Method and system for enhancing the quality of video prompts in an interactive media response system

• US 8,687,016 B2
• Filed: 06/10/2005
• Issued: 04/01/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/10/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Covell, Michele, Roy, Sumit, Ankcorn, John
• Primary Examiner(s): WANG, JIN CHENG
• Application Number:
  US11/149,720
• Publication Number:
  US 20060282783A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,217 Days
• Field of Search: 345/467, 345/611, 345/619
• US Class Current: 345/619
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/203 Drawing of straight lines or curves
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/40 Filling a planar surface by adding surface attributes, e.g. colour or texture
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/60 Editing figures and text; Combining figures or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 15/30 Clipping
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/24 Generation of individual character patterns
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/115 Selection of the code volume for a coding unit prior to coding
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/136 Incoming video signal characteristics or properties
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/17 the unit being an image region, e.g. an object
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/176 the region being a block, e.g. a macroblock
• 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 19/61 in combination with predictive coding
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/86 involving reduction of coding artifacts, e.g. of blockiness

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention recite a method for enhancing the quality of visual prompts in and interactive media response system. In one embodiment, a video coder/decoder (codec) used by a thin device is determined. A visual prompt to be displayed on the thin device is accessed and the display parameters of the visual prompt are modified such that at least one character of the visual prompt is aligned with a blocking artifact generated by the video codec.

Claims

1. A method for enhancing the quality of visual prompts in an interactive media response system, said method comprising:

determining a video codec used by a thin device, wherein said video codec is a block based codec, wherein said video codec generates pixel blocks, and wherein each pixel block of said pixel blocks comprises boundaries;

based on said determining said video codec used by said thin device, generating a spatial map of said boundaries for said pixel blocks;

accessing visual prompts to be displayed on said thin device; and

modifying display parameters of a plurality of text visual prompts of said visual prompts, wherein said plurality of text visual prompts comprises a plurality of characters, and wherein said modifying comprises;

jittering, using said spatial map that was generated, at least one character of said plurality of characters such that at least one edge of each character of said plurality of characters is positioned on a portion of at least one of a horizontal and vertical boundary of said boundaries such that a display of said at least one edge appears to be less blurred than a portion of said at least one character, which portion is not positioned on any boundary of any pixel block of said pixel blocks, said jittering thereby increasing an overall visual sharpness of said visual prompts on display.

2. The method as recited in claim 1 further comprising measuring video quality of said plurality of text visual prompts in response to said modifying.

3. The method as recited in claim 1 further comprising:

pre-computing coefficients for jittering said at least one character.

4. The method as recited in claim 1 further comprising:

allocating a greater amount of data bits to a pixel block of said pixel blocks displaying said at least one character than is allocated to a pixel block of said pixel blocks displaying an image.

5. The method as recited in claim 1 further comprising:

determining that a display of said at least one character is to be emphasized relative to a display of a second character; and

allocating a greater amount of data bits to a pixel block of said pixel blocks displaying said at least one character than is allocated to a second pixel block of said pixel blocks displaying said second character.

6. The method as recited in claim 1 further comprising:

determining an amount of data bits to be allocated to a general video intra-coded frame (I frame) relative to either of a general video bi-directional predictive frame (B frame) and a general video predictive frame (P frame); and

allocating a greater amount of data bits to said I frame describing said at least one character relative to either of said B frame and said P frame describing said at least one character.

7. An interactive media response system comprising:

a thin device using a video codec, wherein said video codec is a block based codec, wherein said video codec generates pixel blocks, and wherein each pixel block of said pixel blocks comprises boundaries; and

a computer system communicatively coupled with said thin device, said computer system configured for;

based on said video codec determined to be used by said thin device, generating a spatial map of said boundaries for said pixel blocks;

accessing visual prompts to be displayed on said thin device; and

modifying display parameters of a plurality of text visual prompts of said visual prompts, wherein said plurality of text visual prompts comprises a plurality of characters, and wherein said modifying comprises;

jittering, using said spatial map that was generated, at least one character of said plurality of characters such that at least one edge of each character of said plurality of characters is positioned on a portion of at least one of a horizontal and vertical boundary of said boundaries such that a display of said at least one edge appears to be less blurred than a portion of said at least one character, which portion is not positioned on any boundary of any pixel block of said pixel blocks, said jittering thereby increasing an overall visual sharpness of said visual prompts on display.

8. The interactive media response system of claim 7 wherein said computer system is further for measuring video quality of said plurality of text visual prompts in response to said modifying.

9. The interactive media response system of claim 7 wherein said computer system is further configured for pre-computing coefficients for said jittering said at least one character.

10. The interactive media response system of claim 7 wherein said computer system allocates a greater amount of data bits to a pixel block of said pixel blocks displaying said at least one character than it allocates to a pixel block of said pixel blocks displaying an image.

11. The interactive media response system of claim 7 wherein said computer system determines that said at least one character is to be emphasized relative to a display of a second character to be displayed on said thin device and allocates a greater amount of data bits to a pixel block of said pixel blocks displaying said at least one character than is allocated to a second pixel block of said pixel blocks displaying said second character.

