Video multi-conference unit (MCU)
First Claim
1. A multi-conference unit for connection in a video conference network, comprising a video input for receiving a video stream to be conferenced and a video output for outputting a video stream to a video endpoint, the unit further comprising a scaling processor operable to adjust the horizontal dimension of an output video stream before onward transmission to an endpoint, thereby to alter the aspect ratio of images in the output video stream.
2 Assignments
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Accused Products
Abstract
A multi-conference unit (MCU) (2) is arranged to compress a video stream in the horizontal direction to adjust the aspect ratio prior to onward transmission to an endpoint (6-1 to 6-4). By arranging for an endpoint to de-compress the video stream by a similar amount, widescreen video streams may be transmitted and viewed using generally legacy equipment. The use of a widescreen transmission provides additional opportunities for effective layouts of windows in a composed video stream with excessive distortion or clipping.
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Citations
13 Claims
- 1. A multi-conference unit for connection in a video conference network, comprising a video input for receiving a video stream to be conferenced and a video output for outputting a video stream to a video endpoint, the unit further comprising a scaling processor operable to adjust the horizontal dimension of an output video stream before onward transmission to an endpoint, thereby to alter the aspect ratio of images in the output video stream.
- 8. A method of transmitting a video stream in a video conference network comprising receiving a video stream, scaling the stream in the horizontal dimension using a scaling processor and transmitting the scaled stream to an endpoint.
Specification