Selective Resolution Allocation for 360-Degree Video Streaming
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing technologies face challenges in efficiently streaming and encoding 360-degree video content, particularly stereoscopic content, due to bandwidth constraints and the need for high resolution images that cover a wider field of view than traditional displays can handle, while maintaining quality and reducing data transmission requirements.
Innovation Solution
The use of a mesh model and UV maps to encode and stream video content, allowing for selective resolution allocation based on the importance of different areas within the environment, with images being captured and encoded into frames that can be decoded and applied to a 3D model, enabling efficient use of bandwidth by reducing resolution in less important areas and maintaining high resolution in key areas.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If full 360 degree view is captured and streamed in full high definition, then the user experience and image quality are improved, but the data transmission requirements and bandwidth consumption increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by encoding different portions of the 360-degree scene at different resolutions. Specifically, the front view (forward viewing area) is encoded at full high definition quality, while the rear view (rearward viewing area) is encoded at lower resolution. This allows the system to maintain high image quality where users most need it (forward view) while reducing overall data transmission requirements by up to 75% for the rear view portions.
2Area of stationary object
If multiple cameras are used to capture 360 degree scene, then the viewing area and coverage are improved, but the complexity of the system increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the 360-degree scene into distinct portions (front view and rear view) that can be independently captured and processed. By using multiple cameras positioned at different locations (front camera and rear camera) to capture different segments of the environment, the system achieves comprehensive 360-degree coverage while managing complexity through independent processing of each segment at different resolutions.
3Manufacturing precision
If stereoscopic content is streamed to provide 3D viewing effect, then the immersive experience is improved, but the bandwidth consumption and data transmission requirements double
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extends local quality to stereoscopic content by encoding left and right eye view pairs at different resolutions based on the spatial importance of the scene portion. For front view areas, both left and right eye views are encoded at full HD quality to maintain 3D effect quality. For rear view areas, the stereoscopic pairs are encoded at lower resolution, reducing bandwidth consumption while preserving the 3D viewing effect where it matters most.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and apparatus for using selective resolution reduction on images to be transmitted and/or used by a playback device are described. Prior to transmission one or more images of an environment are captured. Based on image content, motion detection and/or user input a resolution reduction operation is selected and performed. The reduced resolution image is communicated to a playback device along with information indicating a UV map corresponding to the selected resolution allocation that should be used by the playback device for rendering the communicated image. By changing the resolution allocation used and which UV map is used by the playback device different resolution allocations can be made with respect to different portions of the environment while allowing the number of pixels in transmitted images to remain constant. The playback device renders the individual images with the UV map corresponding to the resolution allocation used to generate the individual images.