As digital capabilities and experiences continue to grow the audience can choose from a variety of different channels and technologies to consume TV programs, with some having access to over 500 different channels.
Broadcasters use identifiers, called Digital On-Screen Graphic (DOG), in order to help people to identify the TV channel they are watching. It is a watermark-like station logo that most broadcasters overlay over a portion of the screen area of their programs to identify dedicated channels. DOGs are a form of permanent visual station identification, increasing brand recognition and asserting ownership of the video signal.
A DOG watermarking helps to reduce off-the-air copyright infringement. Graphics may be used to identify if the correct subscription is being used for a type of venue. The graphic changes at certain times (see below) or even includes an animation, making it harder to counterfeit. Some TV networks also include their parent company’s logo with their different channels.
TV networks also use a DOG to create interest and audience anticipation of future broadcasts. DOCs are also used to show the name of the current program or advertise upcoming programs. In some cases, DOGs are also used to tell viewers when shows are live or when they are replays.
On the other hand, watermarks pollute the picture, distract viewers’ attention, and may cover an important piece of information presented in the television program.
Connections with sponsor tags
Another graphic on television usually connected with sports (particularly in North America, though not in Europe) is the sponsor tag. It shows the logos of certain sponsors, accompanied by some background relevant to the game, the network logo, announcement and music of some kind.
TV Station Logo changes
Some broadcasters change their logos on certain occasions like Pakistani channels that change their logos during national holidays, or the TCS television network in El Salvador that adds the Salvadoran flag to their channel logo each September to celebrate the Independence Month.
In ad breaks, in some cases TV broadcasters are required to replace the channel watermark with a special symbol – often on the other edge of the screen – indicating there are ads playing at the moment.
DataScouting TV Station Logo Recognition
TV Station Logo Recognition plays an important role in claiming video content ownership, logo-based broadcasting surveillance, commercial skipping, and program rebroadcasting with new logos.
DataScouting has used Deep Learning to automatically identify changes in a TV Station Logo. The system is trained with original logos of the stations and can identify even small changes such as changes in colour, or geometry verification. The system also works very efficiently with DOGs that include animation.
The output of the system are alerts that include textual or PDF reports, which show the changed logo in comparison with the original one, and it can be customized according to the needs of the customer.
The system can be used for compliance reasons, where the authorities need to check if TV stations are compliant with the laws of each country.
Reach out to find more about the DataScouting TV Station Logo Recognition solution.
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