Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080284904 | PRE-PROCESSING METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DATA REDUCTION OF VIDEO SEQUENCES AND BIT RATE REDUCTION OF COMPRESSED VIDEO SEQUENCES USING SPATIAL FILTERING - Methods for pre-processing video sequences prior to compression to provide data reduction of the video sequence. Also, after compression of the pre-processed video sequence, the bit rate of the pre-processed and compressed video sequence will be lower than the bit rate of the video sequence after compression but without pre-processing. Pre-processing may include spatial anisotropic diffusion filtering such as Perona-Malik filtering, Fallah-Ford filtering, or omni-directional filtering that extends Perona-Malik filtering to perform filtering in at least one diagonal direction. Pre-processing may also include performing filtering differently on a foreground region than on a background region of a video frame. This method includes identifying pixel locations having pixel values matching characteristics of human skin and determining a bounding shape for each contiguous grouping of matching pixel locations. The foreground region is comprised of pixel locations contained in a bounding shape and the background region is comprised of all other pixel locations. | 11-20-2008 |
20080292006 | PRE-PROCESSING METHOD FOR DATA REDUCTION OF VIDEO SEQUENCES AND BIT RATE REDUCTION OF COMPRESSED VIDEO SEQUENCES USING TEMPORAL FILTERING - Methods for pre-processing video sequences prior to compression to provide data reduction of the video sequence. In addition, after compression of the pre-processed video sequence, the bit rate of the pre-processed and compressed video sequence will be lower than the bit rate of the video sequence after compression but without pre-processing. A temporal filtering method is provided for pre-processing of video frames of a video sequence. In the method, pixel values of successive frames are filtered when the difference in the pixel values between the successive frames are within high and low threshold values. The high and low threshold values are determined adaptively depending on the illumination level of a video frame to provide variability of filtering strength depending on the illumination levels of a video frame. | 11-27-2008 |
20080292201 | PRE-PROCESSING METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DATA REDUCTION OF VIDEO SEQUENCES AND BIT RATE REDUCTION OF COMPRESSED VIDEO SEQUENCES USING SPATIAL FILTERING - Methods for pre-processing video sequences prior to compression to provide data reduction of the video sequence. Also, after compression of the pre-processed video sequence, the bit rate of the pre-processed and compressed video sequence will be lower than the bit rate of the video sequence after compression but without pre-processing. Pre-processing may include spatial anisotropic diffusion filtering such as Perona-Malik filtering, Fallah-Ford filtering, or omni-directional filtering that extends Perona-Malik filtering to perform filtering in at least one diagonal direction. Pre-processing may also include performing filtering differently on a foreground region than on a background region of a video frame. This method includes identifying pixel locations having pixel values matching characteristics of human skin and determining a bounding shape for each contiguous grouping of matching pixel locations. The foreground region is comprised of pixel locations contained in a bounding shape and the background region is comprised of all other pixel locations. | 11-27-2008 |
20100008419 | Hierarchical Bi-Directional P Frames - Embodiments of the present invention provide systems, methods and apparatuses for generating forward, backward or bi-directional P frames. Prior to encoding a sequence of video frames, P frames within the video sequence can be reordered to include causal and/or non-causal references to one or more reference frames. This allows any block partition of a bi-directional P frame to include a single reference to a reference frame that is temporally displayed either before or after the bi-directional P frame. Compression and visual quality can therefore be improved. Hierarchical frame structures can be constructed using bi-directional P frames to better accommodate low complexity decoding profiles. Multilayered encoded video bitstreams can be generated based on the hierarchical frame structures and can include a first layer of anchor frames and one or more second layers that include bi-directional P frames that reference the anchor frames and/or any frame in any lower level layer. | 01-14-2010 |
20100011117 | VIDEO STREAMING USING MULTIPLE CHANNELS - Systems and methods for streaming video over multiple HTTP channels are provided. The client may have control over the channels, allowing the client to control the amount and source of data received. Data requested by the client may be separated into a set of layers, with each layer being assigned to a separate channel. The client may adjust the number of layers requested based on a variety of factors. Layers may be requested from multiple remote sources, providing the client with additional control over the specific bandwidth profile of received data. | 01-14-2010 |
