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Claims  |
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I claim:
1. A system permitting commercial advertisers to directly place video or
still image advertisements at selected times and locations on a network of
multiple electronic displays, said system comprising:
a network including a plurality of electronic displays located in high
traffic areas such as areas of high vehicular traffic, indoor and outdoor
areas with high pedestrian traffic, movie theaters, restaurants, sports
arenas and casinos;
at least one central information processing station including:
means permitting commercial advertising customers of the system to review a
schedule of times and electronic display locations that are available for
placement of advertisements and permitting customers to purchase available
times at desired electronic display locations for placement of their
advertising content;
means for receiving customer transmitted video or still image advertising
content;
means for transmitting the advertising content received from the customer
to the customer-selected electronic display location; and
means for driving each selected electronic display to display the
customer's advertising content at the customer-selected time.
2. The system of claim 1 wherein at least a substantial number of
electronic displays are LED displays.
3. The system of claim 2 wherein each electronic display has its own
dedicated server that receives advertising content information from the
central information processing station and drives its respective
electronic display to display the customer's advertising content at the
customer-selected time.
4. The system of claim 1 wherein the mode of transmission for said means
for transmitting the advertising content to the customer-selected
electronic display is selected from the group consisting of high speed
cable, satellite, dedicated phone, high speed line (e.g., ISDN), cellular,
Internet, radio/radio pulse transmission and high speed optical fiber.
5. The system of claim 1 wherein said central information processing system
includes a customer interface web server permitting public Internet access
to the system.
6. The system of claim 1 including means for permitting review of customer
advertising content before the content is transmitted to the
customer-selected electronic display.
7. The system of claim 1 including means for generating a bill for the
advertising time.
8. The system of claim 1 including means for generating a report to be sent
to the customer confirming that an advertisement has run as ordered.
9. The system of claim 8 wherein said means for generating a report serves
to generate demographic or market analysis.
10. The system of claim 1 wherein at least a substantial number of said
electronic displays have associated cameras.
11. A system providing video or still image advertisements at selected
times and locations on a network of multiple electronic displays, said
system comprising:
a network including a plurality of electronic displays located in high
traffic areas such as areas of high vehicular traffic, indoor and outdoor
areas with high pedestrian traffic, movie theaters, restaurants, sports
arenas and casinos;
at least one central information processing station including:
means permitting advertising customers of the system to purchase time slots
at selected electronic display locations for display of their advertising
content;
means for transmitting customer advertising content to the selected
electronic display locations; and
means for driving the electronic display at each selected location to
display the customer's advertising content at the selected time.
12. A method of providing video or still image advertisements at selected
times and locations on a network of multiple electronic displays that are
located in high traffic areas such as areas of high vehicular traffic,
indoor and outdoor areas with high pedestrian traffic, movie theaters,
restaurants, sports arenas and casinos;
permitting advertising customers of the system to purchase time slots at
selected electronic display locations for display of their advertising
content;
transmitting customer advertising content to the selected electronic
display locations; and
driving the electronic display at each selected location to display the
customer's advertising content at the selected time.
13. A system for presenting video or still-image content at selected times
and locations on a networked connection of multiple electronic displays,
said system comprising:
a network interconnecting a plurality of electronic displays provided at
various geographic locations;
means for scheduling the presentation of video or still-image content at
selected time slots on selected electronic displays of said network and
receiving said video or still-image content from a content provider;
transmission means in communication with said receiving means for
communicating scheduled content to respective server devices associated
with corresponding selected electronic displays of said network, each said
associated device initiating display of said video or still-image content
at selected times on a corresponding selected electronic display of said
network.
14. The system as claimed in claim 13, wherein said geographic locations
include public areas including one or more selected from the group
comprising: areas of vehicular traffic, indoor and outdoor areas with
pedestrian traffic, movie theaters, restaurants, sports arenas and
casinos.
15. The system of claim 13, wherein said content includes one or more of
public service announcements, news, or sporting events.
