Hierarchical VDR Codec Using Common RPU Data Format
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Solution Overview
Problem
Consumer devices often struggle to decode and render video content encoded in unexpected formats, leading to incorrect interpretation and visible artifacts due to limited support for various video formats.
Innovation Solution
A hierarchical Visual Dynamic Range (VDR) codec system that uses a common reference processing unit (RPU) data format to carry coding syntax across different VDR specifications, enabling downstream devices to decode and parse video data without needing distinct decoding processes for each specification, and supports multiple layers for delivering VDR data to accommodate a wide range of display technologies.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a consumer device supports only a limited set of video coding systems, then the device complexity is reduced, but the adaptability to different video formats deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal decoder architecture that can decode multiple video formats (MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.264, etc.) through a single unified decoding pipeline. The format-specific preprocessing stages transform different input formats into a standardized intermediate representation that the universal decoder can process, eliminating the need for multiple dedicated decoders and reducing overall device complexity while maintaining broad format compatibility.
2Manufacturing precision
If video content is encoded in an unexpected format, then the manufacturing precision of video delivery is maintained, but the ease of operation for device compatibility deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces format-specific preprocessing stages as intermediary components between the video source and the universal decoder. These preprocessing stages act as translators that convert format-specific encoding details into a standardized intermediate representation, allowing the decoder to operate on a unified interface while maintaining support for diverse input formats without requiring the device to understand each format's specific encoding parameters.
3Measurement precision
If multiple distinct decoding processes are implemented for different specifications, then the measurement precision of format-specific decoding is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the decoding process into distinct functional stages: format-specific preprocessing stages that handle format-specific details, and a universal decoder stage that handles the core decoding operations. This segmentation allows each stage to be optimized independently - the preprocessing stages can be simplified or omitted for common formats while maintaining high precision for less common formats, and the universal decoder handles the bulk of decoding work with a single optimized implementation.
Data Source
AI summary
Coding syntaxes in compliance with same or different VDR specifications may be signaled by upstream coding devices such as VDR encoders to downstream coding devices such as VDR decoders in a common vehicle in the form of RPU data units. VDR coding operations and operational parameters may be specified as sequence level, frame level, or partition level syntax elements in a coding syntax. Syntax elements in a coding syntax may be coded directly in one or more current RPU data units under a current RPU ID, predicted from other partitions/segments/ranges previously sent with the same current RPU ID, or predicted from other frame level or sequence level syntax elements previously sent with a previous RPU ID. A downstream device may perform decoding operations on multi-layered input image data based on received coding syntaxes to construct VDR images.