20100246688 | BLIND NOISE ANALYSIS FOR VIDEO COMPRESSION - Example embodiments of the present invention provide a method or device for coding source video. The method or device may provide for a segment of video frames from the source video, computing a noise map for the segment of the source video where the noise map is computed from differences among pixels selected from spatially-distributed sampling patterns in the segment, computing control parameter adjustments based on the noise map, and coding the selected segment of source video according to control parameters generated from a default coding policy and the control parameter adjustments, where the default coding policy includes default control parameters of the encoder. | 09-30-2010 |
20100246689 | DYNAMIC DITHERING FOR VIDEO COMPRESSION - A method and device for dithering video from a decoder. The method and device provide: selecting a segment of video frames from the video; computing a noise map for the segment of the video, the noise map computed from differences among pixels selected from spatially-distributed sampling patterns in the segment; determining contours of quantization artifacts within the video frame based on the noise map and a histogram of pixel values in the video frame; computing a gradient measurement of pixel values along the contours; identifying regions along the contours of quantization artifacts to apply dithering based on the noise map and the gradient measurement; determining a dithering strength based on the noise map and the gradient measurement; and applying dithering noise to the identified regions at the determined dithering strength. | 09-30-2010 |
20100246691 | RESTORE FILTER FOR RESTORING PREPROCESSED VIDEO IMAGE - Embodiments of the present invention provides a method and device for processing a source video. The method and device may provide computing an artifact estimation from differences among pixels selected from spatially-distributed sampling patterns in the source video; filtering the source video to produce a filtered version of the source video, computing a blending factor based on the artifact estimation in the source video, and computing an output video by blending the source video and the filtered version of the source video based on the blending factor. | 09-30-2010 |
20100309975 | IMAGE ACQUISITION AND TRANSCODING SYSTEM - A method and system are provided to encode a video sequence into a compressed bitstream. An encoder receives a video sequence from an image-capture device, together with metadata associated with the video sequence, and codes the video sequence into a first compressed bitstream using the metadata to select or revise a coding parameter associated with a coding operation. Optionally, the video sequence may be conditioned for coding by a preprocessor, which also may use the metadata to select or revise a preprocessing parameter associated with a preprocessing operation. The encoder may itself generate metadata associated with the first compressed bitstream, which may be used together with any metadata received by the encoder, to transcode the first compressed bitstream into a second compressed bitstream. The compressed bitstreams may be decoded by a decoder to generate recovered video data, and the recovered video data may be conditioned for viewing by a postprocessor, which may use the metadata to select or revise a postprocessing parameter associated with a postprocessing operation. | 12-09-2010 |
20100309987 | IMAGE ACQUISITION AND ENCODING SYSTEM - A method and system are provided to encode a video sequence into a compressed bitstream. An encoder receives a video sequence from an image-capture device, together with metadata associated with the video sequence, and codes the video sequence into a first compressed bitstream using the metadata to select or revise a coding parameter associated with a coding operation. Optionally, the video sequence may be conditioned for coding by a preprocessor, which also may use the metadata to select or revise a preprocessing parameter associated with a preprocessing operation. The encoder may itself generate metadata associated with the first compressed bitstream, which may be used together with any metadata received by the encoder, to transcode the first compressed bitstream into a second compressed bitstream. The compressed bitstreams may be decoded by a decoder to generate recovered video data, and the recovered video data may be conditioned for viewing by a postprocessor, which may use the metadata to select or revise a postprocessing parameter associated with a postprocessing operation. | 12-09-2010 |
20110149087 | Joint Bandwidth Detection Algorithm For Real-Time Communication - A video coding system and method for increasing a transmitted output bit rate of a video encoding system by altering the content of the bit stream. A video encoder may receive a coding mode signal from a computer application for coding source video data, the coding mode signal indicating a target bit rate having a risk factor related to transmission error associated to the target bit rate. The coded bitstream may be modified based on the risk factor indicated in the coding mode signal. A modified coded bitstream may be outputted at the target bit rate and at a reduced coding efficiency, and the channel may be tested for transmission errors. Based on the test results, a revised coding mode signal indicating the same target bit rate, but a revised risk factor may be provided. The coded bitstream may be revised by removing the modifications previously made to the coded bitstream and a revised coded bitstream having greater coding efficiency may be output at the target bit rate. | 06-23-2011 |