16. The system of claim 13, wherein said means enabling a content provider
to schedule presentation of video or still-image content at selected time
slots on selected electronic displays of said network includes a central
processing server for receiving said video or still-image content from
said content provider and initiating said communication of said video or
still-image content to a selected electronic display for displaying said
content at the selected times.
17. The system of claim 16, wherein said central processing server
comprises means for enabling said content provider to view time slots for
each electronic display location that are available for placement of said
video or still-image content, and additionally enabling said content
provider to purchase one or more available time slots at selected
electronic display locations for presenting said content.
18. The system of claim 16, further comprising means in connection with
said central processing server for enabling a review of received video or
still image content prior to transmission to said associated server device
of said selected electronic display, said content being transmitted to
said selected electronic display upon reviewer approval of said content.
19. The system of claim 17, further comprising an interface server device
for providing Internet access to said central processing server and
enabling remote viewing, scheduling and purchasing from remote locations.
20. The system of claim 19, further including a security device for
enabling said content provider to obtain and enter security code and
billing code information to identify said content provider prior to
accessing said system.
21. The system of claim 16, further including dedicated high-speed
connection to said security device for enabling high-usage content
providers to access the system.
22. The system of claim 19, wherein said video or still-image content is
transmitted to said central processing server according to a mechanism
selected from the group comprising: on-line through the Internet, a direct
phone line, and, a high speed information transfer line.
23. The system of claim 16, wherein said still image or video content is
formatted according to one format selected from the group comprising:
NTSC, PAL, SECAM, YUV, YC, and VGA.
24. The system of claim 18, wherein each server device associated with a
corresponding electronic display receives said content from said receiving
means and provides functionality for driving said electronic displays,
said content being transmitted to a server device associated with a
selected display upon approval of said content to be displayed.
25. The system of claim 24, wherein said transmission means is selected
from the group comprising: high speed cable, a satellite link, a dedicated
phone connection, a high-speed communications line, a cellular or PCS data
transmission device, the Internet, a radio or radio pulse transmission
device, a high speed optical fiber, and physical delivery of a medium
storing said content.
26. The system of claim 25, wherein said medium storing said content
includes one of CD ROM, zip drive or DVD RAM.
27. The system of claim 25, further including a video converter/scaler
mechanism associated with a server device for each display, said video
converter/scaler mechanism enabling any required reformatting of said
content according to said transmission means implemented.
28. The system of claim 20, further including:
means linked to each electronic display at each location for verifying that
scheduled content for display is presented at the intended time at the
intended display and generating verification information pertaining
thereto; and,
means for receiving and storing said verification information generated by
each said verification means.
29. The system of claim 28, wherein said verifying means includes a digital
camera for recording the content appearing at its respective display.
30. The system of claim 28, wherein a location of said electronic display
includes a location having vehicular traffic, said system further
including a traffic count recorder means linked to each electronic display
for counting amount of traffic passing that electronic display during a
particular time slot and generating traffic count information for receipt
and storage by said storage means.
31. The system of claim 30, further including a means for receiving said
stored verification and traffic count information, analyzing said
information and generating demographic information for reports to be sent
to content providers after their content is displayed.
32. The system of claim 31, wherein said video or still-image content
includes an advertisement, said demographic information for reports
comprising information including: a time of the advertisement, the content
of the advertisement, the traffic count, and residence/median income
information about those who may have viewed the advertisement.
33. The system of claim 28, further including means for generating bills
capable of being transmitted by phone lines to a content provider.
34. The system of claim 13, wherein said electronic display is high
resolution, full color images utilizing light emitting diodes (LED's),
said LEDs including an ultraviolet LED utilized for exciting a phosphor
coating that produces light of a desired color spectrum.
35. The system of claim 34, wherein said phosphor coating is selected to
produce white light, said white light being passing through a band pass
filter to produce said desired color spectrum.
36. The system of claim 35, further including means for performing
diagnostics and calibration of said electronic displays.
