auto mute during tv commercials

[CrystalHeard]

I was thinking about making a picaxe powered device to mute the tv when a commercial comes on. My thinking is that by finding the lack of a closed caption signal would be the best route, although it probably wouldn't mute them all(since some commercials have closed captioning) but at least most of them anyways, which is better than nothing. Any ideas/better suggestions?

 

[hippy]

It could work but how are you going to detect if the closed captioning is there or not ?

As far as I'm aware it's just data on a single 60uS or so line of the broadcast signal. You'd have to isolate that then check what was on it. That could perhaps be done with external hardware and then note the signal for that line via a sample and hold circuit. There may be closed caption decoder circuits you could use the output of.

I'd be very surprised if a PICAXE could do it without external hardware.

 

[CrystalHeard]

well darn, I really was hopeing it wouldn't require external hardware, but then I guess if it was that easy to do it would have been done already. It would be a nice thing to have though....I think

 

[BeanieBots]

Ever noticed how much loader the adds sound?
That's because the sound has a deeper modulation depth and narrower band width. I would have thought it would be possible to detect the difference using a few op-amps but although the ear can easily detect very small changes, getting a tuned amplifier to work to the same sensitivity might require some very close tollerance components.

 

[atharvai]

If its digital television (which i hope it is) then there are "flags" for the start of Ads and end of Ads. well i think its actually flags for the program and not the Ads. now *IF* u find hardware that can decode that broadcast signal and give u the flag status then u r on ur way.

the flags are used by some PVRs so when recording programs they can skip the ads.

 

[Dippy]

"the flags are used by some PVRs so when recording programs they can skip the ads. "

- PLEASE tell me which on so I can buy it. I've had three PVRs and they ALL record the ads.

 

[marcos.placona]

Well, this may sound like a crazy idea, but might work for some channels. Most of them have exactly the same time for ads (don't know if they have a timing for the actual show though) and you could jut time it, and eventually get it right.

But let's say that you know BBC has 2 minutes interval and that they usually show it every 20 minutes. It'd just be all about counting this time.

It'd work fine for a movie, as some channels here have exactly 1 interval for the whole thing.

Sports can be even easier, as you know that a football match stops every 45 minutes (may and will vary a little bit, but hey, give it 5 minutes more and you're done)

With some time you'll be able to know most of the timings for everything.

Note, this is the poorman's idea, but you may end up having some fun with that.

 

[BeanieBots]

Don't get me started!
If only the BBC did have timing.
Once apon a time, you could set your clock by the BBC.
Now, you need to add 15 minutes to the start and end of any scheduled times to stand any chance of getting the whole program.
We pay a (mandatory) license fee for the BBC because "they don't advetise".
However, they pad the airwaves with adverts about themselves which are even more annoying than 'real' adverts. Why do they need to air a preview of what you are about to watch followed by two minutes of hippos swimming in water when they are already 3 minutes behind schedule? Cut out all that dross and they could actually get the schedule back on time!

I asked that very question to a BBC producer and got the reply. "It's what the viewers want". I'm still trying to find that "viewer", because I'd like to know why they want to see swimming hippos instead of the program that they have to pay for by law whether they watch it or not.

Sorry, I started....

 

[atharvai]

hi, There are very few PVRs which use this feature but i believe some models of the HUMAX do it. Also on some PVRs there are options to set (none in the UK i know) I think TIVO does it over in US. correct me if i'm wrong US people.

I also have to say HUMAX is one of the finest PVR makers both in terms of functionality and quality.

also some channels have a brief silence period when the Ads start and end. but thats some or even handful.

 

[atharvai]

Don't get me started!
I asked that very question to a BBC producer and got the reply. "It's what the viewers want". I'm still trying to find that "viewer", because I'd like to know why they want to see swimming hippos instead of the program that they have to pay for by law whether they watch it or not.

Sorry, I started....

I completely agree with u here. one most viewers have in the UK have SKY or freeview or FreeSat so they get BBC and all the terrestrial channels anyway. why should we pay extra for the TV licence?!

 

[Dippy]

Yes, the BBC time-keeping is awful and I totally agree with BB.

License fee pays for no ad break TV (hurrah!). It pays for some of the best (and worst) TV programming in the world. And it pays for a couple of dozen ad-free radio staions. It pays for one of the best News gathering services around. And it pays for one of the best websites around.
It also pays ridiculous bonuses to besuited managerial types.

But they can't seem to afford decent clocks.

I can't stand Sky News. Its a good service, maybe better than News24, but jeez, the breaks. And, my goodness, the amount of makeup on the presenters. Thats where the money goes.

Atharvai: You sure about this automatic commercial skip on Humax recording? Humax was one of the PVRs I sent back couple of years ago. Things change, so I just checked Humax site; that VERY attractive feature gets no mention. It's got the 30 second skip ('commercial skip') same as my Toppy on playback. You getting muddled?

(Why do they call them PVRs when they're so big? Nothing 'personal' about them whatsoever. Stupid marketing men.)