Abstract: Judder artifacts are remedied in video coding system by employing frame rate conversion at an encoder. A source video sequence may be coded as base layer coded video at a first frame rate. An encoder may identify a portion of the coded video sequence that likely will exhibit judder effects when decoded. For those portions that likely will exhibit judder effects, video data representing the portion of the source video may be coded at a higher frame rate than a frame rate of the coded base layer data as enhancement layer data. Moreover, an encoder may generate metadata representing “FRC hints”—techniques that a decoder should employ when performing decoder-side frame rate conversion. An encoding terminal may transmit the base layer coded video and either the enhancement layer coded video or the FRC hints to a decoder. Thus, encoder infrastructure may mitigate against judder artifacts that may arise during decoding.

Abstract: Techniques are presented for modifying images of an object in video, for example to correct for lens distortion, or to beautify a face. These techniques include extracting and validating features of an object from a source video frame, tracking those features over time, estimating a pose of the object, modifying a 3D model of the object based on the features, and rendering a modified video frame based on the modified 3D model and modified intrinsic and extrinsic matrices. These techniques may be applied in real-time to an object in a sequence of video frames.

Abstract: A system for processing media on a resource restricted device, the system including a memory to store data representing media assets and associated descriptors, and program instructions representing an application and a media processing system, and a processor to execute the program instructions, wherein the program instructions represent the media processing system, in response to a call from an application defining a plurality of services to be performed on an asset, determine a tiered schedule of processing operations to be performed upon the asset based on a processing budget associated therewith, and iteratively execute the processing operations on a tier-by-tier basis, unless interrupted.

Abstract: Techniques are disclosed for estimating quality of images in an automated fashion. According to these techniques, a source image may be downsampled to generate at least two downsampled images at different levels of downsampling. Blurriness of the images may be estimated starting with a most-heavily downsampled image. Blocks of a given image may be evaluated for blurriness and, when a block of a given image is estimated to be blurry, the block of the image and co-located blocks of higher resolution image(s) may be designated as blurry. Thereafter, a blurriness score may be calculated for the source image from the number of blocks of the source image designated as blurry.

Abstract: Image processing techniques may accelerate coding of viewport data contained within multi-view image data. According to such techniques, an encoder may shifting content of a multi-directional image data according to the viewport location data provided by a decoder. The encoder may code the shifted multi-directional image data by predictive coding, and transmit to the decoder, the coded multi-directional image data and data identifying an amount of the shift. Doing so may move the viewport location to positions in the image data that are coded earlier than the positions that the viewport location naturally occupies and, thereby, may accelerate coding. On decode, a decoder may compare its present viewport location with viewport location data provided by the encoder with coded video data. The decoder may decode the coded video data and extract a portion of the decoded video data corresponding to a present viewport location for display.

Abstract: Techniques for cropping images containing an occlusion are presented. A method for image editing is presented comprising, when an occlusion is detected in an original digital image, determining an area occupied by the occlusion, assigning importance scores to different content elements of the original digital image, defining a cropping window around an area of the original digital image that does not include the area occupied by the occlusion and that is based on the importance scores, and cropping the original digital image to the cropping window.

Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for capturing high quality video data, including data having a high dynamic range, for use with conventional encoders and decoders. High dynamic range data is captured using multiple groups of pixels where each group is captured using different exposure times to create groups of pixels. The pixels that are captured at different exposure times may be determined adaptively based on the content of the image, the parameters of the encoding system, or on the available resources within the encoding system. The transition from single exposure to using two different exposure times may be implemented gradually.

Abstract: A method for processing media assets includes, given a first media asset, deriving characteristics from the first media asset, searching for other media assets having characteristics that correlate to the characteristics of the first media asset, when a match is found, deriving content corrections for the first media asset or a matching media asset from the other of the first media asset or the matching media asset, and correcting content of the first media asset or the matching media asset based on the content corrections.

Abstract: Frame packing techniques are disclosed for multi-directional images and video. According to an embodiment, a multi-directional source image is reformatted into a format in which image data from opposing fields of view are represented in respective regions of the packed image as flat image content. Image data from a multi-directional field of view of the source image between the opposing fields of view are represented in another region of the packed image as equirectangular image content. It is expected that use of the formatted frame will lead to coding efficiencies when the formatted image is processed by predictive video coding techniques and the like.

Abstract: Techniques are disclosed for correcting artifacts in multi-view images that include a plurality of planar views. Image content the planar views may be projected from the planar representation to a spherical projection. Thereafter, a portion of the image content may be projected from the spherical projection to a planar representation. The image content of the planar representation may be used for display. Extensions are disclosed that correct artifacts that may arise during deblocking filtering of the multi-view images.