37. The system of claim 36, wherein said diagnostics and calibration means
includes one or more digital camera devices aimed at portions of said
display, a portion of each digital camera's image corresponding to a
single pixel in the display, wherein said digital camera's image is
capable of detecting non-functioning or degraded LED's.
38. The system of claim 36, wherein said diagnostics and calibration means
includes:
means for iteratively causing the display of a color at each color LED at
various power levels; and,
means for sensing the optical power output of each color LED for each power
level, said calibrating including determining that each color LED has the
same optical power output at each power level as other LED's of the same
color.
39. The system of claim 36, wherein said diagnostics and calibration means
includes a diode recalibration scaler mechanism for receiving information
from the diagnostic information indicating the optical power output of
each LED at the various power levels, and, including an associated
automatic calibration LED look-up table for adjusting a power curve by
which the LED will be driven in accordance with detected variances in LED
output.
40. The system of claim 36, wherein said diagnostics and calibration means
includes utilizing one or more photodetector means located in close
proximity to each LED in the display for measuring LED light output during
diagnostic/calibration operations.
41. The system of claim 36, wherein each pixel of said electronic display
includes three colored LED's, said diagnostics and calibration means
operating with an all white display, the display LEDs at each pixel being
evaluated individually and collectively to assure that the pixel is
contributing the proper spectrum and amount of white light.
42. The system of claim 13, further including means for enabling split
screen images to be displayed at the electronic display.
43. The system of claim 42, wherein said split screen capability is
utilized to present a still image portion of the image in one display
area, and one of real time video, near real time video, or still frame in
a second display area.
44. The system of claim 22, wherein said high speed still image or video
transfer is facilitated by JPEG and MPEG data compression techniques.
45. The system of claim 16, further including auction sub-system for
enabling available time slots to be auctioned.
46. The system of claim 45, wherein said auction sub-system enables the
purchase of time slots for a set price, and all time not purchased at the
set price becomes available through said auction sub-system at a fixed
time before the run time.
47. The system of claim 16, further including means for preselecting time
slots for display of the content provider's content at a "best available
rate" pricing for those high volume content providers having establish a
monthly budget to purchase a portion of the available time slots.
48. A method for presenting video or still-image content at selected times
and locations on a networked connection of multiple electronic displays,
said method comprising:
a) providing a network interconnecting a plurality of electronic displays
at various geographic locations;
b) enabling a content provider to schedule presentation of video or
still-image content at selected time slots on selected electronic displays
of said network and receiving said video or still-image content from a
content provider;
c) providing a plurality of server devices, each server device associated
with a corresponding electronic display;
d) communicating received video or still-image content to the associated
server devices of corresponding selected electronic displays of said
network; and,
e) said server device initiating display of said video or still-image
content at selected times on an associated electronic display of said
network.
49. The method of claim 48, wherein prior to step d) of communicating
scheduled video or still-image content, the steps of:
enabling content providers to view a schedule of times and electronic
display locations that are available for placement of said content; and,
enabling content providers to purchase one or more available time slots at
selected electronic display locations for placement of their content.
50. The method of claim 48, wherein prior to step d) of communicating
scheduled video or still-image content, the steps of:
providing an appropriateness review of transmitted video or still image
content; and,
transmitting said content to said selected electronic display upon approval
of said content.
51. The method of claim 49, further comprising the step of providing said
content provider with Internet access to said system for enabling viewing,
scheduling and purchasing of available time slots and electronic display
locations from remote locations.
52. The method of claim 51, wherein prior to enabling access to said
schedule of times and available electronic display locations, the step of
providing security code and billing code information for identifying said
content provider and authorizing content provider access to said system.
53. The method of claim 49, further including providing dedicated
high-speed connection to a security device for enabling high-usage content
providers to access the schedule of times and available electronic display
locations.
54. The method of claim 51, wherein said communicating step d) further
includes the step of: enabling a content provider to transmit said content
to a central processing server according to a mechanism selected from the
group comprising: on-line through the Internet, a direct phone line, and,
a high speed information transfer line.
55. The method of claim 54, further comprising the step of formatting said
still image or video content according to a format selected from the group
comprising: NTSC, PAL, SECAM, YUV, YC, and VGA.