12. The interactive media response system of claim 7 wherein said computer system determines an amount of data bits to be allocated to a general video intra-coded frame (I frame) relative to either of a general video bi-directional predictive frame (B frame) and a general video predictive frame (P frame) and allocates a greater amount of data bits to said I frame describing said at least one character relative to either of said B frame and said P frame describing said at least one character.

13. A system for enhancing the quality of visual prompts in and interactive media response system, said system comprising:

a determiner for determining a video codec used by a thin device, wherein said codec is a block based codec, wherein said video codec generates pixel blocks, and wherein each pixel block of said pixel blocks comprises boundaries; and

a modifier for modifying display parameters of a plurality of text visual prompts of said visual prompts, wherein said plurality of text visual prompts comprises a plurality of characters, and wherein said modifying comprises;

jittering, using a spatial map that was generated based on said video codec determined to be used by said thin device, at least one character of said plurality of characters such that at least one edge of each character of said plurality of characters is positioned on a portion of at least one of a horizontal and vertical boundary of said boundaries such that a display of said at least one edge appears to be less blurred than a portion of said at least one character, which portion is not positioned on any boundary of any pixel block of said pixel blocks, said jittering thereby increasing an overall visual sharpness of said visual prompts on display.

14. The system of claim 13 wherein said modifier further measures video quality of said plurality of text visual prompts in response to said modifying.

15. The system of claim 13 wherein said modifier pre-computes coefficients for said jittering said at least one character.

16. The system of claim 13 wherein said modifier allocates a greater amount of data bits to a pixel block of said pixel blocks displaying said at least one character than it allocates to a pixel block of said pixel blocks displaying an image.

17. The system of claim 13 wherein said modifier determines that a display of said at least one character is to be emphasized relative to the display of a second character and allocates a greater amount of data bits to a pixel block of said pixel blocks displaying said at least one character than it allocates to a second pixel block of said pixel blocks displaying said second character.

18. The system of claim 13 wherein said modifier determines an amount of data bits to be allocated to a general video intra-coded frame (I frame) relative to either of a general video bi-directional predictive frame (B frame) and a general video predictive frame (P frame) and allocates a greater amount of data bits to said I frame describing said at least one character relative to either of said B frame and said P frame describing said at least one character.

19. A computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein for causing a computer system to perform a method for enhancing the quality of visual prompts in an interactive media response system, said method comprising:

determining a video codec used by a thin device, wherein said codec is a block based codec, wherein said video codec generates pixel blocks, and wherein each pixel block of said pixel blocks comprises boundaries;

based on said determining said video codec used by said thin device, generating a spatial map of said boundaries for said pixel blocks;

accessing visual prompts to be displayed on said thin device; and

modifying display parameters of a plurality of text visual prompts of said visual prompts, wherein said plurality of text visual prompts comprises a plurality of characters, and wherein said modifying comprises;

jittering, using said spatial map that was generated, at least one character of said plurality of characters such that at least one edge of each character of said plurality of characters is positioned on a portion of at least one of a horizontal and vertical boundary of said boundaries such that a display of said at least one edge appears to be less blurred than a portion of said at least one character, which portion is not positioned on any boundary of any pixel block of said pixel blocks, said jittering thereby increasing an overall visual sharpness of said visual prompts on display.

20. The computer usable medium of claim 19, wherein said method further comprises:

allocating a greater amount of data bits to a pixel block of said pixel blocks displaying said at least one character than is allocated to a pixel block of said pixel blocks displaying an image.

21. The computer sable medium of claim 19 wherein said method further comprises:

determining that a display of said at least one character is to be emphasized relative to a display of a second character; and

allocating a greater amount of data bits to a pixel block of said pixel blocks displaying said at least one character than is allocated to a second pixel block of said pixel blocks displaying said second character.

22. A computer system comprising:

a bus;

a memory unit coupled to said bus; and

a processor coupled to said bus, said processor for executing a method for enhancing the quality of visual prompts in an interactive media response system, said method comprising;

determining a video codec used by a thin device, wherein said video codec is a block based codec, wherein said video codec generates pixel blocks, and wherein each pixel block of said pixel blocks comprises boundaries;

based on said determining said video codec used by said thin device, generating a spatial map of said boundaries for said pixel blocks;

accessing visual prompts to be displayed on said thin device; and

modifying display parameters of a plurality of text visual prompts of said visual prompts, wherein said plurality of text visual prompts comprises a plurality of characters, and wherein said modifying comprises;

jittering, using said spatial map that was generated, at least one character of said plurality of characters such that at least one edge of each character of said plurality of characters is positioned on a portion of at least one of a horizontal and vertical boundary of said boundaries such that a display of said at least one edge appears to be less blurred than a portion of said at least one character, which portion is not positioned on any boundary of any pixel block of said pixel blocks, said jittering thereby increasing an overall visual sharpness of said visual prompts on display.

23. The computer system of claim 22 wherein said method further comprises:

allocating a greater amount of data bits to a pixel block of said pixel blocks displaying said at least one character than is allocated to a pixel block of said pixel blocks displaying an image.

24. The computer system of claim 22 wherein said method further comprises:

determining that a display of said at least one character is to be emphasized relative to a display of a second character; and

allocating a greater amount of data bits to a pixel block of said pixel blocks displaying said at least one character than is allocated to a second pixel block of said pixel blocks displaying said second character.