WO2005117425A1

WO2005117425A1 - Methods and apparatus to generate on-screen text

Info

Publication number: WO2005117425A1
Application number: PCT/US2004/015377
Authority: WO
Inventors: Paul C. Kempter; Henry B. Wheeler; Thomas W. Porter
Original assignee: Nielsen Media Research, Inc.
Priority date: 2004-05-14
Filing date: 2004-05-14
Publication date: 2005-12-08

Abstract

Methods and apparatus to generate on-screen text are disclosed. A disclosed system receives an RF input signal from a television service provider. A controller (222) determines that on-screen text is to be generated and transmits the desired text to a character generator (232). The character generator (232) uses the desired text and the television's vertical and horizontal sync signals to determine a switching rate and/or switching pattern to be used by an RF switch (206). The RF switch (206) shunts the RF input signal to electrical ground according to the determined switching rate and/or switching pattern. The RF signal is then received by a television (120) and the text appears as white or near white pixels.

Description

METHODS AND APPARATUS TO GENERATE ON-SCREEN TEXT

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present disclosure pertains to user interfaces and, more particularly, to methods and apparatus to generate on-screen text.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Determining television viewing audience size and demographics of programs helps television program producers improve television programming and determine a price to be charged for advertising that is broadcasted during such programming. In addition, accurate television viewing demographics allow advertisers to target audiences including members having a set of common, desired characteristics or demographics (e.g., income level, lifestyles, interests, etc.).

[0003] To collect viewing statistics and demographics, an audience measurement company may enlist a large number of television viewers to cooperate in an audience measurement study for a predefined length of time. The viewing habits of these enlisted viewers, as well as demographic data about these enlisted viewers, are collected using automated and/or manual collection methods. The collected data is subsequently used to generate a variety of informational statistics related to television viewing audiences including, for example, audience sizes, audience demographics, audience preferences, the total number of hours of television viewing per household and/or per region, etc.

[0004] The configurations of automated data collection systems vary depending on the equipment used to receive, process, and display television signals in each home being monitored. For example, homes that receive cable television signals and/or satellite television signals typically include set top boxes (STBs) to receive television signals from a cable and/or a satellite television provider. Television systems configured in this manner are typically monitored using hardware, firmware, and/or software to interface with the STB to extract or to generate signal information therefrom. Such hardware, firmware, and/or software may be adapted to perform a variety of monitoring tasks including, for example, detecting the channel tuning status of a tuning device disposed in the STB (i.e., the channel to which the STB is tuned), extracting program identification codes embedded in television signals received at the STB, generating signatures characteristic of television signals received at the STB, etc.

[0005] While monitoring the programming processed by a STB provides information related to the programs or channels tuned within a household, such information does not include viewership or audience data identifying individuals within the household who are viewing the tuned programming. For example, a program may be presented on a television, but no audience members may be present in the viewing area. Accordingly, the data collected by the STB does not represent viewership.

[0006] Methods and apparatus have been disclosed to detect the presence and/or identity of audience members. Typically, these methods require audience members to periodically provide user input and/or feedback by pushing a button and/or a keypad on a metering device or on a remote control device. A prompt may be generated to urge the audience members to provide the user input. It is desirable to make the prompt as noticeable as possible, but unobtrusive to viewers. For example, some devices may use a light or may generate a tone to motivate audience member to provide user input and or attract the audience member's attention. Unfortunately, these methods require the audience members, who may be focused on the television program, to also pay attention to the separate metering device, thereby disrupting the viewers' attention to the programming.

[0007] Other audience measurement devices may generate a prompt that is displayed on the television screen while programming is presented. However, these devices require making internal connections to the television set in order to display the prompt. As will be readily appreciated, providing internal connections to the television set is highly invasive as it requires the opening of the television to make the appropriate connections to the television's circuitry. Additionally, the process of making the internal connections can damage the television (e.g., if those connections are not properly made). Further, due to the large number of audience members being monitored and the wide range of different televisions audience members may own, providing internal connections to the television set is a time consuming process and requires installation technicians (e.g., someone trained to make the internal connections to the television set) to be knowledgeable of the internal workings of a large number of different televisions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0008] FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of an example television system.

