Facsimile and static presentation processing – Facsimile – Specific signal processing circuitry
Patent
1983-08-09
1986-08-12
Groody, James J.
Facsimile and static presentation processing
Facsimile
Specific signal processing circuitry
358165, H04N 7087, H04N 324
Patent
active
046059644
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for editing the output of a television set. In particular, but not exclusively, the invention relates to a television controller which can be set by a person in authority (such as a parent) to edit out undesired programme part-contents (such as scenes of violence, or unpleasant language); this editing can be carried out either in the television set itself or, in the case of pre-recorded programmes, in the recording or playback equipment.
Much has been written and said in recent years about the quality and content of broadcast television programmes. On the one hand, many people object to the degree of violence and unpleasant language included in programmes while, on the other hand, the sensitivity of the broadcasting authorities to accusations of censorship has made them reluctant to impose standards in areas of programme content which are arguably a matter of personal preference.
Many parents while recognising the dangers of mass censorship, feel that for the good of their own children they must exercise a domestic editing function, by forbidding their children to view certain programmes which the parents consider unsuitable. Of course, such editing cannot prevent children being subjected to unexpected bad language or violent scenes of short duration in programmes which are normally satisfactory from this point of view.
It is an object of the present invention to enable an editorial function to be exercised over the output of a television, this editing function being pre-selected by a person in authority (such as a parent or televison owner).
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of editing the output of a television set, including the steps of: which individually identifies, as they occur, possibly undesirable sound and visual events forming part of a programme represented by said signal, the coding indicating the sound or visual nature of each said event, it is desired, following mass distribution of said television signal, to edit out from said programme at least certain of said possibly-undesirable events: occurrence and nature of said possibly-undesirable events which are to be edited out, and of said television signal when the determination effected in step (c) indicates the presence of a sound event to be edited out, and inhibiting the intelligible output of the vision portion of said signal when the determination effected in step (c) indicates the presence of a visual event to be edited out.
The method of the invention thus provides for editing out of possibly-undesirable events such as scenes of violence or bad language; this editing out is effectively at the discretion of the person receiving the television signal since if the method steps (b) to (d) are not implemented, the television signal will be output unedited.
The editing out can be effected by the complete deletion of the relevant sound or vision portion of the television signal or by the scrambling of this signal portion. Since the editing out of a sound or visual event only results in the inhibition of sound or vision as appropriate, the method of the invention facilitates the following of a programme subject to editing as compared to a method which involves the inhibition of the whole television signal.
The method of mass distribution of the television signal can take any form including normal broadcast transmission, cable network distribution, direct broadcast by satellite, and as a pre-recorded disc or tape. The editing effected in accordance with the invention takes place after this mass distribution but prior to the television signal being output via a television set. Thus the editing can take place in the television set itself, during recordal on a video tape machine, or on output from a video tape or disc player.
The insertion of the coding will generally be done at the originating television studio. Of course, what constitutes an undesirable event is entirely subjective but generally for any given period in history, there are certain m
REFERENCES:
patent: 4229765 (1980-10-01), Sanger
patent: 4554584 (1985-11-01), Elam et al.
Groody James J.
Parker Michael D.
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