`Hunter
`
`US006430603B2
`US 6,430,603 B2
`*Aug. 6, 2002
`
`(io) Patent No.:
`(45) Date of Patent:
`
`(54) SYSTEM FOR DIRECT PLACEMENT OF
`COMMERCIALADVERTISING, PUBLIC
`SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS AND OTHER
`CONTENT ON ELECTRONIC BILLBOARD
`DISPLAYS
`
`(75)
`
`Inventor: Charles Eric Hunter, Hilton Head
`Island, SC (US)
`
`(73) Assignee: World Theatre, Inc., Morrisville, NC
`(US)
`
`( * ) Notice:
`
`This patent issued on a continued pros¬
`ecution application filed under 37 CFR
`1.53(d), and is subject to the twenty year
`term provisions of 35 U.S.C.
`patent
`154(a)(2).
`
`Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this
`patent is extended or adjusted under 35
`U.S.C. 154(b) by 0 days.
`
`(52) U.S. CI........................
`
`8/1988 Schreiber
`4,761,641 A
`3/1989 Champion, III et al.
`4,812,843 A
`5/1993 Conway et al.
`5,214,793 A
`8/1993 Jernigan et al.
`5,233,423 A
`5,257,017 A
`10/1993 Jones et al.
`5,274,762 A
`12/1993 Peterson et al.
`11/1995 Herrick
`5,469,020 A
`5,486,819 A
`1/1996 Horie
`5,543,856 A
`8/1996 Rosser et al.
`5,612,741 A
`3/1997 Loban et al.
`5/1997 Kindell et al.
`5,630,067 A
`5,644,859 A
`7/1997 Hsu
`5,724,062 A
`3/1998 Hunter
`5,781,734 A
`7/1998 Ohno et al.
`5,845,083 A
`12/1998 Hamadani et al.
`5,848,129 A
`12/1998 Baker
`5,898,384 A *
`4/1999 Alt et al
`8/1999 Rykowski et al
`5,934,795 A *
`5,992,888 A * 11/1999 North et al
`6,073,372 A *
`6/2000 Davis
`
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`
`1
`
`Steven A. Morley, "Making Digital Cinema Actually Hap¬
`pen -What It Takes and Who's Going to Do It",Qualcomm
`Incorporated, Oct. 31, 1998.
`
`* cited by examiner
`
`Primary Examiner—Thomas R. Peeso
`(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Finnegan, Henderson,
`Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP
`(57)
`
`ABSTRACT
`
`Commercial advertisers, such as consumer product compa¬
`nies and the advertising agents that represent them, directly
`access a network of thousands of large, high resolution
`electronic displays located in high traffic areas and directly
`send their own advertisements electronically to the network
`to be displayed at
`locations and times selected by the
`advertisers.
`
`74 Claims, 2 Drawing Sheets
`
`(21) Appl. No.: 09/301,102
`(22) Filed:
`Apr. 28, 1999
`Int. CI.7
`
`(51)
`
`G06F 15/16
`709/207; 709/217; 709/219;
`709/227; 705/26; 705/27
`(58) Field of Search
`709/207, 217,
`709/218, 219, 227, 234, 238, 240; 705/26,
`27
`
`(56)
`
`References Cited
`
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`3,373,517 A
`3,376,465 A
`3,941,926 A
`4,368,485 A
`4,559,480 A
`4,734,779 A
`
`3/1968 Halperin
`4/1968 Corpew
`3/1976 Slobodzian et at.
`1/1983 Midland
`12/1985 Nobs
`3/1988 Levis et al.
