Television – Nonpictorial data packet in television format – Including teletext decoder or display
Reexamination Certificate
2001-08-14
2003-04-01
Lee, Michael H. (Department: 2614)
Television
Nonpictorial data packet in television format
Including teletext decoder or display
C348S473000, C348S553000, C348S061000, C704S271000, C704S277000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06542200
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a device that is used with a conventional television set, that permits both hearing impaired and non hearing impaired individuals to view television audio voice signals in a text format on the television screen without the requirement of a Close/Open Caption broadcast signal or a Close/Open Caption enabled television
2. Description of Related Art
People who are hearing impaired or who have no hearing at all are severely limited in their watching and understanding of television presentations that include human speech. Some television networks or specific TV programs provide, at great expense, closed-captioned text for hearing impaired people that provide speech translations on the television screen in real time of the television presentation. Unfortunately, this is not universally available. Therefore, the limited availability of closed-captioning and its cost severely limit the enjoyment of television for someone that is hearing impaired. To generate closed caption speech display of a television program requires the network to employ one or more typists who listen to the human speech live and type the words for transmission and display on screen. This method is extremely expensive.
The hearing impaired are also limited in their participation in other venues, particularly entertainment, such as motion picture theatres. Typically there is no closed-caption available. There are also numerous other environments, such as public speaking events, teaching in classroom settings, live plays, and social meetings, where someone who is hearing impaired or has no hearing at all cannot participate.
The use of sign language for hearing impaired persons has been employed on a specific basis, show-by-show, but in many environments is not totally practical.
Correspondingly, participants who must converse in difference languages provide a somewhat comparable environment as that experienced by the hearing impaired. A person unable to speak or converse in a particular language is not able to comprehend, and cannot enjoy television in a different language or participate in other events that require the ability to hear and translate the different language that is being spoken.
The purpose of the present invention is to provide a small, portable device that can alleviate the problems discussed above for the hearing impaired. Particularly in one embodiment, the invention can be utilized in conjunction with a conventional television set. The invention acts to convert the audio portion of the input television signal in a household that is received either from cable or through an antenna, to provide a human speech text stream printout on the screen in real time. In other alternate embodiments, the present invention can extend to all forms of media, including radio that provides human speech, by including a visual display unit that converts all human speech into a visually displayed text format on a television screen or on a separate portable LCD display. Such a device can be hand-held, battery-operated, and used in almost every situation for processing audio speech and converting it to a visual text display.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A television and radio speech-to-text translating processor that allows a person who hearing impaired or deaf to watch a conventional television program in a domestic setting, such as the user's home, that is connected directly to the user's television signal input, which can either be an antenna, cable television input, or satellite input.
The television speech-to-text processor includes a box-like housing that can be mounted on or near a conventional television set and a separate remote control unit that is hand-held and resembles a conventional television set remote control.
The processor unit mounted in the housing may include a plurality of inputs and input connectors that includes a television cable/television antenna signal input, a line input (audio), a high Z input (audio), and an RF (FM) input (audio). Each of the inputs described herein may be in the form of input jacks mounted on a panel that forms part of the housing.
The main processor would also include a plurality of signal output jacks or connectors that includes a television signal, either channel
3
or channel
4
output, the RF (FM) output (text), a serial output (text), and an infrared (IR) output (text). Again, the outputs described herein may include jacks or connectors that are formed on a single panel that is part of the housing of the main processor.
Conventional television sets may or may not include additional circuitry for providing on-screen closed captioned displays that are generated by a specific network on a particular television channel. Thus, one of the considerations is that the present invention can produce a display of text representing human speech embodied in the audio television signal for either type of television set, whether it includes closed caption capabilities or whether it doesn't. The present invention includes a manual and remote control activated selector switch that allows the user to select either closed caption or automatic so that the system and main processor embodied in the present invention can determine whether to employ the present invention text generator or utilize closed caption when it is being transmitted from a specific station.
The main processor unit mounted in the housing includes circuitry for initially providing audio input selector. Each of the signal inputs to the device, including the line input, the high Z input and the RF (FM) input, are directly connected to the audio input selector.
The main television signal input from the TV cable or television signal antenna input is connected directly to a TV channel tuner having an output connected to an audio/video decoder. The decoder has three separate outputs. The first output is a complete TV audio signal that is transmitted to an audio/video text encoder. The second output is a video signal which represents the entire TV video signal which may or may not include closed-caption video. This output signal goes to a closed-caption decoder for the video. The third output is an audio output that represents the TV audio signal that goes to the audio input selector. The housing may include a manually activated selector that selects the desired output from the main processor unit by virtue of selecting the particular input to be processed by the system. In the preferred embodiment, it will be the television signal.
The main processor unit includes a closed caption video decoder having an input that receives the TV video from the audio/video decoder for decoding closed caption data (if present on line
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) received from the incoming television signal. The output of the closed caption decoder goes to the input of a closed caption/local text display encode selector. The main processor housing includes a manual switch that allows the end user to select either automatic selection which selects either closed caption data or the local text display of the present invention if closed caption is present or a switch that excludes closed caption completely and permits only text display in accordance with the present invention. The remote control switch also could include encode selection similar to that, between closed caption and the text display of the present invention.
The main processor unit includes an automatic gain control, the input of which is connected to the audio input selector output. This component will control the gain of the signal, regardless of its input and will control, for example, the audio signal received from the audio/video decoder that represents the audio signal of the television input signal separated from the video portion.
The audio signal is then sent to one or more audio filters from the automatic gain control to filter out all non-human speech sounds and audio that is outside the range of human speech. This will help alleviate musical sounds, noise, other undesired sounds, or sounds t
Barcy Daniel J.
Statkus Charles W.
Cheldan Technologies, Inc.
Lee Michael H.
Malin Haley & DiMaggio, P.A.
LandOfFree
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