Image Wall Compression for Multi-Camera Video Streaming
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current video streaming technologies limit viewers to a single camera angle without control, requiring multiple cameras and increased bandwidth to offer multiple angles, which is inefficient in terms of data transmission and user experience.
Innovation Solution
A system that combines image data from multiple cameras into an 'image wall' for efficient compression and transmission, allowing clients to choose from various camera angles using macro-block encoding and metadata for flexible viewing and playback.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If multiple cameras are used to provide multiple viewing angles, then viewer control and viewing experience are improved, but bandwidth consumption and data transmission requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple camera feeds into a single composite video stream by integrating multiple video signals and their associated metadata into one transmission channel. This merging approach allows viewers to access multiple camera angles through a single stream rather than requiring separate streams for each camera, thereby reducing bandwidth consumption while maintaining viewing angle flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The single composite video stream serves multiple functions by embedding metadata that enables viewers to access and control multiple camera angles within one stream. This multi-functionality allows the system to provide both the efficiency of a single stream and the versatility of multiple viewing angles, eliminating the need for separate streams for each camera.
2Ease of operation
If multiple separate video streams are transmitted for each camera angle, then viewer control is improved, but system complexity and transmission overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple video streams and their associated control metadata into a single composite stream. This consolidation reduces the number of separate streams that need to be managed and processed, thereby reducing system complexity while preserving the ability to control and switch between multiple camera angles through the unified stream's metadata.
3Manufacturing precision
If traditional compression is applied to each camera feed separately, then individual stream quality is maintained, but overall compression efficiency and bandwidth utilization decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies compression algorithms to the composite video stream containing multiple camera feeds rather than compressing each feed separately. This unified compression approach exploits redundancies across multiple feeds and achieves higher overall compression efficiency, reducing the total data transmission volume while maintaining acceptable video quality for all included camera angles.
Data Source
AI summary
The disclosure relates to methods, apparatuses, and systems of providing livestream services involving multiple camera angles. A video streaming system may provide a client with a data stream that allows for viewing the video streaming from any of the multiple cameras at the client's choosing. The video streaming system may first access image data from the multiple cameras. Image data from the multiple cameras taken at a single instance in time may be “stitched” together into a single array of image data to form an “image wall.” The image wall may be compressed to be substantially smaller than the sum of their individual compressed images. A stream of image walls may be generated and transmitted to a client device. Metadata including mapping information enables the client to locate a chosen camera angle to view and switch to any camera angle viewing of the same video stream at the client's choosing.