56. The method of claim 50, wherein a server device comprises one or more
high speed server devices associated with each electronic display for
driving said electronic displays, said method including transmitting said
content to a server device associated with a selected display upon
approval of said content to be displayed.
57. The method of claim 56, wherein said step d) of communicating scheduled
content to the associated server devices further includes the step of:
implementing a transmission mechanism selected from the group comprising:
high speed cable, a satellite link, a dedicated phone connection, a
high-speed communications line, a cellular or PCS data transmission
device, the Internet, a radio or radio pulse transmission device, a high
speed optical fiber, and physical delivery of a medium storing said
content.
58. The method of claim 52, further including the steps of:
verifying that scheduled content for display is presented at the intended
time at the intended display and generating verification information
pertaining thereto; and,
receiving and storing in a storage device said verification information
generated by each said verification means.
59. The method of claim 58, wherein said verifying step includes
implementing a digital camera for recording the content appearing at its
respective display.
60. The method of claim 58, wherein a location of said electronic display
includes a location having vehicular traffic, said method further
including the steps of: linking a traffic count recorder means to each
electronic display for counting amount of traffic passing an electronic
display during a particular time slot; and
generating traffic count information for receipt and storage by said
storage device.
61. The method of claim 60, further including the steps of:
receiving said stored verification and traffic count information; analyzing
said information; and,
generating demographic information for reports to be sent to content
providers agents after their content is displayed.
62. The method of claim 61, wherein said demographic information for
reports comprises information including: a time of the advertisement, the
content of the advertisement, the traffic count, and residence/median
income information about those who may have viewed the content.
63. The method of claim 58, further including the steps of: generating
bills associated with purchased time slots; and, transmitting said bills
via phone lines to a content provider.
64. The method of claim 49, further including the step of performing
diagnostics and calibration of said electronic displays.
65. The method of claim 64, wherein said diagnostics and calibration steps
includes:
utilizing one or more digital camera devices aimed at portions of said
display, a portion of each digital camera's image corresponding to a
single pixel in the display; and,
detecting non-functioning or degraded LED's from said digital camera's
image.
66. The method of claim 64, wherein said diagnostics and calibration step
includes:
iteratively causing the display of a color at each color LED at various
power levels; and,
sensing the optical power output of each color LED for each power level,
said calibrating including determining that each color LED has the same
optical power output at each power level as other LED's of the same color.
67. The method of claim 64, wherein said diagnostics and calibration step
includes:
implementing a diode recalibration scaler device for receiving information
from the diagnostic information indicating the optical power output of
each LED at the various power levels; and,
implementing an associated automatic calibration LED look-up table for
adjusting a power curve by which the LED will be driven in accordance with
detected variances in LED output.
68. The method of claim 64, wherein said diagnostics and calibration step
includes the step of utilizing one or more photodetector means located in
close proximity to each LED in the display for measuring LED light output
during diagnostic/calibration operations.
69. The method of claim 64, wherein each pixel of said electronic display
includes three colored LED's, wherein said diagnostics and calibration
step includes:
generating an all white display;
evaluating the display LEDs at each pixel individually and collectively to
assure that the pixel is contributing the proper spectrum and amount of
white light.
70. The method of claim 49, further including the step of: generating split
screen images for display at the electronic display.
71. The method of claim 70, wherein said split screen capability is
utilized for:
presenting a still image portion of the image in one display area, and
presenting one of real time video, near real time video, or still frame in
a second display area.
72. The method of claim 54, further including the step of auctioning
auctioning available time slots.
73. The system of claim 72, wherein said auctioning step includes:
enabling the purchase of time slots for a set price, and enabling all time
slots not purchased at the set price to become available through said
auction sub-system at a fixed time before a scheduled display time.
74. The method of claim 72, further including the step of: preselecting
time slots for display of the agent's content at a "best available rate"
pricing for those high volume content providers having establish a monthly
budget to purchase a portion of the available time slots. |
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