Patent · US Expired

Selection of compressed television signals from single channel allocation based on viewer characteristics

US5231494A · kind A · utility

448Cited by
7References
11Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateOct 8, 1991
Grant dateJul 27, 1993
Priority date
Expiry dateOct 8, 2011

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04N21/812
  • WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A plurality of television signals are transmitted and selectively received on a single television channel allocation. Headend apparatus compresses a set of television signals, such as a main program signal and a plurality of different demographically targeted commercials. The plurality of compressed television signals are combined into a combined signal for transmission on a single television channel allocation. A receiver receiving the combined signal identifies characteristics of a television viewer, and selects a particular one of the compressed television signals from the received combined signal depending on the viewer characteristics. The retrieved signal is decompressed for use by a video appliance.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.