Facilitating interaction between video renderers and graphics device drivers

• US 20030195998A1
• Filed: 03/25/2003
• Published: 10/16/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 04/15/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Estrop, Stephen J.
• Granted Patent: US 7,451,457 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 719/323
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/10 Program control for peripheral devices G06F13/14 - G06F13/42 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/14 Handling requests for interconnection or transfer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/38 Information transfer, e.g. on bus G06F13/14 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 1/00 General purpose image data processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/00 2D [Two Dimensional] image generation
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2310/0229 De-interlacing
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2360/08 Power processing, i.e. workload management for processors involved in display operations, such as CPUs or GPUs
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2370/04 Exchange of auxiliary data, i.e. other than image data, between monitor and graphics controller
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/005 Adapting incoming signals to the display format of the display terminal
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/363 Graphics controllers
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/46 Colour picture communication systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/443 OS processes, e.g. booting an STB, implementing a Java virtual machine in an STB or power management in an STB
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/012 Conversion between an interlaced and a progressive signal for graphics images G09G2310/0229
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/0122 the input and the output signals having different aspect ratios
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/0127 by changing the field or frame frequency of the incoming video signal, e.g. frame rate converter
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/641 Multi-purpose receivers, e.g. for auxiliary information H04N9/642 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/643 Hue control means, e.g. flesh tone control

Abstract

Facilitating interaction may be enabled through communication protocols and/or APIs that permit information regarding image processing capabilities of associated graphics hardware to be exchanged between graphics device drivers and video renders. In a first exemplary media implementation, electronically-executable instructions thereof for a video renderer precipitate actions including: issuing a query from a video render towards a graphics device driver, the query requesting information relating to process amplifier (ProcAmp) capabilities; and receiving a response at the video renderer from the graphics device driver, the response including the requested information relating to ProcAmp capabilities. In a second exemplary media implementation, a graphics device driver precipitates actions including: receiving a query at the graphics device driver from a video renderer, the query requesting information relating to ProcAmp capabilities; and sending a response to the video renderer from the graphics device driver, the response including the requested information that relates to ProcAmp capabilities.

Claims

1. One or more electronically-accessible media comprising electronically-executable instructions for a video renderer that, when executed, precipitate actions comprising:

transmitting a query from the video renderer to a graphics device driver, the query directed to image processing operations that the graphics device driver is capable of providing to the video renderer; and

receiving a response at the video renderer from the graphics device driver, the response indicating at least one image processing operation that the graphics device driver is capable of providing to the video renderer.

2. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 1, wherein the graphics device driver is capable of providing the at least one image processing operation to the video renderer via associated graphics hardware.

3. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 2, wherein the associated graphics hardware comprises a graphics card.

4. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 2, wherein the associated graphics hardware comprises a graphics processing unit (GPU).

5. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 1, wherein the image processing operations comprise video processing operations;

and wherein the query is directed to video processing operations that the graphics device driver is capable of providing to the video renderer.

6. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 5, wherein the video processing operations comprise one or more of process amplifier (ProcAmp) control adjustments, de-interlacing, aspect ratio corrections, color space conversions, frame rate conversions, vertical or horizontal mirroring, and alpha blending.

7. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 1, comprising the electronically-executable instructions for a video renderer that, when executed, precipitate further actions comprising:

transmitting another query from the video renderer to the graphics device driver, the another query directed to property capabilities for the at least one image processing operation that the graphics device driver is capable of providing to the video renderer; and

receiving another response at the video renderer from the graphics device driver, the another response indicating at least one property capability for the at least one image processing operation that the graphics device driver is capable of providing to the video renderer.

8. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 1, comprising the electronically-executable instructions for a video renderer that, when executed, precipitate further actions comprising:

transmitting another query from the video renderer to the graphics device driver, the another query directed to simultaneous image processing operational abilities with respect to the at least one image processing operation that the graphics device driver is capable of providing to the video renderer; and

receiving another response at the video renderer from the graphics device driver, the another response indicating at least one simultaneous image processing operational ability with respect to the at least one image processing operation that the graphics device driver is capable of providing to the video renderer.

9. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 1, comprising the electronically-executable instructions for a video renderer that, when executed, precipitate further actions comprising:

transmitting another query from the video renderer to the graphics device driver, the another query directed to property values for the at least one image processing operation that the graphics device driver is capable of providing to the video renderer; and

receiving another response at the video renderer from the graphics device driver, the another response indicating at least one property value for the at least one image processing operation that the graphics device driver is capable of providing to the video renderer.

10. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the electronically-executable instructions for a video renderer comprises at least part of an operating system.

11. One or more electronically-accessible media comprising electronically-executable instructions for a graphics device driver that, when executed, precipitate actions comprising:

receiving an inquiry at the graphics device driver from a video renderer, the inquiry regarding one or more capabilities of the graphics device driver for having image processing operations performed; and

sending a response for the inquiry to the video renderer from the graphics device driver, the response providing information regarding the one or more capabilities of the graphics device driver for having image processing operations performed.

12. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 11, wherein the information relates to image processing operational capabilities of graphics hardware with which the graphics device driver is associated.

13. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 11, wherein the one or more electronically-accessible media comprise at least one of storage media and transmission media.

14. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 11, wherein the information regarding the one or more capabilities comprises information regarding one or more image processing capabilities that are allotted to the video renderer.

15. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 11, wherein the information regarding the one or more capabilities comprises information regarding one or more image processing property capabilities that are available to the video renderer for a particular image processing operation.

16. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 15, wherein the inquiry that is received in the action of receiving the inquiry specifies the particular image processing operation.

17. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 11, wherein the information regarding the one or more capabilities comprises information regarding one or more image processing operations for which it is possible for the graphics device driver to have performed concurrently with a particular image processing operation.

18. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 11, wherein the information regarding the one or more capabilities comprises information regarding one or more image processing property values for an available image processing property capability for a particular image processing operation.

19. A method for facilitating interaction between one or more video renderers and at least one graphics device driver, the method comprising actions of:

querying, by a video render of the one or more video renderers, the at least one graphics device driver regarding video processing capabilities; and

informing, by the at least one graphics device driver, the video render of at least a subset of video processing capabilities that the at least one graphics device driver can offer to the video renderer.

20. The method as recited in claim 19, wherein the at least a subset of video processing capabilities that the at least one graphics device driver can offer to the video renderer comprises video processing capabilities allotted to the video renderer from the at least one graphics device driver.

21. One or more electronically-accessible media comprising electronically-executable instructions that, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform the method as recited in claim 19.

22. A method for facilitating interaction between a video renderer and a graphics device driver, the method comprising actions of:

sending a query regarding image processing capabilities to the graphics device driver from the video renderer;

receiving the query from the video renderer at the graphics device driver;

transmitting a response with an indication of allotted image processing capabilities to the video renderer from the graphics device driver; and

accepting the response from the graphics device driver at the video renderer.

23. The method as recited in claim 22, wherein the action of sending a query comprises the action of:

sending a description of video that is to be displayed; and

wherein the method further comprises an action of;

tailoring, at the graphics device driver, the allotted image processing capabilities based on the description of the video that is to be displayed.

24. The method as recited in claim 22, wherein the image processing capabilities comprise video processing capabilities;

and

wherein the method further comprises actions of;

sending a command to open a video processing stream object to the graphics device driver from the video renderer;

receiving the command from the video renderer at the graphics device driver;

transmitting a response with a handle to an opened video processing stream object to the video renderer from the graphics device driver; and

accepting the response with the handle from the graphics device driver at the video renderer.

25. The method as recited in claim 22, wherein the image processing capabilities comprise video processing capabilities;

and

wherein the method further comprises actions of;

sending a command to perform a video processing operation to the graphics device driver from the video renderer;

receiving the command from the video renderer at the graphics device driver; and

causing, by the graphics device driver, the video processing operation to be performed.

26. The method as recited in claim 22, wherein the image processing capabilities comprise video processing capabilities;

and

wherein the method further comprises actions of;

sending a command to close a video processing stream object to the graphics device driver from the video renderer;

receiving the command from the video renderer at the graphics device driver; and

closing, by the graphics device driver, the video processing stream object.

27. One or more electronically-accessible media comprising electronically-executable instructions that, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform the method as recited in claim 22.

28. One or more electronically-accessible media comprising electronically-executable instructions for a video renderer that, when executed, precipitate actions comprising:

requesting information regarding video processing capabilities from a graphics device driver; and

receiving the information regarding video processing capabilities from the graphics device driver.

29. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 28, wherein the information regarding video processing capabilities includes one or more of process amplifier (ProcAmp) control adjustments, de-interlacing operations, aspect ratio corrections, color space conversions, frame rate conversions, vertical or horizontal mirroring operations, and alpha blending operations.

30. One or more electronically-accessible media comprising electronically-executable instructions for a graphics device driver that, when executed, precipitate actions comprising:

receiving a request for information regarding video processing capabilities from a video renderer; and

informing the video renderer of the information regarding video processing capabilities.

31. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 30, wherein the electronically-executable instructions for the graphics device driver are associated with at least part of a graphics hardware device.

32. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 31, wherein the graphics hardware device is capable of providing a plurality of video processing capabilities via the graphics device driver;

and wherein the information regarding video processing capabilities comprises at least a portion of the plurality of video processing capabilities that the graphics hardware device is capable of providing via the graphics device driver.

33. One or more electronically-accessible media comprising electronically-executable instructions that, when executed, precipitate actions comprising:

issuing a query from a video render towards a graphics device driver, the query requesting information relating to process amplifier (ProcAmp) capabilities; and

receiving a response at the video renderer from the graphics device driver, the response including the requested information relating to ProcAmp capabilities.

34. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 33, wherein at least a portion of the electronically-executable instructions comprises at least part of an operating system.

35. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 33, wherein at least a portion of the electronically-executable instructions comprises at least part of a video renderer.

36. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 33, wherein the query further requests information relating to general ProcAmp capabilities;

and wherein the requested information of the response indicates one or more ProcAmp capabilities that have been allotted to the video renderer.

37. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 33, wherein the query includes a description of video to be displayed;

and wherein the requested information of the response indicates one or more ProcAmp capabilities that have been allotted to the video renderer based on the description of the video to be displayed.

38. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 33, wherein the query further requests information relating to ProcAmp property capabilities;

and wherein the requested information of the response indicates one or more ProcAmp property capabilities that are available to the video renderer.

39. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 38, wherein the one or more ProcAmp property capabilities that are available to the video renderer include at least one ProcAmp property capability selected from the group comprising:

brightness, contrast, hue, saturation, and none.

40. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 33, wherein the query further requests information relating to simultaneous video processing operations capabilities;

and wherein the requested information of the response indicates one or more video processing operations that may be performed simultaneously with ProcAmp adjustments.

41. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 40, wherein the one or more video processing operations that may be performed simultaneously with ProcAmp adjustments include at least one video processing operation selected from the group comprising:

a YUV-to-RGB conversion operation, a stretch X operation, a stretch Y operation, a sub-rectangle region operation, an alphablend operation, and none.

42. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 40, wherein the one or more video processing operations that may be performed simultaneously with ProcAmp adjustments include at least one video processing operation selected from the group comprising:

de-interlacing operations, aspect ratio corrections, color space conversions, frame rate conversions, vertical or horizontal mirroring operations, alpha blending operations, and none.

43. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 33, wherein the query further requests information relating to ProcAmp property capabilities and to simultaneous video processing operations capabilities;

and wherein the requested information of the response indicates one or more ProcAmp property capabilities that are available to the video renderer and one or more video processing operations that may be performed simultaneously with ProcAmp adjustments.

44. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 43, wherein the one or more ProcAmp property capabilities that are available to the video renderer include at least one ProcAmp property capability selected from the group comprising:

brightness, contrast, hue, and saturation; and

wherein the one or more video processing operations that may be performed simultaneously with ProcAmp adjustments include at least one video processing operation selected from the group comprising;

a YUV-to-RGB conversion operation, a stretch X operation, a stretch Y operation, a sub-rectangular region operation, an alphablend operation, and none.

45. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 33, wherein the query further requests information relating to values for at least one selected ProcAmp property capability;

and wherein the requested information of the response indicates one or more values for the at least one selected ProcAmp property capability.

46. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 45, wherein the one or more values for the at least one selected ProcAmp property capability include at least one ProcAmp control property value selected from the group comprising:

minimum, increment, maximum, and default.

47. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 33, comprising the electronically-executable instructions that, when executed, precipitate a further action comprising:

issuing a command from the video render towards the graphics device driver to open a ProcAmp stream object.

48. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 47, comprising the electronically-executable instructions that, when executed, precipitate a further action comprising:

receiving a handle at the video render from the graphics device driver that identifies an opened ProcAmp stream object.

49. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 33, comprising the electronically-executable instructions that, when executed, precipitate a further action comprising:

issuing a command from the video render towards the graphics device driver to perform a ProcAmp adjustment on video.

50. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 49, wherein the command includes a handle to an opened ProcAmp stream object for the video.

51. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 49, wherein the command is directed to a bit block transfer.

52. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 51, wherein the command instructs the graphics device driver to cause a bit block transfer to occur along with the performance of the ProcAmp adjustment on the video.

53. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 51, wherein the command instructs the graphics device driver to cause a bit block transfer to occur along with the performance of the ProcAmp adjustment to create one image for an entire screen of a display device, the one image stored in memory as a single block and including a frame of the video after the ProcAmp adjustment.

54. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 49, wherein the command stipulates at least one video processing operation to perform simultaneously with the ProcAmp adjustment on the video.

55. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 49, wherein the command stipulates at least one control property value or change to a control property value for the ProcAmp adjustment on the video.

56. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 49, comprising the electronically-executable instructions that, when executed, precipitate a further action comprising:

receiving at the video render, prior to the action of issuing, an operation request from an instigating application, the operation request including a request to perform a ProcAmp adjustment on the video.

57. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 33, comprising the electronically-executable instructions that, when executed, precipitate a further action comprising:

issuing a command from the video render towards the graphics device driver to close a ProcAmp stream object.

58. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 33, wherein the actions of issuing a query and receiving a response are effectuated, at least partially, by propagating the query and the response between the video render and the graphics device driver using at least one of a graphic interface and a device driver interface.

59. One or more electronically-accessible media comprising electronically-executable instructions that, when executed, precipitate actions comprising:

receiving a query at a graphics device driver from a video renderer, the query requesting information relating to process amplifier (ProcAmp) capabilities; and

sending a response to the video renderer from the graphics device driver, the response including the requested information that relates to ProcAmp capabilities.

60. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 59, wherein at least a portion of the electronically-executable instructions comprises at least part of an operating system.

61. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 59, wherein at least a portion of the electronically-executable instructions comprises at least part of a graphics device driver.

62. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 59, wherein the query includes a description of video to be displayed;

and

wherein the electronically-executable instructions, when executed, precipitate a further action comprising;

determining the requested information that relates to ProcAmp capabilities for the response based on the description of the video to be displayed.

63. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 59, wherein the information relating to ProcAmp capabilities is directed to ProcAmp control property capabilities;

and wherein the requested information that relates to ProcAmp capabilities includes one or more available ProcAmp control properties selected from the group comprising;

none, brightness, contrast, hue, and saturation.

64. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 59, wherein the information relating to ProcAmp capabilities is directed to video processing operations that may be performed simultaneously with ProcAmp adjustments;

and wherein the requested information that relates to ProcAmp capabilities includes one or more video processing operations that may possibly be performed simultaneously with ProcAmp adjustments and that are selected from the group comprising;

none, YUV-to-RGB converting, horizontal stretching, vertical stretching, rectangular image sub-regioning, and alphablending.

65. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 59, wherein the query includes a selected ProcAmp control property and the information relating to ProcAmp capabilities is directed to values for the selected ProcAmp control property;

and wherein the requested information that relates to ProcAmp capabilities includes one or more values that are for the selected ProcAmp control property and that are selected from the group comprising;

range, maximum, minimum, step size/increment, and default.

66. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 59, comprising the electronically-executable instructions that, when executed, precipitate further actions comprising:

receiving a command at the graphics device driver from the video render to open a ProcAmp stream object;

opening the ProcAmp stream object; and

sending another response to the video renderer from the graphics device driver, the another response having a handle pointing to the opened ProcAmp stream object.

67. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 59, comprising the electronically-executable instructions that, when executed, precipitate further actions comprising:

receiving a command at the graphics device driver from the video render to perform a ProcAmp adjustment; and

causing performance of the ProcAmp adjustment.

68. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 67, wherein the command includes an instruction to perform a video processing operation concurrently with the ProcAmp adjustment;

and

wherein the action of causing performance of the ProcAmp adjustment comprises the action of;

causing a concurrent performance of the ProcAmp adjustment and the video processing operation.

