Method and system for preparing video communication image for wide screen display

• US 20050259144A1
• Filed: 05/21/2004
• Published: 11/24/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 05/21/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Polycom Incorporated (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Polycom Incorporated (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Eshkoli, Noam
• Granted Patent: US 7,113,200 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/14.70
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1454 involving copying of the display data of a local workstation or window to a remote workstation or window so that an actual copy of the data is displayed simultaneously on two or more displays, e.g. teledisplay
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/0442 Handling or displaying different aspect ratios, or changing the aspect ratio
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/147 Communication arrangements, e.g. identifying the communication as a video-communication, intermediate storage of the signals selecting H04Q
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/152 Multipoint control units therefor

Abstract

A system and method is disclosed for preparing video conference images. An endpoint has a wide screen display. The disclosed system creates an image with an aspect ratio of about 16:9 for the endpoint. The image is altered or modified to change the aspect ratio to about 4:3. In one example, two portions can be added to the image to increase the overall height of the image. The wide screen display is set to a zoom mode and is capable of substantially displaying the image without the added portions. Alternatively, the image is stretched along its height by a factor of 4/3. The wide screen display is set to the wide mode and is capable of substantially displaying the image without the stretched height. The disclosed system and method can receive signals that the endpoint has a wide screen display and can also inform a user at the endpoint to set the wide screen display to the wide or zoom modes.

Claims

1. A method of preparing an image for an endpoint of a video conference, the endpoint capable of handling an aspect ratio of about 4:

3 and being associated with a wide screen display, the wide screen display having an aspect ratio of about 16;

9 and capable of being set to a zoom mode or a wide mode, the method comprising;

creating an original image with an aspect ratio of about 16;

9;

changing the aspect ratio of the original image from about 16;

9 to about 4;

3 by altering a dimension of the original image; and

transmitting the altered image to the endpoint,

wherein the wide screen display set to the zoom mode or wide mode is capable of substantially displaying the original image with the aspect ratio of about 16;

9 and without the altered dimension.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein changing the aspect ratio of the original image from about 16:

9 to about 4;

3 by altering the dimension of the original image comprises;

adding at least one portion to an original height of the original image,

wherein the wide screen display set to the zoom mode is capable of substantially displaying the original image with the aspect ratio of about 16;

9 and without the at least one portion.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the at least one portion has a height about one third of the original height of the original image.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising transmitting an instruction to the endpoint to set the wide screen display to the zoom mode.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein changing the aspect ratio of the original image from about 16:

9 to about 4;

3 by altering the dimension of the image comprises;

distorting an original height of the original image by a factor of about 4/3,

wherein the wide screen display set to the wide mode is capable of substantially displaying the original image with the aspect ratio of about 16;

9 and without the distorted height.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising transmitting an instruction to the endpoint to set the wide screen display to the wide mode.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the altered image to the endpoint comprises encoding the altered image with a compression algorithm before transmitting the altered image.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the compression algorithm includes H.261 or H.263 without ‘

Custom Picture Format’

capability.

9. A method of preparing image data from a plurality of endpoints, at least one endpoint being associated with a display having an aspect ratio other than 4:

3, the method comprising;

creating a composite image for the at least one endpoint associated with the display, the composite image including image data from the plurality of endpoints and having an aspect ratio substantially equal to that of the display; and

transferring the composite image to the at least one endpoint associated with the display,

wherein the display is capable of displaying the composite image with the aspect ratio other than 4;

3 and without the composite image being substantially cropped or stretched on the display.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein creating a composite image comprises creating a layout of the image data, the layout having the aspect ratio other than 4:

3.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the layout has an aspect ratio of 16:

9 and each image data in the layout has an aspect ratio of 4;

3.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein transferring the composite image comprises encoding the composite image according to a compression algorithm used by the at least one endpoint;

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the compression algorithm includes H.261 or H.263 without ‘

Custom Picture Format’

capability.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the display includes a wide screen display having an aspect ratio of about 16:

9, and wherein the at least one endpoint is capable of handling video images having an aspect ratio of about 4;

3.

