A Cambridge firm has developed a new system designed to make TV content accessible for colourblind viewers.
Spectral Edge has developed Eyeteq in a bid to transform the TV viewing experience for the estimated 4% of the world’s population that suffers from colourblindness.
Eyeteq has been integrated with STMicroelectronics’ ‘Cannes’ set-top-box chipset, making it easily available to operators and service providers. It will be on show in STMicroelectronics’ private suite at IBC 2015.
Eyeteq allows colour-blind viewers to better differentiate between colour combinations they struggle to see, such as red-green and pink-grey, allowing them to see image and video details they previously could not. As a result, colour blind viewers strongly prefer the processed output. Another benefit is that Eyeteq delivers this strong enhancement for colour-blind viewers with minimal impact on the picture seen by “colour normals” enabling everyone to watch and enjoy the same screen together. With Eyeteq enabled, content streamed to a set-top box is enhanced on a frame by frame basis before being displayed on the TV screen.
“Over 250 million people around the world, including 8% of men, suffer some form of colour-deficient vision. This is a particular frustration when they want to watch TV with family and friends,” said Christopher Cytera, Managing Director, Spectral Edge. “The combination of our patented Eyeteq image enhancement technology and STMicroelectronics’ widely used set-top-box platforms provides the perfect solution, transforming the viewing experience while enabling operators to differentiate themselves and add new subscribers by delivering content to this large demographic group.”
Eyeteq is licensed on a fixed fee, annual subscription basis, with operators receiving ongoing support and enhancements.
Formed in February 2011, Spectral Edge is a spin-out company of the Colour Group of the School of Computing Sciences at the University of East Anglia in Norwich.
