Video Streaming Pause Image Quality via Separate High-Res Storage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Video streaming content compressed for mobile networks results in lower quality when paused due to aggressive compression, which is not adequately addressed by existing solutions that increase bandwidth requirements.
Innovation Solution
A method where an application server provides a high-quality image reference to a mobile streaming client at the pause timestamp, stored separately from the video content, allowing for improved image quality without increasing bandwidth requirements by encoding high-quality images separately and omitting some frames for storage efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If video content is compressed for mobile networks, then bandwidth requirements are reduced, but image quality when paused deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the video data into two separate components: a compressed video stream for continuous playback and separate high-quality still images for pause display. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently - the video stream uses aggressive compression for bandwidth efficiency while the still images maintain high quality, resolving the contradiction between bandwidth requirements and image quality during pause.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts high-quality still images from the video content at key frames and stores them separately from the compressed video stream. When the video is paused, these extracted high-quality images are displayed instead of the compressed video frames, thereby taking out the quality requirement from the bandwidth-constrained video stream and resolving the contradiction.
2Manufacturing precision
If high resolution still images are inserted into the video stream, then image quality when paused is improved, but bandwidth requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the image data delivery into two separate channels: compressed video frames transmitted through the video stream for motion playback, and high-quality still images transmitted separately (or pre-loaded) for pause display. This segmentation prevents the bandwidth burden of high-quality images from being added to the already bandwidth-constrained video stream, while still delivering both quality components to the mobile device.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary encoding of high-quality still images at key frames during video production or pre-processing. These pre-encoded high-quality images are stored separately and made available for immediate display during pause, eliminating the need to transmit large amounts of high-quality data during real-time streaming, thus avoiding increased bandwidth requirements.
3Quantity of substance
If aggressive compression is applied to video content, then bandwidth requirements are reduced, but still image quality deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts still images from the compressed video stream at I-frames or key frames where quality is relatively better, and replaces them with separately encoded high-quality still images. This extraction of quality-critical frames and their separate encoding allows aggressive compression to be applied to the video stream without sacrificing still image quality, as the compressed frames are only used during motion playback.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different quality levels to different parts of the video experience: high quality is applied to still images during pause (when visual accuracy is most important), while lower quality compression is applied to video frames during motion playback (where motion perception compensates for lower detail). This local differentiation of quality requirements resolves the contradiction between bandwidth and still image quality.
Data Source
AI summary
It is presented a method, performed in an application server, the application server being part of a video streaming system further comprising a streaming server and a mobile streaming client. The method comprises the steps of: obtaining a pause timestamp representing a time where the mobile streaming client has paused video streaming content; determining a reference to a high quality image corresponding to an image of the video streaming content at the pause timestamp, wherein the high quality image is of a higher quality than the image of the video streaming content and the high quality image is stored separately from the video streaming content; and sending a high quality image message to the mobile streaming client comprising the reference to the high quality image. Corresponding client method, application server, mobile streaming client and computer program and computer program products are also presented.