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by Max Power on April 9th, 2006

Max Power

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Are there any TVs that'll mute commercials for me automatically?

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Answers. 6 helpful answers below.

  • by keith.cromm on February 13th, 2011

    keith.cromm

    It is 100% incorrect stating "there is no effective way to identify and mute commercials. They contain no consistent and reliable identifying features."

    Commercials have 100% identifiable data during the broadcast of a show.

    This is especially true since HDTV went into effect as digital data rides with the show. How else do you think the networks can 'prevent' the recording of shows per their choosing? Same goes with technology which mutes the source of their advertisements. There are also specs for networks to be able to broadcast any data, such as coupons, photos, websites, more detailed data; e.g. internet on the TV.

    I have pursued a 6 patents in regards to muting the volume when a show pauses (i.e. commercial) and unmute when the show continues

    Guess who has come in and "quashed" the patent filings?
    ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX, to name a few.

    I will be releasing the specs in June 2011 of how to effectively mute during commercials.
    The initial release will be for over-the-air signals. Cable and dish connections will take up to 6 months after that.

    Thank you,

    Keith Cromm

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  • by thedaisycutter on August 30th, 2010

    thedaisycutter

    I appreciate that it might be quite difficult to automatically identify an advert, it can't be too hard to add a feature so a user presses a button when an advert starts and finishes and the TV or computer remembers that specific advert and stops it playing again. This seems to offers some benefits to all parties, the user only has to watch a specific advert once, the broadcaster annoys its audience less and the advertiser still has people watch the advert once.

    Admittedly, once an advert has been identified by one user its signature could be shared...

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  • by aydeology on November 17th, 2008

    aydeology

    so that mutemagic thing sounds like a sales pitch...
    what i do is just buy the full dvd set of my favorite tv shows once the season is over, and then i can watch all the episodes commercial-free. or you can buy individual episodes the day after they air online at amazon.com video on demand. i do this for smallville and supernatural. try hulu.com too - they are 100% free, with about 4 commercials per episode.

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  • by RedJohn on April 13th, 2006

    RedJohn

    Some have tried to do this, but there is no effective way to identify and mute commercials. They contain no consistent and reliable identifying features.

    Many commercials are played at a higher volume level, but this is a very inaccurate way to identify a commercial, since the average volume of program material varies. The volume is highly variable within a program: chase scenes, gunshots, and explosions tend to be noisier than dialog.

    Since commercials carry no identification tag embedded in the broadcast data, a television would need to identify a commercial by analyzing both the video and audio content and comparing this with known patterns generated by commercials. This would be extremely difficult to do reliably. Consumers would reject a monitoring system that had even a modest failure rate, particularly if it muted program material by accident.

    If there was a way to reliably mute commercials, one or more manufacturers would already have offered such a feature in their televisions, either as an added-cost option or a premium feature.

    (Imagine tryting to watch a show highlighting award-winning commercials: any system that tried to distinguish content from commercial would have a fit.)

    ==========
    Re: Comments concerning the "MuteMagic" (a commercial product).

    Without reliable third party testing, any claims made by the manufacturers of such products cannot be verified and should be treated with caution.

    I note that the website for this product claims: "MuteMagic is able to mute commercials with a high degree of accuracy." The phrase "a high degree of accuracy" doesn't guarantee anything in a legal sense nor does it tell us anything about the performance of this product. It sounds good, but says nothing (e.g., 'weasel words'). We should instead refer to both the Operations Guide and Setup Guide for this product: "Disclaimer: MuteMagic is not 100 % reliable at detecting Commercial Breaks, and this should be understood prior to purchasing this product. It may, however, amaze you with its accuracy." I won't be "amaze[d]" unless it mutes 100% of the commercials and passes 100% of the program material. It doesn't work with off-air broadcasts, which leaves out a goodly percentage of the viewing public, and it requires an external microphone, which further complicates its installation.

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  • by Peter_B8900 on April 9th, 2011

    Peter_B8900

    There are a number of devices out there like TERK VR-1 TV Volume Regulator etc but does anyone know of a reliable TV muter that includes a broardcast receiver then processes the data and transmits via a IR remove to mute a TV?

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  • by estephan on August 27th, 2010

    estephan

    There is a small device called MuteMagic that does exactly that. It will automatically mute Live TV commercial. www.mutemagic.com

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