`
`-ligb speed
`
`video <4 still Image Review & Input
`
`s1
`
`60
`
`LED
`Displays
`
`ÿ ÿÿÿÿÿ C-
`
`Verification Archives
`
` CBM2017-00008 Ex. 1001
`Broadsign International, LLC Petitioner
` 1
`
`
`
`U.S. Patent
`
`Aug. 6, 2002
`
`Sheet 1of 2
`
`US 6,430,603 B2
`
`20
`
`Public Internet
`Access
`
`Customer Interface Web
`Server
`
`High Speed
`Dedicated
`Connection
`
`Network
`Security
`Router/
`Access
`
`Billing via
`Phone ~~
`Line
`
`Internet
`Reporting
`
`Review
`Schedule and
`Purchase
`Time
`
`Billing
`and
`Report
`Generation
`
`Video & Still Image Review & Input
`
`190
`
`Market
`Analysis
`
`100
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`170
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`Verification Archives
`
`Video Converter/
`Scalar/Video Controller
`
`\ 120
`Digital Cameras and
`Traffic Counters
`
`150
`
`110
`
`Fig. 1
`
` 2
`
`
`
`U.S. Patent
`U.S. Patent
`
`Aug. 6, 2002
`
`Sheet 2 0f2
`Sheet 2 of 2
`
`Us 6,430,603 B2
`
`30
`
`Fig.2
`
`120
`
` 3
`
`
`
`US 6,4:
`
`50,603 B2
`
`1
`SYSTEM FOR DIRECT PLACEMENT OF
`COMMERCIAL ADVERTISING, PUBLIC
`SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS AND OTHER
`CONTENT ON ELECTRONIC BILLBOARD
`DISPLAYS
`FIELD OF THE INVENTION
`The invention relates to systems permitting advertisers to
`target geographical regions and demographic groups with
`ever changing, current advertising content without incurring
`the high fixed cost of traditional single-message billboards.
`More particularly, the invention relates to a system and
`method permitting commercial advertisers, such as con¬
`sumer product companies and the advertising agents that
`represent them, to directly access a network of thousands of
`large, high resolution electronic displays located in high
`traffic areas and to directly send their own advertisements
`electronically to the network to be displayed at locations and
`times selected by the advertiser.
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`Consumer product advertising takes many forms, such as
`television commercials, newspaper and magazine
`advertisements, mailings, point-of-sale displays, outdoor
`billboards, etc. Using current advertising media, advertisers
`engage in a constant struggle to efficiently use their budgets
`to most effectively reach their geographic and demographic
`targets.
`Focusing on the outdoor advertising component of adver¬
`tising by consumer product companies, it is well known that
`outdoor billboards have traditionally taken the form of
`single-message displays formed of printed sheets or painted
`surfaces containing the advertising content adhered to a flat
`backing. This time-honored outdoor advertising technique
`has remained essentially unchanged throughout the twenti¬
`eth century. The high cost of printing, transporting and
`mounting a message on a conventional billboardhas dictated
`that the same message remain in place for a considerable
`period of time. Thus, a conventional billboard cannot be
`readily changed to reflect current events within the geo¬
`graphic area of the billboard. Additionally, the content on a
`conventional billboard tends to become essentially "invis¬
`ible" as a part of the landscape after its content has been in
`place for a relatively short period of time, especially to
`commuters and others who regularly pass the billboard.
`Beyond the above problems with cost, single-message
`content, lack of content changeover capability, and the like,
`conventional outdoor billboards have come under increasing
`criticism because in their large numbers, and often tattered
`condition, they clutter highways with a distasteful form of
`visual "pollution". A reduction in the number of billboards
`and improvement of the appearance of those that remain, if
`accomplished while increasing the overall advertising
`impact afforded by outdoor advertising, would please virtu¬
`ally everyone.
`The use of electronic billboards has been suggested, for
`example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,612,741. However, there is no
`electronic billboard network in operation whereby commer¬
`cial advertisers may directly place ads onto selected bill¬
`boards at selected times through direct access to a master
`network. Such a network, properly designed and operated,
`promises to overcome the numerous disadvantages currently
`associated with the outdoor advertising industry, while also
`meeting the above-enumerated needs of consumer products
`advertisers.
`
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`invention, commercial
`According to the present
`advertisers, such as consumer product companies and the
`
`25
`
`2
`advertising agents that represent them, directly access a
`network of multiple large, high resolution electronic dis¬
`plays located inhightraffic areas and directly send their own
`advertisements electronically to the network to be displayed
`5 at locations and times selected by the advertisers. In pre¬
`ferred embodiments, the system of the invention includes a
`central informationprocessing center that permits customers
`to review a schedule of times and electronic display loca¬
`tions that are available for placement of advertisements, and
`to also permits customers to purchase available times at
`selected electronic display locations for placement of their
`advertising content. The customer then transmits his video
`or still image advertising content to the processing center
`where the content is reviewed for appropriateness and then
`15 transmitted to the customer-selected electronic display(s).
