ROI Multimedia Masking via Variable QP and Worst Prediction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing multimedia data masking techniques incur additional cost, complexity, and performance degradation due to preprocessing, and struggle to control the degree of privacy masking effectively.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that utilize a worst prediction mode and variable QP values to generate high residual multimedia data, with guard bands to prevent spilling noise, without requiring additional hardware or preprocessing, thus achieving controlled privacy masking.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If complex preprocessing and additional hardware are used for masking, then masking effectiveness is improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the masking function from complex preprocessing operations and additional hardware, implementing it instead through standard video encoding components (prediction module and quantization module). By taking out the masking requirement from the preprocessing stage and integrating it into the existing encoding pipeline, the solution achieves masking effectiveness without adding device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent makes the prediction module and quantization module serve dual purposes: their primary function of video compression and an additional function of privacy masking. By varying the quantization parameter (QP) specifically for ROI regions, these standard components perform both compression and masking simultaneously, eliminating the need for dedicated masking hardware or preprocessing steps.
2Reliability
If complex preprocessing is applied, then masking effectiveness is improved, but system latency increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the masking operation with the standard video encoding process. Instead of performing masking as a separate preprocessing step before encoding, the solution integrates masking into the encoding pipeline itself by controlling the quantization parameter during the encoding of ROI regions. This merging eliminates the time overhead of separate preprocessing operations while maintaining masking effectiveness.
3Reliability
If high QP value is used for masking, then masking degree is improved, but quality of adjacent regions deteriorates due to spilling noise
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality control by using different quantization parameters for different regions. High QP values are applied specifically to ROI regions to achieve strong masking, while standard or lower QP values are used for adjacent non-ROI regions to preserve their quality. This spatially varying quality approach ensures that masking effectiveness is maximized in target regions without degrading the quality of surrounding areas.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the video frame into ROI regions and non-ROI regions, applying different encoding parameters to each segment. By dividing the processing into region-specific operations, the solution can aggressively quantize ROI blocks for masking while maintaining standard quality for adjacent blocks, preventing spilling noise from high QP values from affecting neighboring regions.
4Reliability
If additional hardware is deployed for masking, then masking functionality is improved, but cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements self-service by enabling standard video encoding hardware to perform masking without additional dedicated components. The existing prediction and quantization modules, which are already present in any video encoder, are configured to provide masking functionality through parameter control. This self-service approach allows the system to achieve masking functionality using its existing infrastructure, eliminating the need for additional hardware and reducing overall system cost.
Data Source
AI summary
Several methods and systems for masking multimedia data are disclosed. In an embodiment, a method for masking includes performing a prediction for at least one multimedia data block based on a prediction mode of a plurality of prediction modes. The at least one multimedia data block is associated with a region of interest (ROI). A residual multimedia data associated with the at least one multimedia data block is generated based on the prediction. A quantization of the residual multimedia data is performed based on a quantization parameter (QP) value. The QP value is variable such that varying the QP value controls a degree of masking of the ROI.