Digital enhancement of streaming video and multimedia system

• US 20030140346A1
• Filed: 01/10/2003
• Published: 07/24/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 01/20/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Shalong Maa
• Original Assignee: Shalong Maa
• Inventors: Maa, Shalong
• Granted Patent: US 7,030,845 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/87
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/86 involving reduction of coding artifacts, e.g. of blockiness
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4122 additional display device, e.g. video projector digital output for controlling a plurality of local displays G06F3/1423
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4143 embedded in a Personal Computer [PC]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42221 Transmission circuitry, e.g. infrared [IR] or radio frequency [RF]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/426 Internal components of the client ; Characteristics thereof H04N5/44 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4318 by altering the content in the rendering process, e.g. blanking, blurring or masking an image region image enhancement or restoration in general G06T5/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4363 Adapting the video stream to a specific local network, e.g. a Bluetooth® network
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/43637 involving a wireless protocol, e.g. Bluetooth, RF or wireless LAN [IEEE 802.11] arrangements for wireless networking or broadcasting of information in indoor or near-field type systems H04B10/114
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/440263 by altering the spatial resolution, e.g. for displaying on a connected PDA
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4621 Controlling the complexity of the content stream or additional data, e.g. lowering the resolution or bit-rate of the video stream for a mobile client with a small screen arrangements for using the results of monitoring on user's side in broadcast systems H04H60/65; flow control in packet networks H04L47/10

Abstract

Disclosed herein are methods and systems for enhancing digital streaming video. According to the present invention, the pixel resolution of the image frame of a digital streaming video, i.e., the numbers of pixels within said image frame, are artificially amplified by increasing the number of columns and rows of pixels therein. The color characters, such for examples as the color, contrast, brightness, saturation, hue, and/or luminescence, etc., of each newly created pixel or cell are obtained according to the color characters of those original neighboring pixels. The boundary or border of an image-element within said image frame may be improved by adjusting the color characters of those newly created or child pixels that are situated at or close to said image-element boundary. As a result, a small-frame digital video can be displayed as a large-frame high-resolution video having similar or even better image quality.

Claims

1. A method for enhancing digital video such that an original small-frame digital video can be enlarged and displayed as a large-frame video with high resolution and quality, said original digital video including a sequence of image frames, each said image frame comprising limited number of columns and rows of pixels, said method comprising the steps of:

increasing the number of rows and columns of pixels of each said image frame;

adjusting the color characters of each new pixel created by said step of increasing;

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of increasing includes dividing each pixel of the image frame of said original video into a plurality of child pixels, and wherein said new pixels comprise said child pixels.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein said step of adjusting includes determining the color characters of each said child pixel according the color characters of its parent pixel and its neighboring pixels.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein said step of adjusting comprises making the color characters of one of said child pixel equal to that of its parent pixel and determining the color characters of other child pixels of said parent pixel according to the color characters of its parent pixel and the neighboring pixels.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein said step of determining the color characters of said other child pixels includes determining whether said parent pixel is situated close to an image element boundary based on evaluation of amount of changes of color character differences between said parent pixel and its neighboring pixels, so as to exclude those neighboring pixels that are deemed situated at a different side of any image element boundary and thus belonging to a different image element in determining the color characters of said other child pixels.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein said step of adjusting includes determining whether a pixel is an element-boundary pixel that contributes to the visual effect of a boundary of an image element within said image frame by evaluating amount of changes of color character differences between said pixel and its neighboring pixels.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein said step of adjusting further includes determining color characters of each said new pixel created by said step of increasing according to its neighboring pixels that are situated at the same side of any image element boundary.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein said step of adjusting further includes, when a pixel is an element boundary pixel, determining whether to make the color character of each child pixel of said boundary pixel equal to that of a neighboring pixel that belongs to the other side of said boundary based on whether said child pixel of the boundary pixel has more than two edges that are in direct and full contact with those pixels that belong to said other side of said image boundary.

9. A method for enhancing digital video having a sequence of digital image frames, said method comprising the steps of:

increasing the pixel resolution of each said digital image frame; and

thereafter

adjusting the color characters of each pixel of said image frame;

10. The method of claim 9, wherein said image frame is divided into a plurality of pixel blocks, and wherein said step of adjusting is executed following a predefined continuous block by block sequence by processing a selected one of said plurality of pixel blocks first before continuously processing the next neighboring block and until after reaching all the pixel blocks within said image frame.

11. A method for enhancing digital video having a sequence of digital image frames, each said image frame comprising limited number of columns and rows of pixels, said method comprising the steps of:

dividing each said pixel of said image frame into a plurality of child pixels;

adjusting the color characters of said child pixels;

12. The method of claim 11, wherein said image frame is divided into a plurality of pixel blocks, and wherein said steps are executed following a predefined continuous block by block sequence by processing a selected one of said plurality of pixel blocks first before continuously processing the next neighboring block and until after reaching all the pixel blocks within said image frame.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein said step of adjusting includes the step of determining the color character of each said child pixel based on that of its parent pixel and its neighboring pixels.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein said step of determining the color character of each said child pixel includes evaluating amount of changes of color character differences between the child pixel and its neighboring pixels so as to exclude those neighboring pixels that appears to belong to different image element.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein said step of determining the color character of each said child pixel includes making the color characters of one of said child pixel equal to that of its parent pixel and determining the color characters of other child pixels of said parent pixel according to the color characters of the parent pixel and its neighboring pixels.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising evaluating amount of changes of color character differences between said parent pixel and its neighboring pixels so as to exclude those neighboring pixels that appears to belong to a different image element in determining the color characters of said other child pixels.

17. The method of claim 11, wherein said step of adjusting includes determining whether an original pixel of said image frame is an element boundary pixel that contributes to the visual effect of a boundary of an image element, by evaluating amount of changes of color character differences between said original pixel and its neighboring pixels, and when said original pixel is an element-boundary pixel, determining whether to make the color character of a child pixel of said boundary pixel equal to that of an immediate neighboring pixel thereof that belong to a different side of said image element boundary based the number of edges of said child pixel of said boundary pixel that has direct and full contact with those pixel that belong to said different side of said image boundary.

18. The method of claim 11, wherein said step of adjusting includes determining whether an original pixel of said image frame is an element boundary pixel that contribute to the visual effect of a boundary of an image element within said image frame, and when said original pixel is deemed an element boundary pixel, determining to which side of said boundary the neighboring pixels of said original pixel belong, by evaluating amount of changes of color character differences between said original pixel and said neighboring pixels.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein said step of adjusting further includes, when said original pixel is deemed an element boundary pixel, determining whether to switch a child pixel of said original pixel to belonging to the other side of said boundary in determining the color character of said child pixel of said original pixel based on number edges of said child pixel of said original pixel that has direct and full contact with said neighboring pixels that belong to said other side of said boundary.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein said step of adjusting further includes, when said child pixel of said original pixel is not switched to belonging to said other side of said boundary, determining the color character of said child pixel of said original pixel based on the color characters of said original pixel and said neighboring pixels that are deemed belonging to the same side of said boundary as said original pixel;

and when said child pixel of said original pixel is switched to belonging to said other side of said boundary, determining the color character of said child pixel of said original pixel based only on the color characters of the neighboring pixels that are deemed belonging to said other side of said boundary.