Video Compression System Adaptive Bit Rate Control

Solution Overview

Problem

Existing methods for compressing diverse video content catalogs struggle to maintain consistent playback quality while efficiently managing bit rates, often resulting in excessive data storage or resource-intensive processes.

Innovation Solution

A video compression system that encodes content at a constant average quality, using differential quantization and perceptual masking, and dynamically adjusts the quantization parameter to control peak bit rate excursions, allowing file sizes to adapt to content complexity and maintaining consistent quality across the catalog.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If a high bit rate is used to compress the video catalog, then playback quality is maintained across all content items, but data storage requirements increase significantly

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveplayback qualityVSAvoiddata storage

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSQuantity of substance

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies different quantization parameters to different portions of video content based on their visual complexity. Visually complex portions (e.g., fast motion, detailed scenes) receive lower quantization values and higher bit rates, while simpler portions receive higher quantization values and lower bit rates. This local adaptation maintains playback quality where needed while reducing storage for less demanding content.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

The system dynamically adjusts the quantization parameter during the compression process based on real-time analysis of visual complexity metrics such as motion magnitude, detail magnitude, and temporal complexity. This dynamic adjustment allows the bit rate to adapt to content characteristics, maintaining quality consistency across diverse video items without uniformly high storage requirements.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

2Quantity of substance

If a low bit rate is used to reduce data storage, then storage efficiency improves, but playback quality deteriorates for visually complex content

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedata storageVSAvoidplayback quality

Core Design Contradiction:

Quantity of substanceVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies different quantization parameters to different portions of video content based on their visual complexity. Visually complex portions (e.g., fast motion, detailed scenes) receive lower quantization values and higher bit rates, while simpler portions receive higher quantization values and lower bit rates. This local adaptation maintains playback quality where needed while reducing storage for less demanding content.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

The system changes the quantization parameter based on measured visual complexity characteristics of the video content. By adjusting this key compression parameter dynamically, the system optimizes the balance between storage efficiency and playback quality for each specific content item.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

3Ease of manufacture

If uniform compression is applied to all video items, then processing simplicity is maintained, but quality consistency across diverse content deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecompression process simplicityVSAvoidquality consistency

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of manufactureVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The system dynamically adjusts the quantization parameter during the compression process based on real-time analysis of visual complexity metrics such as motion magnitude, detail magnitude, and temporal complexity. This dynamic adjustment allows the bit rate to adapt to content characteristics, maintaining quality consistency across diverse video items without uniformly high storage requirements.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

The patent employs a feedback mechanism where the visual complexity of video portions is measured and used to control the quantization parameter selection. This closed-loop approach ensures that the compression process automatically adapts to content characteristics, maintaining quality consistency across the catalog.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

Data Source

PatentUS8976857B2Quality-based video compression

Publication Date: 2015.03.10 MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING LLC

AI summary

Various embodiments are disclosed herein that relate to quality-based video encoding. For example, one disclosed embodiment provides a video compression system configured to compress a video item at a constant average quality to form compressed video data. Further, the system is configured to compare a bit rate of each portion of a plurality of portions of the compressed video data to a threshold bit rate, and if a bit rate of a selected portion of the compressed video data meets or exceeds the threshold bit rate, then adjust a compression process variable while compressing a segment of the video item corresponding to the selected portion of the compressed video data to reduce the bit rate of the portion of the compressed video data.