Methods and apparatus to monitor audio/visual content from various sources

1. A method to monitor media provided by one of a plurality of media sources for presentation by an information presenting device, the method comprising:

determining first information based on a video signal corresponding to the monitored media;

determining second information based on an audio signal corresponding to the monitored media; and

identifying the one of the plurality of media sources based on a decision tree comprising a plurality of at least three decision nodes, a first decision node of the decision tree corresponding to a first classification decision resulting from processing at least one of the first information or the second information, a second decision node of the decision tree corresponding to a second classification decision resulting from processing at least one of the first information or the second information, and a third decision node of the decision tree corresponding to a third classification decision resulting from processing at least one of the first information or the second information, the second decision node of the decision tree being selected for evaluation based on an outcome of evaluating the first decision node of the decision tree, the third decision node of the decision tree being selected for evaluation based on an outcome of evaluating the second decision node of the decision tree.

2. A method as defined in claim 1 wherein the first information comprises at least one of detected metadata, detected text, a blurriness measurement, a blank frame, a macroblock measurement or a template.

3. A method as defined in claim 1 wherein the second information comprises at least one of an audio code, an audio signature, a volume measurement, an audio compression measurement, a jingle measurement or an audio spectral shape measurement.

4. A method as defined in claim 1 wherein identifying the one of the plurality of media sources comprises deciding whether the one of the plurality of media sources is associated with at least one of an analog television broadcast, an analog video-on-demand (VOD) presentation or a video cassette recorder (VCR) playback based on automated measurement of lineup (AMOL) data included in the first information and an audio spectral shape measurement included in the second information.

5. A method as defined in claim 4 further comprising deciding whether the one of the plurality of media sources is associated with the at least one of the analog television broadcast, the analog VOD presentation or the VCR playback based on whether the audio spectral shape measurement is representative of a cable television transmission system.

6. A method as defined in claim 1 wherein identifying the one of the plurality of media sources comprises deciding whether the one of the plurality of media sources is associated with at least one of a live digital television broadcast, a time-shifted digital television presentation or a digital versatile disk (DVD) presentation based on a macroblock measurement included in the first information and an audio compression measurement included in the second information.

7. A method to monitor media provided by one of a plurality of media sources for presentation by an information presenting device, the method comprising:

determining first information based on a video signal corresponding to the monitored media;

determining second information based on an audio signal corresponding to the monitored media; and

identifying the one of the plurality of media sources based on a decision tree comprising a plurality of decision nodes, a first decision node of the decision tree corresponding to a first classification decision resulting from processing at least one of the first information or the second information, and a second decision node of the decision tree corresponding to a second classification decision resulting from processing at least one of the first information or the second information, the second decision node of the decision tree being selected for evaluation based on an outcome of evaluating the first decision node of the decision tree,

wherein identifying the one of the plurality of media sources comprises deciding whether the one of the plurality of media sources is associated with at least one of a live digital television broadcast, a time-shifted digital television presentation or a DVD presentation based on a macroblock measurement included in the first information and an audio compression measurement included in the second information, and further comprising:

deciding that the one of the plurality of media sources is the DVD presentation if the macroblock measurement is representative of a media presentation exhibiting macroblocking and the audio compression measurement is representative of AC3 compression, and

deciding that the one of the plurality of media sources is at least one of the live digital television broadcast or the time-shifted digital television if the macroblock measurement is representative of a media presentation exhibiting substantially no macroblocking and the audio compression measurement is representative of AC3 compression.

8. A tangible machine readable storage device or storage disk comprising machine readable instructions which, when executed, cause a machine to at least:

determine first information based on a video signal corresponding to monitored media provided by one of a plurality of media sources for presentation by an information presenting device;

determine second information based on an audio signal corresponding to the monitored media; and

identify the one of the plurality of media sources based on a decision tree comprising a plurality of at least three decision nodes, a first decision node of the decision tree corresponding to a first classification decision resulting from processing at least one of the first information or the second information, a second decision node of the decision tree corresponding to a second classification decision resulting from processing at least one of the first information or the second information, and a third decision node of the decision tree corresponding to a third classification decision resulting from processing at least one of the first information or the second information, the second decision node of the decision tree being selected for evaluation based on an outcome of evaluating the first decision node of the decision tree, the third decision node of the decision tree being selected for evaluation based on an outcome of evaluating the second decision node of the decision tree.

