An apparatus and method for verifying the status of accounts such as credit card accounts prior to extending credit. Codes representing bad accounts such as overdrawn or lost card accounts are recorded in a memory and are automatically compared with codes of accounts presented to the system. In one form, the account to be verified is defined by a code generated when a code recorded on a magnetic recording strip of a card is automatically read resulting in the generation of electrical code signal...

A memory system for simultaneously accessing a memory from a large number of sources includes a cyclic memory from which stored information is continuously read by a plurality of read means and temporarily entered into comparison registers, input registers receive and temporarily store at least one of the coded digits on said memory, and comparators generate a signal upon the existence of a coincidence between a coded digit momentarily in said comparator register and a coded digit temporarily st...

A video signal scrambling system for use with a pay television system in which video signals are scrambled so that only specified subscribers can receive the program. Inversion of the video signal level for scrambling is performed only when the average gradation of the video signals varies relatively largely so that flickering is eliminated from the reproduced picture.

A coding system for use in a television system wherein at least a part of a television signal is inverted by an encoder at a broadcasting station, according to a code signal and the coded television signal is decoded by decoders of specific subscribers to be reproduced on TV sets. The coding system is comprised of a clock oscillation means, a mode generating means for generating signals indicating plural inversion modes, a counter for counting clock signals from the clock oscillation means, a se...

A video cipher processing system comprising a detecting means for detecting average tone variation of TV video signals, an extracting means for extracting at random at least some of outputs from the detecting means as a result of the detection and a ciphering means for ciphering video signals by inverting or non-inverting polarities of video signals in response to outputs extracted at random by the extracting means.

A credit card verification system is disclosed for use with identification cards carrying a changeable recording medium. On presentation, cards are sensed to provide signals that are indicative of the credit status of the bearer and additionally, the system senses signals to indicate that the card is being used for the first time, providing such is the case. The initial-use situation is indicated by the system (as a caution) and the card is cleared of such representations for further use. As dis...

An identification system is disclosed in which a stand-along data terminal reads identification data from an identification card presented at the terminal. The terminal also reads real-time data at the time of each such card presentation. A removable cassette, when plugged into the terminal, records the identification data and the real-time data which is generated by the terminal. The cassette is removed from the terminal so that the recorder data information can be carried and transported to a ...

An improved system is disclosed for detecting invalid transaction cards at remote transaction terminals. The system includes providing each terminal with a master table having data corresponding to invalid cards. The data in the master table is less than the actual account numbers of the invalid cards. By using a compressed version of the data, the file can be shortened to facilitate storage and transmission. The compressed data file is arranged such that when an invalid card is presented, it wi...

A television signal processing system characterized in that a level of at least a portion of a blanking interval of a coded television signal is shifted towards a white level and falling of the level shifting interval is shaped into a smooth waveform.

Apparatus is disclosed which modifies a video signal (in the video frequency range) for scrambling (encoding) and unscrambling (decoding) video signals for television pictures.