Did You Know...
...Chester Carlson was a patent agent who tired of having to make multiple copies of patent applications using the only duplication method available at the time: carbon paper. In 1959 he came up with a new copying system and took it to IBM for evaluation. The "experts" at IBM determined potential sales to be only 5,000 units because people wouldn't want to use a bulky machine when they had carbon paper. Carlson's invention was the xerography process, the company founded on the system is Xerox.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7590991 | Method and apparatus for determining channel to which a TV or VCR is tuned Method and apparatus to determine the channel to which a TV tuner is tuned from a return loss ratio measurement circuit in a set top decoder. The method comprises generating a plurality of probe signals having frequencies spread throughput the TV channel band, prefe... | 09/15/2009 |
| 7421723 | Detection of media links in broadcast signals A detection apparatus includes a tuner tuned to the program and a meter coupled to the tuner and arranged to detect content ancillary information from the program tuned by the tuner. The content ancillary information may be a media link, closed captioning informatio... | 09/02/2008 |
| 7392312 | Method for utilizing visual cue in conjunction with web access The use of a visual indicia or cue facilitates computer based access of a network by a consumer witnessing a presentation. A visual indicia or cue is provided during the presentation indicative of a relationship between the visual indicia or cue in the presence of a... | 06/24/2008 |
| 7359006 | Audio module supporting audio signature A system and method embed an audio signature in a video frame. An audio signature is generated from one bit a buffer input data. Two registers store an audio signature and reference count. According to an embodiment, the audio signature is generated left/right (L/R)... | 04/15/2008 |
| 7349552 | Connected audio and other media objects Media objects are transformed into active, connected objects via identifiers embedded into them or their containers. In the context of a user's playback experience, a decoding process extracts the identifier from a media object and possibly additional context inform... | 03/25/2008 |
| 7343615 | Television proximity sensor Systems and methods for determining whether a television is on and in near proximity are provided. An example system includes a sensor, an analog-to-digital converter, and a digital signal processor. The digital signal processor processes a set of digital audio samp... | 03/11/2008 |
| 7302696 | System and method to provide an interactive coupon channel a video casting network A system and method to provide an interactive coupon channel via a video casting network. A viewer can tune to the coupon channel to search for coupons by keyword or category. The coupon channel can also be accessed through another channel, such as a shopping channe... | 11/27/2007 |
| 7262819 | Broadcast receiver A broadcast receiver comprising: a tuner having an input plug which receives the radio-frequency signal, has its base portion connected to a circuit board and its tip portion protruded outward through one of the two end surfaces of a shield case which are opposed to... | 08/28/2007 |
| 7245281 | Drive circuit device for display device, and display device using the same A drive circuit device for a display device which drives a plurality of source bus lines provided on a display panel includes a driver unit that receives a clock signal, a data signal and a control signal, sequentially fetches the data signal, and generates drive si... | 07/17/2007 |
| 7225456 | Gateway screen for interactive television A gateway screen for interactive television includes a television content panel and an internet content panel. The gateway screen is displayed by an interactive television (ITV), e.g., when the ITV is turned on. The gateway screen allows a user to quickly and easily... | 05/29/2007 |
| 7206558 | Technique for determining a tuning frequency of an audio receiver A technique for determining a tuning frequency of an audio receiver includes interrupting a received radio frequency (RF) signal at an input of the audio receiver. Next, a modulated audio signal is injected into the input of the audio receiver. Then, it is determine... | 04/17/2007 |
| 7096489 | System and method for interactive television A system and method for interactive television (ITV) includes presenting both TV channels and “virtual channels” on an ITV. A virtual channel can be a Web page stored in memory of the ITV (or remote therefrom) and accessed by a microprocessor in the ITV when a u... | 08/22/2006 |
| 7062272 | Method and apparatus to track count of broadcast content recipients in a wireless telephone network A base station (110) in a wireless communications network (100) counts mobile stations (114) receiving broadcast content via multi-user channel. The base station broadcasts (608) a repeating message identifying at least one broadcast cont... | 06/13/2006 |
| 7061549 | Method for storage of a channel for a consumer electronics appliance In consumer electronics appliances, for example in the case of a television set, it is known for there to be a key on the remote control which allows the user to switch over to the previously selected channel. However, a disadvantage of this conventional solution is... | 06/13/2006 |
| 7036136 | Bias compensating remote audience survey system and method A bias compensating remote audience survey system (34) is configured to identify radio stations (162) to which tuners (24) are tuned. The tuners (24) have predetermined signals (26) emitted therefrom. The survey system (34) ... | 04/25/2006 |
| 6961370 | Sweep method using digital signals An apparatus, system, and method, for determining the total frequency response of a communication system, include one or more testers each having a tuner, digital demodulation circuitry, and a controller that measures an absolute power level at the tester location f... | 11/01/2005 |
| 6714917 | Subscriber identification based on electronic program guide data A subscriber identification system is presented in which EPG related data including scrolling rates, paging rates, information screen viewing times, and manner and frequency of EPG activation are used to identify a subscriber from a group of subscribers. In one inst... | 03/30/2004 |