[0009] FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of an example apparatus to generate on-screen text. [0010] FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example on-screen text generation process.

[0011] FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example process for determining the sync source.

[0012] FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an example computer system that may be used to implement the apparatus of FIG. 2 and/or to implement the processes of FIG. 3 and FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0013] In the example of FIG. 1, an example television system 100 including a television service provider 110 (including a cable television service provider 112, a terrestrial television service provider 114 and/or a satellite television service provider 116), a terrestrial antenna/receiver dish 118, a television 120, a remote control device 125, and an STB 130. The components of the system 100 may be coupled in any well known manner. In the illustrated example, the television 120 is positioned in a viewing area 150 located within a house occupied by one or more people, referred to as household members 160. The viewing area 150 includes the area in which the television 120 is located and from which the television 120 may be viewed by one or more household members 160 located in the viewing area 150.

[0014] In the illustrated example, a metering device 165 is configured to monitor the STB 130 and to collect viewing data to determine the viewing habits of the household members 160. A metering device 165 may also augment the collected viewing data with audience identification data (e.g., how many household members 160 are watching the program and/or which household members 160 are watching the program) to help determine demographic information. Accordingly, the television system 100 may also include an on-screen text module 170 to generate text that is to be displayed on the television 120. The on-screen text may be used to prompt household members 160 to provide user input or provide some feedback. In one example situation, the metering device 165 may send the on-screen text module 170 a message containing text to be displayed to prompt the household members 160 to identify themselves. The on-screen text module 170 generates the on-screen text and waits for a user input. The household members 170 may use the remote control 125 or some other means of input to provide their identities. The on-screen text module 170 receives the user input and provides it to the metering device 165. Although the example television system 100 is configured to use the on-screen text module 170 to display text on a television 120, the text may be displayed on other displays such as a computer monitor.

[0015] The television service provider 110 may be implemented by any service provider such as, for example, a cable television service provider 112, a terrestrial television service provider 114, and/or a satellite television service provider

116. The television 120 receives, via the terrestrial antenna/receiver dish 118 and/or the cable 112, a plurality of television signals transmitted via a plurality of channels by the television service provider 110 (e.g., a television broadcast signal) and may be adapted to process and display television signals provided in any format such as a National Television Standards Committee (NTSC) television signal format, a phase alteration line (PAL) television signal format, etc. The plurality of television signals may be received by the STB 130 and then passed to the on-screen text module 170. Alternatively, the plurality of television signals may be provided directly to the onscreen text module 170 and then passed to the television 120.

[0016] The remote control device 125 allows a user to cause the STB 130 to tune to and receive signals transmitted on a desired channel, and to cause the television 120 to process and present the programming content contained in the signals transmitted on the desired channel. The processing performed by the television 120 may include, for example, extracting a video and/or an audio component delivered via the received signal, causing the video component to be displayed on a screen/display associated with the television 120, and causing the audio component to be emitted by speakers associated with the television 120. The programming content contained in the television signal may include, for example, a television program, a movie, an advertisement, a video game, and/or a preview of other programming content that is currently offered or will be offered in the future by the television service provider 110. The user-operated remote control device 125 may also be configured to control other devices such as a video cassette recorder, the STB 130, and/or other devices in the viewing area 150. In addition, the remote control device 125 may also be configured to allow the user to answer prompts provided on the television 120 by sending signals to the metering device 165 and/or provide user input to the on-screen text module 170.

[0017] The metering device 165 is configured to monitor the STB 130 and the television 120 to collect viewing data to determine viewing habits of the household members 160. The metering device 165 may monitor the STB 130 by detecting the channel tuning status of a tuning device disposed in the STB, extracting program identification codes embedded in television signals received at the STB, generating signatures characteristic of television signals received at the STB, etc. The metering device 165 may also attempt to determine the presence and/or identity of the household members 160 in the viewing area 150 who are watching the television 120 by prompting the household members 160 in the viewing area 150 using a message provided on the television 120 to provide direct user input. The message may be provided on the television 120 by the on-screen text module 170. The metering device 165 may also provide a means for household members 160 to provide user input and/or feedback, such as a button, a switch, the remote control 165, and/or a keypad.

