Video Encoded Invisible Light - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Video Encoded Invisible Light (VEIL) is a technology for encoding low-bandwidth digital data bitstream

Bitstream

A bitstream or bit stream is a time series of bits.A bytestream is a series of bytes, typically of 8 bits each, and can be regarded as a special case of a bitstream....

in video signal, developed by VEIL Interactive Technologies. VEIL is compatible with multiple formats of video signals, including PAL

PAL

PAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is an analogue television colour encoding system used in broadcast television systems in many countries. Other common analogue television systems are NTSC and SECAM. This page primarily discusses the PAL colour encoding system...

, SECAM

SECAM

SECAM, also written SÉCAM , is an analog color television system first used in France....

, and NTSC

NTSC

NTSC, named for the National Television System Committee, is the analog television system that is used in most of North America, most of South America , Burma, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and some Pacific island nations and territories .Most countries using the NTSC standard, as...

. The technology is based on a steganographically

Steganography

Steganography is the art and science of writing hidden messages in such a way that no one, apart from the sender and intended recipient, suspects the existence of the message, a form of security through obscurity...

encoded data stream in the luminance

Luminance

Luminance is a photometric measure of the luminous intensity per unit area of light travelling in a given direction. It describes the amount of light that passes through or is emitted from a particular area, and falls within a given solid angle. The SI unit for luminance is candela per square...

of the videosignal

Composite video

Composite video is the format of an analog television signal before it is combined with a sound signal and modulated onto an RF carrier. In contrast to component video it contains all required video information, including colors in a single line-level signal...

.

A recent application of VEIL, the Veil Rights Assertion Mark (VRAM or V-RAM) is a copy-restriction signal that can be used to ask devices to apply DRM

Digital rights management

Digital rights management is a class of access control technologies that are used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders and individuals with the intent to limit the use of digital content and devices after sale. DRM is any technology that inhibits uses of digital content that...

technology. This has been seen as analogous to the broadcast flag

Broadcast flag

A broadcast flag is a set of status bits sent in the data stream of a digital television program that indicates whether or not the data stream can be recorded, or if there are any restrictions on recorded content...

. It is also known as "CGMS-A

CGMS-A

Copy Generation Management System - Analog is a copy protection mechanism for analog television signals. It consists of a waveform inserted into the non-picture Vertical Blanking Interval of an analogue video signal...

plus Veil" and "broadcast flag on steroids."

There are two versions of VEIL on the market:

VEIL 1, or VEIL-I, has raw speed of 120 bits per second. It is used for unidirectional communication (TV→devices) with simple devices or toys, and to deliver coupon
Coupon
In marketing, a coupon is a ticket or document that can be exchanged for a financial discount or rebate when purchasing a product. Customarily, coupons are issued by manufacturers of consumer packaged goods or by retailers, to be used in retail stores as a part of sales promotions...

s with TV advertising
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...

. It manipulates the luminance
Luminance
Luminance is a photometric measure of the luminous intensity per unit area of light travelling in a given direction. It describes the amount of light that passes through or is emitted from a particular area, and falls within a given solid angle. The SI unit for luminance is candela per square...

of the video signal in ways difficult to perceive to human eye.

VEIL 2, or VEIL-II, has speed of 7200-bit/s and is one of the technologies of choice for interactive television
Interactive television
Interactive television describes a number of techniques that allow viewers to interact with television content as they view it.- Definitions :...

, as it allows communication with VEIL servers through devices equipped with backchannels. Veil 2 capable set-top box
Set-top box
A set-top box or set-top unit is an information appliance device that generally contains a tuner and connects to a television set and an external source of signal, turning the signal into content which is then displayed on the television screen or other display device.-History:Before the...

es can communicate with other devices via WiFi
WIFI
WIFI is a radio station broadcasting a brokered format. Licensed to Florence, New Jersey, USA, the station is currently operated by Florence Broadcasting Partners, LLC.This station was previously owned by Real Life Broadcasting...

, Bluetooth
Bluetooth
Bluetooth is a proprietary open wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances from fixed and mobile devices, creating personal area networks with high levels of security...

, or other short-range wireless technologies. VEIL 2 manipulates the average luminance of the alternate lines of the signal, where one is slightly raised and the other one is slightly lowered (or vice versa), encoding a bit in every pair of lines.