20110181686 | FLOW CONTROL - A method, apparatus, system, and signal-bearing medium that in an embodiment determine at least one capability of a transfer of data, set at least one parameter that affects performance of the transfer to an initial state based on the capability, detect performance of the transfer, and modify the parameter based on the performance. In this way, the data transfer can adapt to changing capabilities of the network and the devices that send and receive the data. | 07-28-2011 |
20110234825 | ACCELEROMETER / GYRO-FACILITATED VIDEO STABILIZATION - Embodiments of the present invention provide a control system for video processes that selectively control the operation of motion stabilization processes. According to the present invention, motion sensor data indicative of motion of a mobile device may be received and processed. A determination may be made by comparing processed motion sensor data to a threshold. Based on the determination, motion stabilization may be suspended on select portions of a captured video sequence. | 09-29-2011 |
20110235709 | FRAME DROPPING ALGORITHM FOR FAST ADAPTATION OF BUFFERED COMPRESSED VIDEO TO NETWORK CONDITION CHANGES - A video coding and transmission system may employ techniques for adapting buffered video to network condition changes. Video data may be coded as reference data and non-reference data. According to the embodiments, non-reference frame may be detected in buffered video while awaiting transmission to a network. When network degradation is detected, one or more of the buffered non-reference frames may be dropped when network degradation is detected. Information about the dropped frames may be passed to an encoder for updating buffer parameters for future encoding. In this manner, a video coding system may provide faster responses to changing network conditions than systems without such buffer management techniques. | 09-29-2011 |
20110298965 | SCENE-AWARE AUTOMATIC-EXPOSURE CONTROL - A scene-aware auto-exposure control process stabilizes changes in a camera's auto-exposure settings so as to reduce lighting and color flicker during image capture operations. A metric, referred to as the Modified Adjusted Luminance (MAL) metric, is defined to remain relatively constant as long as the lighting of the scene being captured remains relatively constant. Thus, scene changes such as an object moving into, out of, or around in a scene do not significantly affect the MAL metric's value and do not, therefore, trigger an exposure adjustment. Once the MAL metric indicates a scene's lighting is stable, the camera's auto-exposure operation may be suppressed. As long as incoming frames indicate a stable lighting condition (based on the MAL metric), auto-exposure operation may remain suppressed. When incoming frames result in a substantially different MAL over a specified number of frames, auto-exposure operation may be restored. | 12-08-2011 |
20110299604 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ADAPTIVE VIDEO SHARPENING - A video coding system and method to adjust the sharpening procedures performed during post-processing by analyzing statistics information collected during encoding and decoding. The statistics information collected may be directed to the source of the video data, the operations executed during pre-processing and encoding of the video data, the transmission of the video data from encoder to decoder, or the operations executed during decoding. The statistics information may comprise a collection of data values, calculated statistics, or instructions for the suggested post-processing adjustments. Accumulated supplemental information may be transmitted from the encoder to the decoder via an out-of-band channel, associated with the encoded video sequence transmitted on a communications channel. | 12-08-2011 |
20110299605 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR VIDEO RESOLUTION ADAPTATION - A system and method for gradually changing the resolution of a video signal to avoid a large spike in the video data transmitted between an encoder and a decoder. Upon detection of a change in the quality of source video, of the quality of the encoding process, or of the channel conditions, any of which may negatively impact the rate of frame transmission from encoder to decoder, or the quality of frames transmitted, a responsive change in the resolution of the video frame may be gradually implemented. To change the resolution by increasing the effective image size, each successive frame in a sequence of frames may contain additional pixel blocks in the expansion image area at the new resolution. In an embodiment, the decoder displays the video image at the original resolution until the resolution switch has been completed. | 12-08-2011 |
20120057073 | Scene-Aware Automatic-Exposure Control - A scene-aware auto-exposure control process stabilizes changes in a camera's auto-exposure settings so as to reduce lighting and color flicker during image capture operations. A metric, referred to as the Modified Adjusted Luminance (MAL) metric, is defined to remain relatively constant as long as the lighting of the scene being captured remains relatively constant. Thus, scene changes such as an object moving into, out of, or around in a scene do not significantly affect the MAL metric's value and do not, therefore, trigger an exposure adjustment. Once the MAL metric indicates a scene's lighting is stable, the camera's auto-exposure operation may be suppressed. As long as incoming frames indicate a stable lighting condition (based on the MAL metric), auto-exposure operation may remain suppressed. When incoming frames result in a substantially different MAL over a specified number of frames, auto-exposure operation may be restored. | 03-08-2012 |