[0018] The metering device 165 is also configured to transmit the collected viewing data to a data collection facility 180. The data collection facility 180 may be a server that is configured to receive and store the collected viewing data. The metering device 165 may use any type of network connection to transfer the collected viewing data to the data collection facility 180. The data collection facility 180 may also be configured to process the received viewing data and generate statistical reports used by the television service providers 110 and/or advertisers.

[0019] The on-screen text module 170 is operatively coupled to the television 120 and the metering device 165 and is configured to receive a television signal either from the STB 130 or directly from the television service provider 110. In general, the on-screen text module 170 is configured to receive commands to generate on-screen text from the metering device 165 and is configured to generate the on-screen text on the television 120 by selectively shunting the television signal to electrical ground and/or some attenuated voltage source before the television signal is received by the television 120. The on-screen text module 170 uses the switching rate and/or switching pattern needed to control the switching between the input RF signal and ground or the attenuated voltage source to create the on-screen text. As the television signal is shunted to electrical ground and/or some attenuated voltage source, white (or grey) pixels are introduced into the television signal. In one example, the on-screen text may be messages prompting the household members 160 to perform an action (e.g., to provide user input) or may be a question for the household member 160 to answer (e.g., how many household members are present?). The on-screen text module 170 receives the television's horizontal and vertical sync signals via a horizontal sync detector and a vertical sync detector and uses these signals to determine the shunting pattern that will be used to generate the on-screen text. The on-screen text module 170 may also be configured to receive user inputs from devices such as the remote control device 125 and/or the metering device 165 in response to text (e.g., prompts and/or questions) generated on-screen. The user input is transmitted to the metering device 165 for processing.

[0020] While the components shown in FIG. 1 are depicted as separate structures within the television system 100, the functions performed by some of these structures may be integrated within a single unit or may be implemented using two or more separate components. For example, although the television 120, the STB 130, on-screen text module 170, and the metering device 165 are depicted as separate structures, persons of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate that the television 120, the STB 130, the on-screen text module 170, and/or the metering device 165 may be integrated into a single unit or multiple units. In another example, the STB 130, the metering device 165, and/or the on-screen text module 170 may also be integrated into a single unit. [0021] In general, the television system 100 illustrates a system for viewing programs on a television 120 and monitoring the programs viewed by the household members 160. A television service provider 110 transmits a television broadcast signal that is received at the home of a viewing audience. The television broadcast signal is passed to the STB 130 and the metering device 165 monitors the programs selected by household members 160. The on-screen text module 170 may be used to generate on-screen text messages to be displayed on the television 120. The onscreen text module 170 receives a command to generate on-screen text from the metering device 165, possibly to instruct the household members 160 to provide user input. The on-screen text module 170 and/or the metering device 165 collect the viewing data including the household members' user inputs and transmits the data to a data collection facility 180, where the data is processed and analyzed.

[0022] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example system 200 that may be used to implement the on-screen text module 170 of FIG. 1 to generate on-screen text. The example system 200 may be implemented as several hardware components each configured to perform one or more functions, may be implemented in software or firmware in which one or more programs are used to perform the different functions, or may be a combination of hardware, firmware, and/or software. The example system 200 receives an RF input signal on line 202 at an RF buffer 204 and includes an RF switch 206, a horizontal sync detector 208, a vertical sync detector 210, a signal conditioner 212, and a sync separator 214 that receives a video baseband signal on line 216. In addition, the example system includes a sync source selector 218, a television on/off detector 220, a controller 222 that receives/transmits metering device messages on line 224 that may contain the text messages to be displayed and receives an installation port signal 226, an IR sensor 228, a user input module 230, and a character generator 232. An RF output signal on line 234 is generated by the example system 200 which is operatively coupled to a television 120, a display device, etc.

[0023] The RF input signal line 202 may be provided by the STB 130, the television service provider 110, or any other device that is able to provide a television signal in a format such as the NTSC/PAL television signal format. The RF input signal 202 may contain a plurality of television programming for a plurality of television channels. The RF input signal 202 is received by the example system 200 and is buffered by the RF buffer 204. The RF buffer 204 is configured to isolate the RF input signal 202 from the RF switch 206 to prevent the creation of noise and/or artifacts (e.g., undesirable and/or unwanted signal components) on the RF input signal 202. The RF buffer 204 is well known to persons of ordinary skill in the art and will not be further described.

