Methods and apparatus for decoding and displaying multiple digital images in parallel
First Claim
1. A decoder circuit for decoding digital video signals including one or a high definition and a standard definition digital video signal, wherein the high definition video signal includes digital video data representing high definition pictures and the standard definition digital video signal includes digital video data representing standard definition pictures, the decoder circuit comprising:
- a channel buffer for temporarily storing the digital video data;
a downsampler module coupled to the channel buffer, the downsampler module being adapted for receiving a code control signal having one of a first state and a second state, the downsampler module downsampling and outputting the digital video data representing the pictures when the mode control signal is in the first state and outputting the digital video data representing the pictures without performing downsampling when the mode control signal is in the second state; and
a picture memory coupled to the downsampler module for storing the digital video data representing the pictures output by the downsampler module.
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Abstract
Methods and apparatus for implementing a reduced cost HDTV/SDTV video decoder are disclosed. The described joint video decoder is capable of decoding HDTV pictures at approximately the resolution of standard definition television pictures and can be used to decode HDTV and/or SDTV pictures. The described video decoder may be used as part of a picture-in-picture decoder circuit for providing picture-in-picture capability without providing multiple full resolution video decoders. The reduction in decoder circuit complexity is achieved through the use of a plurality of data reduction techniques including the use of a preparser, downsampling, and truncating pixel values.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. A decoder circuit for decoding digital video signals including one or a high definition and a standard definition digital video signal, wherein the high definition video signal includes digital video data representing high definition pictures and the standard definition digital video signal includes digital video data representing standard definition pictures, the decoder circuit comprising:
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a channel buffer for temporarily storing the digital video data;
a downsampler module coupled to the channel buffer, the downsampler module being adapted for receiving a code control signal having one of a first state and a second state, the downsampler module downsampling and outputting the digital video data representing the pictures when the mode control signal is in the first state and outputting the digital video data representing the pictures without performing downsampling when the mode control signal is in the second state; and
a picture memory coupled to the downsampler module for storing the digital video data representing the pictures output by the downsampler module. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25)
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17. An IDCT engine for performing an IDCT operation on a block of digital video data corresponding to a high definition picture and for performing an IDCT operation on a block of digital video data corresponding to a standard definition picture, each block of video data corresponding to a high definition picture including a plurality of DCT coefficients representing a series of N rows and M columns of DCT coefficients, each block of video data corresponding to a standard definition picture including a series of rows and columns of DCT coefficients, where N and M are positive integers, the IDCT engine comprising:
a plurality of one dimensional 8 point IDCT circuits for performing IDCT operations on a subset of the N rows and M columns of DCT coefficients, the same plurality of one dimensional 8 point IDCT circuits performing IDCT operations on all rows and columns of DCT coefficients of the standard definition block of video data.
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19. A method of decoding a digital video signal including a video picture, the video picture being one of a high definition picture and a standard definition picture, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving the digital video signal including the picture, the picture being represented by digital video data;
detecting whether the received picture is a high definition picture or a standard definition picture;
upon detecting that the received picture is a high definition picture, processing the received picture for a first time to reduce the amount of digital video data used to represent the received picture;
storing the received picture in a memory device, the stored picture corresponding to a processed high definition picture or an unprocessed standard definition picture.
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24. A method of decoding a digital video signal including a picture of one of a first and a second degree of resolution, the first degree of resolution being a higher degree of resolution than the second degree of resolution, the picture including digital video data, the method comprising the steps of:
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providing a picture buffer for storing pictures;
receiving the digital video signal including the picture;
monitoring the digital video signal to determine whether the received picture is of the first or second degree of resolution;
upon determining that the received picture is of the first degree of resolution performing the steps of;
i. downsampling the picture to reduce the amount of video data included in the picture; and
ii storing the picture in the picture buffer;
upon determining that the received picture is of the second degree of resolution performing the step of storing the picture in the picture buffer without downsampling.
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Specification