SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR GENERATING CODED VIDEO SEQUENCES FROM STILL MEDIA

• US 20120033743A1
• Filed: 08/08/2011
• Published: 02/09/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Basso, Andrea, Cosatto, Eric, Greenspan, Steven Lloyd, Weimer, David M.
• Granted Patent: US 8,955,031 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 375/240.26
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23412 for generating or manipulating the scene composition of objects, e.g. MPEG-4 objects
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8153 comprising still images, e.g. texture, background image

Abstract

The invention provides a system and method that transforms a set of still/motion media (i.e., a series of related or unrelated still frames, web-pages rendered as images, or video clips) or other multimedia, into a video stream that is suitable for delivery over a display medium, such as TV, cable TV, computer displays, wireless display devices, etc. The video data stream may be presented and displayed in real time or stored and later presented through a set-top box, for example. Because these media are transformed into coded video streams (e.g. MPEG-2, MPEG-4, etc.), a user can watch them on a display screen without the need to connect to the Internet through a service provider. The user may request and interact with the desired media through a simple telephone interface, for example. Moreover, several wireless and cable-based services can be developed on the top of this system. In one possible embodiment, the system for generating a coded video sequence may include an input unit that receives the multimedia input and extracts image data, and derives the virtual camera scripts and coding hints from the image data, a video sequence generator that generates a video sequence based on the extracted image data and the derived virtual camera scripts and coding hints, and a video encoder that encodes the generated video sequence using the coding hints and outputs the coded video sequence to an output device. The system may also provide customized video sequence generation services to subscribers.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving a plurality of still images, wherein the plurality still images are independent of a video;

extracting from the plurality of still images a virtual camera script and a coding hint;

generating a video sequence based at least in part on the virtual camera script and the coding hint; and

encoding the plurality of still images based at least in part on the virtual camera script, the coding hint, and the video sequence, to yield a coded video sequence.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting the coded video sequence.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving preference information from one of a user and a service provider; and

storing the preference information in a user profile, wherein the video sequence is based on the user profile.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the user profile comprises at least one of format settings, coding preferences, handicap settings, storage settings, addresses of image data, device characteristics, and billing information.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the format settings comprise at least one of text font settings, text style settings, and display settings.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the coding preferences are used as coding hints and comprise at least one of audio coding preferences and visual coding preferences.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein the handicap settings comprise at least one of visual enhancement settings and audio enhancements settings.

8. The method of claim 4, wherein the storage addresses of image data comprise at least one of a computer image file, an image database, a Web page address, a universal resource locator, a floppy disk, and CD ROM.

9. The method of claim 3, wherein the user provides multimedia data input and preference information to an input unit using at least one of a touch-tone menu, an interactive voice response system, a voice recognition system, a touch screen, a stylus, a keyboard, a Web page, the Internet, a telephone, a cable television, a personal computer, and a wireless communication device.

10. The method of claim 3, wherein the user profile comprises information about the display devices owned by the user.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the coded video sequence is customized for at least one of the devices comprising the user profile.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing the virtual camera script in a virtual camera scripts database, and the coding hint in a coding hint database.

13. A system comprising:

a processor; and

a storage device storing instructions for controlling the processor to perform steps comprising;

receiving a plurality of still images, wherein the plurality still images are independent of a video;

extracting from the plurality of still images a virtual camera script and a coding hint;

generating a video sequence based at least in part on the virtual camera script and the coding hint; and

encoding the plurality of still images based at least in part on the virtual camera script, the coding hint, and the video sequence, to yield a coded video sequence.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the storage device stores instructions for controlling the processor to perform steps further comprising transmitting the coded video sequence.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the storage device stores instructions for controlling the processor to perform steps further comprising:

receiving preference information from one of a user and a service provider; and

storing the preference information in a user profile, wherein the video sequence is based on the user profile.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the user profile comprises at least one of format settings, coding preferences, handicap settings, storage settings, addresses of image data, device characteristics, and billing information.

17. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform steps comprising:

receiving a plurality of still images, wherein the plurality still images are independent of a video;

extracting from the plurality of still images a virtual camera script and a coding hint;

generating a video sequence based at least in part on the virtual camera script and the coding hint; and

encoding the plurality of still images based at least in part on the virtual camera script, the coding hint, and the video sequence, to yield a coded video sequence.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, the instructions further comprising storing the virtual camera script in a virtual camera scripts database, and the coding hint in a coding hint database.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, the instructions further comprising transmitting the coded video sequence.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, the instructions further comprising:

receiving preference information from one of a user and a service provider; and

storing the preference information in a user profile, wherein the video sequence is based on the user profile.