[0024] The RF switch 206 is a high speed switch configured to receive the RF input signal on line 202 and create the RF output signal on line 234 by selectively shunting the RF input signal on line 202 to an electrical ground according to a switching rate and/or a switching pattern. The RF switch 206 receives the switching pattern and/or a switching rate from the character generator 232 to create the onscreen text. As the RF switch 206 shunts the RF output signal on line 234 to the electrical ground, the television 120 displays a white pixel and/or line. By varying the switching pattern and/or switching rate in accordance with the television's vertical and horizontal sync signals, different images such as letters and/or pictures may be formed. For example, the RF switch 206 may shunt the RF input signal on line 202 to electrical ground for a period of time to create a horizontal line on-screen. The RF switch 206 may also be configured to shunt the RF output signal 234 to an attenuated source to create faded on-screen artifacts such as grey characters. Different levels of attenuation may be used to vary a fading level at which the on-screen text is displayed thereby modifying the intensity at which the on-screen text appears on the screen or the intensity of the on-screen text.

[0025] The horizontal sync detector 208 is configured to detect the television's horizontal sync signal and the vertical sync detector 210 is configured to detect the vertical sync signal. Both detectors are placed in the proximity of the television and detect magnetic fields used to move the television's electron gun and/or to detect electrical currents used to generate the magnetic fields associated with horizontal and vertical picture components. Typically, the television's electron gun is moved by two magnetic fields: one magnetic field to induce a horizontal motion and one magnetic field to induce a vertical motion. As the electron gun sweeps across the television screen, the magnetic fields radiate from the television 120 and induce electrical currents in the horizontal sync detector 208 and the vertical sync detector 210 corresponding to the horizontal and vertical sync signals. Both sync detectors are configured to output the detected sync signals to the signal conditioner 212 or to some other device for processing. A person of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate that the operation of the electron gun is well known in the art and is not discussed further herein.

[0026] The signal conditioner 212 is configured to receive the detected horizontal and vertical sync signals from the horizontal sync detector 208 and the vertical sync detector 210, respectively, and may process both detected sync signals and/or an individual detected sync signal. The signal conditioner 212 may process the detected sync signals by amplifying the detected sync signals, shaping the detected sync signals, and/or converting the detected sync signals to digital logic pulses (e.g., a digital signal including two binary state transitions). One method to convert the detected sync signals to digital logic pulses is to use an operational amplifier to amplify the detected sync signals' voltage levels and to use a threshold comparator to create the digital logic pulses. In such an arrangement, if an amplified sync signal's voltage level is less than a predetermined threshold, the threshold comparator outputs a digital logic '0'. If the amplified sync signal's voltage level is greater than the predetermined threshold, the threshold comparator outputs a digital logic ' 1 '. A person of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate that the conversion of the detected sync signals is not limited to the above described method and may be implemented in a variety of methods. The signal conditioner 212 may also be configured to output the digital logic pulses, the detected sync signals, and/or the processed sync signals.

[0027] As an alternate method of determining the horizontal and/or vertical sync signals, the sync separator 218 is configured to receive the video baseband signal 216 from the television 120 and determine the horizontal and vertical sync signals therefrom. The video baseband signal 216 may be output from the television 120 and is well known to a person of ordinary skill in the art. The sync separator 214 is configured to separate the horizontal and vertical sync signals from the video baseband signal 216. Methods to separate the horizontal and vertical sync signals from the video baseband signal 216 are well known in the art and are not further described here. The separated sync signals may be processed in a similar manner as the sync signals received by the signal conditioner 212. [0028] The sync source selector 218 is configured to receive horizontal and vertical sync signals and a sync source selection signal from the controller 222. The sync source selector 218 receives the detected sync signals from the signal conditioner 212 and/or the separated sync signals from the sync separator 214 and allows only the selected sync source to provide signals to the character generator 232. The sync source selector 218 may be configured to determine the sync source selection before generating the on-screen text and/or may be configured to determine the sync source from the installation port signal 226 (e.g., a signal configured during the installation/set up of the example system 200 to indicate the selected sync source). One example implementation of the sync source selector 218 is a device similar to a multiplexer (MUX) or using several multiplexers in parallel. The MUX is a device well known to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

