Patent ID: 7212988

Claim:
In a method for facilitating video test screening on an electronic visual communications network, the steps comprising: (i) establishing a registrant database of persons who volunteer to serve as a member of a test screening audience for video test screening on said network, said registrant database containing for each said person, (a) the person's name and personal contact information, and (b) the person's identification number called an ID number, (ii) establishing a test screening audience database of test screening audience members for test screening a particular specific video, (a) wherein said test screening audience members are selected from persons in said registrant database by a procedure involving one or more of the following techniques: A. selection without regard to the time a person was added to said registrant database, and B. sequential selection in the order in which a person volunteered to serve as a member of a test screening audience for said particular specific video, and (b) wherein said test screening audience database is limited to members who accept assignment to them of a special access code to be entered by said member together with the member's identification number in order to gain access to the particular specific video for test screening on said network, and (iii) conducting test screening of said particular specific video, wherein said particular specific video is a production or post-production videos, on said network by steps involving (a) entering by a test screening audience member his or her identification number and access code, to thereby obtain access by said test screening audience member to the particular specific video under screen testing, (b) providing on-line responses by test screening audience members to questions about the video of the test screening, and (c) obtaining the on-line responses from the test screening audience member about the particular specific video after they have screened it and storing the responses (d) obtaining prior commitments from the test screening audience members to watch the entire test video and ensuring that the test audience members watch the entire test video by displaying in the video under screen testing a verification code for a limited time without advance notice to any members of the test screening audience, and the step of quizzing members of the test screening audience about said verification code, to thereby learn if any member of the test screening audience failed to view a portion of the video containing the verification code.