Panoramic Video Playback Selective Section Decoding

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative Solutions
Generate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Current systems for playing back panoramic video content require significant computational resources to decode entire frames, leading to inefficiencies and limitations in handling high-resolution, 360-degree content due to the need to display frames that extend beyond a viewer's field of view.

Innovation Solution

The method involves dividing panoramic frames into multiple sections, applying rectilinear projection, and encoding each section independently, allowing only the sections within the viewer's field of view to be decoded and displayed, reducing the computational overhead and enabling efficient playback of high-resolution content.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Loss of information

If entire panoramic frames are decoded, then complete visual content is available, but computational resources and processing time increase significantly

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvevisual content completenessVSAvoidprocessing efficiency
Core Design Contradiction:
Loss of informationVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The panoramic frame is divided into multiple sections, allowing selective decoding of only those sections that fall within the viewer's current field of view. This segmentation enables the system to process partial frame data rather than entire frames, significantly reducing computational overhead while maintaining visual quality for visible regions.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The system extracts and processes only the relevant portions of panoramic frames that correspond to the viewer's field of view. By identifying and isolating the visible sections through coordinate mapping and geometric calculations, the system decodes only the necessary data, eliminating waste of computational resources on invisible content.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

2Manufacturing precision

If high-resolution panoramic content is displayed, then visual quality improves, but processing requirements and computational load increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvevisual qualityVSAvoidcomputational load
Core Design Contradiction:
Manufacturing precisionVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The system applies different processing quality levels to different sections of the panoramic frame based on visibility. High-resolution decoding is applied only to sections within the viewer's field of view, while sections outside the field of view are either not decoded or decoded at lower quality, optimizing the balance between visual quality and computational energy consumption.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

3Loss of information

If entire frames are processed, then no visual content is lost, but playback time and latency increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecontent completenessVSAvoidplayback latency
Core Design Contradiction:
Loss of informationVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary calculations to determine which sections of the panoramic frame will be visible within the viewer's field of view before initiating decoding. By pre-identifying the relevant sections through coordinate mapping and geometric analysis, the system can immediately begin decoding only those sections, reducing overall processing time and latency.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentEP4102842A1System and method for use in playing back panorama video content
Publication Date: 2022.12.14 SONY INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT LLC
  • EP4102842A1 patent drawingFigure 1A~1B
  • EP4102842A1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP4102842A1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

A method comprising receiving information from one or more sensors configured to determine at least one of a position or an orientation of an apparatus that includes one or more displays, using the information from the one or more sensors to identify one or more sections of a first frame of video content that are to be decoded, decoding the identified one or more sections of the first frame while not decoding one or more other sections of the first frame, and displaying the one or more decoded sections of the first frame on at least one of the one or more displays while not displaying the one or more other sections of the first frame that are not decoded such that less than all of the first frame is displayed, wherein the identifying one or more sections of a first frame of video content that are to be decoded comprises evaluating a sections mapping that defines relative positional relationships between at least some of the sections of the first frame of video content.