Proof of play for images displayed at electronic displays

A proof of play information system, said system comprising:

• one or more electronic display assemblies, each comprising:
• an electronic display for displaying content;
• a media player for providing content items to the electronic display for display;
• and
• a unit controller electronically interposed between the media player and the electronic display and comprising one or more non-transitory electronic storage devices comprising software instructions, which when executed, configure one or more processors to:
• generate redundancy check codes for the content items provided by the media player to the electronic display for display, such that a consistent redundancy check code is generated for a given one of the content items while the given one of the content items continues to be displayed at the electronic display;
• and
• determine that a consistent redundancy check code is consecutively generated for the given one of the content items, and responsive to said determination, determine whether the consecutively generated consistent redundancy check code exists at a database, and:
• if so, cause a play count associated with the given one of the content items to be incremented at the database;
• and
• if not, cause a new entry to be created at the database for the given one of the content items, the new entry comprising the consecutively generated consistent redundancy check code and a play count;
• and
• the database, in electronic communication with the one or more electronic display assemblies, comprising the redundancy check codes for at least some of the content items, each associated with a respective one of the play counts;
• wherein the play counts are stored and maintained at the database over time such that non-consecutive instances in which the consistent redundancy check code is consecutively generated for the given one of the content items result in cumulative increases to the respective one of the play counts.

One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing software instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

• storing and maintaining cumulative play counts for content items over time on a content-item-specific basis;
• generating redundancy check codes for the content items provided by a media player to an electronic display for display, such that a consistent redundancy check code is generated for a given one of the content items while the given one of the content items continues to be displayed at the electronic display, and such that the consistent redundancy check code is consistently and consecutively generated for the given one of the content items in each play instance of the given one of the content items;
• determining that a consistent redundancy check code is consecutively generated for the given one of the content items, and responsive to said determination, determining whether the consecutively generated consistent redundancy check code exists in memory, and:
• if so, causing a play count, of the cumulative play counts, associated with the given one of the content items to be incremented;
• and
• if not, causing a new entry to be generated in the memory for the consecutively generated consistent redundancy check code comprising a new play count forming part of the cumulative play counts and set to an initial value, and generating a compressed copy of the given one of the content items and storing the compressed copy in the memory in association with the new entry;
• identifying a first time and a last time the consistent redundancy check code is consecutively generated for the given one of the content items in a given play instance, and storing a duration between the first time and the last time as a duration of play for the given one of the content items;
• and
• associating the cumulative play counts with customer identifiers, receiving a proof of play report request comprising one of the customer identifiers from a remote device, and responsive thereto, generating a proof of play report comprising one or more of the play counts, one or more durations of play, and one or more of the compressed copies associated with the one of the customer identifiers.