[0029] The television on/off detector 220 is configured to monitor the horizontal and/or vertical sync signals output by the signal conditioner 212 and/or the sync separator 214 and to determine an operational status of the television 120 (e.g., on or off). The television on/off detector 220 determines the operational status by monitoring the horizontal and/or vertical sync signals. If the horizontal or vertical sync signal is not detected, the television on/off detector 220 determines that the television is off. If the horizontal or vertical sync signal is detected, the television on/off detector 220 determines the television 120 is on. After the operational status is determined, the television on/off detector 220 provides a status signal and/or transmits a message to the controller 222 to indicate the operational status of the television 120 consisting of a single bit (e.g., a digital logic '1' or '0') to indicate the television's operational status. A person of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate that there are many known methods to transmit the operational status of the television 120 to the controller 222.

[0030] The controller 222 is configured to communicate with the metering device 165 and to transmit characters to the character generator 232. The metering device 165 exchanges messages with the controller 222 to transmit instructions to the controller 222, to indicate the on-screen text to be displayed, to indicate the status of the television on/off detector 220, and/or to inform the metering device 165 of a user input received by the controller 222. The controller 222 receives the desired onscreen text from the metering device 165 and then transmits the desired characters to the character generator 232. In addition, the characters may be transmitted in a format such as American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) format or may use other formats. For example, the controller 222 may be instructed to generate text to prompt for user identification of people within the viewing area 150 of FIG. 1.

[0031] The controller 222 is also configured to select sync signals to use as the basis of the RF switch's timing and/or switching pattern (e.g., a sync source). The sync source may be chosen from the sync signals detected by the horizontal sync detector 208 and the vertical sync detector 210 or the separated sync signals from the sync separator 214. The controller 222 may select the sync source by examining the installation port signal 226, by a user selection (e.g., a switch), or by receiving a metering device message 224.

[0032] The controller 222 is also configured to receive user inputs from a variety of input sources such as the IR sensor 228 and the user input module 230. The IR sensor 228 is configured to receive inputs from devices similar to the remote control device 125 of FIG. 1. The user input module 230 is configured to receive manual user inputs. The manual user inputs may be from a keypad or other input device coupled to the metering device 165 or from an input source directly coupled to the example system 200. The controller 222 may transmit the received user input to the metering device 165. The user inputs may be in response to the generated onscreen text and may contain user identification information, demographic information, etc.

[0033] The metering device messages 224 are messages transmitted to/from the metering device 165 to the example system 200. The metering device messages 224 may be transmitted using any known communication protocol, such as RS-232. A person of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate that there are many known methods to transmit a message from the metering device 165 to the example system 200. The metering device messages 224 may be used to instruct the example system 200 to generate on-screen text, to provide the text to be generated, to provide the user inputs to the metering device 165, and/or select the sync source.

[0034] The character generator 232 is configured to receive the sync signals from the sync source selector 218 and the characters to be generated from the controller 222 and determines the switching pattern and/or switching rate needed to generate the desired on-screen text. The switching pattern is determined by converting the desired on-screen text into pixel and or line configurations using the sync signals to perform the necessary formatting based on the screen portions indicated by the sync signals. One example method to convert the desired on-screen text into pixel and/or line configurations is to use a lookup table and/or a database. The character generator 232 uses a desired on-screen character and the sync signals as indices into the database and/or lookup table and outputs the switching pattern and/or switching rate. A second example method uses the sync signals to determine the television's timing parameters and uses the timing parameters to calculate the switching pattern and switching rate needed to generate each pixel and/or line (e.g., direct control). The switching rate and/or switching pattern is sent to the RF switch 206 to create the on-screen text. An example implementation of the character generator 232 is a Fujitsu Semiconductor MB90099 On-Screen Display Controller.

