Television monitoring device
First Claim
1. Television monitoring apparatus for monitoring reception status of a television receiver capable of selecting one of a plurality of transmitted wave signals each containing a channel identification signal, each of said wave signals representing a separate video channel, said television receiver having a display screen for displaying program material associated with a selected video channel, said television receiver being responsive to the channel identification signal of a selected wave signal for displaying channel identification information representative of the selected video channel at a predetermined location on said display screen, said monitoring apparatus comprising:
- a housing;
means removably fastening said housing to said predetermined location on said display screen;
photo-sensor means in said housing for reading said channel identification information currently being displayed;
previous-code register means in said housing for storing a first channel identification word relating to channel identification information previously read by said photo-sensor means;
memory means in said housing; and
processor means in said housing responsive to said photo-sensor means and said previous-code register means for operating said memory means and said previous-code register means to store a current channel identification word relating to said currently displayed channel identification information read by said photo-sensor means which does not correspond to said first channel identification word stored in said previous-code register means.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A channel identifying rolling bar code, transmitted with a television broadcast signal, is displayed at a selected location on the receiving television screen. An apparatus is secured to the television set to view the rolling bar code to identify the channel being transmitted and process that information as necessary to detect the periods of time that different channels are received by the particular set. That information is stored in an internal memory for eventual use by a central processor.
177 Citations
8 Claims
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1. Television monitoring apparatus for monitoring reception status of a television receiver capable of selecting one of a plurality of transmitted wave signals each containing a channel identification signal, each of said wave signals representing a separate video channel, said television receiver having a display screen for displaying program material associated with a selected video channel, said television receiver being responsive to the channel identification signal of a selected wave signal for displaying channel identification information representative of the selected video channel at a predetermined location on said display screen, said monitoring apparatus comprising:
- a housing;
means removably fastening said housing to said predetermined location on said display screen;
photo-sensor means in said housing for reading said channel identification information currently being displayed;
previous-code register means in said housing for storing a first channel identification word relating to channel identification information previously read by said photo-sensor means;
memory means in said housing; and
processor means in said housing responsive to said photo-sensor means and said previous-code register means for operating said memory means and said previous-code register means to store a current channel identification word relating to said currently displayed channel identification information read by said photo-sensor means which does not correspond to said first channel identification word stored in said previous-code register means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
- a housing;
Specification