JPH0440026A - Method of specifying television viewing channel - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To exactly specify a television viewing channel by specifying the television viewing channel by detecting a luminescent line signal to actually appear on the screen of a television. CONSTITUTION:The luminescent line signal is possessed by fitting a photosensor 2 to one part of the screen of the television as the object of measurement, and a video signal is possessed from a tuner 14 to be tuned independently of the television as the object of measurement. Then, it is judged whether the time of deviation between the timing of the vertical synchronizing signal of the video signal of the tuner 14 and the timing of the luminescent line signal is kept at a fixed value or not, and whether the value of the luminescent line signal is in proportion to the value of the video signal of the tuner 14 during the period or not. Then, the channels of the tuner 14 are successively switched until the both results of the judgement are made positive, and the channel in the case of having the positive results is specified as the viewing channel of the television as the object of measurement. Thus, the television viewing channel can exactly be specified regardless of the using form or the type of the television.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a method for identifying television viewing channels in a television audience rating measurement system.

[Conventional technology]

In order to automatically measure TV audience ratings, a device called a TV sensor is generally attached to a sample home TV, and information such as on/off information and channel information of the TV is collected in relation to time information. The data are periodically collected and compiled into a computer at the center using a telephone line.

By the way, conventional methods for specifying television viewing channels can be roughly divided into the following two methods.

■A method of detecting the local oscillation signal of the tuner in the TV and identifying the channel from the local oscillation frequency.

■A method of collecting audio or video signals from the TV's audio output terminal or video output terminal and comparing them with the audio or video signals received by a tuner installed separately within the TV sensor to identify the channel.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

As described above, there have conventionally been mainly two types of identification methods, but each has the following drawbacks.

In method (2) above, it is necessary to remove the TV case and install sensors, etc., which is difficult to perform, and also causes trouble because it requires modification to the inside of a privately owned TV. Additionally, this method cannot be applied if you are using a TV as a monitor for a video tape recorder, etc. (if you are watching the signal received by the tuner in the video tape recorder on the TV), and the video tape recorder, etc. It becomes necessary to install sensors, etc. inside the.

The above method (■) is limited to TVs with audio output terminals and video output terminals, and is difficult to apply to other TVs. Although it is possible to obtain the same, it will cause more trouble if soldering is involved.

In this way, conventional methods for identifying TV viewing channels require different methods to be adopted depending on the type of use of the TV and the model of the TV, and there is a method that can be applied uniformly without being influenced by these. I didn't.

The present invention has been proposed in view of the above points, and its purpose is to provide a method for identifying television viewing channels that can accurately identify television viewing channels regardless of the type of use of the television or the model of the television. Our goal is to provide the following.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention acquires a bright line signal by attaching a photosensor to a part of the screen of the television to be measured, and acquires a video signal from a tuner that is tuned independently of the television to be measured. Then, it is determined whether a time difference between the timing of the vertical synchronization signal of the video signal of the tuner and the timing of the bright line signal is kept at a constant value, and the value of the bright line signal and the video of the tuner during that period are determined. Determine whether or not there is a proportional relationship with the signal value, and sequentially switch the channels of the tuner until both determinations are affirmed, and identify the channel when the determination is affirmed as the viewing channel of the TV to be measured. That's what I do.

[Effect]

In the TV viewing channel identification method of the present invention, - The timing of the synchronization signal of the video signal is different in TV broadcasts on different channels. - Even if the timing of the synchronization signal matches in TV broadcasts on different channels, the content of the video signal is different. This method identifies the viewing channel based on the fact that the channels are different, but in order to avoid being affected by the type of use or model of the TV, a photo sensor is attached to a part of the screen of the TV to be measured and the bright line signal is detected. get.

Then, it is determined whether or not the time difference between the timing of the vertical synchronization signal of the video signal obtained from the tuner that is selected independently of the TV to be measured and the timing of the bright line signal is maintained at a constant value. The video signal is monitored by monitoring the matching of the channels from the viewpoint of the timing of the synchronization signal, and further determining whether or not the value of the bright line signal and the value of the video signal of the tuner in that period are in a proportional relationship. Monitor channel matches from a content perspective.

This is continued while sequentially switching the channels of the tuner until both judgments are affirmed, and the channel for which the judgment is affirmed is specified as the viewing channel of the television to be measured.

[Example〕 Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a television sensor to which the television viewing channel identification method of the present invention is applied.