[0035] FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 are flowcharts representative of example machine readable instructions that may be executed by a device to implement an example onscreen text generation process 300. The illustrated processes 300 and 400 may be implemented using one or more software programs that are stored in one or more memories (e.g., flash memory 512 and/or main memory 510) and executed by one or more processors (e.g., processor 506) in a well known manner. However, some or all of the blocks of the processes 300 and 400 may be performed manually and/or by some other device. Although the processes 300 and 400 are described with reference to the flowcharts illustrated in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, respectively, a person of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate that many other methods of performing the process 300 or the process 400 may be used. For example, the order of many of the blocks may be altered, the operation of one or more blocks may be changed, blocks may be combined, and/or blocks may be eliminated.

[0036] In general, the example process 300 receives an RF input signal and instructions from a metering device to generate on-screen text. A controller receives a message or multiple messages from a metering device that includes the text to be generated. For example, the messages may prompt the household members for an action such as providing the identity of the household members to the metering device. A character generator uses a horizontal sync signal and a vertical sync signal from the television to determine a switching rate and/or a switching pattern to create the on-screen text. An RF switch uses the switching rate and/or switching pattern to create the on-screen text. The switching rate and/or switching pattern controls the switching between the RF input signal and electrical ground.

[0037] The example process 300 begins when an RF input signal is received (block 302). The RF input signal may be provided by a set top box, such as the STB 130 of FIG. 1, or any other device that is able to provide a television signal in a format such as the NTSC or the PAL television signal format modulated on an RF carrier. The RF input signal is passed to an RF buffer similar to the RF buffer 204 of FIG. 2. The RF buffer is used to buffer the RF input signal to isolate the RF input signal from an RF switch (block 306). The RF input signal is isolated from the RF switch to prevent the creation of artifacts on the RF input signal, which may also be received by other devices.

[0038] A metering device message is received by the example process 300 and instructs the process 300 to generate on-screen text (block 308). The metering device message may be transmitted using any known communication protocol, as described above. The metering device message may also include the desired text to be generated or additional metering device messages may be sent that contain the desired text to be generated (block 310). The desired text may be in a format such as ASCII or may be in some other known format. The desired text may be a request for user identification, a request for the number of viewers in a viewing area, and/or a request for demographics. [0039] The example process 300 then determines the sync source, which is needed to determine the switching rate and/or switching pattern to generate the onscreen text (block 312). Process 400 of FIG. 4 is a flowchart representative of instructions that may be executed to determine the sync source.

[0040] As shown in FIG. 4, the process for determining the sync source 400 begins by determining if a video baseband signal, similar to the video baseband signal 216 of FIG. 2, was selected as the sync source (block 402). If a video baseband signal is to be used (block 402), the process 400 separates the horizontal sync and the vertical sync signals from the video baseband signal (block 404). The separated sync signals are then sent to a sync source selector and control then advances to block 314.

[0041] If the process 400 determines the video baseband signal was not selected at installation time (block 402), the process 400 attempts to detect a vertical sync signal and a horizontal sync signal, respectively, from a television (block 406). The horizontal sync signal and the vertical sync signals are detected when the television's internal electron gun sweeps across the television screen. As the electron gun moves across the screen, magnetic fields are radiated from the television and induce electrical currents in the vertical and horizontal sync detectors corresponding to the vertical sync signal and the horizontal sync signal, respectively.

[0042] The detected sync signals are conditioned (block 408). Conditioning may include processing both sync signals, amplifying the detected sync signals, shaping the detected sync signals, and converting the detected sync signals into digital logic pulses (as described above) (block 408). After the sync signals are conditioned (block 408), control returns to block 314 of FIG. 3 (block 314). [0043] After the process 300 has determined the sync source (block 312), the horizontal and/or vertical sync signals are used to determine if the television is on or off (block 314). The process 300 is able to detect the operational status of the television by determining if a horizontal sync signal, from either the sync separator or the signal conditioner, is present. If the horizontal and/or vertical sync signal(s) is not detected, the process 300 determines the television 120 is off (block 314) and then process 300 ends. If the horizontal and/or vertical sync signal(s) is detected, the process 300 determines the television is on (block 314).