`The electronic displays preferably are large (e.g., 23x33%
`ft.) flat LED displays that are driven by their own video or
`image servers. Verification that the advertisements run as
`ordered is facilitated by an information storage module or,
`20 more preferably, by a digital camera or series of digital
`cameras. A traffic counter may be used to determine the
`traffic that passedby the display while the advertisement was
`running. Bills and reports containing market and demo¬
`graphic analysis are generated and sent to the customer.
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`Some of the features of the invention having been stated,
`other features will appear as the description proceeds, when
`taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in
`30 which
`FIG. 1is a block diagram showing the principal compo¬
`nents of an electronic display network constructed in accor¬
`dance with the present invention.
`FIG. 2 is a view of one of the electronic displays of the
`35 network of FIG. 1.
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE
`INVENTION
`While the present invention will be described more fully
`40 hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in
`which aspects of the preferred manner of practicing the
`present invention are shown, it is to be understood at the
`outset of the description which follows that persons of skill
`in the appropriate arts may modify the invention herein
`45 described while still achieving the favorable results of this
`invention. Accordingly, the description which follows is to
`be understood as being a broad, teaching disclosure directed
`to persons of skill in the appropriate arts, and not as limiting
`upon the present invention.
`Referring to the drawings, and particularly to FIG. 1,there
`is shown a block diagram of a system 20 for direct place¬
`ment of commercial advertisements, public service
`announcements and other content on electronic displays.
`System 20 includes a network comprising a plurality of
`55 electronic displays 30 that are located in high traffic areas in
`various geographic locations. The displays may be located in
`areas of highvehicular traffic, and also at indoor and outdoor
`locations of high pedestrian traffic, as well as in movie
`theaters, restaurants, sports arenas, casinos or other suitable
`60 locations. Thousands of displays, up to 10,000 or more
`displays worldwide, may be networked according to the
`present invention. Inpreferred embodiments, each display is
`a large (for example, 23 feet by 33% feet), high resolution,
`full color display that provides brilliant light emission from
`65 a flat panel screen.
`A customer of system 20, for example an in-house or
`agency representative of a consumer products company,
`
`50
`
` 4
`
`
`
`US 6,430,603 B2
`
`may access a central information processing station of the
`system via the Internet through a Customer Interface Web
`Server 40. The customer interface web server has a com¬
`merce engine and permits the customer to obtain and enter
`security code and billing code information into a Network
`Security Router/Access module 50. Alternatively, high
`usage customers of the system may utilize a high speed
`dedicated connection to module 50. Following access, the
`reviews available advertising time/locations
`customer
`through a Review Schedule and Purchase Time module 60
`that permits the customer to see what time is available on
`any display throughout the world and thereafter schedule
`and purchase the desired advertising time slot. Next, the
`customer transmits the advertising content on-line through
`the Internet, a direct phone line or a high speed connection
`(for example, ISDN or DSL) for receipt by the system's
`Video & Still Image Review and Input module 70. In
`parallel, the system operator may provide public service
`announcements and other content to module 70. All content,
`whether still image or video, is formatted in NTSC, PAL,
`SECAM, YUV, YC, VGA or other suitable formats.
`The video & still image review and input module 70
`permits a system security employee to conduct a content
`review to assure that all content meets the security and
`appropriateness standards established by the system, prior to
`the content being read to the server 100 associated with each
`display 30 where the content being transmitted to the server
`100 will be displayed. Preferably, the servers are located at
`their respective displays and each has a backup.An example
`of a suitable server is the IBM RISC 6000 server.
`The means for transmitting content information to the
`display locations may take a number of forms, with it being
`understood that any form, or combination thereof, may be
`utilized at various locations within the network.As shown in
`FIG. 1, the means include:
`a. Fligh speed cable
`b. Satellite
`c. Dedicated phone
`d. Fligh speed line (e.g., ISDN)
`e. Cellular or PCS
`f. Internet
`g. Radio/radio pulse transmission
`h. Fligh speed optical fiber.