15. The method of claim 9, further comprising altering the composite image from the aspect ratio of about 16:

9 to about 4;

3 before transferring it to the at least one endpoint.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein altering the composite image from the aspect ratio of about 16:

9 to about 4;

3 comprises;

adding at least one segment to an original height of the composite image, wherein a height of the at least one segment is one third of the original height of the composite image,

wherein the display set to a zoom mode is capable of substantially displaying the image without the at least one segment.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising informing a user at the at least one endpoint to set the wide screen display to the zoom mode.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein altering the composite image from the aspect ratio of about 16:

9 to about 4;

3 comprises;

scaling the composite image asymmetrically by increasing an original height of the composite image by a factor of about 4/3,

wherein the display set to a wide mode is capable of substantially displaying the image without the increased height.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising informing a user at the at least one endpoint to set the wide screen display to the wide mode.

20. A method of preparing image data with a control unit from a plurality of endpoints, at least one endpoint being associated with a display having an aspect ratio other than 4:

3, the method comprising;

informing the control unit that the at least one endpoint is associated with the display having the aspect ratio other than 4;

3;

creating an image with the control unit for the at least one endpoint associated with the display, the image having an aspect ratio substantially equal to that of the display; and

transferring the image from the control unit to the at least one endpoint associated with the display,

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the endpoint is capable of displaying the image with the aspect ratio other than 4:

3 and without the image being substantially cropped or stretched on the display.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the endpoint is capable of displaying the image with an aspect ratio of 16:

9.

23. The method of claim 20, wherein informing the control unit that the at least one end point is associated with the display having the aspect ratio other than 4:

3 comprises informing the control unit while reserving the video conference.

24. The method of claim 20, wherein informing the control unit that the at least one end point is associated with the display having the aspect ratio other than 4:

3 comprises using an Interactive Voice Response session.

25. The method of claim 20, wherein informing the control unit that the at least one end point is associated with the display having the aspect ratio other than 4:

3 comprises receiving an option from the at least one endpoint associated with the display.

26. The method of claim 25, comprising sending a menu with options to the at least one endpoint for display on the display.

27. The method of claim 25, wherein receiving the option from the at least one endpoint associated with the display comprises using Dual Tone Modulation Frequency signals, Far End Camera Control signals, or speech recognition.

28. The method of claim 20, wherein informing the control unit that the at least one end point is associated with the display having the aspect ratio other than 4:

3 comprises informing the control unit when the video conference is established and the endpoint declares its capabilities to the control unit.

29. A system of processing image data from a plurality of endpoints, at least one end point associated with a wide screen display and capable of processing images with an aspect ratio of 4:

3;

the wide screen display having an aspect ratio of about 16;

9 and capable of being set to a zoom mode or a wide mode, the system comprising;

a control unit receiving image data from the plurality of endpoints and creating an image with an aspect ratio of about 16;

9 for the at least one end point, the control unit altering a dimension of the image to change the aspect ratio from about 16;

9 to about 4;

3 and transferring the altered image to the at least one end point,

wherein the wide screen display set to the wide mode or the zoom mode is capable of substantially displaying the image with the aspect ratio of about 16;

9 and without the altered dimension.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein the control unit comprises a builder adding at least one portion to an original height of the image to change the aspect ratio from about 16:

9 to about 4;

3, wherein the display set to a zoom mode is capable of substantially displaying the image without the at least one portion.

31. The system of claim 29, wherein the control unit comprises a scaler increasing an original height of the image by a factor of about 4/3 to change the aspect ratio from about 16:

9 to about 4;

3, wherein the display set to a wide mode is capable of substantially displaying the image without the increased height.

32. The system of claim 29, wherein the control unit comprises a function transmitting an instruction to set the wide screen display to the zoom mode or the wide mode.