9. A storage device or storage disk as defined in claim 8 wherein the first information comprises at least one of detected metadata, detected text, a blurriness measurement, a blank frame, a macroblock measurement or a template.

10. A storage device or storage disk as defined in claim 8 wherein the second information comprises at least one of an audio code, an audio signature, a volume measurement, an audio compression measurement, a jingle measurement or an audio spectral shape measurement.

11. A storage device or storage disk as defined in claim 8 wherein the machine readable instructions, when executed, further cause the machine to decide whether the one of the plurality of media sources is associated with at least one of an analog television broadcast, an analog video-on-demand (VOD) presentation or a video cassette recorder (VCR) playback based on automated measurement of lineup (AMOL) data included in the first information and an audio spectral shape measurement included in the second information.

12. A storage device or storage disk as defined in claim 11 wherein the machine readable instructions, when executed, further cause the machine to decide whether the one of the plurality of media sources is associated with the at least one of the analog television broadcast, the analog VOD presentation or the VCR playback based on whether the audio spectral shape measurement is representative of a cable television transmission system.

13. A storage device or storage disk as defined in claim 8 wherein the machine readable instructions, when executed, further cause the machine to decide whether the one of the plurality of media sources is associated with at least one of a live digital television broadcast, a time-shifted digital television presentation or a digital versatile disk (DVD) presentation based on a macroblock measurement included in the first information and an audio compression measurement included in the second information.

14. A tangible machine readable storage device or storage disk comprising machine readable instructions which, when executed, cause a machine to at least:

determine first information based on a video signal corresponding to monitored media provided by one of a plurality of media sources for presentation by an information presenting device;

determine second information based on an audio signal corresponding to the monitored media; and

identify the one of the plurality of media sources based on a decision tree comprising a plurality of decision nodes, a first decision node of the decision tree corresponding to a first classification decision resulting from processing at least one of the first information or the second information, and a second decision node of the decision tree corresponding to a second classification decision resulting from processing at least one of the first information or the second information, the second decision node of the decision tree being selected for evaluation based on an outcome of evaluating the first decision node of the decision tree, wherein the machine readable instructions, when executed, further cause the machine to:

decide whether the one of the plurality of media sources is associated with at least one of a live digital television broadcast, a time-shifted digital television presentation or a digital versatile disk (DVD) presentation based on a macroblock measurement included in the first information and an audio compression measurement included in the second information;

decide that the one of the plurality of media sources is the DVD presentation if the macroblock measurement is representative of a media presentation exhibiting macroblocking and the audio compression measurement is representative of AC3 compression, and decide that the one of the plurality of media sources is at least one of the live digital television broadcast or the time-shifted digital television if the macroblock measurement is representative of a media presentation exhibiting substantially no macroblocking and the audio compression measurement is representative of AC3 compression.

15. A tangible machine readable storage device or storage disk comprising machine readable instructions which, when executed, cause a machine to at least:

count a number of zero crossings associated with a plurality of audio samples corresponding to a media presentation;

determine whether the audio signal is muted based on whether the number of zero crossings exceeds a threshold; and

based on whether the audio signal is determined to be muted, use the audio signal to at least one of determine a source of the media presentation or determine a special operating mode of the source of the media presentation.

16. A storage device or storage disk as defined in claim 15 wherein the machine readable instructions, when executed, further cause the machine to determine a volume of the audio signal based on an energy associated with the plurality of audio samples if the number of zero crossings does not exceed the threshold.

17. A storage device or storage disk as defined in claim 15 wherein the threshold is a first threshold and the machine readable instructions, when executed, further cause the machine to determine a volume of the audio signal based on an energy associated with the plurality of audio samples if the number of zero crossings does not exceed the first threshold and the energy exceeds a second threshold.

