An idea for comskip in US
Posted: Tue Feb 20, 2007 4:10 am
First, great job! I've been trying to do similar things with signal processing in my lab, and it's funny how in the end it's all very similar: fine-tuning with regards to maximum/minimum durations, etc. When tuned, comskip works beautifully. Anyway, on to my idea.
In the US, I've noticed that all programs now have the TV rating block in the upper left, e.g. TVG, TVMA, etc. This block is high contrast (black and white), has only few variations (always big letters TV, rating underneath, followed by specifics as to why the content garnered a particular rating).
For just about all programs now, I've noticed this block is always present at the start of the program, even if the logo has not yet been shown. While this would not work at detecting end segments, I think it would make for a very strong program start segment, especially as the format (and location) is rather rigidly enforced.
On the other hand, after reading a bit more about this on a Wikipedia article, it appears that the timing is not mandated to be between every commercial break (although quite a few cable channels I've noticed do it anyway). More information can be found at:
(for a list of the ratings and they look like):
http://www.tvguidelines.org/ratings.asp
(a news release indicating that the major US cable companies are now inserting these ratings at the end of every commercial break):
http://www.ncta.com/ContentView.aspx?hi ... tentId=369
In the US, I've noticed that all programs now have the TV rating block in the upper left, e.g. TVG, TVMA, etc. This block is high contrast (black and white), has only few variations (always big letters TV, rating underneath, followed by specifics as to why the content garnered a particular rating).
For just about all programs now, I've noticed this block is always present at the start of the program, even if the logo has not yet been shown. While this would not work at detecting end segments, I think it would make for a very strong program start segment, especially as the format (and location) is rather rigidly enforced.
On the other hand, after reading a bit more about this on a Wikipedia article, it appears that the timing is not mandated to be between every commercial break (although quite a few cable channels I've noticed do it anyway). More information can be found at:
(for a list of the ratings and they look like):
http://www.tvguidelines.org/ratings.asp
(a news release indicating that the major US cable companies are now inserting these ratings at the end of every commercial break):
http://www.ncta.com/ContentView.aspx?hi ... tentId=369