TELEVISION AUDIENCE MONITORING SYSTEM AND METHOD DETECTING LIGHT EMITTED BY A DISPLAY OF A CABLE CONVERTER BOX

摘要

An optical interface device and method for determining a currently tuned-to channel of a set-top converter box having an electronic display that indicates the currently tuned-to channel via seven-segment elements. The optical interface device includes a plurality of phototransistors, each of which are optically coupled to individual segments of the seven-segment elements. The device further includes a controller that receives signals from said phototransistors and generates information representative of the currently tuned-to tuned channel for use by downstream components. The information representative of the tuned channel may be output as an ASCII value representative of the currently tuned-to channel. The optical interface may be part of a viewership metering system when used in conjunction with a viewership collection meter to determine viewer habits.