Motion video signal processing for recording or reproducing – Local trick play processing – With randomly accessible medium
Reexamination Certificate
1997-10-20
2001-02-20
Tran, Thai (Department: 2615)
Motion video signal processing for recording or reproducing
Local trick play processing
With randomly accessible medium
C386S349000, C386S349000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06192188
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of video compression systems, and in particular to programmable DVD video encoders.
2. Description of the Related Art
A video program signal is converted to a digital format, and then compressed and encoded in accordance with one of several known compression algorithms or methodologies. This compressed digital system signal, or bitstream, which includes a video portion, an audio portion, and other informational portion, is then transmitted to a receiver. Transmission may be over existing television channels, cable television channels, satellite communications channels, and the like. A decoder is then typically employed at the receiver to decompress and decode the received system signal in accordance with the same compression algorithm used to encode the signal. The decoded video information may then be output to a display device, such as a television (TV) monitor.
Video compression and encoding is typically performed by a video encoder. The video encoder normally produces a compressed digital system signal that conforms to a recognized standard or specification agreed to among the senders and receivers of digital video signals. One such standard is DVD. It includes audio and video compression technologies, as well as provisions for other information streams. The video compression standard adopted by DVD was developed by the Moving Pictures Experts Group (MPEG). The MPEG standard concerns high-quality coding of possibly interlaced video, including high definition television (HDTV). A wide range of applications, bit rates, resolutions, signal qualities and services are addressed, including all forms of digital storage media, TV broadcasting and communications.
The MPEG standard, although it details the structure and syntax of the compressed bitstreams, does not provide complete system specifications. A nearly infinite number of bitstreams can be generated to represent an image sequence while conforming to the MPEG standard. Design considerations such as image preprocessing, motion estimation methods, the order of compressed frame types, bit-rate management, implementation complexity, coded image size, color space sampling, and field interleaving, all lead to different representations of the same image. It should be recognized that the different representations may have varying degrees of quality, both in terms of compression and accuracy, but they all conform to the MPEG standard. A somewhat lesser degree of freedom exists in the way a bitstream is decoded, but nevertheless exists. For example, note that some video degradation might be an acceptable tradeoff for reduced implementation complexity, or that the coded image characteristics (size, frame rate) might be incompatible with the display device and require some adjustments (scaling, pulldown). The MPEG standard carefully avoids addressing issues such as these, preferring instead to allow industries to “customize” encoder and decoder implementations to their best advantage.
Currently, the customization of the encoder and decoder implementations is performed by the system designers, primarily with a combination of hardware and proprietary microcode, and the displayed image quality thereby determined. One drawback of this approach is that the digital media vendors cannot easily “improve” image quality to distinguish themselves from their competitors, nor can they easily upgrade their systems to incorporate the latest compression advances. It is desirable to provide a method for DVD media vendors to participate in the encoder and decoder customization process to produce media classes that provide for optimized trade-offs (e.g. capacity vs. image quality), and in so doing provide better performances for specific applications.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The problems outlined above are in large part solved by a digital audio/video recording system having a programmable video encoder capable of receiving an encoding algorithm from an external source. In one embodiment, the system accepts recordable DVD disks having a read-only sector for storing customized video encoding algorithms and programs the programmable video encoder with the customized video encoding algorithms prior to encoding and recording a video signal on the disk. By designing the video encoding algorithms to optimize one or more of a number of desirable attributes, the DVD media vendors can then create “classes” of recordable DVD disks, i.e. high capacity, high quality, high speed, high image detail, high color resolution, variable frame rate, etc. One programmable video encoder for this embodiment would include an instruction memory for storing the customized video algorithms, a video buffer for buffering the video signal, and a CPU which encodes the video signal according to the customized video algorithms. In a second embodiment, the system accepts CD-ROM disks having customized audio/video algorithms and automatically downloads the customized algorithms to use for encoding and recording digital audio/video signals.
Broadly speaking, the present invention contemplates a programmable video encoding system comprising a read head, a video encoder, and a channel coding and modulation circuit. The read head is configured to read a video encoding algorithm from a read-only sector on a digital information storage medium. The video encoder is operatively coupled to the read head to receive and store the video encoding algorithm. The video encoder is configured to receive a video signal and configured to execute the video encoding algorithm on the received video signal to produce an encoded digital video signal. The channel coding and modulation circuit is operatively coupled to receive the encoded digital video signal and configured to convert the encoded digital video signal into a modulated digital signal. The video encoder may include an instruction memory, a video buffer, and a CPU. The system may be configured to read and execute the video encoding algorithm from the read-only sector of the digital information storage medium every time the digital information storage medium is engaged in an operative relationship with the read head. The system may also include a record head operatively coupled to the channel coding and modulation circuit to receive the modulated digital signal and configured to record the modulated digital signal on a recordable digital information storage medium.
The present invention further contemplates a method for recording a digital video program of a predetermined caliber. The method comprises: (i) creating a recordable digital information storage medium with a read-only sector; (ii) storing a video encoding algorithm in the read-only sector; and (iii) placing the recordable digital information storage medium in a video recording system. The video encoding algorithm is designed to yield recordings of the predetermined caliber. The method may further comprise: (iv) reading the video encoding algorithm; (v) receiving a video signal; (vi) executing the encoding algorithm to convert the video signal into an encoded digital signal; and (vii) recording the encoded digital signal in the recordable digital information storage medium.
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patent: 5231487 (1993-07-01), Hurley et al.
patent: 5576757 (1996-11-01), Roberts et al.
patent: 5915018 (1999-06-01), Aucsmith
patent: 5973742 (1999-10-01), Gardyne et al.
LSI Logic Corporation
Tran Thai
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