Display device on/off detection methods and apparatus
Display device ON/OFF detection methods and apparatus are disclosed. Example display activity detectors disclosed herein are to extract regions from respective ones of captured video frames, the regions corresponding to a depiction of a display of a monitored media device Disclosed example display activity detectors are also to compute a distance metric that is to represent an amount a first one of the regions of a first one of the captured video frames differs from a corresponding second one of the regions of a second one of the captured video frames. Disclosed example display activity detectors are further to compare the distance metric to a threshold to determine whether the monitored media device is ON or OFF.
1. A metering apparatus comprising:
a receiver;
memory including computer readable instructions; and
a processor to execute the instructions to at least:
initialize the receiver to detect signals emitted by a remote input device associated with a monitored media device;
process a first signal detected by the receiver to determine whether the first signal corresponds to any of a plurality of types of activity associated with the remote input device; and
determine whether the monitored media device is in an active state based on whether the first signal is determined to correspond to at least one of the plurality of types of activity associated with the remote input device.
2. The metering apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of types of activity associated with the remote input device includes emission of a command included in a plurality of commands representative of known activity associated with the remote input device, and the processor is to:
process the first signal to determine whether the first signal corresponds to any of the plurality of commands representative of the known activity associated with the remote input device; and
determine that the monitored media device is in the active state in response to a determination that the first signal corresponds to at least one of the plurality of commands.
3. The metering apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the plurality of commands includes at least one of a power ON command, a channel change command, a volume change command or a mute command.
4. The metering apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of types of activity associated with the remote input device includes emission of a cluster of signal pulses, and the processor is to:
process the first signal to determine whether the first signal includes the cluster of signal pulses; and
determine that the monitored media device is in the active state in response to a determination that the first signal includes the cluster of signal pulses.
5. The metering apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the signal pulses are at least one of infrared signal pulses, radio frequency signal pulses or ultrasonic signal pulses.
6. The metering apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of types of activity associated with the remote input device includes emission of signal energy, and the processor is to:
process the first signal to measure an energy of the first signal; and
determine that the monitored media device is in the active state in response to a determination that the first signal is associated with an increase in the signal energy detected by the receiver.
7. The metering apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the remote input device is a people meter control device that is to transmit presence information to a people meter associated with the monitored media device.
8. An article of manufacture comprising at least one computer readable storage device or storage disk including computer readable instructions that, when executed, cause a processor to at least:
initialize a receiver to detect signals emitted by a remote input device associated with a monitored media device;
process a first signal detected by the receiver to determine whether the first signal corresponds to any of a plurality of types of activity associated with the remote input device; and
determine whether the monitored media device is in an active state based on whether the first signal is determined to correspond to at least one of the plurality of types of activity associated with the remote input device.
9. The article of manufacture of claim 8 , wherein the plurality of types of activity associated with the remote input device includes emission of a command included in a plurality of commands representative of known activity associated with the remote input device, and the instructions, when executed, cause the processor to:
process the first signal to determine whether the first signal corresponds to any of the plurality of commands representative of the known activity associated with the remote input device; and
determine that the monitored media device is in the active state in response to a determination that the first signal corresponds to at least one of the plurality of commands.
10. The article of manufacture of claim 9 , wherein the plurality of commands includes at least one of a power ON command, a channel change command, a volume change command or a mute command.
11. The article of manufacture of claim 8 , wherein the plurality of types of activity associated with the remote input device includes emission of a cluster of signal pulses, and the instructions, when executed, cause the processor to:
process the first signal to determine whether the first signal includes the cluster of signal pulses; and
determine that the monitored media device is in the active state in response to a determination that the first signal includes the cluster of signal pulses.
12. The article of manufacture of claim 11 , wherein the signal pulses are at least one of infrared signal pulses, radio frequency signal pulses or ultrasonic signal pulses.
13. The article of manufacture of claim 8 , wherein the plurality of types of activity associated with the remote input device includes emission of signal energy, and the instructions, when executed, cause the processor to:
process the first signal to measure an energy of the first signal; and
determine that the monitored media device is in the active state in response to a determination that the first signal is associated with an increase in the signal energy detected by the receiver.
14. The article of manufacture of claim 8 , wherein the remote input device is a people meter control device that is to transmit presence information to a people meter associated with the monitored media device.
15. A metering method comprising:
initializing a receiver to detect signals emitted by a remote input device associated with a monitored media device;
processing a first signal detected by the receiver to determine whether the first signal corresponds to any of a plurality of types of activity associated with the remote input device; and
determining, based on executing an instruction with a processor, whether the monitored media device is in an active state based on whether the first signal is determined to correspond to at least one of the plurality of types of activity associated with the remote input device.
16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the plurality of types of activity associated with the remote input device includes emission of a command included in a plurality of commands representative of known activity associated with the remote input device, and wherein:
the processing of the first signal includes processing the first signal to determine whether the first signal corresponds to any of the plurality of commands representative of the known activity associated with the remote input device; and
the determining of whether the monitored media device is in the active state includes determining that the monitored media device is in the active state in response to determining that the first signal corresponds to at least one of the plurality of commands.
17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the plurality of commands includes at least one of a power ON command, a channel change command, a volume change command or a mute command.
18. The method of claim 15 , wherein the plurality of types of activity associated with the remote input device includes emission of a cluster of signal pulses, and wherein:
the processing of the first signal includes processing the first signal to determine whether the first signal includes the cluster of signal pulses; and
the determining of whether the monitored media device is in the active state includes determining that the monitored media device is in the active state in response to determining that the first signal includes the cluster of signal pulses.
19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the signal pulses are at least one of infrared signal pulses, radio frequency signal pulses or ultrasonic signal pulses.
20. The method of claim 15 , wherein the remote input device is a people meter control device that is to transmit presence information to a people meter associated with the monitored media device.