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Patents filed by Microsoft reveal plans for an interactive toy system (WO
99/979). TV screens do not display the full width of a transmitted picture, so
the extreme ends of each scanning line, known as the horizontal overscan, can be
used to carry digital code. Microsoft proposes a decoder in the TV set which
converts this code into control signals for a toy that are synchronised with the
picture. The TV transmits the decoded data by a low-power radio link to any
electronic equipment in the same room—so, for instance, Barney the
dinosaur could move in sync with what’s on the screen.