18. A storage device or storage disk as defined in claim 17 wherein the machine readable instructions, when executed, further cause the machine to determine that the audio signal is muted if the number of zero crossings exceeds the first threshold and the energy does not exceed the second threshold.

19. A storage device or storage disk as defined in claim 15 wherein the machine readable instructions, when executed, further cause the machine to determine that the audio signal is muted if the number of zero crossings exceeds the threshold.

20. A storage device or storage disk as defined in claim 15 wherein the machine readable instructions, when executed, further cause the machine to use the audio signal to determine the source of the media presentation if the audio signal is determined to not be muted.

21. A storage device or storage disk as defined in claim 15 wherein the machine readable instructions, when executed, further cause the machine to use the audio signal to determine the special operating mode of the source of the media presentation if the audio signal is determined to be muted.

22. A storage device or storage disk as defined in claim 21 wherein the machine readable instructions, when executed, further cause the machine to determine that the special operating mode corresponds to at least one of an audio mute mode, a pause mode or a trick mode if the audio signal is determined to be muted.

23. A tangible machine readable storage device or storage disk comprising machine readable instructions which, when executed, cause a machine to at least:

generate a plurality of transform coefficients associated with a plurality of audio samples corresponding to a media presentation;

examine a subset of the plurality of transform coefficients corresponding to a frequency range exceeding a threshold frequency;

determine whether the audio signal is compressed based on a number of transform coefficients substantially equal to zero in the subset of the plurality of transform coefficients; and

determine a source of the media presentation based on whether the audio signal is determined to be compressed.

24. A storage device or storage disk as defined in claim 23 wherein the machine readable instructions, when executed, further cause the machine to determine that the audio signal is compressed if the number of transform coefficients exceeds a threshold.

25. A storage device or storage disk as defined in claim 23 wherein the machine readable instructions, when executed, further cause the machine to:

determine that the audio signal is compressed according to a first compression format if the number of transform coefficients exceeds a threshold; and

determine that the audio signal is compressed according to a second compression format if the number of transform coefficients does not exceed the threshold and the plurality of transform coefficients substantially match a reference frequency characteristic.

26. A storage device or storage disk as defined in claim 25 wherein the first compression format corresponds to AC3 audio compression and the second compression format corresponds to MPEG audio compression.

27. A storage device or storage disk as defined in claim 23 wherein the machine readable instructions, when executed, further cause the machine to:

determine that the source is a digital source if the audio signal is determined to be compressed; and

determine that the source is an analog source if the audio signal is determined to not be compressed.

28. A tangible machine readable storage device or storage disk storing machine readable instructions which, when executed, cause a machine to at least:

generate a plurality of interpixel differences associated with a plurality of video samples corresponding to a video frame, the video samples corresponding to a media presentation;

determine a first power spectral density associated with the plurality of interpixel differences;

determine a second power spectral density based on filtering the first power spectral density;

determine whether the video signal is compressed based on a difference between the first power spectral density and the second power spectral density; and

determine a source of the media presentation based on whether the video signal is determined to be compressed.

29. A storage device or storage disk as defined in claim 28 wherein the machine readable instructions, when executed, further cause the machine to determine that the video signal is compressed if the first power spectral density is substantially different from the second power spectral density.

30. A storage device or storage disk as defined in claim 28 wherein the machine readable instructions, when executed, further cause the machine to process the first power spectral density with a median filter to determine the second power spectral density.

31. A storage device or storage disk as defined in claim 28 wherein the machine readable instructions, when executed, further cause the machine to determine that the source is a video game presentation if the first power spectral density is substantially equal to the second power spectral density.

32. A storage device or storage disk as defined in claim 28 wherein the machine readable instructions, when executed, further cause the machine to:

determine that the source is a digital source if the video signal is determined to be compressed; and

determine that the source is an analog source if the video signal is determined to not be compressed.