Dynamic Video Quality Adjustment for PC-to-HDTV Streaming
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Solution Overview
Problem
There is a lack of a simple and effective solution for providing Internet connectivity to conventional or high-definition televisions, as personal computers are not ideal for group viewing due to lower picture quality and distracting aesthetics, and transferring media content from a PC to a media room setup is cumbersome.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that connects a personal computer to a high-definition television via a video controller, allowing video content to be streamed from the PC to the HDTV with adjustable quality and latency settings, enabling interactive features like cursor control and dynamic picture quality adjustments based on user input.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If MPEG-2 encoding is provided in real-time with increased analysis frames to improve output picture quality, then manufacturing precision (picture quality) is improved, but loss of time (latency) increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the number of analysis frames based on detected user interactions. When mouse activity is detected, the system switches to a low-latency mode with fewer analysis frames; when no interaction is detected, it switches to high-quality mode with more analysis frames. This dynamic adaptation resolves the contradiction by allowing both high picture quality and low latency to be achieved at different operational states.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the encoding parameters (number of analysis frames) based on operational conditions. By varying this parameter between high and low settings depending on whether user interaction is detected, the system optimizes the trade-off between picture quality and latency, achieving both extremes when needed rather than being fixed at one setting.
2Productivity
If a PC is stationed in a media room to connect to HDTV for media feed, then productivity (media transmission capability) is improved, but object-generated harmful factors (distractions, noise from peripherals and fans) increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts the media transmission function from the PC and relocates it to a dedicated media card in the HDTV. This separates the media playback capability from the PC's distracting peripherals and fans, allowing high-quality media transmission without the harmful distractions of a full PC presence in the media room.
Solution Approach 2:
The media card acts as an intermediary component that bridges the PC and HDTV, handling media transmission without requiring the PC to be physically present in the media room. This intermediary solution provides media transmission capability while eliminating the harmful factors associated with a full PC setup.
3Ease of operation
If PC is used for video viewing, then ease of operation (access to media sources) is improved, but object-affected harmful factors (lower picture quality, aesthetic distractions) increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system creates a copy of the PC's media access capability that operates independently through the media card in the HDTV. This allows users to access media sources with the ease of a PC while viewing on an HDTV, separating the access function from the display function to eliminate the harmful factors of poor picture quality and aesthetic distractions.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method that provides a connection path between a video source such as a personal computer (PC) and a high-definition television (HDTV). A control is provided for varying a quality level of a video signal with respect to latency of activities provided through the video signal channel. Output picture quality versus latency is adjusted on a dynamic basis. Observed mouse activities causes the output picture quality to be decreased rapidly with an attendant decrease in latency. A decrease in output picture quality and latency is maintained until the occurrence of a particular event, such as the expiration of a time interval from a last observed mouse event. If a limited number of mouse events are observed, then the output picture quality is increased to a point at which the limited mouse activity can be accommodated with an acceptable level of latency. If limited or no mouse events are observed for a given period of time, the output picture quality is increased, either rapidly or gradually, until output picture quality is restored or another mouse event is observed.