SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR OPTIMIZING VIDEO CODING EFFICIENCY BASED ON CHARACTERISTICS OF VIDEO CONTENT

• US 20160295224A1
• Filed: 04/01/2015
• Published: 10/06/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 04/01/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cox Communications Incorporated (Cox Enterprises Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Cox Communications Incorporated (Cox Enterprises Incorporated)
• Inventors: Finkelstein, Jeffrey L., Civiletto, John, Bing, Benny K.
• Granted Patent: US 10,349,057 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/107 between spatial and temporal predictive coding, e.g. picture refresh
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/142 Detection of scene cut or scene change
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/146 Data rate or code amount at the encoder output
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/172 the region being a picture, frame or field

Abstract

Certain embodiments herein relate to optimizing the efficiency of video coding. Such optimization may be based on characteristics of video content, such as the size and type of video frames. The size of video frames may be compared to a threshold size to determine whether an intracoded frame should be inserted into a Group of Pictures (GOP) instead of a predetermined type of video frame. As an example, an intracoded video frame may be inserted into the GOP when an abrupt or gradual size change in the sequence of video frames is determined. As another example, unipredicted frames may also be inserted into the GOP instead of bipredicted frames using a similar comparison.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

at least one memory that stores computer-executable instructions; and

at least one processor configured to access the at least one memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to;

receive a Group of Pictures (GOP) comprising a sequence of video frames;

compare a portion of the video frames in the sequence based at least in part on a respective type and size of the portion of video frames;

determine, based at least in part on the comparison, that the size of a second video frame occurring after a first video frame in the portion of the video frames is greater than or equal to a threshold value; and

generate a modified GOP at least in part by replacing the type of the second video frame with a different type of video frame.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to:

determine that the threshold value is associated with an abrupt size change;

wherein generating the modified GOP comprises replacing the second video frame with an intracoded frame.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to:

determine that the threshold value is associated with the gradual size change, wherein generating the modified GOP comprises replacing the second video frame with an intracoded frame; and

determine that the portion of video frames comprises a plurality of video frames between the first video frame and the second video frame, wherein the respective size of the portion of video frames increases from the first video frame to the second video frame;

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to:

determine that the first video frame comprises a unipredicted frame and the second frame comprises a bipredicted frame;

wherein generating the modified GOP comprises replacing the second video frame with a unipredicted frame.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the threshold value is based at least in part on the size of the first video frame.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to send the modified GOP to one or more user devices.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the computer-executable instructions to compare the portion of the video frames further configures the at least one processor to execute the computer-executable instructions to:

determine that at least one scene change occurred over the portion of video frames based at least in part on the respective size.

8. A method comprising:

receiving, by a device comprising at least one processor, a Group of Pictures (GOP) comprising a sequence of video frames;

comparing, by the device, a portion of the video frames in the sequence based at least in part on a respective type and size of the portion of video frames;

determining, by the device, based at least in part on the comparison, that the size of a second video frame occurring after a first video frame in the portion of the video frames is greater than or equal to a threshold value; and

generating, by the device, a modified GOP at least in part by replacing the type of the second video frame with a different type of video frame.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

determining, by the device, that the threshold value is associated with an abrupt size change;

wherein generating the modified GOP comprises replacing the second video frame with an intracoded frame.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

determining, by the device, that the threshold value is associated with the gradual size change, wherein generating the modified GOP comprises replacing the second video frame with an intracoded frame; and

determining, by the device, that the portion of video frames comprises a plurality of video frames between the first video frame and the second video frame, wherein the respective size of the portion of video frames increases from the first video frame to the second video frame;

11. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

determining, by the device, that the first video frame comprises a unipredicted frame and the second frame comprises a bipredicted frame;

wherein generating the modified GOP comprises replacing the second video frame with a unipredicted frame.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the threshold value is based at least in part on the size of the first video frame.

13. The method of claim 8, further comprising sending, by the device, the modified GOP to one or more user devices.

14. The method of claim 8, wherein comparing at least a portion of the video frames further comprises determining that at least one scene change occurred over the portion of video frames based at least in part on the respective size.

15. One or more computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, configure the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:

receiving a Group of Pictures (GOP) comprising a sequence of video frames;

comparing a portion of the video frames in the sequence based at least in part on a respective type and size of the portion of video frames;

determining, based at least in part on the comparison, that the size of a second video frame occurring after a first video frame in the portion of the video frames is greater than or equal to a threshold value; and

generating a modified GOP at least in part by replacing the type of the second video frame with a different type of video frame.

16. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 15, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to perform the operations comprising:

determining that the threshold value is associated with an abrupt size change;

wherein generating the modified GOP comprises replacing the second video frame with an intracoded frame.

17. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 15, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to perform the operations comprising:

determining that the threshold value is associated with the gradual size change, wherein generating the modified GOP comprises replacing the second video frame with an intracoded frame; and

determining that the portion of video frames comprises a plurality of video frames between the first video frame and the second video frame, wherein the respective size of the portion of video frames increases from the first video frame to the second video frame;

18. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 15, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to perform the operations comprising:

determining that the first video frame comprises a unipredicted frame and the second frame comprises a bipredicted frame;

wherein generating the modified GOP comprises replacing the second video frame with a unipredicted frame.

19. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 15, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to perform the operation comprising sending the modified GOP to one or more user devices.

20. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 15, wherein the computer-executable instructions further comprise determining that at least one scene change occurred over the portion of video frames based at least in part on the respective size.