Adaptive Video Stream Resolution Switching
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing adaptive streaming systems face challenges in seamlessly switching between video streams encoded at different resolutions, leading to disruptive transitions when scaling video for display devices with varying resolutions, as the scaling ratios between streamed content and display resolutions are often non-whole-number fractions.
Innovation Solution
The system encodes multimedia content as a set of alternative streams with the same aspect ratio but different bitrates and resolutions, ensuring that each stream's width and height are integer multiples of the primary resolution, allowing for seamless scaling and switching between streams based on network conditions and decoder performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If video streams are encoded at different resolutions for adaptive streaming, then the system can adapt to varying network conditions and display resolutions, but visible disruptions occur during stream transitions due to non-whole-number scaling ratios
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the resolution parameters of encoded video streams to specific values that are whole-number fractions of a common base resolution (e.g., 1920x1080). By selecting resolutions like 1280x720 (2/3), 960x544 (4/9), 640x360 (1/3), the patent ensures that scaling between any pair of resolutions always uses whole-number ratios, eliminating visible disruptions during transitions while maintaining adaptability to different network conditions and display capabilities.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple video streams are encoded at different resolutions, then the system supports various display resolutions, but the complexity of selecting and switching between appropriate streams increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the video content into multiple resolution streams (e.g., 1920x1080, 1280x720, 960x544, 640x360) where each segment is encoded at a resolution that is a whole-number fraction of the base resolution. This segmentation creates a hierarchical structure that simplifies selection logic, as the playback device can systematically choose the appropriate stream based on display resolution and network conditions without complex decision-making algorithms.
Solution Approach 2:
By standardizing all resolution parameters to be whole-number fractions of a common base resolution, the patent simplifies the stream selection process. The playback device only needs to compare display resolution against the predefined set of encoded resolutions and select the best match, rather than performing complex scaling calculations or handling arbitrary resolution values.
3Adaptability or versatility
If video is scaled to match display resolution during playback, then compatibility with various display devices is improved, but non-whole-number scaling ratios cause visible artifacts and quality degradation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent fundamentally changes the resolution parameters of encoded streams to ensure they are all whole-number fractions of a common base resolution (1920x1080). This parameter standardization guarantees that scaling between any two resolutions uses simple whole-number ratios (e.g., 2:3, 4:9, 1:3), which maintains video quality by avoiding complex non-whole-number scaling operations that produce visible artifacts.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods for the selection of resolutions for seamless resolution switching of multimedia content in accordance with embodiments of the invention are disclosed. In one embodiment of the invention, a source encoder includes a processor configured by a source encoder application to receive multimedia content, where the multimedia content comprises video data having a primary resolution and a primary sample aspect ratio and encode the video data as a set of alternative streams, where a plurality of the streams in the set of alternative streams have different maximum bitrates and resolutions, the resolution of each of the plurality of streams comprises a width and height that are both an integer number of pixels, and both the width and height of each of the plurality of streams is a common fraction of the width and height of the corresponding primary resolution.