In FIG. 1, the TV sensor main body 1 is a photo sensor 2.
and an antenna 3, and the photosensor 2 is attached to a corner of the screen of a television (not shown) to be measured at a position that does not cause discomfort to the viewer. Note that the antenna 3 used is one that is already connected to the television.

On the other hand, the television sensor body 1 includes an amplifier circuit 11 that amplifies the detection signal of the photosensor 2 to a predetermined level, and a waveform shaping circuit 12 that shapes the waveform of the output signal of the amplifier circuit 11.
An A/D conversion circuit 13 that converts the output signal of the waveform shaping circuit 12 into a digital signal, a tuner 14 that is connected to the antenna 3 and independently receives television broadcasts, and a tuner 14 that converts the output signal of the waveform shaping circuit 12 into a digital signal.
A video circuit 15 that performs detection etc. to obtain a video signal from a video intermediate frequency signal of A CPU that inputs signals as data and performs predetermined judgment operations and controls the tuning of the tuner 14, etc.
17, a transmission circuit 18 for transmitting measurement results to the recorder body (not shown) wirelessly or by wire, and a mode switch 19 for switching modes for initial settings, operation checks, etc. ing.

The operation of the above embodiment will be explained below by dividing it into major operations.

(1) Acquisition of bright line signal From the photosensor 2 attached to the corner of the TV screen to be measured, the scanning line (
The change in the amount of light when the bright line (bright line) passes through is obtained as an electrical signal. FIG. 2(a) shows the video signal of a television, and if the photosensor 2 is installed, for example, at the bottom corner of the television screen, the vertical synchronization signal V every time is shown in FIG. 2(b). Immediately after, a bright line signal is obtained, and if it is installed in the lower corner, a bright line signal is obtained immediately before each vertical synchronization signal V as shown in Fig. 2 (C), and in both cases, the photo sensor is detected from the vertical synchronization signal V. A bright line signal is obtained at a time point determined by the mounting position of No. 2. Note that since the light receiving portion of the photosensor 2 is larger than the width of the scanning line, a bright line signal corresponding to several scanning lines can be obtained.

The weak bright line signal obtained from the photosensor 2 is amplified by the amplifier circuit 11 to a level that is easy for later signal processing.
After unnecessary noise and the like are removed by the waveform shaping circuit 12, the signal is converted by the A/D conversion circuit 13 into a digital signal that can be later handled by the CPU 17, and is input to the CPU 17.

(2) Video signal acquisition The tuner 14 receives television broadcasts independently of the television to be measured. Note that the channel selection is controlled by the CPU 17.

The video intermediate frequency signal which is the output signal of the tuner 14 is subjected to intermediate frequency amplification, video detection, etc. in the video circuit 15.
converted to a video signal. And this video signal is A/D
The signal is converted by the conversion circuit 16 into a digital signal that can be later handled by the CPU 17, and is input to the CPU 17. Note that the signals obtained from the tuner 14 and the video circuit 15 have little noise and are of good quality, so there is no need for waveform shaping as in the case of the two photosensors.

(3) Specification of TV viewing channel The CPU 17 determines that the TV broadcasting channel being viewed on the TV to be measured matches the TV broadcasting channel being received by the tuner 14 in the TV sensor body 1. The following two points are judged as to whether or not.

■Whether or not the time difference between the timing of the vertical synchronization signal of the video signal obtained from the tuner 14 side and the timing of the signal obtained by differentiating the bright line signal obtained from the photosensor 2 side is maintained at a constant value.■Photo Whether there is a proportional relationship between the integrated value of the bright line signal obtained from the sensor 2 side and the average value of the video signal obtained from the tuner 14 side during the integration period, where ■ is the TV being measured. This is to judge whether or not the synchronization between the TV broadcast being viewed and the TV broadcast already received by the tuner 14 is in sync.The bright line signal obtained from the photosensor 2 side is differentiated. The reason for this is to make timing detection convenient.

In addition, (2) further determines whether the state of the image at the detection portion of the photosensor 2, that is, the brightness and darkness of the image at that portion match. In other words, generally each broadcasting station broadcasts using a separate synchronization signal, so if the synchronization matches, it can be determined that both broadcasts are on the same channel, but in special cases, multiple broadcasting stations There are cases where the same synchronization signal is used (for example, NHK's first and second broadcasts) or cases where the synchronization coincides by chance, so in order to identify these cases, the condition of the video is also considered. It is something that exists.

