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chiledog said:

There are multiple technical ways you can skip commercials. A few years ago I had a JVC VCR that could automatically skip commercials. It did a pretty good job.

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I have an RCA VCR that does the same thing. It records, then rewinds and then goes through and "marks" the commercials. It takes a while but when you watch the playback, it starts fastforwarding at the beginning of the commercials and stops when the program comes back on. No idea how it distinguishes but it was really nifty (before DVRs, of course). I've never tried it with DISH since it now eats videos.

Current commercial/advertisement detection is done with the sensing of a combination of audio level and video blackout. Just before a commercial is aired, there is usually a black screen lasting sometimes less than a second, and an increase in audio level.

It's a pretty simple method, and isn't foolproof. But, it works pretty well, from what I understand.

I was stupid enough to purchase a Go-Video dual deck dubbing VCR a few years back which was able to be programmed to pause & fast forward through commercials or unwanted footage before being recorded by the other VCR. As with most VCR's, the tape would either move back or ahead and you would never get a flawless/seemless recording. I went through 3 decks with all having the same problem. I had to purchase a new Philips DVDR 80 unit this afternoon to replace a DVDR 72 which took a dive. I was hoping for some kind of editing control such as that of the Go-Video but to no avail. Has anyone come across any such DVD recorder? I thought a unit with a HD might have something but at $500 and up I decided to pass. I do have software such as Click to DVD in my SONY VAIO which should work but I have yet to learn the steps to create a flawless DVD.

Thanks,

Dale

GaryPen said:

Current commercial/advertisement detection is done with the sensing of a combination of audio level and video blackout. Just before a commercial is aired, there is usually a black screen lasting sometimes less than a second, and an increase in audio level.

It's a pretty simple method, and isn't foolproof. But, it works pretty well, from what I understand.

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It used to - but from what I've seen the bad guys are catching on. Straight cuts, and less audio level differences. Oh well.

One reason it worked well then and now doesn't, is automation. Automated master control can be frame accurate, meaning if the switching between program elements can be perfect, as it is basically the same as a non-linear edit decision list. If the prep is done so that the last frame of a program segment is still in video and and the first frame of a commercial element is also in video, the commercial removal system will have no cue, as it usually keys on a few frames of black/silence. Most automation prep is done by placing a frame of black at start of message and end of message, so that there is at least some psychological separation that helps the viewer distinguish between two program elements, but a frame or two is usually not enough for a removal system to do the same.

By contrast, non-automated master control contained a lot of slop, since it is based on an operator pressing a button at a strategic time, and usually a sequence of buttons to dead-roll VTRs and then "take" them on a switcher. Regular fades to and from black with 5 or more frames of black in between program elements was extremely common, and nearly unavoidable. And manual master control is going the way of the blacksmith and the typewriter.

Another reason is the trend of commercial lengths being quite varied compared to broadcasting a few years ago, and automation has helped lead into this as well. 10 years ago most commercials and promos were 30 seconds long. Now, many still are, but many are not. Since the early removal systems keyed on not just fade to black with silence, but their algorithm also included another criteria--that the fades had to happen between 28 and 32 seconds apart--these days that criteria is only met about half the time reducing the accuracy rate.

The Replay system was much more sophisticated and worked quite well, but it angered the powers that be and helped hasten Replay's demise as a contender on the PVR scene. They removed the feature a couple years ago, but by then the damage had been done.