a system for broadcasting the descrambler of FIG 8.
  • FIG. 8 shows a static view of the exemplary oscillating zooming descrambler of the present invention used to descramble the scrambled image of FIG 6.
  • FIG. 9 is a static view of the descrambler of FIG. 8 zoomed to an intermediate size.
  • FIG. 10 is a view of the descrambler of FIG. 8 zoomed to the smallest size.
  • the encryption technique of the present invention for encoding images can take many forms, several of which are described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,952,080 to Avakian et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,621,589 to Jones et al, U.S. Pat. No. 3,279,095 to Carlson, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,227,474 to Hoeflinger.
  • U.S. Pat. No. 5,863,075 to Rich et al. describes a bar encryption technique and is hereby incorporated by reference. Figures one through six of Rich et al. have been reproduced herein as Figures one through six.
  • FIG. 1 discloses an exploded view of an encrypted message 16 including a scrambled image 14 printed on a substrate 18.
  • Scrambled image 14 may be prepared according to the process depicted in FIGS. 2-6, by what is referred to herein as "bar encryption.”
  • an image to be scrambled such as image 2, exemplified in FIG. 2 is first digitally encoded into a suitable medium such as a computer.
  • a computer program manipulates the digital image to hide or suppress electronically a portion of image 2 behind a base image, such as the bar base image 4 exemplified in FIG. 3, comprising a series of parallel opaque bars 5 separated by a series of transparent vertical columns 6.
  • the series of opaque bars 5 and the series of transparent vertical columns 6 each comprises a plurality of bars and columns of similar widths. However, a plurality of bars of differing widths can also be used as the bar base image. Additionally, for example, concentric opaque rings, opaque triangles or almost any other base image configuration can be used.
  • a partially scrambled image 9 that is obtained upon the phase transition is shown in FIG. 5.
  • image 2 is further scrambled by the electronic addition, typically randomly or pseudo- randomly, of clear pixels and opaque pixels in opaque 5 and clear 6 regions, respectively, of partially scrambled image 9.
  • Scrambled image 14 thus obtained is illustrated in FIG. 6.
  • Some of the clear and opaque pixels can subsequently be removed electronically from scrambled image 14 to improve the visibility of image 2 when it is subsequently descrambled.
  • scrambled image 14 can thereafter be printed onto transparent substrate 18 to create a hidden image that can be held up to a monitor or television for descrambling.
  • FIG. 7 shows a system for broadcasting the invention to television viewers and Internet surfers.
  • Broadcast system 30 transmits descrambler 20 of FIG. 8 over a communication channel 31, for example, over cable, airwaves, optics, the Internet, etc.
  • descrambler 20 can be received and displayed on a computer 32 or television 33 or any other type of display mechanism. If descrambler 20 is being displayed over the Internet, descrambler 20 may be displayed with each request or may be transferred to resident memory in computer 32. In addition, in the preferred embodiment, descrambler 20 may be displayed using an Java applet.
  • FIGS. 8 through 10 disclose an exemplary electronic descrambler 20 used to descramble scrambled image 14. Because descrambler 20 contains parallel opaque bars and clear vertical columns that are, at times, configured, sized, and spaced identically to opaque bars 5 and clear vertical columns 6 of base image 4 from which scrambled image 14 was scrambled, descrambler 20 can be used to decode scrambled image 14. It must be understood that if the bars of descrambler 20 are displayed vertically as shown in FIGS. 8 through 10, then the base image used to encrypt the message must also be aligned vertically for descrambler 20 to decipher the message.
  • descrambler 20 must be configured such that the bars are displayed in the horizontal direction.
  • the bars are aligned horizontally. A person can decode scrambled image 14 simply by holding the encrypted image
  • FIGS. 8 through 10 to overcome distortion caused by display differences in monitors and televisions due to such things as, for example, resolution differences, transmission interference, and software and hardware differences used to display descrambler 20, descrambler 20 continuously zooms in and out, for example over a range of 100% to 400% of the image size.
  • FIG. 8 shows descrambler 20 at the smallest zoom position.
  • FIG. 9 shows an intermediate zoom position and
  • FIG. 10 shows the largest zoom position.
  • the zooming effect enables descrambler 20 to be displayed with any type of hardware or software and still operate properly by aligning at times in proper phase with the encrypted image. If descrambler 20 did not contain the zooming effect descrambler 20 may not operate to properly descramble encrypted image 16 from different display types because the bars may not align in the correct phase.
  • the zooming effect continuously changes the spacing between opaque bars 5 and also the width of opaque bars 5 causing them to align in proper phase at some point during the continuous zooming effect. In the preferred embodiment, the zooming effect is continuous in the expanding and contracting direction. However, descrambler 20 can be made to continuously zoom from small to large and return to small in one discrete step.
  • Descrambler 20 may also be formed using bars of differing widths. In this configuration, only certain portions of encrypted image 16 would properly align with descrambler 20 provided that the bar width is equal to the width used to scramble the image. Therefore, in order to cause the whole image to appear descrambled at one point in time, the zooming effect must occur at a sufficient speed to cause the whole message to appear descrambled at one time.
  • several images can be scrambled in one game piece using different base images.
  • a game piece allows for animated messages. For example, if each successive encrypted message uses a different zoom position to descramble the image, then as descrambler 20 enlarges in size a different image is unscrambled causing the image to be animated.
  • descrambler 20 would zoom out continuously and return to the smallest zoomed size in one discrete step. Otherwise, as descrambler 20 returned to the smallest size, it would decode the images backwards causing the message to be animated in reverse. For example, each word of the message "You Have Won $500" would successively be descrambled as descrambler 20 zooms out causing the descrambler to align in phase with each part of the encrypted message.
  • each opaque 5 and clear bar 6 oscillate during the zooming effect. More specifically, to cause the oscillating effect, each opaque 5 and clear bar 6 are displayed in three positions, each with a half bar offset from the prior position causing the overall image to oscillate.
  • the oscillating effect can be carried out in several ways. First, at each discreet zoom point, the bars can oscillate through three positions before moving to the next discreet zoom position. Alternatively, as descrambler 20 zooms from one discrete zoom position to the next, each bar would increment one oscillation position. Thus, in the second embodiment, one complete oscillation cycle occurs over three discrete zoom positions.
  • the oscillating effect provides the viewer with a longer viewing time and helps to animate the descrambled image.
  • the oscillating effect also allows the encrypted message to align properly without forcing the user to adjust the image as it is held up to the display.
  • the zooming and oscillating effect overcomes the distortion caused by the variety of hardware and software used to display descrambler 20.
  • the scrambling technique disclosed herein can be practiced either manually or electronically.
  • the technique can be practiced manually, for example, by physically erasing portions of a printed image and physically printing the meaningless background information to the figure.
  • the technique can also be practiced by photographic or other means whereby images are superimposed onto one another to create the scrambled image.
  • the technique further can be practiced electronically by programmed manipulation, suppression, and superimposition of digitized images of the meaningful scrambled image and the meaningless background imagery.
  • the descrambler can take the form of various base images.
  • the scrambler may have concentric triangles, circles or almost any other base image configuration.
  • the scrambled image and descrambler can be switched in that the encrypted image is broadcast with a zooming oscillating effect and the descrambler is printed on a clear substrate.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Multimedia (AREA)
  • Signal Processing (AREA)
  • Two-Way Televisions, Distribution Of Moving Picture Or The Like (AREA)