33. A control unit for processing image data from a plurality of endpoints, at least one endpoint associated with a wide screen display and capable of handling an aspect ratio of about 4:

3, the wide screen display having an aspect ratio of about 16;

9 and capable of being set to a zoom mode or a wide mode, the control unit comprising;

an input module receiving image data from the endpoints; and

an output module in communication with the input module, the output module creating an image from the image data, the image having an aspect ratio of about 16;

9, the output module altering a dimension of the image to change the aspect ratio from about 16;

9 to about 4;

3, the output module in communication with the at least one end point and transferring the altered image to the at least one end point,

wherein the wide screen display set to the wide mode or the zoom mode is capable of substantially displaying the composite image with the aspect ratio of about 16;

9 and without the altered dimension.

34. The control unit of claim 33, wherein the output module comprises a builder adding at least one portion to an original height of the image to change the aspect ratio from about 16:

9 to about 4;

3, wherein the display set to a zoom mode is capable of substantially displaying the image without the at least one portion.

35. The control unit of claim 33, wherein the output module comprises a scaler increasing an original height of the image by a factor of about 4/3 to change the aspect ratio from about 16:

9 to about 4;

3, wherein the display set to a wide mode is capable of substantially displaying the image without the increased height.

36. The control unit of claim 33, wherein the output module comprises an encoder encoding the altered image with a compression algorithm.

37. The control unit of claim 36, wherein the compression algorithm includes H.261 or H.263 without ‘

Custom Picture Format’

capability.

38. A system of processing image data from a plurality of endpoints, at least one end point associated with a display having an aspect ratio of other than 4:

3, the system comprising;

a control unit receiving image data from the plurality of endpoints and receiving information about the display associated with the at least one endpoint, the control unit creating a composite image from the image data, the composite image having the aspect ratio other than 4;

3 for the at least one end point, the control unit transferring the composite image from the control unit to the at least one endpoint associated with the at least one display,

wherein the display is capable of substantially displaying the composite image with the aspect ratio other than 4;

3 and without the composite image being substantially cropped or stretched on the display.

39. The system of claim 38, wherein the information about the display received by the control unit includes the aspect ratio of the at least one display.

40. The system of claim 38, wherein the control unit receives the information about the display from the at least one endpoint when a user reserves the video conference, or when a user establishes the video conference with the control unit, using an Interactive Voice Response session, or using options on a menu for selecting a type of display associated with the at least one endpoint.

41. The system of claim 38, wherein the control unit receives the information about the display using Dual Tone Modulation Frequency signals, Far End Camera Control signals, or speech recognition.

42. A control unit for processing image data from a plurality of endpoints, at least one endpoint associated with a display and capable of handling an aspect ration other than 4:

3, the display having the aspect ratio of other than 4;

3, the control unit comprising;

an input module receiving the image data from the plurality of endpoints; and

an output module in communication with the input module, the output module creating a composite image of the image data from the plurality of endpoints, the composite image having the aspect ratio other than 4;

3, the output module in communication with the at least one endpoint and transferring the composite image to the at least one end point,

wherein the display is capable of displaying the composite image with the aspect ratio other than 4;

3 and without the composite image being substantially cropped or stretched on the display.

43. The control unit of claim 42, wherein the input module comprises a scaler scaling the image data from the plurality of endpoints.

44. The control unit claim 42, wherein the output module comprises a builder arranging the image data to create the composite image.

45. The control unit of claim 42, wherein the output module comprises a scaler scaling the composite image to a desired resolution.

46. The control unit of claim 42, wherein the output module comprises an encoder encoding the composite image with a compression algorithm.

47. The control unit of claim 46, wherein the compression algorithm includes H.264 or H.263 with ‘

Custom Picture Formats’

capability.

48. The control unit of claim 42, wherein the control unit comprises a function receiving information about the at least one display from the at least one endpoint.

49. The control unit of claim 48, wherein the control unit receives the information about the at least one display using Far End Camera Control signals, Dual Tone Modulation Frequency signals, or speech recognition.

50. The control unit of claim 48, wherein the information about the at least one display includes the aspect ratio of the at least one display.

51. The control unit of claim 48, wherein the function includes an Interactive Voice Response function initiated by the control unit to receive the information about the at least one display from the at least one endpoint.

52. The control unit of claim 48, wherein the function includes a menu transmitted to the at least one endpoint, the menu having a plurality of options for selecting a type of display associated with the at least one endpoint.