[0044] After the operational status of the television is determined (block 314), the process 300 uses the detected horizontal and/or vertical sync signals to determine the switching pattern and/or switching rate needed to generate the desired on-screen text received in block 308 (block 316). The process 300 may use a lookup table to determine the necessary switching pattern and/or switching rate to generate the desired on-screen text. For example, the process 300 may use a character of the desired on-screen text to index into the lookup table and determine the switching pattern and/or switching rate that will produce the character. The sync signals and the desired text may be used as indices into the lookup table to retrieve the necessary switching rate and/or switching pattern as described above.

[0045] The process 300 then enables the RF switch, which may be similar to the RF switch 206 of FIG. 2 (block 318). The process 300 provides the switching rate and/or switching pattern to the RF switch to generate an RF output signal (block 320). The RF switch uses the switching rate and/or switching pattern to determine when the RF input signal is to be shunted to electrical ground or any other suitable potential to create the on-screen text. The RF switch repeatedly shunts the RF input signal to electrical ground or the attenuated source according to the switching rate and/or switching pattern to create the on-screen text (block 322).

[0046] After the RF output signal containing the on-screen text is generated by the RF switch (block 322), the process 300 determines if any user input was received (block 324). The process 300 may monitor an IR sensor similar to the IR sensor 228 of FIG. 2 to determine if the user has pressed a button on the remote control device and/or monitor the user input module to determine if the user has provided input from some other input device. If user input was not received (block 324), control returns to block 314. If user input was received (block 324), the RF switch is disabled (block 326) and the user input is transmitted to the metering device via a metering device message and then process 300 ends.

[0047] FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an example computer system illustrating an environment of use for the disclosed system. The computer system 500 may be a microprocessor based system, a microcontroller device, a personal computer (PC), or any other computing device. In the example illustrated, the computer system 500 includes a main processing unit 502 and/or peripheral devices 516 powered by a metering device similar to the metering device 165 or a power supply 504. The main processing unit 502 may include a processor 506 electrically coupled by a system interconnect 508 to a main memory device 510, a flash memory device 512, one or more interface circuits 514, one or more peripheral devices 516. In an example, the system interconnect 508 is an address/data bus. Of course, a person of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate that interconnects other than busses may be used to connect the processor 506 to the other devices 510-516. For example, one or more dedicated lines and/or a bus may be used to connect the processor 506 to the other devices 510-516.

[0048] The processor 506 may be any type of well known microprocessor, such as a processor from the Intel XScale^® family of microprocessors, a processor from the Texas Instruments MSP430Fxxx family of microcontrollers, and/or a processor from the Motorola HCS08 family of 8 bit microcontrollers. In addition, the processor 506 may include memory, such as static random access memory (SRAM) 510. The main memory device 510 may include dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and/or any other form of random access memory. For example, the main memory device 510 may include double data rate random access memory (DDRAM). The main memory device 510 may also include non- volatile memory. In an example, the main memory device 510 stores a software program which is executed by the processor 506 in a well known manner. The flash memory device 512 may be any type of flash memory device. The flash memory device 512 may store firmware used to boot the computer system 500.

[0049] The interface circuit(s) 514 may be implemented using any type of well known interfaces, such as a parallel port, a serial port, and/or a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface. One or more peripheral devices 516 may be connected to the interface circuits 514 for entering data and commands into the main processing unit 502. For example, a peripheral device 516 may be a remote control device similar to the remote control device 125 of FIG. 1, a keyboard, mouse, touch screen, track pad, track ball, etc. [0050] Although the above discloses example systems including, among other components, software executed on hardware, it should be noted that such systems are merely illustrative and should not be considered as limiting. For example, it is contemplated that any or all of the disclosed hardware and software components could be embodied exclusively in dedicated hardware, exclusively in software, exclusively in firmware or in some combination of hardware, firmware and/or software. In addition, while the following disclosure is made with respect to example television systems, it should be understood that the disclosed system is readily applicable to many other media systems. Accordingly, while the discussion above describes example systems and processes, persons of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate that the disclosed examples are not the only ways to implement such systems.

