Apparatus and method for detecting, identifying and incorporating advertisements in a video image

• US 6,297,853 B1
• Filed: 08/12/1998
• Issued: 10/02/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 02/14/1993
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Orad Hi-Tec Systems Ltd. (Avid Technology Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Orad Hi-Tec Systems Ltd. (Avid Technology Incorporated)
• Inventors: Tamir, Michael, Sharir, Avi
• Primary Examiner(s): Eisenzopf, Reinhard J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Lo, Linus H.
• Application Number:
  US09/133,129
• Time in Patent Office: 1,147 Days
• Field of Search: 348/150, 348/153, 348/154, 348/155, 348/157, 348/159, 348/161, 348/135, 348/137, 348/138, 348/139, 348/907, 348/589, 382/103, 382/106, 382/107, 382/170, 725/32, 725/36, 725/8, 725/1, 725/22
• US Class Current: 348/589
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 3/7864 T.V. type tracking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 15/04 Texture mapping
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 15/10 Geometric effects
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/10 Arrangements for replacing or switching information during the broadcast or the distribution
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/48 for recognising items expressed in broadcast information
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/59 of video recognising characters or patterns in general G06F18/00, G06V20/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/2628 Alteration of picture size, shape, position or orientation, e.g. zooming, rotation, rolling, perspective, translation
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/272 Means for inserting a foreground image in a background image, i.e. inlay, outlay
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/2723 Insertion of virtual advertisement; Replacing advertisements physical present in the scene by virtual advertisement data processing systems or methods specially adapted for marketing G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/165 Centralised control of user terminal subsequent to an upstream request signal H04N7/17345; Registering at central by two-way working H04N7/17309

Abstract

A system (FIGS. 7 and 8) and method (FIG. 1) for video transmission of active events, for example sports events, having in the background physical images in designated targets, wherein the physical images are electronically exchanged with preselected virtual images, so that objects or shadows actually blocking the same portions of the virtual images, and the motion of players or a ball blocking the physical image will block corresponding regions of the exchanged virtual image, so that the exchanged electronic image will remain in the background of the event, exactly as the original image.

Claims

1. Apparatus for advertisement image detection comprising:

a T.V. camera array comprising at least one camera for generating images of a game to be broadcast,

a field grabber operative to grab and digitize at least one field representing at least a portion of a sports facility viewed by said at least one T.V. camera,

an advertisement image detector operative to detect at least one advertisement image in at least one field; and

an advertisement exposure time counter operative to automatically count the length of an exposure time period of each advertisement image,

said time counter also being operative to store at least one characteristic of the exposure time period of each advertisement image other than its length, the apparatus also comprising an advertisement fee computer operative to compute an advertisement fee according to the length of the exposure time period and said at least one other characteristic of the exposure time period.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the characteristic of the exposure time period other than the length thereof includes an indication of whether or not the exposure time period took place during an overtime period of said game.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the characteristic of the exposure time period other than the length thereof includes an indication of the interval between each exposure and the beginning of the game.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein the characteristic of the exposure period other than its length comprises means for computing the area of an unoccluded portion of said advertisement.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4, in which the unoccluded area of the portion of said advertisement must be less than 50% of the total area of the advertisement for the exposure time to be counted.