Methods and systems for use in maintaining media data quality upon conversion to a different data format

• US 7,555,715 B2
• Filed: 10/25/2005
• Issued: 06/30/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 10/25/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ROVI Product Corporation (Xperi Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Sonic Solutions (Adeia Inc.)
• Inventors: Oetzel, Kenneth G., Randall, Bruce W., Ely, Mark N., Taylor, James H.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hutton; Doug
• Assistant Examiner(s): NGUYEN, CHAU T
• Application Number:
  US11/258,677
• Publication Number:
  US 20070094583A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,344 Days
• Field of Search: 715/200, 715/201, 715/205, 715/239, 715/248, 715/249, 715/250, 715/255
• US Class Current: 715/249
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/154 Measured or subjectively estimated visual quality after decoding, e.g. measurement of distortion use of rate-distortion criteria H04N19/147
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/162 User input
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/40 using video transcoding, i.e. partial or full decoding of a coded input stream followed by re-encoding of the decoded output stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/46 Embedding additional information in the video signal during the compression process H04N19/517, H04N19/68, H04N19/70 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/61 in combination with predictive coding
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/85 using pre-processing or post-processing specially adapted for video compression
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/440218 by transcoding between formats or standards, e.g. from MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 conversion of standards in analogue television systems H04N7/01
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4405 involving video stream decryption
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4621 Controlling the complexity of the content stream or additional data, e.g. lowering the resolution or bit-rate of the video stream for a mobile client with a small screen arrangements for using the results of monitoring on user's side in broadcast systems H04H60/65; flow control in packet networks H04L47/10

Abstract

The present embodiments provide methods, apparatuses, and systems for use in maintaining data quality upon conversion to a different data format. Some embodiments provide methods that receive media data in a first format, initiate a first conversion of the media data at the first format to a second converted format, identify parameters dictating the conversion to the second converted format, record the parameters, and distribute the recorded parameters to remote systems such that the parameters at least in part control the remote systems during a conversion of the media data to the second converted format.

Claims

1. A method for use in converting multimedia content, comprising:

receiving media data in a first format;

initiating a first conversion of the media data at the first format to a second converted format;

identifying parameters dictating the conversion to the second converted format;

determining a quality of at least a first portion of the media data in the second converted format;

adjusting a set of parameters from the identified parameters;

re-converting at least the first portion of the media data at the first format to the second converted format while applying the set of adjusted parameters producing at least a first portion of an adjusted media data in the second converted format;

determining whether the first portion of the adjusted media data in the second converted format has a quality that exceeds the quality of the first portion of the media data in the second converted format;

recording the parameters, where the recording the parameters comprises recording the set of parameters when the first portion of the adjusted media data in the second converted format has a quality that exceeds the quality of the first portion of the media data in the second converted format; and

distributing the recorded parameters to remote systems such that the parameters at least in part control the remote system during a conversion of the media data to the second converted format.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the adjusting the set of parameters comprises adjusting the set of parameters to improve the conversion of the media data in the first format to the second converted format;

and

the recording the parameters comprises recording the adjusted set of parameters.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the adjusting the set of parameters comprises adjusting video parameters that are utilized to optimize a generation of a video image upon encoding of the media data to the second converted format.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the re-converting comprises initiating a segment re-encode of at least the first portion of the media data at the first converted format.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

converting the media data in the first format to a third converted format; and

the distributing comprises distributing the recorded parameters and the media data in the third converted format to the remote systems to be used by remote systems in playing back the media data.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving media data in the first format comprises receiving the media data in an original source format.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving the media data comprises receiving media data in the first format converted from an original source format.