20130182778 | HYPOTHETICAL REFERENCE DECODER - Disclosed is a system and method of controlling a video decoder, including a reviewing channel data representing coded video data generated by an encoder to identify parameters of a hypothetical reference decoder (HRD) used by the encoder during coding operations. A parameter representing an exit data rate requirement of a coded picture buffer (CPB) of the HRD is compared against exit rate performance of the video decoder. If the exit rate performance of the video coder matches the exit rate requirement of the HRD, the coded video data is decoded, otherwise, a certain decoding degradation scheme can be applied, including disabling decoder from decoding the coded video data. | 07-18-2013 |
20130223525 | PIXEL PATCH COLLECTION FOR PREDICTION IN VIDEO CODING SYSTEM - In a video coding system, an encoder may include a coding engine to predictively code input video, a decoder to reconstruct reference pictures generated by the coding engine, a reference picture cache to store the reconstructed reference pictures, a patch cache to store prediction patches generated from other sources, and a prediction search unit to search among the reference picture cache and the patch cache to generate prediction references for use by the coding engine while coding input video. The prediction patches may be assembled from a variety of sources including: predefined image content, reference pictures being evicted from the reference picture cache, image content of prior coding sessions and image data stored by applications on a common terminal where the encoder resides. A decoder may store prediction patches in its own patch cache for synchronous decoding. | 08-29-2013 |
20130235942 | SIGNAL SHAPING TECHNIQUES FOR VIDEO DATA THAT IS SUSCEPTIBLE TO BANDING ARTIFACTS - Video coding systems and methods protect against banding artifacts in decoded image content. According to the method, a video coder may identify, from content of pixel blocks of a frame of video data, which pixel blocks are likely to exhibit banding artifacts from the video coding/decoding processes. The video coder may assemble regions of the frame that are likely to exhibit banding artifacts based on the identified pixel blocks' locations with respect to each other. The video coder may apply anti-banding processing to pixel blocks within one or more of the identified regions and, thereafter, may code the processed frame by a compression operation. | 09-12-2013 |
20140029846 | ERROR DIFFUSION WITH COLOR CONVERSION AND ENCODING - YCbCr image data may be dithered and converted into RGB data shown on a 8-bit or other bit display. Dither methods and image processors are provided which generate the banding artifact free image data during this process. Some methods and image processors may applying a stronger dither having a same mean with a larger variance to the image data before it is converted to RGB data. Others methods and image processors may calculate a quantization or encoding error and diffuse the calculated error among one or more neighboring pixel blocks. | 01-30-2014 |
20140153653 | HYPOTHETICAL REFERENCE DECODER - Disclosed is a system and method of controlling a video decoder, including a reviewing channel data representing coded video data generated by an encoder to identify parameters of a hypothetical reference decoder (HRD) used by the encoder during coding operations. A parameter representing an exit data rate requirement of a coded picture buffer (CPB) of the HRD is compared against exit rate performance of the video decoder. If the exit rate performance of the video coder matches the exit rate requirement of the HRD, the coded video data is decoded, otherwise, a certain decoding degradation scheme can be applied, including disabling decoder from decoding the coded video data. | 06-05-2014 |
20140198858 | POWER SAVING DECODER ARCHITECTURE - A method and system are provided for decoding coded video data by turning off or not loading at least one functional unit or functional subunit of the decoder while decoding a portion of the coded video data. A schedule may be created prior to substantive decoding and then the schedule may be used to decode coded video data. The coded video data may be reordered based on the functional units or subunits the portions of the coded video data need for decoding. The portions of the coded video data are reordered into their original order in an output buffer after being decoded. The decoder may determine which functional units or subunits are needed for decoding based on administration information included with the coded video data. The decoder may decode portions of the coded video data in parallel. | 07-17-2014 |
20140269932 | CODEC TECHNIQUES FOR FAST SWITCHING - A video streaming method for transitioning between multiple sequences of coded video data may include receiving and decoding transmission units from a first sequence of coded video data. In response to a request to transition to a second sequence of coded video data, the method may determine whether a time to transition to the second sequence of coded video data can be reduced by transitioning to the second sequence of coded video data via an intermediate sequence of coded video data. If the time can be reduced, the method may include receiving at least one transmission unit from an intermediate sequence of coded video data that corresponds to the request to transition, decoding the transmission unit from the intermediate sequence, and transitioning from the first sequence to the second sequence via the decoded transmission unit from the intermediate sequence. | 09-18-2014 |