Method and apparatus for providing scalable pre-compressed digital video with reduced quantization based artifacts

• US 7,075,986 B2
• Filed: 11/12/2002
• Issued: 07/11/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 11/27/1996
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: RealNetworks, Inc.
• Inventors: Girod, Bernd, Ericsson, Staffan, Resznik, Yuriy A., Farber, Nikolaus
• Primary Examiner(s): PHILIPPE, GIMS S
• Application Number:
  US10/292,257
• Publication Number:
  US 20030072370A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,337 Days
• Field of Search: 375/240.12, 375/240.03, 375/240.04, 375/240.01, 375/240.1, 375/240.13, 370/465, 370/232, 348/415.1, 382/236
• US Class Current: 375/240.12
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/105 Selection of the reference unit for prediction within a chosen coding or prediction mode, e.g. adaptive choice of position and number of pixels used for prediction
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/12 Selection from among a plurality of transforms or standards, e.g. selection between discrete cosine transform [DCT] and sub-band transform or selection between H.263 and H.264
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/152 by measuring the fullness of the transmission buffer
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/172 the region being a picture, frame or field
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/187 the unit being a scalable video layer
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/39 involving multiple description coding [MDC], i.e. with separate layers being structured as independently decodable descriptions of input picture data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/51 Motion estimation or motion compensation
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/59 involving spatial sub-sampling or interpolation, e.g. alteration of picture size or resolution
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/61 in combination with predictive coding
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23424 involving splicing one content stream with another content stream, e.g. for inserting or substituting an advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23439 for generating different versions
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2662 Controlling the complexity of the video stream, e.g. by scaling the resolution or bitrate of the video stream based on the client capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6379 directed to encoder , e.g. for requesting a lower encoding rate
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/64769 for rate control flow control in packet networks H04L47/10
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8042 involving data reduction

Abstract

A method for generating a digital motion video sequence at a plurality of bit rates uses a transitional coding source when switching between bitstreams having different bit rates during transmission of a video sequence. The transitional data may be frames coded using reconstructed frames reconstructed for a first bitstream using the characteristics of the second bitstream. These “low bit rate insert frames,” or LBIFs, contain the image characteristics of a signal coded at the lower bit rate. With a bitstream having a higher bit rate being periodically coded using an LBIF, a point of image continuity between the two bitstreams is provided. Thus, switching from one bitstream to the other at this point in the video sequence minimizes the production of artifacts caused by differences in bit rate. In another embodiment of the invention, a separate set of transitional data is created, taking the form of “switch” frames, or S-frames. The S-frames are typically the difference between a frame of a first bitstream and a frame of a second bitstream. These frames are inserted into the decoded bitstream during the transition from one bitstream to the other, and compensate for any visual artifacts that might otherwise occur due to the difference in bit rate of the two bitstreams.

Claims

1. An apparatus for interframe coding a video signal comprising:

a first interframe coder operative to receive and interframe code an input video signal to generate a first interframe coded bitstream having a first bit rate;

a second or an additional interframe coder operative to receive the video signal and interframe code the input video signal to generate a second interframe or an additionally coded bitstream having a second bit rate which is different than the first bit rate, such that each of the first and second bitstreams is an independently viewable version of the video signal; and

a switch frame coder that interframe codes transition data that, when decoded by an interframe decoder that was used to decode the first bitstream immediately prior thereto, compensates for visual discrepancies between a decoded version of the first bitstream and a decoded version of the second bitstream, such that decoding of the second bitstream with said decoder immediately after decoding the transition data provides a continuous video sequence without visual artifacts that would otherwise be present due to the difference in the bit rates of the first and second bitstreams.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the video sequence comprises a plurality of different bitstreams each having a different bit rate and data organized in a plurality of temporally sequential spatial frames.

3. An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the first bitstream and the second bitstream are each coded with a different coarseness of quantization.

4. A video decoder apparatus for providing digital motion video at a plurality of different bit rates, the apparatus comprising:

a video interframe decoder that decodes interframe coded video data to a viewable video sequence; and

a switching module that selects the source of said interframe coded video data during a transition from one bitstream to another, the switching module selecting;

a first bitstream that was interframe coded from an input video signal to allow transmission at a first bit rate and that, when decoded, corresponds to a predetermined video sequence;

a second bitstream, after selection of the first bitstream, that was interframe coded from said input video signal to allow transmission at a second bit rate different than the first bit rate, the second bitstream comprising video data that, when decoded, provides a continuation of said predetermined video sequence; and

transition data that is decoded after decoding the first bitstream and before decoding the second bitstream, the decoded transition data compensating for visual discrepancies between a decoded version of the first bitstream and a decoded version of the second bitstream, such that decoding of the second bitstream immediately after decoding the transition data provides a continuation of the predetermined video sequence without visual artifacts that would otherwise be present due to the difference in the bit rates of the first and second bitstreams.