Note that the reason why the bright line signal obtained from the photosensor 2 side is integrated and the video signal obtained from the tuner 14 side is taken as an average value is to average the two signals, which change rapidly, to facilitate comparison. be.

Figure 3 shows the principle of the above judgment, and (d)
is a video signal obtained from the tuner 14 side, (e) is a bright line signal obtained from the photosensor 2 side, (f) is a signal obtained by differentiating the bright line signal (e), and (6) is a signal obtained by integrating the bright line signal (e). It's a signal.

Now, if the TV to be measured and the tuner 14 are receiving the same channel, the synchronization of both will match, so the vertical synchronization signal V included in the video signal (b) and the differential signal (f) of the bright line signal First pulse (as a result of differentiating the II line signal, a pulse is generated at the timing of the horizontal synchronization signal)
The deviation time t between the photo sensor 2 and the photo sensor 2 becomes a constant value determined by the mounting position of the photosensor 2 on the television screen. Note that this time lag t is learned in advance in the initial setting described later. Furthermore, when another channel is being received, the time lag t will not be a constant value in terms of probability, so by monitoring the situation over a predetermined period, a determination can be made easily and reliably. Note that these processes are performed by the CPU
This is done digitally by 17.

On the other hand, when the TV to be measured and the tuner 14 are receiving the same channel, there is a constant relationship between the change in the bright line signal (e) and the change in the video signal (d), so the integrated signal of the bright line signal ( The barrel value y and the video signal (
It maintains a proportional relationship with the average value χ of b). Also,
If another channel is being received, tJi+ will change independently of y and Note that this processing is also performed digitally by the CPUI 7.

Therefore, the channels of the tuner 14 are sequentially switched at predetermined intervals until both of the above judgments are affirmed, and when both judgments are affirmed for a certain channel, the channel of the tuner 14 at that time is changed to the channel of the tuner 14 at which the TV to be measured is viewed. Identify the channel.

In addition to identifying the channel, it is also possible to obtain information on whether the measurement target is on or off based on the presence or absence of the bright line signal from the photosensor 2.

(4) Transmission of measurement results Information on the specified channel, etc. is transmitted from the transmission circuit 18 wirelessly or by wire to the recorder main body under the control of the CPU 17, and is stored together with time information.

(5) Initial Settings Since the mounting position of the photosensor 2 differs depending on the TV to be measured, in order to provide a criterion for determining whether the CPU 17 matches the synchronization, when the photosensor 2 is mounted on the screen of the TV to be measured. Then, the position of the photosensor 2 is learned by operating the mode switch 19. That is, a known video signal is displayed on the television screen, and at that time, the time from the arrival of the vertical synchronization signal until the bright line signal is obtained at the photosensor 2 is memorized for use in subsequent judgments.

In addition, the mode switch 19 is also used when performing operations such as first and second.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, in the TV viewing channel identification method of the present invention, the TV viewing channel is identified by detecting the bright line signal that actually appears on the TV screen. Since the photo sensor is simply attached to the TV, the work is easy and it can be applied regardless of the model of TV. Note that since the photosensor is very small, it will not cause discomfort to the viewer.

■Regardless of whether the broadcast being viewed is received by the tuner in the television or the tuner in the video tape recorder, the television viewing channel can be accurately specified.

There are other effects.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a television sensor to which the television viewing channel identification method of the present invention is applied, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are signal waveform diagrams showing its operation. In the figure, 1... TV sensor body 11... Amplifier circuit 12... Waveform shaping circuit 13... A/D conversion circuit 14... Tuner 15... Video circuit 16... A/D conversion circuit 17...CPU 18...Transmission circuit 19...Mode switch 2...Photo sensor 3...Antenna

Claims (1)

[Claims] A photosensor is attached to a part of the screen of a television to be measured to acquire a bright line signal, a video signal is acquired from a tuner that is tuned independently of the television to be measured, Determine whether or not the time difference between the timing of the vertical synchronization signal of the video signal and the timing of the bright line signal is maintained at a constant value, and determine whether the value of the bright line signal and the value of the video signal of the tuner during that period are different. It is characterized by determining whether or not there is a proportional relationship, switching the channels of the tuner sequentially until both determinations are affirmed, and identifying the channel when the determination is affirmed as the viewing channel of the television to be measured. How to identify TV viewing channels.