`A video converter/scaler function and a video controller
`function provided by module 110 may be utilized in con¬
`nection with those servers 100 and associated displays 30
`that require them, according to data transmission practices
`well known in the art.
`Verification that advertisements do, in fact, run at
`the
`intended time at the intended displays may be provided by
`an information storage module (not shown) linked to each
`display. Another form of verification may be achieved by a
`Digital Camera and Traffic Count Recorder 120 that con¬
`its respective
`tinuously records the content appearing at
`display 30 and digitally transmits video verification infor¬
`mation to a Verification Archives module 150. Recorder 120
`also provides traffic count information (for example, 225
`vehicles passed the display while an advertisement ran) to
`verification archives module 150.
`Information from verification archives module 150 is
`utilizedby a demographic analysis module 160 and a market
`analysis module 170 to generate information for reports to
`be sent to customers after their advertisements run. To this
`end, analysis data from modules 160 and 170 is transmitted
`to a Billing and Report Generation module 190 where
`
`reports are assembled showing, for example, the time of the
`advertisement, the content of the advertisement, the traffic
`count and residence/median income information about those
`who saw the advertisement. A representative, simplified
`report for an advertisement running on a single display is as
`follows:
`
`ÿ
`
`15
`
`20
`
`25
`
`Location:
`
`Customer: ABC Cola Co.
`Ocean Scene with graphics
`Ad Content:
`(content code 1111)
`Atlanta, Georgia, Interstate
`75 N, milepost 125 (site code
`XXXX)
`Time: 7:30 AM, June 30, 2000
`Vehicle Count: 225
`Viewer Count: 340
`Viewer Demographics:
`50% Resident Cobb
`County, GA
`Median household
`income: $60,000/yr.
`30% Resident DeKalb
`County, GA
`Median household
`income: $52,000/yr.
`20% Median household
`income $55,000/yr.
`$X
`
`Advertising Cost:
`
`For an advertisement that may have run at multiple displays,
`for example 100displays, a representative report may appear
`30 as follows:
`
`55
`
`40
`
`Locations:
`
`Customer: ABC Cola Co.
`Ad Content: Mountain Scene with
`graphics (content code 2222)
`100 sites (site codes
`YYY....ZZZ)
`Time: 8:30 AM, July 10, 2000
`Total Vehicle Count: 21,500
`Total Viewer Count: 37,200
`Viewer Demographics: Median household
`income, $49,500
`$Y
`
`Advertising Cost:
`
`Module 190 also produces bills that may be transmitted
`45 by phone lines for a debit payment such as a direct bank
`draft, or other suitable payment mode.
`Referring to FIG. 2, there is shown a pictorialview of one
`the electronic displays 30. In this
`preferred form for
`embodiment, display 30 takes the form of a 23 feet by 33%
`50 feet seamless flat screen display including multiple flat panel
`display modules. The panels utilize advanced semiconductor
`technology to provide high resolution, full color images
`utilizing light emitting diodes (LED's) with very high opti¬
`cal power (1.5-10 milliwatts or greater) that are aligned in
`55 an integrated array with each pixel having a red, green and
`blue LED. It will be appreciated that multiple LED's of a
`given color may be used at pixels to produce the desired
`light output; for example, three 1.5 milliwatt blue LED's
`may be used to produce a 4.5 milliwatt blue light output.
`60 Each red, green and blue emitter is accessed with 24 bit
`resolution, providing 16.7 million colors for every pixel.An
`overall display of 23 feet by 33% feet, so constructed, has a
`high spatial resolution defined by approximately 172,000
`pixels at an optical power that is easily viewable in bright
`65 sunlight. Suitable display modules for displays 30 are manu¬
`factured by Lighthouse Technologies of Flong Kong, China,
`under Model No. LV50 that utilize, for blue and green,
`
` 5
`
`(cid:127)
`(cid:127)
`
`
`US 6,430,
`,603 B2
`
`5
`
`20
`
`5
`InGaN LED's fabricated on single crystalline A1203
`(sapphire) substrates and,
`red, superbright AlInGaP
`for
`LED's fabricated on a suitable substrate such as GaP. These
`panels have a useful life in excess of 50,000 hours, for
`example, an expected life under the usage contemplated for
`network 20 of 150,000 to 200,000 hours and more. In
`preferred embodiments, the panels are cooled from the back
`of the displays, preferably via a refrigerant-based air con¬
`ditioning system (not shown) such as a forced air system or
`a thermal convection or conduction system. Non refrigerant- 10
`based options may be used in locations where they produce
`satisfactory cooling. The displays preferably have a very
`wide viewing angle, for example, 160°.
