Digital video zooming system

• US 7,782,344 B2
• Filed: 11/15/2005
• Issued: 08/24/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/15/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Synamedia Limited
• Original Assignee: NDS Limited (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Whittaker, David
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, PHU K
• Application Number:
  US12/084,539
• Publication Number:
  US 20080266458A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,743 Days
• Field of Search: 345/619, 345/632, 345/660, 348/208.14, 348/169, 348/170, 348/171, 348/581, 348/582, 382/298
• US Class Current: 345/660
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/235 Processing of additional data, e.g. scrambling of additional data or processing content descriptors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4318 by altering the content in the rendering process, e.g. blanking, blurring or masking an image region image enhancement or restoration in general G06T5/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/435 Processing of additional data, e.g. decrypting of additional data, reconstructing software from modules extracted from the transport stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/440263 by altering the spatial resolution, e.g. for displaying on a connected PDA
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4532 involving end-user characteristics, e.g. viewer profile, preferences monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4728 for selecting a Region Of Interest [ROI], e.g. for requesting a higher resolution version of a selected region
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/2628 Alteration of picture size, shape, position or orientation, e.g. zooming, rotation, rolling, perspective, translation
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/163 by receiver means only

Abstract

A system for preparing a digital video stream for zooming by a content consumer system, including a video frame processor to prepare a plurality of video frames of the digital video stream, a zoom location processor to prepare a plurality of zoom location indicators in the digital video stream, each of the zoom location indicators including an element indicative of a least one horizontal position and at least one vertical position in the video frames, and a stream processor to temporally synchronize the zoom location indicators and the video frames in the digital video stream, such that the video frames are available to be zoomed by the content consumer system based on the zoom location indicators during playback of the digital video steam. Related apparatus and methods are also described.

Claims

1. A content consumer system for zooming a digital video stream provided by a content provider, the provided digital video stream including a plurality of video frames and a plurality of zoom location indicators, each of the zoom location indicators including an element being indicative of at least one horizontal position and at least one vertical position in the video frames, the system comprising:

a stream receiver to receive the video frames and the zoom location indicators of the digital video stream from the content provider; and

a display processor to zoom the video frames of the digital video stream based on the zoom location indicators while playing the digital video stream,

wherein the magnitude of the zoom is determined by a user of the content consumer system.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the video frames include:

a first video frame associated with a first zoom location indicator of the zoom location indicators; and

a second video frame associated with a second zoom location indicator of the zoom location indicators; and

at least one intervening video frame temporally located between the first video frame and the second video frame, the display processor being operative to interpolate between the first zoom location indicator and the second zoom location indicator in order to determine an interpolated zoom location indicator for the at least one intervening frame.

3. The system according to claim 1, wherein the element of each of the zoom location indicators is indicative of a center of a target area.

4. The system according to claim 3, wherein each of the zoom location indicators includes a length indicative of a magnitude of the target area.

5. The system according to claim 1, wherein the video frames include data, the zoom location indicators and the data of the video frames being located in separate packets in the digital video stream.

6. The system according to claim 5, wherein the display processor is operative to temporally synchronize the zoom location indicators and the video frames.

7. The system according to claim 1, wherein the video frames include data within a plurality of packets, the zoom location indicators being located within the packets of the data of the video frames.

8. A method for zooming a digital video stream provided by a content provider, the provided digital video stream including a plurality of video frames and a plurality of zoom location indicators, each of the zoom location indicators including an element being indicative of at least one horizontal position and at least one vertical position in the video frames, the method comprising:

a content consumer system receiving the video frames and the zoom location indicators of the video stream from the content provider; and

the content consumer system zooming the video frames of the digital video stream based on the zoom location indicators while playing the digital video stream,

wherein the magnitude of the zooming is determined by a user.

9. A content consumer system for zooming a digital video stream provided by a content provider, the provided digital video stream including a plurality of video frames and a plurality of zoom location indicators, each of the zoom location indicators including an element being indicative of at least one horizontal position and at least one vertical position in the video frames, the system comprising:

means for receiving the video frames and the zoom location indicators of the digital video stream from the content provider; and

means for zooming the video frames of the digital video stream based on the zoom location indicators while playing the digital video stream,

wherein the magnitude of the zoom is determined by a user of the content consumer system.