Methods and apparatus to detect commercial advertisements associated with media presentations

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11558659-B2
Application number	US-202117374759-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 13, 2021
Priority date	Dec 31, 2009
Publication date	Jan 17, 2023
Grant date	Jan 17, 2023

Abstract

Methods and apparatus to detect commercial advertisements associated with media presentations are disclosed. An example method involves receiving a video frame and detecting a change in box-formatting between the video frame and a subsequent video frame. A transition between the video frame and the subsequent video frame is indicated as a commercial advertisement transition based on the detected change in box-formatting.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus comprising:
at least one memory;
instructions in the apparatus; and
processor circuitry to execute the instructions to:
generate a first hint value based on a first characteristic associated with a media presentation, the first characteristic indicative of a commercial transition;
generate a second hint value based on a second characteristic associated with the media presentation, the second characteristic indicative of the commercial transition;
determine an aggregated weighted hint value based on the first hint value and the second hint value; and
indicate a presence of the commercial transition associated with the media presentation based on a determination that the aggregated weighted hint value satisfies a threshold.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the threshold is a first threshold, the first characteristic is an amount of audio randomness in an inter-segment audio frame of the media presentation, and the processor circuitry is to:
determine the amount of audio randomness being based on a random-factor ratio; and
generate the first hint value based on a comparison of the amount of audio randomness to a second threshold.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the second characteristic is a presence of at least one of a change in box-formatting between consecutive video frames, an audio format change, an aspect ratio change, a timestamp discontinuity, a closed-captioning text discontinuity, or a commercial insertion opportunity code.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the processor circuitry is to identify the change in the box-formatting between the consecutive video frames by monitoring for screen filler areas in edges in a video frame of the consecutive video frames.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor circuitry is to determine the aggregated weighted hint value by:
generating, based on a first weighting value and the first hint value, a first weighted hint value, the first weighting value based on a first reliability of the first characteristic;
generating, based on a second weighting value and the second hint value, a second weighted hint value, the second weighting value based on a second reliability of the second characteristic; and
determining the aggregated weighted hint value based on the first weighted hint value and the second weighted hint value.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor circuitry is to indicate the presence of the commercial transition by transmitting a message indicative of the commercial transition to a commercial identification system, the transmission of the message to cause the commercial identification system to identify a commercial following the commercial transition.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the media presentation is associated with a monitored digital television feed.

8. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause at least one processor to at least:
generate a first hint value based on a first characteristic associated with a media presentation, the first characteristic indicative of a commercial transition;
generate a second hint value based on a second characteristic associated with the media presentation, the second characteristic indicative of the commercial transition;
determine an aggregated weighted hint value based on the first hint value and the second hint value; and
indicate a presence of the commercial transition associated with the media presentation based on a determination that the aggregated weighted hint value satisfies a threshold.

9. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the threshold is a first threshold, the first characteristic is an amount of audio randomness in an inter-segment audio frame of the media presentation, and the instructions are to cause the at least one processor to:
determine the amount of audio randomness being based on a random-factor ratio; and
generate the first hint value based on a comparison of the amount of audio randomness to a second threshold.

10. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the second characteristic is a presence of at least one of a change in box-formatting between consecutive video frames, an audio format change, an aspect ratio change, a timestamp discontinuity, a closed-captioning text discontinuity, or a commercial insertion opportunity code.

11. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the instructions are to cause the at least one processor to identify the change in the box-formatting between the consecutive video frames by monitoring for screen filler areas in edges in a video frame of the consecutive video frames.

12. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the instructions are to cause the at least one processor to:
generate, based on a first weighting value and the first hint value, a first weighted hint value, the first weighting value based on a first reliability of the first characteristic;
generate, based on a second weighting value and the second hint value, a second weighted hint value, the second weighting value based on a second reliability of the second characteristic; and
determine the aggregated weighted hint value based on the first weighted hint value and the second weighted hint value.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the instructions are to cause the at least one processor to transmit a message indicative of the commercial transition to a commercial identification system, the transmission of the message to cause the commercial identification system to identify a commercial following the commercial transition.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the media presentation is associated with a monitored digital television feed.

15. A method comprising:
generating, by executing an instruction with a processor, a first hint value based on a first characteristic associated with a media presentation, the first characteristic indicative of a commercial transition;
generating, by executing an instruction with the processor, a second hint value based on a second characteristic associated with the media presentation, the second characteristic indicative of the commercial transition;
determining, by executing an instruction with the processor, an aggregated weighted hint value based on the first and second hint values; and
indicating, by executing an instruction with the processor, a presence of the commercial transition associated with the media presentation based on a determination that the aggregated weighted hint value satisfies a threshold.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the threshold is a first threshold, the first characteristic is an amount of audio randomness in an inter-segment audio frame of the media presentation, and further including:
determining the amount of audio randomness being based on a random-factor ratio; and
generating, by executing an instruction with the processor, the first hint value based on a comparison of the amount of audio randomness to a second threshold.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein the second characteristic is a presence of at least one of a change in box-formatting between consecutive video frames, an audio format change, an aspect ratio change, a timestamp discontinuity, a closed-captioning text discontinuity, or a commercial insertion opportunity code.

18. The method of claim 17 , further including identifying the change in the box-formatting between the conse

Assignees

• Nielsen Co Us Llc

Inventors

• Wright David H
• Wilson Scott
• Schwerer Ron
• Heffernan Ronan

Classifications

• H04N21/4394 Primary

  involving operations for analysing the audio stream, e.g. detecting features or characteristics in audio streams (arrangements characterised by components specially adapted for monitoring, identification or recognition of audio in broadcast systems H04H60/58) · CPC title

• H04H60/375

  Commercial · CPC title

• H04H20/14 Primary

  for monitoring programmes · CPC title

• H04H60/48

  for recognising items expressed in broadcast information · CPC title

• G06V20/46

  Extracting features or characteristics from the video content, e.g. video fingerprints, representative shots or key frames · CPC title