Digital Media Distribution Device with Transcoder
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current video tape recorders (VTRs) lack the capability to store data on network-accessible mass storage devices and transcode data between different formats, limiting their functionality in the entertainment industry.
Innovation Solution
A digital media distribution device equipped with an encoder, decoder, and transcoder that interfaces with shared storage devices, supports various data formats, and is network-accessible, allowing for data storage and format conversion, with remote control capabilities and wavelet-based tunable compression.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a digital media distribution device is designed to provide multiple functions (storage, transcoding, networking), then the functionality and versatility are improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The digital media distribution device is designed as a multi-functional system that combines encoding, decoding, transcoding between multiple formats (JPEG2000, MPEG-2, ATSC, DVD, DVB), network communication, and mass storage device interfacing within a single device, eliminating the need for separate VTR, transcoder, and storage systems
Solution Approach 2:
The patent integrates previously separate functions (video encoding, audio encoding, transcoding, network protocol handling, and storage device control) into a unified device architecture, where the encoder, decoder, and transcoder operations are combined in one system with shared resources
2Adaptability or versatility
If data is stored on network-accessible mass storage devices, then the adaptability and remote accessibility are improved, but the access latency increases
Solution Approach 1:
The device performs preliminary actions by pre-loading data into buffer memory before it is actually needed for encoding or decoding operations, and by pre-establishing network connections and protocols to minimize access latency when data is requested from network-accessible storage devices
3Adaptability or versatility
If transcoding is performed between multiple data formats, then the versatility and format compatibility are improved, but the processing time and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The transcoder efficiently changes data format parameters by implementing direct conversion between multiple compression formats (JPEG2000, MPEG-2, ATSC, DVD elemental bit stream, DVB, and 4:2:2) with user-definable bit rates, using optimized algorithms to minimize processing time while maintaining high image quality
Data Source
AI summary
A digital media distribution device that includes an encoder, a decoder coupled to the encoder, and a transcoder coupled to the decoder. The encoder is configured to encode input data that is received by the digital media distribution device into a first data format. The decoder is configured to decode output data to be output by the digital media distribution device. The transcoder is configured to convert the encoded input data from the first data format into a second data format. The digital media distribution device is configured to be coupled to a computer network.