Two alternatives:
1. (Easy) The TV volume jumps when adverts start. You can use that jump to identify a commercial started (see comment on Israeli paper below). False positive: An explosion in a movie.
2. (Hard) Write software that has a sound fingerprint database of the first couple of seconds of common commercials which it uses to send mute signals to tv to mute it for a typical advertisement duration.
* Catch probability > 90%
* Should be able to understand that a commercial started within 3 seconds
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pattern_recognition
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acoustic_fingerprint
Arduino based solution: http://blog.makezine.com/2011/08/16/enough-already-the-arduino-solution-to-overexposed-celebs/
Israeli Students Patent Device That Mutes TV Ads, from the comments:
In Ads, the audio typically pegs the meter, ofting a clear starting point in the 'muting' process. The cadence of the track itself will doubtless offer additional 'clues,' ie.: music/voice ratio, s/n ratio.
The processor must sample your (active) program material periodically, and record a set of average levels. These are then compared to the (new) offending audio track. When the original track returns, it auto restores the signal. This process is so simple that it could easily be incorporated into every new digital TV.
