Dynamic Tile Streaming for 360 Video Bandwidth Optimization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for delivering 360° video content are inefficient when multiple viewers are interested in dynamic areas within the media content, such as moving objects or players, as they require frequent changes in video streams, leading to increased bandwidth usage and potential delays.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus that provide a primary stream to client devices and analyze field-of-view reports to identify common areas of interest, offering supplementary streams that adapt to variable spatial areas, allowing for efficient delivery of content corresponding to the viewers' focused areas, even if they change in position, size, or shape.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If tiled streaming is used to deliver 360° video content, then bandwidth consumption is reduced by transmitting only visible portions, but system complexity increases due to the need to determine and manage multiple video streams corresponding to different fields of view
Solution Approach 1:
The 360° video content is segmented into multiple rectangular portions called tiles, each representing a different field of view. The system divides the spherical video content into a grid of tiles that can be independently transmitted and rendered, allowing client devices to receive only the tiles corresponding to their current field of view, thereby reducing bandwidth consumption while maintaining manageable system complexity through structured segmentation
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically determines which tiles to transmit based on real-time field of view information from client devices. The selection of tiles to be transmitted is not static but adapts continuously as viewers change their viewing direction, allowing the system to optimize bandwidth usage dynamically while managing complexity through event-driven updates rather than continuous reconfiguration
2Ease of operation
If video streams are frequently changed to track moving areas of interest, then user experience is improved by maintaining focus on dynamic content, but bandwidth usage increases and delays occur due to frequent stream switching
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-processing the 360° video content into multiple tile streams before transmission. By having all possible tile variations prepared in advance and made available for selection, the system can switch between tiles representing moving areas of interest without requiring real-time encoding or processing, thus improving user experience while avoiding the bandwidth overhead of transmitting multiple complete video streams
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies local quality by transmitting higher resolution or more detailed tile streams only for the specific portions of the video corresponding to areas of interest, while lower resolution tiles for non-interest areas are transmitted with reduced quality or not at all. This allows the system to enhance user experience for dynamic content while optimizing bandwidth usage by allocating resources selectively to relevant regions
3Adaptability or versatility
If complete sphere content is transmitted to client devices, then all viewing possibilities are available to viewers, but bandwidth consumption increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The complete sphere content is segmented into multiple discrete tile streams, each representing a specific field of view. Client devices receive only the tiles corresponding to their current viewing direction rather than the complete sphere, maintaining full viewing adaptability as users can look in any direction while significantly reducing bandwidth consumption by transmitting only the necessary portions
Solution Approach 2:
The tile-based streaming system provides universal access to all viewing possibilities through a multi-functional architecture where the same set of tile streams can serve multiple client devices with different fields of view. Each tile can be reused across multiple clients, allowing the system to maintain comprehensive viewing capabilities while optimizing bandwidth usage through shared content delivery
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and apparatus are disclosed for providing media content to client devices configured to render received media content for displaying as a video presentation. In one aspect, the method includes providing a primary stream to the client devices including data corresponding to a full area of the media content when displayed as a video presentation on a client device, receiving field-of-view reports from respective client devices indicating a portion of the full area selected for viewing by a viewer, determining a common area of interest within the media content, and providing a supplementary stream to one or more of the client devices configured to include a subset of the primary stream selected in dependence on the common area of interest. If the common area of interest corresponds to a variable spatial area of the media content, the supplementary stream comprises data corresponding to the variable spatial area.