Video rotation method and device

• US 8,610,830 B2
• Filed: 12/30/2008
• Issued: 12/17/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 09/11/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Corlett, Barry, Culbert, Michael, Conroy, David G, Millet, Timothy J
• Primary Examiner(s): Shiferaw, Eleni
• Assistant Examiner(s): VU, PHY ANH TRAN
• Application Number:
  US12/317,811
• Publication Number:
  US 20100060792A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,813 Days
• Field of Search: 375/340.25, 348/583
• US Class Current: 348/583
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/44 Decoders specially adapted therefor, e.g. video decoders which are asymmetric with respect to the encoder
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/85 using pre-processing or post-processing specially adapted for video compression

Abstract

A media processing system with an improved method and device for rotating a video image is provided. Embodiments of the media processing system include a video decoder with the ability to output decoded video in a landscape or portrait orientation. In some embodiments, the video output orientation is based on the physical orientation of the display as indicated by an electronic sensor.

Claims

1. A hand-held electronic device, comprising:

a decoder engine configured to receive a compressed video signal and generate decompressed video data corresponding with a video image;

an output buffer coupled to the decoder engine and configured to receive the decompressed video data from the decoder engine and output the decompressed video data to a frame buffer; and

a programmable memory programmed to cause the decoder engine to determine an order by which to send the decompressed video data from the output buffer to the frame buffer; and

a video display coupled to the frame buffer and configured to receive the decompressed video data from the frame buffer and generate the video image;

wherein the decoder engine is configured to rotate the video image according to a specified image orientation, and wherein the decoder engine is configured to rotate the video image by sending the decompressed video data to the frame buffer in a rotated order.

2. The hand-held electronic device of claim 1, further comprising a sensor configured to sense a physical orientation of the video display, and wherein the specified image orientation is based on the physical orientation of the video display as determined by the sensor.

3. The hand-held electronic device of claim 2, wherein the sensor comprises an accelerometer.

4. The hand-held electronic device of claim 1, wherein the frame buffer receives the decompressed video data from the decoder engine in either a landscape or portrait image orientation.

5. The hand-held electronic device of claim 1, wherein the output buffer holds approximately one frame of the decompressed video data.

6. A video decoder, comprising:

a video decoder engine configured to receive a compressed video signal and generate decompressed video data corresponding with a video image;

an output buffer coupled to the video decoder engine and configured to receive the decompressed video data from the video decoder engine and output the decompressed video data to a frame buffer; and

a programmable memory programmed to cause the video decoder engine to determine an order by which to send the decompressed video data from the output buffer to the frame buffer,

wherein the video decoder engine is configured to calculate a rotated order depending on a specified video image orientation and transfer the decompressed video data from the output buffer to the frame buffer according to the rotated order.

7. The video decoder of claim 6, further comprising an input configured to receive the specified video image orientation.

8. The video decoder of claim 6, wherein the rotated order causes the video image to be rotated by ninety degrees.

9. The video decoder of claim 6, wherein the size of the output buffer is approximately equal to the size of the frame buffer.

10. The video decoder of claim 6, wherein the output buffer receives the decompressed video data from the video decoder engine in a landscape image orientation and outputs the decompressed video data in a portrait image orientation.

11. A method of processing video data, comprising:

obtaining decompressed video data from a video decoder, the decompressed video data corresponding with a video image;

storing the decompressed video data in a first block of memory coupled to the video decoder;

determining an image orientation by the video decoder;

calculating a rotated order by the video decoder based on the image orientation, wherein the rotated order is a rotation of the decompressed video data from a portrait order to a landscape order or from a landscape order to a portrait order; and

sending the decompressed video data from the first block of memory to a second block of memory according to the rotated order; and

sending the decompressed video data from the second block of memory to a display in an order in which the decompressed video data is held in the second block of memory.

12. The method of claim 11, comprising determining a start-of-line parameter based on the image orientation.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the rotated order causes the video image to be rotated ninety degrees.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the rotated order causes the video image to be displayed in a portrait orientation.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein determining the image orientation comprises obtaining a signal from a sensor configured to determine a physical orientation of a display.

16. The method of claim 11, further comprising scaling the decompressed video data to fit the video image to the display.