`While the Lighthouse Technologies displays utilize the
`InGaN on sapphire and AlInGaP on GaP LEDIs described 15
`above, other materials may be used for the LED's as
`follows:
`1. (Blue/green) InGaN on SiC, preferably with a suitable
`buffer layer such as A1N
`2. (Blue/green) InGaN on GaN
`3. (Blue/green) InGaN on A1N, preferably with a suitable
`buffer layer such as A1N.
`It will be appreciated that the InGaN on sapphire and the
`other solid state LED's described above have substrates with
`high optical transmissivity and produce very high optical 25
`power. This is important for a number of reasons, including
`giving the electronic display designers the ability to create
`very wide viewing angles up to approximately 160°, and the
`resultant increase in visibility of the displays to viewers in
`oncoming traffic.
`In addition to the particular solid state LED's mentioned
`above, the discrete sources of blue, green and red light at
`each pixel may take other forms such as composite devices
`including an ultraviolet LED that
`is utilized to excite a
`phosphor that, in turn, produces light of a selected spectrum. 35
`The ultraviolet LED may be a GaN on sapphire or GaN on
`SiC device, preferably with a suitable buffer layer. In one
`embodiment, ultraviolet LED's are incorporated into three
`different composite devices, each with a different phosphor
`for producing blue, green and red, respectively. In another 40
`embodiment, a phosphor is selected to produce white light
`and a desired color is produced by passing the white light
`through a narrow band pass filter. According to this white-
`light embodiment, filters of blue, green and red may be used
`to create discrete composite devices that produce blue, green 45
`and red light at each pixel. The use of white light with
`appropriate narrow band pass filters has the advantage of
`producing a colored light with an excellent wave length
`distribution that will not change appreciably over time, a
`desirable property for color balancing. On the other hand, 50
`the use of three different phosphors to directly produce blue,
`green and red without a filter has the advantage of higher
`efficiency because light is not filtered out. Both approaches
`have the advantage of excellent persistence which, as known
`in the art, is a desirable feature that is especially important 55
`in video applications.
`It will be appreciated that energy sources other than
`ultraviolet LED's may be used to excite the phosphors of the
`composite devices discussed immediately above.
`The provision of one or more high resolution, highly 60
`aligned digital cameras at each display site, for example the
`camera or cameras utilized in digital camera and traffic
`counter 120, or other specifically dedicated cameras, pro¬
`vides a means permitting diagnostics and calibration of the
`displays. As known in the art, certain digital cameras have 65
`a resolution of over 7,000,000 pixels—as compared to
`approximately 172,000 pixels on the above-described
`
`30
`
`6
`23x33% ft. display. Thus, by directing a digital camera at a
`display, or directing multiple digital cameras at different
`discrete portions of a display, a correspondence may be
`attained where a portion of each digital camera's image
`corresponds to a single pixelin the display.At selected times
`set aside for diagnostics and calibration, such as a five
`minute period each night, the entire display may be run red,
`then green, then blue, followed by white, all at multiple
`power levels. In the most basic diagnostic operation carried
`out when the display is run red/green/blue, the camera(s),
`mounted at a selected distance from the display such as sixty
`feet away, are capable of detecting nonfunctioning or exces¬
`sively degraded LED's for replacement.
`Beyond replacing defective LED's, each night the system
`may automatically re-calibrate all LED's in the display. To
`this end, the display is run red/green/blue at several iterative
`power levels (e.g., 20%/40%/60%/80%/100%) and the opti¬
`cal power output of each LED is sensed for each power
`level,with the goal being to calibrate the system so that each
`red, green or blue LED has the same optical power output at
`each power level as do the other LED's of the same color.