69. An arrangement for facilitating interaction between video renderers and graphics device drivers, the arrangement comprising:

issuance means for issuing a query for a graphics device driver, the query requesting information from the graphics device driver relating to process amplifier (ProcAmp) capabilities that the graphics device driver is capable of providing; and

receiver means for receiving a response from the graphics device driver, the response including ProcAmp capabilities that the graphics device driver is capable of providing.

70. The arrangement as recited in claim 69, wherein the arrangement comprises one or more electronically-accessible media having electronically-executable instructions.

71. The arrangement as recited in claim 70, wherein the electronically-executable instructions comprise at least part of a video renderer.

72. The arrangement as recited in claim 69, wherein the arrangement comprises at least one electronic device.

73. An arrangement for facilitating interaction between video renderers and graphics device drivers, the arrangement comprising:

receiver means for receiving a query from a video renderer, the query requesting information relating to process amplifier (ProcAmp) capabilities that can be provided for a video to be displayed; and

transmission means for transmitting a response to the video renderer, the response including the requested information that relates to ProcAmp capabilities that can be provided for the video to be displayed.

74. The arrangement as recited in claim 73, wherein the arrangement comprises one or more electronically-accessible media having electronically-executable instructions.

75. The arrangement as recited in claim 74, wherein the electronically-executable instructions comprise at least part of a graphics device driver;

and wherein the ProcAmp capabilities can be provided for the video indirectly by the graphics device driver.

76. The arrangement as recited in claim 73, wherein the arrangement comprises at least one electronic device.

77. A system for facilitating interaction between a video renderer and a graphics device driver, the system comprising:

video rendering logic that is adapted to prepare queries that request information relating to process amplifier (ProcAmp) capabilities that can be applied to video that is to be displayed; and

graphics device driving logic that is adapted to prepare responses that indicate what ProcAmp capabilities can be applied to video that is to be displayed.

78. The system as recited in claim 77, further comprising:

interface logic that is adapted to facilitate transmission of the queries and the responses between the the video rendering logic and the graphics device driving logic.

79. A graphics device driver that is configured to communicate with a video renderer using a protocol, wherein the protocol includes one or more formats for transmissions from the graphics device driver to the video renderer, the one or more formats including at least one field that is populated with ProcAmp control properties that are made available to the video renderer via the graphics device driver and at least one field that is populated with video processing operations that the graphics device driver can cause to be performed simultaneously with a ProcAmp adjustment operation.

80. A video renderer that is configured to communicate with a graphics device driver using a protocol, wherein the protocol includes one or more formats for transmissions from the video renderer to the graphics device driver, the one or more formats including at least one field that is populated with a description of video that the video renderer is to display in conjunction with an instigating application and at least one field that is populated with a selected ProcAmp control property which indicates a request to the graphics device driver for values for manipulating the selected ProcAmp control property.

81. One or more electronically-accessible media comprising electronically-executable instructions for a video renderer that, when executed, precipitate actions comprising:

sending an inquiry from the video renderer towards a graphics device driver, the inquiry requesting information regarding process amplifier (ProcAmp) capabilities providable via the graphics device driver;

receiving at the video renderer from the graphics device driver at least one ProcAmp control property that is available to the video renderer; and

receiving at the video renderer from the graphics device driver at least one video processing operation that the graphics device driver can cause to be performed simultaneously with a ProcAmp adjustment operation.

82. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 81, comprising the electronically-executable instructions that, when executed, precipitate further actions comprising:

sending another inquiry from the video renderer towards the graphics device driver, the another inquiry requesting information regarding one or more values for manipulating the at least one ProcAmp control property that is available to the video renderer; and

receiving at the video renderer from the graphics device driver at least one value for manipulating the at least one ProcAmp control property that is available to the video renderer.

83. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 82, comprising the electronically-executable instructions that, when executed, precipitate a further action comprising:

sending a command from the video renderer towards the graphics device driver, the command instructing the graphics device driver to cause performance of a ProcAmp adjustment operation in accordance with the at least one value for manipulating the at least one ProcAmp control property that is available to the video renderer.

84. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 83, wherein the command further instructs the graphics device driver to cause performance of the ProcAmp adjustment operation simultaneously with another video processing operation in accordance with the at least one video processing operation that the graphics device driver can cause to be performed simultaneously with a ProcAmp adjustment operation.