5. A decoder according to claim 4 wherein the first bitstream, the second bitstream and the transition data are transmitted over a network from a remote server.

6. A decoder according to claim 4 wherein the transition data comprise the difference between a frame of data from the first bitstream and a frame of data from the second bitstream.

7. A decoder according to claim 6 wherein the frame of data from the first bitstream and the frame of data from the second bitstream both represent the same time index in the video sequence.

8. A decoder according to claim 4 further comprising a frame inverter that, when invoked, inverts the frame of transition data prior to its decoding.

9. A video decoder for providing digital motion video at a plurality of different bit rates, the decoder having a computer readable medium comprising:

a first instruction set that requests a first bitstream that was interframe coded from an input video signal, the first bitstream comprising video data that, when decoded, corresponds to a first predetermined video sequence;

a second instruction set that requests a second bitstream that was interframe coded from said input video signal and that has a second bit rate different than the first bit rate, the second bitstream comprising video data that, when decoded, provides a continuation of said predetermined video sequence; and

a third instruction set that requests transition data to be decoded after decoding the first bitstream and before decoding the second bitstream, the transition data compensating for visual discrepancies between a decoded version of the first bitstream and a decoded version of the second bitstream, such that decoding of the second bitstream immediately after decoding the transition data provides a continuation of the predetermined video sequence without visual artifacts that would otherwise be present due to the difference in the bit rates of the first and second bitstreams.

10. A decoder according to claim 9 wherein the requests issued by the first, second and third instruction sets are transmitted over a network to a remote server.

11. A decoder according to claim 9 wherein the transition data comprise the difference between a first frame of data from the first bitstream and a second frame of data from the second bitstream.

12. A decoder according to claim 11 wherein said first frame of data and said second frame of data each represent one particular time index in the video sequence.

13. A decoder according to claim 9 further comprising a frame inverter that, when invoked, inverts the frame of transition data prior to its decoding.

14. An apparatus for interframe coding a video sequence, comprising:

a first interframe coder that receives and interframe codes an input video signal with a first spatial resolution to generate a first interframe coded bitstream having a first bit rate;

a second interframe coder that receives the video signal and interframe codes the input video signal with a second spatial resolution to generate a second interframe coded bitstream having a second bit rate which is different than the first bit rate, such that each of the first and second bitstreams is an independently viewable version of the video signal at a different spatial resolution; and

a switch frame coder that interframe codes transition data that, when decoded by an interframe decoder that was used to decode the first bitstream immediately prior thereto, compensate for visual discrepancies between a decoded version of the first bitstream and a decoded version of the second bitstream, such that decoding of the second bitstream with said decoder immediately after decoding the transition data provides a continuation of the video sequence without visual artifacts that would otherwise be present due to the difference in the spatial resolutions of the first and second bitstreams.

15. An apparatus according to claim 14 further comprising a memory storage element in which data of the first bitstream is stored.

16. An apparatus according to claim 14 further comprising a memory storage element in which data of the second bitstream is stored.

17. An apparatus according to claim 14 further comprising means for transmitting the first bitstream and the second bitstream simultaneously over a transmission channel.

18. An apparatus according to claim 14 wherein the second bit rate is higher than the first bit rate.

19. A method of providing digital motion video at a plurality of different bit rates, the method comprising:

decoding a first bitstream that was interframe coded from an input video signal, the first bitstream comprising video data that, when decoded, corresponds to a first predetermined video sequence;

decoding a second bitstream that was interframe coded from said input video signal and that has a second bit rate different than the first bit rate, the second bitstream comprising video data that, when decoded, provides a continuation of said predetermined video sequence; and

decoding transition data after decoding the first bitstream and before decoding the second bitstream, the transition data compensating for visual discrepancies between a decoded version of the first bitstream and a decoded version of the second bitstream, such that decoding of the second bitstream immediately after decoding the transition data provides a continuation of the predetermined video sequence without visual artifacts that would otherwise be present due to the difference in the bit rates of the first and second bitstreams.

20. A method according to claim 19 wherein the first bitstream, the second bitstream and the transition data are received over a network from a remote server.

21. A method according to claim 19 wherein the transition data comprise the difference between a first frame of data from the first bitstream and a second frame of data from the second bitstream.

22. A method according to claim 21 wherein said first frame of data and said second frame of data each represent one particular time index in the video sequence.

23. A method according to claim 19 further comprising inverting the frame of transition data prior to its decoding.