`Calibration is achieved by diode recalibration scaler soft¬
`ware that may be associated with the video converter/scaler
`at 110 (EIG. 1). The diode recalibration scaler receives
`information from the diagnostic equipment indicating the
`optical power output of each LED at the various power
`levels and, through an associated automatic calibration LED
`look-up table, accounts for daily variance in LED output
`(degradation or increase) by adjusting the power curve by
`which the LED will be driven the next day.
`As an alternative to using digital cameras for the diag¬
`nostic function, inother embodiments miniature photodector
`chips, with or without
`filters, may be located in close
`proximity to each LED in the display for measuring LED
`light output during diagnostic/calibration operations.
`When the diagnostic operation operates with an all white
`display, the three LED's at each pixel may be evaluated
`the pixel is
`individually and collectively to assure that
`contributing the proper spectrum and amount of white light.
`Through a diagnostic/calibration software package that
`interrelates output and peak wave length response for each
`red/green/blue LED at a pixel to the desired white light
`response, an iterative calibration may be undertaken at each
`pixel to correctly bias the drivers and thereby assure correct
`output.
`It will be appreciated that split screen images may be
`displayed at the displays 30. In the simplest application, a
`still image advertisement may be one half corporate logo
`and one half scenery. Beyond this simple application, split
`screen capability may be used to present a portion of the
`image as a corporate logo, or the like, and the remainder
`either real time (or near real time) video or still frame. Lor
`example, a previously qualified customer with acceptable
`internal content review procedures may have direct access to
`a display or displays for the purpose of displaying a real time
`(or near real time) sports event, news event, or the like, in
`conjunction with the customer's corporate logo. This display
`may be achieved by utilizing high speed servers 100 or by
`bypassing the servers altogether. High speed still image or
`video transfer may be facilitated by compression techniques
`such as JPEG and MPEG II, known in the art.
`While advertising scheduling and purchasing may take
`place as described above where customers directly purchase
`time from available slots according to a fixed fee schedule,
`it will be appreciated that alternative modes may be used.
`For example, an auction system such as introduced by eBay
`Corporation may be used where all available slots are
`
` 6
`
`
`
`US 6,430,
`,603 B2
`
`7
`auctioned (a "total" auction). Additionally, a limited auction
`may be utilized where time may be purchased and booked
`for a set price, but all time not purchased at the set price
`becomes available through auction at a fixed time before the
`run time, for example, one month before run time. As 5
`another alternative for a portion of the available time slots,
`a high usage customer may establish a monthly advertising
`budget with the system operator that authorizes the operator
`to select the time slots for display of the customer's adver¬
`tisements at "best available rate" pricing, taking advantage
`of last minute availability of time slots and other time slot
`placement
`techniques that enable the operator
`to more
`completely utilize the network. This or similar time slot
`placement practices when used for a portion of the available
`time slots may be implemented by a software package that
`takes into account the needs of both the customer and the 15
`system operator.
`It will be appreciated that advertising content information
`may be transmitted to the electronic display locations by
`physically delivering an information storage device such as
`CD ROM, zip drive or DVD RAM to the location in those 20
`cases where the location may be remote, or for other reasons.
`invention has been described with
`While the present
`reference to specific embodiments, it will be appreciated that
`modifications may be made without departing from the true
`spirit and scope of the invention.
`Iclaim:
`1.A system permitting commercial advertisers to directly
`place video or still image advertisements at selected times
`and locations on a network of multiple electronic displays,
`said system comprising:
`a network including a plurality of electronic displays
`located in high traffic areas such as areas of high
`vehicular traffic, indoor and outdoor areas with high
`pedestrian traffic, movie theaters, restaurants, sports
`arenas and casinos;
`at least one central information processing station includ¬
`ing:
`means permitting commercial advertising customers of
`the system to review a schedule of times and elec¬
`tronic display locations that are available for place¬
`ment of advertisements and permitting customers to 40
`purchase available times at desired electronic display
`locations for placement of their advertising content;
`means for receiving customer transmitted video or still
`image advertising content;
`means for transmitting the advertising content received 45
`from the customer to the customer-selected elec¬
`tronic display location; and
`means for driving each selected electronic display to
`display the customer's advertising content at
`the
`customer-selected time.
`2. The system of claim 1wherein at least a substantial
`number of electronic displays are LED displays.