[0051] In addition, although certain methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture have been described herein, the scope of coverage of this patent is not limited thereto. On the contrary, this patent covers all apparatuses, methods and articles of manufacture fairly falling within the scope of the appended claims either literally of under the doctrine of equivalents.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A method of generating text on a video display having an input, the method comprising: receiving an RF input signal; detecting video sync signals of the video display; generating characters to be displayed; and switching the video display input between the RF input signal and an alternate source in response to the video sync signals to imprint the characters on the video display.

2. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the RF input signal comprise at^' least one of a NTSC and a PAL television RF source.

3. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the video sync signals comprise a horizontal sync signal and a vertical sync signal.

4. A method as defined in claim 3, further comprising conditioning the video sync signals.

5. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the alternate source comprises a short circuit to electrical ground.

6. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the alternate source comprises a connection to an attenuated source.

7. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the characters to be displayed are generated by a character generator.

8. A method as defined in claim 7, wherein the character generator receives the characters to be displayed from a controller.

9. A method as defined in claim 7, wherein switching the video display input between the RF input signal and the alternate source is controlled by the character generator.

10. A method as defined in claim 7, wherein the character generator uses the video sync signals to format a pixel and line configuration representing the characters.

11. A method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the video sync signals and character locations are used to determine when switching between the RF input signal and the alternate source occurs.

12. A method as defined in claim 1 , wherein switching between the RF input signal and the alternate source is able to be performed on a pixel-to-pixel basis.

13. An apparatus to generate text on a video display having an input, the apparatus comprising: a video sync sensor operatively coupled to the video display and structured to detect video sync signals; a character generator structured to display characters on the video display; and a switch operatively coupled to a RF input signal, an alternate input source, and the character generator, the switch being configured to switch the video display input between the RF input signal and the alternate input source.

14. An apparatus as defined in claim 13, further comprising a controller operatively coupled to the character generator and structured to determine the characters to be displayed on the video display.

15. An apparatus as defined in claim 13, wherein the video sync sensor is external to the video display.

16. An apparatus as defined in claim 15, wherein the video sync signals comprise a horizontal sync signal and a vertical sync signal.

17. An apparatus as defined in claim 15, wherein the video sync sensor conditions the video sync signals.

18. An apparatus as defined in claim 15, wherein the RF input signal comprise at least one of a NTSC and a PAL television RF source.

19. An apparatus as defined in claim 15, wherein the character generator controls the switch between the RF input signal and the alternate input source.

20. An apparatus as defined in claim 19, wherein the character generator determines when to switch between the RF input signal and the alternate input source based on character locations and the video sync signals.

21. An apparatus as defined in claim 13, wherein the alternate source comprises a short circuit to electrical ground.

22. An apparatus as defined in claim 13, wherein the alternate source comprises an attenuated source.

23. A machine readable medium storing instructions to cause a machine to: detect video sync signals of a video display having an input; determine characters to be displayed; generate the characters to be displayed on the video display; switch between an RF input signal and an alternate input source to imprint the characters on the video display.

24. A machine readable medium as defined in 23, wherein the instructions are structured to cause the machine to use the video sync signals and character locations to determine when to switch from the RF input signal to the alternate input source.

25. A machine readable medium as defined in 24, wherein the instructions are structured to cause the machine to switch between the RF input signal and the alternate input source on a pixel-to-pixel basis to generate the characters on the video display.

26. A method of generating a pattern on a video display having a video input, the method comprising: receiving an RF input signal; and switching the video input between the RF input signal and an alternate source to generate the pattern on the video display.

27. A method as defined in claim 26, wherein the RF input signal comprises at least one of a NTSC and a PAL television RF source.

28. A method as defined in claim 26, wherein the alternate source comprises at least one of a short circuit to electrical ground and an attenuated source.

29. A method as defined in claim 26, wherein the pattern is based on a clock signal.

30. A method as defined in claim 29, wherein the clock signal comprises a signal with a fixed frequency.

31. A method as defined in claim 30, wherein the fixed frequency has a frequency range of 0Hz and a pixel rate of the video display.

32. A method as defined in claim 29, wherein clock signal comprises a signal with a variable frequency.