Roku's Latest Patent: A New Era of TV Advertising?



Roku's Latest Patent: A New Era of TV Advertising?

What This Means for Your Roku Viewing Experience


Roku's Latest Patent


In the ever-evolving world of technology, it's no surprise that companies are constantly seeking innovative ways to maximize their resources. One such company, Roku, a leading manufacturer of TV and streaming devices, has recently filed a patent that could potentially redefine how we experience advertisements on our televisions.

Roku's latest patent suggests a future where televisions could display ads when you pause a movie or a game. The company sees the idle time when the TV is on, but users aren't actively engaged, as a valuable resource. This isn't a new concept for Roku, which has already been leasing out ad space in its popular Roku City screensaver to various companies, including McDonald's and promotions for movies like Barbie.

As highlighted by the tech newsletter Lowpass, Roku values this idle time and its screensaver so much that it prohibits app developers from overriding the screensaver with their own. However, when you plug in an external device like an Xbox or a DVD player into the HDMI port on a Roku TV, you bypass the company's screensaver and other ads. And so, Roku has been working on a solution to this.

Roku's recent patent filing, as reported by Lowpass on April 4, outlines a technology that would allow the company to inject ads into third-party content, such as an Xbox game or a Netflix movie, using an HDMI connection. The patent describes a scenario where you're playing a video game and hit pause to check your phone or grab a snack. At this juncture, Roku would identify that you've paused the content and display a relevant ad until you unpause the game.

Roku's technology isn't designed to randomly inject ads while you're playing a game or watching a movie, as the company recognizes that this would likely upset users. Instead, the patent suggests several methods for Roku to detect when your TV is paused, such as comparing frames or using the HDMI's audio feed to search for extended periods of silence. The company also proposes using HDMI CEC, a protocol designed to improve device communication, to determine when you pause and unpause content.

Similarly, Roku's patent explains that it will use various methods to detect what people are playing or watching and attempt to display relevant ads. For instance, if it detects you have an Xbox plugged in, it might serve you ads tailored to an Xbox owner's interests.

While this patent doesn't guarantee that Roku will implement this technology, it certainly provides an intriguing glimpse into a potential future of TV advertising. As always, time will tell how users and the broader industry respond to such innovations.




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