| 6643494 | Active system and method for detecting harmonics of RF broadcast station survey signals An active broadcast survey system (32) is configured to identify radio stations (216) to which tuners (26) are tuned. The tuners (26) have local oscillator signals (30) emitted therefrom. The survey system (32) employs a method (210) that includes generat... | 11/04/2003 |
| 6523175 | Methods and apparatus for identifying the source of a user selected signal via an intermediate frequency probe A non-invasive or minimally invasive intermediate frequency (I.F.) probe is disclosed for use as part of a broadcast audience measurement system. The probe can be used both to acquire a representation of a tuned signal and to inject a recognition signal i... | 02/18/2003 |
| 6266816 | Tunable pass filter cable television control A cable television control apparatus includes a television channel access controller connected at a node of a cable television network between the network and at least one subscriber household. All available cable television channels, including premium ch... | 07/24/2001 |
| 6049695 | Method and system for detecting unauthorized utilization of a cable television decoder A method and system for detecting unauthorized utilization of a cable television decoder. The decoder is utilized to receive cable television signals. The decoder is one of a plurality of receivers of different types. A local oscillator frequency being ut... | 04/11/2000 |
| 6049286 | Sensor with fall-off detection A system having an attachable sensor for collecting television program data is provided. A first plate is attached to a surface, such as the side of a television set. A second plate, attached to the first plate, is part of the sensor and is attached to an... | 04/11/2000 |
| 6005490 | Bidirectional remote control apparatus A CPU of controlled equipment generates an operating key information signal indicating operating key(s) to be depressed of a plurality of operating keys in the mode the controlled equipment is currently set, and sends it to a transmitting element. The tra... | 12/21/1999 |
| 5808703 | Device for detection of transmission from remote control An apparatus is provided which gives feedback to a user of a remote control device, such as that for a television, to indicate when excessive use of the remote control (channel surfing) is occurring. The device detects transmission from a remote control d... | 09/15/1998 |
| 5749043 | System and method for estimating characteristics of broadcast radio audiences A system for estimating listening audience characteristics in response to radio broadcast programming includes a central office, a plurality of remote survey sites, and a plurality of remote access sites. The survey sites collect survey data describing ra... | 05/05/1998 |
| 5408258 | Method of automatically qualifying a signal reproduction device for installation of monitoring equipment A method and system for automatically qualifying a signal reproduction device for installation of monitoring equipment. In a household in which viewing patterns are to be monitored, for example, a relatively inexpensive and simple set usage device is inst... | 04/18/1995 |
| 5404161 | Tuned signal detector for use with a radio frequency receiver Disclosed is a tuned channel detector which includes a cable path between a radio frequency source and a receiver such as a TV, wherein the radio frequency source passes first through an attenuator and second through a signal selection module comprising t... | 04/04/1995 |
| 5305464 | Method and apparatus for determining channel to which a receiver is tuned A method and apparatus for identifying the channel to which a receiver is tuned includes a controller having a microprocessor, a ROM for storage of programs, a RAM for storage of data and a data storage and communication device; a controlled panel mounted... | 04/19/1994 |
| 5289271 | Cable television-usage system A cable-television usage system that enables subscribers to be charged based upon their actual usage of the cable channels offered. The system is compatible with current cable equipment and methods. It can be installed outside of the subscribers dwelling ... | 02/22/1994 |
| 4723302 | Method and apparatus for determining channel reception of a receiver A method and apparatus for identifying a channel to which a receiver is tuned sequentially detects a signal of the receiver and stores a characteristic value of the detected signal for a predefined sequence of frequencies. The stored values corresponding ... | 02/02/1988 |
| 4578700 | Apparatus for storing data relating to television viewing An arrangement is disclosed which stores data received from a people monitoring unit which produces information relating to the number of people watching a television set and/or from a television channel detection unit of a television monitoring system. T... | 03/25/1986 |
| 4577220 | Arrangement for detecting to which channel a television set is tuned A television channel detecting arrangement, for detecting to which channel a television set is tuned, comprises an inductive loop (14) for receiving a signal from a local oscillator (10) of the television set (12); a tuner (16); a detector (18,20) which a... | 03/18/1986 |
| 4567511 | Transmitting and storing data relating to television viewing A transmission arrangement comprising a receiver (58) for accepting data from at least one of a people monitoring unit which produces information relating to the number of people watching a television set and a television channel detection unit of a telev... | 01/28/1986 |
| 4027332 | Apparatus for monitoring television receivers Apparatus for monitoring the use of television receivers to obtain information for the rating of television programs. The apparatus makes a comparison between the intercarrier frequency signal (i.e., phase) produced by extracting from an operating televis... | 05/31/1977 |
| 3973206 | Monitoring system for voltage tunable receivers and converters utilizing an analog function generator A system for monitoring the channel to which a remotely located voltage tunable receiver or converter is tuned includes a comparator for comparing the magnitude of the tuning voltage with an internally generated reference voltage to determine the channel ... | 08/03/1976 |