The symbols (groups of 4 data bits) transmitted by VEIL-II system are encoded as "PN sequences", sequences of 16 "chips". Groups of 4 chips are encoded in pairs of lines. Each line pair is split to 4 parts, where the luminance is raised or lowered (correspondingly vice versa in the other line). In NTSC, 4-bit symbols are encoded in groups of 8 scan lines. With 224 lines per field this equals 112 bits per field, or 7200 bits per second of broadcast. VEIL-II uses scan lines 34 to 258. The PN stands for "pseudo noise" and signifies the 0.5/0.5 relative frequencies of ones and zeroes. In practice, 20 chips per line are preferred, increasing redundancy and allowing for better error detection. The PN encoding is a form of spread spectrum

Spread spectrum

Spread-spectrum techniques are methods by which a signal generated in a particular bandwidth is deliberately spread in the frequency domain, resulting in a signal with a wider bandwidth...

modulation.

Stripping the VEIL signal from the video is supposed to be more difficult than tampering with the VBI, therefore VEIL 1 is proposed as a DRM

Digital rights management

tool. The signal can survive recording to video, and various sorts of digital compression. The detection devices are low-cost and can be used in a range of devices, from toys to cellphones.

Use in toys

The technology was developed for transmitting data from the video on screen (originally used on The Batman
The Batman (TV series)
The Batman is an American animated television series produced by Warner Bros. Animation based on the DC Comics superhero Batman. It ran from 2004 to 2008, on the Saturday morning television block Kids' WB...

) to a line of Batman

Batman

Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...

toys based on the series, supplying them with information about the series and unlocking their hidden capabilities.

For example:

The Batwave Communicator Handheld Device, when within 10 feet in the line of sight from the TV, will show engine graphics, diagnostics, weapon systems, and enables various games stored in the device.
Batwave Batman Action Figure
Action figure
An action figure is a posable character figurine, made of plastic or other materials, and often based upon characters from a film, comic book, video game, or television program. These action figures are usually marketed towards boys and male collectors...

will pop wings from its back and light up the emblem on its chest when subjected to the videosignal from the TV.
Batwave Batmobile
Batmobile
The Batmobile is the automobile of DC Comics superhero Batman. The car has evolved along with the character from comic books to television and films. Kept in the Batcave, which it accesses through a hidden entrance, the Batmobile is a gadget-laden vehicle used by Batman in his crime-fighting...

with Handheld Device will turn on various LEDs acting as its lights, play sounds, and "capture" various weapons from the show.

This technology is also used in other toys.

Toby Terrier
Toby Terrier
Toby Terrier was a toy dog manufactured in the early 1990s by Tiger Electronics. The toy was designed to make various comments and remarks when placed in front of a television playing one of the select PLUS videos from the Toby Terrier and His Video Pals video series...

is an example of another toy.

VEIL was used in various ad campaigns for Fosters Brewing Company. The campaign incorporated the use of VEIL decoders inside little figures of the famous cricket players Boon and Shane Warne. The toys would make comments during the cricket matches while in front of the tv.

Other uses

As of December 2005, VEIL was proposed as a DRM

Digital rights management

tool to counter the analog hole

Analog hole

The analog hole is a fundamental and inevitable vulnerability in copy protection schemes for noninteractive works in digital formats which can be exploited to duplicate copy-protected works that are ultimately reproduced using analog means...

, as a technological measure legally enforced by Digital Content Security Act. In this regard, it is a more fine-grained successor of Macrovision

Macrovision

Rovi Corporation is a globally operating, US-based company that provides guidance technology, entertainment data, copy protection, industry standard networking and media management technology for digital entertainment devices and services...

.

VEIL acts together with CGMS-A

CGMS-A

signal ("broadcast flag

Broadcast flag

") in the vertical blanking interval

Vertical blanking interval

The vertical blanking interval , also known as the vertical interval or VBLANK, is the time difference between the last line of one frame or field of a raster display, and the beginning of the first line of the next frame. It is present in analog television, VGA, DVI and other signals. During the...

, where it is used to encode the Rights Assertion Mark (RAM) signal. The CGMS-A can be stripped too easily from the analog signal, therefore the presence of RAM but absence of CGMS-A will tell the copy protection

Copy protection

Copy protection, also known as content protection, copy obstruction, copy prevention and copy restriction, refer to techniques used for preventing the reproduction of software, films, music, and other media, usually for copyright reasons.- Terminology :Media corporations have always used the term...

system to deny the copy.

Use in toys

Other uses

See also