commercial skipping on live TV

Thread Starter

Androidio

Joined Feb 22, 2015
7
I want to make a machine that allows the operator to automatically fast forward through TV ads, on live broadcast.
I'm certain I'm not the first one to entertain such an idea, but I just want to know if it would even be pheasable.
What hardware would be required? And what kind of software?

Most home video recorders have the ability to do this for prerecorded programs, and they've even made an algorithm to decide what's ads and what's not. But how could you take the next step, and make this technology work for live broadcasting?
The way I figure, all you would have to do is create an Ahead of time buffer to store the signal for a few frames. The TV signal is in Real Time so if you buffered the live signal by just a few seconds, it would give enough room for detection. You could pause the live signal, at least for a second or two. But then how to fast forward?
What if you were buffering the signal in large increments? 5 - 10 min at a time?
In other words create a delay from real-time, so that you could skip ahead 3-4 minutes of the video at any given moment?

Am I on some kind of track here?
 

WBahn

Joined Mar 31, 2012
29,979
The next step is to invent a time machine.

There have been devices intended to mute commercials for years and years -- and the people that make commercials have spent a lot of time and effort to defeat them. But trying to fast-forward is a losing game. Imagine that you are watching a two hour movie on TV and that there was a total of 30 minutes of commercials in it. You would have to buffer a half hour of the move (minus the commercials) before you could start watching it otherwise the last part of the movie wouldn't be received at the time you are ready to watch it. And there's nothing magical about 30 minutes. What if you are watching the opening ceremony of the Olympic games or the Super Bowl or something else that goes on for hours and hours. How do you determine how much initial buffering you need? And what do you do during that time?
 

crutschow

Joined Mar 14, 2008
34,285
It's already been invented. That's what DVRs are for. :rolleyes:
You start recording the program and then, when you have recorded enough to skip all the commercials (at least 15 minutes for a 1 hour program), you start watching the program.
DVRs allow you start watching before the program has finished recording, you don't have to wait until the end.
 
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Thread Starter

Androidio

Joined Feb 22, 2015
7
But even DVRs have to wait before you can FF.
how awesome would it be to never have another pesky and intrusive ad crammed down your throat?
Our TVs have them. Our radios have them, and even the once free interchange of information known as the world wide Web does it.

Lol, sorry for the zealously.
I very much dislike them
 

Dodgydave

Joined Jun 22, 2012
11,285
Years ago i made an advert detection circuit for VCRs,it worked by detecting the AM modulation signal ,on independent tv channels they normally use 75% modulation for the programme,and 100% when the commercials are on for UK, now its digital using Qpsk which is software related, you need to study the difference between programme and commercial signals, luckily we have non commercial channels called BBC.
 

Reloadron

Joined Jan 15, 2015
7,501
I want to make a machine that allows the operator to automatically fast forward through TV ads, on live broadcast.
I'm certain I'm not the first one to entertain such an idea, but I just want to know if it would even be pheasable.
What hardware would be required? And what kind of software?
If the programming is a live broadcast in real time the only circuit I am aware of that would allow this to be feasible would be the below image which I will share:
1758-circuit_diagram.png

Now forgive me if I don't understand this but to skip the commercials on live programming would be going into the future wouldn't it? Since what happens after the commercial during live programming hasn't happened yet it would be in the future and I do not know of any way to get to the future from the present.

Ron
 

Thread Starter

Androidio

Joined Feb 22, 2015
7
I notice the over modulation,
That's by far the most annoying part. Lol
I don't really understand how amplitude is represented in a digital signal though, mp3 being a prime example. I can use Audacity on my computer to amplify WAV files and export them to mp3, and they are noticeably louder on that machine. But if I copy them to another player and they sound totally different.
How is amplitude carried with digital ( PCM ) Audio? what about compressed files?
 

kubeek

Joined Sep 20, 2005
5,794
Now forgive me if I don't understand this but to skip the commercials on live programming would be going into the future wouldn't it? Since what happens after the commercial during live programming hasn't happened yet it would be in the future and I do not know of any way to get to the future from the present.Ron
There is a way, a short artifically induced coma that lasts just as long as the ad does. That should be easy to implement :D
 

WBahn

Joined Mar 31, 2012
29,979
But even DVRs have to wait before you can FF.
how awesome would it be to never have another pesky and intrusive ad crammed down your throat?
Our TVs have them. Our radios have them, and even the once free interchange of information known as the world wide Web does it.

Lol, sorry for the zealously.
I very much dislike them
You are going to have to wait with your idea before you can FF, too. Unless you pull that time machine out of your pocket.

On the flip side, you get to watch those TV shows and listen to that radio without having to pay for it. Well, someone has to pay for all of the things that it takes to bring that to you, from the licensing fees for the shows and songs to the DJs to the staff at the station to the equipment and power to broadcast the signal. The advertisers are footing the bill because they believe that it will generate enough additional business to make the cost worthwhile. Having to sit through stupid ads (and most are REALLY stupid) is a pretty small price to pay when you think about it.
 

Reloadron

Joined Jan 15, 2015
7,501
So if here in the US I could fast forward through a Live Telecast of a NFL Football game to the end I could then bet on the game? If I were to fast forward a horse race to the end I could then bet on the race before it was run? I like this, this could be a good thing. :)

The schematic I posted was pretty easy but the software is going to be a little challenging.

Ron
 

nDever

Joined Jan 13, 2011
153
Your circuit wouldn't work. There is a dead short across the 50V battery:
That's all? So just remove the short and we're good to go!

BTW, I've got a box somewhere around here that's supposed to bleep out curse words on TV and movies. I haven't gotten around to trying it out.
 
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MaxHeadRoom

Joined Jul 18, 2013
28,619
One of the first there that used to be popular was detect fade to black, that one is out now they no longer use that practice.

As my TV does not have the internet access feature I picked up one of the new Android based WEB/TV boxes for streaming just about all the Movies (new & old), shows, news channels and sports networks, some live feeds, majority add free.
As opposed to Apple TV, Roku and WD TV etc, these are free and wide open using XBMC and Utube, and all the usual Apps.
Max.
 
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