TV Display Text Overlay Detection for API-Free Program ID
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing interactive television technologies require provider-specific APIs to determine the currently playing television program, which is inefficient and hinders scalability across various platforms.
Innovation Solution
A computer-implemented method that captures and analyzes display data from the television to extract text overlays, allowing identification of the playing media program without relying on provider-specific APIs, enabling the delivery of Internet-accessible content and services.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If provider-specific APIs are used to determine currently playing television programs, then accurate program identification is achieved, but system complexity increases and scalability is hindered
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the program identification function from the set-top box to the television display itself. The television captures its own display output, performs OCR processing locally, and identifies programs through text overlay recognition, eliminating the need for external API queries to the set-top box.
Solution Approach 2:
The television system performs self-service by autonomously capturing its own display data, processing the visual information through OCR, and identifying the currently playing program without requiring external assistance from the set-top box or provider-specific interfaces.
2Adaptability or versatility
If provider-specific APIs are implemented for each cable or satellite television provider, then compatibility with primary set-top boxes is achieved, but development efficiency decreases and scaling is hindered
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal solution where the television's display capture and OCR processing mechanism works across all provider platforms without requiring provider-specific implementations. The same core technology identifies programs regardless of whether the content comes from cable, satellite, or other providers.
Solution Approach 2:
The television display acts as an intermediary between the content source and the identification system. Instead of querying the set-top box directly through provider-specific APIs, the system captures and analyzes the visual output from the display, using the display itself as a mediator that translates diverse content sources into a common identifiable format.
3Adaptability or versatility
If display data capture and text overlay analysis are used to identify media programs, then dependency on provider-specific APIs is reduced, but real-time processing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by continuously monitoring and capturing display data in real-time, maintaining a ready state for program identification. The OCR processing and text overlay analysis are prepared and executed immediately when program transitions occur, minimizing identification delays.
Data Source
AI summary
Features of various implementations are used to enable delivery of matched functionality, content and/or services, as a part of an interactive television suite of technologies. In some implementations, a content delivery process is enabled so that communication between the primary TV receiver and a supplemental set-top box is reduced in order to avoid the need for one or more provider-specific APIs. For example, one aspect of the disclosure is a method of identifying a media program by capturing display data from the media program, and extracting text from the display data in response to determining that the display data includes the text overlay, wherein the extracted text is associated with the media program. In some implementations, a supplemental set-top box is configured to operate a primary TV receiver, without a provider-specific API, in order to determine the channel line-up available to a particular subscriber through the primary TV receiver.