Using the Phone’s Light Sensor to Detect the TV Video Stream

Current smart devices (phones, tablets, etc.) have integrated light sensors to adjust the screen’s brightness to the ambient light. The light sensors have become more sensitive and are even able to read the RGB light components. In Android, this information can be accessed without special access rights for the application. An application can use the information from the light sensor to detect the ambient light variations and relay this information to a server where it can be used to determine the video information being displayed. This paper details the data flow and tests the implementation for a single video flow on multiple light sensors.