Set-Top Box Content Identification via Display Data OCR
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing interactive television technologies require inefficient provider-specific APIs to determine the currently playing television program, hindering scalability and communication between primary and supplemental set-top boxes.
Innovation Solution
A computer-implemented method captures and evaluates display data to extract text overlays from television programs, performs Internet searches based on extracted text, and presents relevant content, reducing the need for provider-specific APIs by using optical character recognition and infrared codes to interact with set-top boxes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If provider-specific APIs are used to determine the currently playing television program, then communication between set-top boxes is enabled, but device complexity and integration difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system captures program information directly from the television display itself using optical character recognition (OCR) technology. The supplemental set-top box takes screenshots of the TV screen, extracts text overlays containing program titles and metadata through OCR processing, and uses this self-extracted information to identify currently playing content. This eliminates the need for provider-specific APIs by making the system self-sufficient in obtaining program information.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical/software interface of provider-specific APIs with an optical recognition system. Instead of using programmed application program interfaces that require integration with specific cable or satellite provider systems, the system uses optical character recognition to visually read and extract program information from the television display, substituting a mechanical integration approach with an optical detection approach.
2Adaptability or versatility
If provider-specific APIs are developed for each cable or satellite television provider, then compatibility with primary set-top boxes is achieved, but productivity and scalability decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The optical character recognition-based system provides a universal solution that works across different cable and satellite television providers without requiring provider-specific integration. The supplemental set-top box captures display data from any television program and extracts program information through OCR, making the system universally compatible with various primary set-top box platforms while maintaining a single, standardized implementation approach.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of having the supplemental set-top box communicate with the primary set-top box through provider-specific APIs (traditional approach), the system inverts the information flow by having the supplemental device directly capture and read the television display output. This reversal eliminates the need for backward-compatible API development with each provider while achieving the same goal of identifying currently playing content.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables real-time identification and presentation of Internet-accessible content associated with television programs, enhancing user experience while reducing the complexity of integrating with various provider platforms.
Implementation Method 1
evaluating the display data to determine whether or not the display data includes a text overlay including information about the media program; and extracting text from the overlay
Data Source
AI summary
Features of various implementations are used to enable identifying and presenting, in real time, Internet-accessible and/or Internet-based functionality, content and/or services associated with a particular television program concurrently playing on a television or display, as a part of an interactive television suite of technologies. In some implementations, the process of identifying Internet-accessible and/or Internet-based functionality, content and/or services associated with a particular television program is enabled to reduce communication between a primary set-top box and a supplemental set-top box and/or television integrated device, thereby reducing the need for one or more provider specific APIs. For example, one aspect of the disclosure is a computer-implemented method of identifying a media program by capturing display data from the media program, and extracting information from the display data in response to determining that the display data includes a program information overlay associated with the media program.