Abstract

L'invention concerne un mécanisme de codage et de décodage interactif destiné à Internet, à la télévision ou aux supports de données. Une image codée fixe ou variable est imprimée sur un film translucide ou transparent et placée devant un décodeur radiodiffusé pour décoder l'image codée. Une image zoomée oscillante est projetée sur l'écran du moniteur ou de la télévision, cette image s'alignant correctement par rapport à l'image codée, découvrant ainsi l'image cachée. L'image codée et le décodeur peuvent également être inversés pour conserver le contrôle de l'image cachée sur le site Web ou le site de transmission télévisuel. Des encres classiques suffisamment résistantes à l'usure peuvent être utilisées pour créer l'image imprimée, ou un apprêt peut être appliqué pour améliorer la protection de l'encre. L'image zoomée oscillante permet d'obtenir une plus grande uniformité entre l'équipement, les processeurs, le logiciel et les explorateurs.
EP01948510A 2000-07-07 2001-06-20 Systemes et procedes de codage et de decodage radiodiffuses Withdrawn EP1300015A1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US611543 1975-09-08
US61154300A 2000-07-07 2000-07-07
PCT/US2001/019671 WO2002005556A1 (fr) 2000-07-07 2001-06-20 Systemes et procedes de codage et de decodage radiodiffuses

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP1300015A1 true EP1300015A1 (fr) 2003-04-09

Family

ID=24449446

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP01948510A Withdrawn EP1300015A1 (fr) 2000-07-07 2001-06-20 Systemes et procedes de codage et de decodage radiodiffuses

Country Status (4)

Country Link
EP (1) EP1300015A1 (fr)
AU (1) AU2001269946A1 (fr)
CA (1) CA2415373A1 (fr)
WO (1) WO2002005556A1 (fr)

Families Citing this family (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
KR100791938B1 (ko) * 2006-10-14 2008-01-04 주식회사 아이엠에스원 마케팅용 매직코드와 이를 이용한 매체

Family Cites Families (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
IL78541A (en) * 1986-04-18 1989-09-28 Rotlex Optics Ltd Method and apparatus for encryption of optical images
US6198822B1 (en) * 1998-02-11 2001-03-06 Ictv, Inc. Enhanced scrambling of slowly changing video signals
US5984367A (en) * 1998-05-20 1999-11-16 Thomas L. Barnhart Hidden image game piece

Non-Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
See references of WO0205556A1 *

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
WO2002005556A1 (fr) 2002-01-17
AU2001269946A1 (en) 2002-01-21
CA2415373A1 (fr) 2002-01-17

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