Information processing apparatus, information processing system and information processing method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10182232-B2
Application number	US-201514645603-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 12, 2015
Priority date	Mar 24, 2014
Publication date	Jan 15, 2019
Grant date	Jan 15, 2019

Abstract

An information processing apparatus includes: a storage unit configured to store information on a plurality of encoders; and a control unit configured to be capable of transmitting a first instruction signal for instructing the plurality of encoders to encode input video data under first encoding conditions different for each of the plurality of encoders, and obtaining, if an image quality of the video data encoded by the plurality of encoders does not satisfy a predetermined criteria, predetermined information associated with the image quality from the encoded video data and transmitting, based on the predetermined information, a second instruction signal for instructing to encode the input video data under a second encoding condition different from the first encoding conditions to at least one encoder of the plurality of encoders.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An information processing apparatus, comprising:
a storage unit configured to store information for a plurality of encoders; and
one or more processors configured to:
transmit a first instruction signal to instruct the plurality of encoders,
wherein the plurality of encoders encode first video data, based on first encoding conditions and the first instruction signal, and
wherein the first encoding conditions are different for each of the plurality of encoders;

obtain, based on a determination that a value of an image quality of the encoded first video data is less than a first value, first information associated with the image quality from the encoded first video data; and
transmit, based on the obtained first information, a second instruction signal to instruct at least one encoder of the plurality of encoders to re-encode the first video data,
wherein the at least one encoder of the plurality of encoders re-encodes the first video data, based on a second encoding condition different from the first encoding conditions and the second instruction signal.

2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the plurality of encoders are in a plurality of apparatuses in a network, and
wherein the one or more processors are further configured to control the transmission of the first instruction signal to an encoder of each of the plurality of apparatuses.

3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2 ,
wherein the plurality of apparatuses have different arithmetic processing capabilities,
wherein the first encoding conditions include a third encoding condition for a first apparatus of the plurality of apparatuses and a fourth encoding condition for a second apparatus of the plurality of apparatuses, and
wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
control the transmission of the first instruction signal, to instruct:
the first apparatus of the plurality of apparatuses to encode the first video data based on the third encoding condition,
the second apparatus of the plurality of apparatuses to encode the first video data based on the fourth encoding condition,
wherein the third encoding condition includes a first calculation amount to encode the first video data,
wherein the first apparatus has a first arithmetic processing capability,
wherein the fourth encoding condition includes a second calculation amount, which is smaller than the first calculation amount, to encode the first video data, and
wherein the second apparatus has a second arithmetic processing capability lower than the first arithmetic processing capability.

4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
set the first encoding conditions that include first encoding parameters and a first encoding efficiency; and
set the second encoding conditions that include second encoding parameters and a second encoding efficiency,
wherein the second encoding parameters of the second encoding conditions are based on the obtained first information, and
wherein the second encoding efficiency is higher than the first encoding efficiency.

5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
set the first encoding conditions such that a plurality of regions in each frame of the first video data are encoded by different encoders of the plurality of encoders.

6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
decode second video data that is encoded by a first encoding operation with a first encoding efficiency;
obtain the first video data, based on the decoded second video data; and
set, based on second information obtained from the second video data, encoding parameters of a second encoding operation as the first encoding conditions,
wherein the second encoding operation is different from the first encoding operation, and
wherein the encoding parameters are different for each of the plurality of encoders.

7. An information processing system, comprising:
a plurality of apparatuses,
wherein each apparatus of the plurality of apparatuses include an encoder that is configured to encode data based on different encoding conditions; and

an information processing apparatus including:
a storage unit configured to store information for the encoder of each of the plurality of apparatuses; and
one or more processors configured to:
transmit a first instruction signal to instruct a plurality of encoders of the plurality of apparatuses,
wherein the plurality of encoders encode first video data, based on first encoding conditions and the first instruction signal, and
wherein the first encoding conditions are different for each of the plurality of encoders;

obtain, based on a determination that a value of an image quality of the encoded first video data is less than a first value, first information associated with the image quality from the encoded first video data; and
transmit, based on the obtained first information, a second instruction signal to instruct at least one encoder of the plurality of encoders to re-encode the first video data,
wherein the at least one encoder of the plurality of encoders re-encodes the first video data, based on a second encoding condition different from the first encoding conditions and the second instruction signal.

8. An information processing method, comprising:
in an information processing apparatus:
transmitting a first instruction signal for instructing a plurality of encoders,
wherein the plurality of encoders encode first video data, based on first encoding conditions and the first instructions signal, and
wherein the first encoding conditions are different for each of the plurality of encoders;

obtaining, based on a determination that a value of an image quality of the encoded first video data is less than a first value, first information associated with the image quality from the encoded first video data; and
transmitting, based on the obtained first information, a second instruction signal for instructing at least one encoder of the plurality of encoders to re-encode the first video data,
wherein the at least one encoder of the plurality of encoders re-encodes the first video data, based on a second encoding condition different from the first encoding conditions and the second instruction signal.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable medium, having stored thereon computer-executable instructions, which when executed by a processor, cause the processor to execute operations, the operations comprising:
transmitting a first instruction signal for instructing a plurality of encoders,
wherein the plurality of encoders encode first video data, based on first encoding conditions and the first instruction signal, and
wherein the first encoding conditions are different for each of the plurality of encoders;

obtaining, based on a determination that a value of an image quality of the encoded first video data is less than a first value, first information associated with the image quality from the encoded first video data; and
transmitting, based on the obtained first information, a second instruction signal for instructing at least one encoder of the plurality of encoders to re-encode the first video data,
wherein the at least one encoder of the plurality of encoders re-encodes the first video data, based on a second encoding condition different from the first encoding conditions and the second instruction signal.

Assignees

• Sony Corp

Inventors

• Kouno Masakazu
• Ando Yuji

Classifications

• H04N19/154

  Measured or subjectively estimated visual quality after decoding, e.g. measurement of distortion (use of rate-distortion criteria H04N19/147) · CPC title

• H04N19/12 Primary

  Selection from among a plurality of transforms or standards, e.g. selection between discrete cosine transform [DCT] and sub-band transform or selection between H.263 and H.264 · CPC title

• H04N19/395

  involving distributed video coding [DVC], e.g. Wyner-Ziv video coding or Slepian-Wolf video coding · CPC title

• H04N19/17

  the unit being an image region, e.g. an object · CPC title