`3. The system of claim 2 wherein each electronic display
`has its own dedicated server that receives advertising con¬
`information processing 55
`tent information from the central
`station and drives its respective electronic display to display
`the customer's advertising content at the customer-selected
`time.
`4. The system of claim 1wherein the mode of transmis¬
`sion for said means for transmitting the advertising content 60
`to the customer-selected electronic display is selected from
`the group consisting of high speed cable, satellite, dedicated
`phone, high speed line (e.g., ISDN),cellular, Internet,radio/
`radio pulse transmission and high speed optical fiber.
`5. The system of claim 1wherein said central information 65
`processing system includes a customer interface web server
`permitting public Internet access to the system.
`
`50
`
`25
`
`35
`
`8
`6. The system of claim 1including means for permitting
`review of customer advertising content before the content is
`transmitted to the customer-selected electronic display.
`7. The system of claim 1including means for generating
`a bill for the advertising time.
`8. The system of claim 1including means for generating
`to be sent
`to the customer confirming that an
`a report
`advertisement has run as ordered.
`9. The system of claim 8 wherein said means for gener¬
`ating a report serves to generate demographic or market
`analysis.
`10. The system of claim 1wherein at least a substantial
`number of said electronic displays have associated cameras.
`11. A system providing video or still image advertise¬
`ments at selected times and locations on a network of
`multiple electronic displays, said system comprising:
`a network including a plurality of electronic displays
`located in high traffic areas such as areas of high
`vehicular traffic, indoor and outdoor areas with high
`pedestrian traffic, movie theaters, restaurants, sports
`arenas and casinos;
`at least one central information processing station includ¬
`ing:
`means permitting advertising customers of the system
`to purchase time slots at selected electronic display
`locations for display of their advertising content;
`means for transmitting customer advertising content to
`the selected electronic display locations; and
`means for driving the electronic display at each
`selected location to display the customer's advertis¬
`ing content at the selected time.
`12.A method of providing video or still image advertise¬
`ments at selected times and locations on a network of
`multiple electronic displays that are located in high traffic
`areas such as areas of high vehicular traffic, indoor and
`outdoor areas with high pedestrian traffic, movie theaters,
`restaurants, sports arenas and casinos;
`permitting advertising customers of the system to pur¬
`chase time slots at selected electronic display locations
`for display of their advertising content;
`transmitting customer advertising content to the selected
`electronic display locations; and
`driving the electronic display at each selected location to
`display the customer's advertising content at
`the
`selected time.
`13.A system for presenting video or still-image content at
`selected times and locations on a networked connection of
`multiple electronic displays, said system comprising:
`a network interconnecting a plurality of electronic dis¬
`plays provided at various geographic locations;
`means for scheduling the presentation of video or still-
`image content at selected time slots on selected elec¬
`tronic displays of said network and receiving said video
`or still-image content from a content provider;
`transmission means incommunication with said receiving
`means for communicating scheduled content to respec¬
`tive server devices associated with corresponding
`selected electronic displays of said network, each said
`associated device initiating display of said video or
`still-image content at selected times on a corresponding
`selected electronic display of said network.
`14. The system as claimed in claim 13, wherein said
`geographic locations include public areas including one or
`more selected from the group comprising: areas of vehicular
`traffic, indoor and outdoor areas with pedestrian traffic,
`movie theaters, restaurants, sports arenas and casinos.
`
` 7
`
`
`
`9
`15.The system of claim 13,wherein said content includes
`one or more of public service announcements, news, or
`sporting events.
`16. The system of claim 13,wherein said means enabling
`a content provider to schedule presentation of video or
`still-image content at selected time slots on selected elec¬
`tronic displays of said network includes a central processing
`server for receiving said video or still-image content from
`said content provider and initiating said communication of
`said video or still-image content to a selected electronic
`display for displaying said content at the selected times.
`17. The system of claim 16,wherein said central process¬
`ing server comprises means for enabling said content pro¬
`vider to view time slots for each electronic display location
`that are available for placement of said video or still-image
`content, and additionally enabling said content provider to
`purchase one or more available time slots at selected elec¬
`tronic display locations for presenting said content.
`18. The system of claim 16, further comprising means in
`connection with said central processing server for enabling
`a review of received video or still image content prior to
`transmission to said associated server