Abstract: Techniques are described for implementing format configurations for multi-directional video and for switching between them. Source images may be assigned to formats that may change during a coding session. When a change occurs between formats, video coders and decoder may transform decoded reference frames from the first format to the second format. Thereafter, new frames in the second configuration may be coded or decoded predictively using transformed reference frame(s) as source(s) of prediction. In this manner, video coders and decoders may use intra-coding techniques and achieve high efficiency in coding.

Abstract: Techniques are disclosed for managing display of content from multi-view video data. According to these techniques, an object may be identified from content of the multi-view video. The object's location may be tracked across a sequence of multi-view video. The technique may extract a sub-set of video that is contained within a view window that is shifted in an image space of the multi-view video in correspondence to the tracked object's location. These techniques may be implemented either in an image source device or an image sink device.

Abstract: Chroma deblock filtering of reconstructed video samples may be performed to remove blockiness artifacts and reduce color artifacts without over-smoothing. In a first method, chroma deblocking may be performed for boundary samples of a smallest transform size, regardless of partitions and coding modes. In a second method, chroma deblocking may be performed when a boundary strength is greater than 0. In a third method, chroma deblocking may be performed regardless of boundary strengths. In a fourth method, the type of chroma deblocking to be performed may be signaled in a slice header by a flag. Furthermore, luma deblock filtering techniques may be applied to chroma deblock filtering.

Abstract: A tone mapping graphical user interface (GUI) is provided that allows a video engineer to process a video using a set of tools for changing high dynamic range data into lower dynamic range data. The tone mapping GUI includes a video player region that includes the current video output section for a region-based method of performing HDR conversion, and a current video output section for a reference method that performs HDR conversion using, for example, a global process.

Abstract: Embodiments of the present disclosure provide systems and methods for perspective shifting in a video conferencing session. In one exemplary method, a video stream may be generated. A foreground element may be identified in a frame of the video stream and distinguished from a background element of the frame. Data may be received representing a viewing condition at a terminal that will display the generated video stream. The frame of the video stream may be modified based on the received data to shift of the foreground element relative to the background element. The modified video stream may be displayed at the displaying terminal.

Abstract: Techniques are disclosed for coding and decoding video captured as cube map images. According to these techniques, padded reference images are generated for use during predicting input data. A reference image is stored in a cube map format. A padded reference image is generated from the reference image in which image data of a first view contained in reference image is replicated and placed adjacent to a second view contained in the cube map image. When coding a pixel block of an input image, a prediction search may be performed between the input pixel block and content of the padded reference image. When the prediction search identifies a match, the pixel block may be coded with respect to matching data from the padded reference image. Presence of replicated data in the padded reference image is expected to increase the likelihood that adequate prediction matches will be identified for input pixel block data, which will increase overall efficiency of the video coding.

Abstract: Multi-directional image data often contains distortions of image content that cause problems when processed by video coders that are designed to process traditional, “flat” image content. Embodiments of the present disclosure provide techniques for coding multi-directional image data using such coders. For each pixel block in a frame to be coded, an encoder may transform reference picture data within a search window about a location of the input pixel block based on displacement respectively between the location of the input pixel block and portions of the reference picture within the search window. The encoder may perform a prediction search among the transformed reference picture data to identify a match between the input pixel block and a portion of the transformed reference picture and, when a match is identified, the encoder may code the input pixel block differentially with respect to the matching portion of the transformed reference picture.

Abstract: Chroma deblock filtering of reconstructed video samples may be performed to remove blockiness artifacts and reduce color artifacts without over-smoothing. In a first method, chroma deblocking may be performed for boundary samples of a smallest transform size, regardless of partitions and coding modes. In a second method, chroma deblocking may be performed when a boundary strength is greater than 0. In a third method, chroma deblocking may be performed regardless of boundary strengths. In a fourth method, the type of chroma deblocking to be performed may be signaled in a slice header by a flag. Furthermore, luma deblock filtering techniques may be applied to chroma deblock filtering.

Abstract: A scalable coding system codes video as a base layer representation and an enhancement layer representation. A base layer coder may code an LDR representation of a source video. A predictor may predict an HDR representation of the source video from the coded base layer data. A comparator may generate prediction residuals which represent a difference between an HDR representation of the source video and the predicted HDR representation of the source video. A quantizer may quantize the residuals down to an LDR representation. An enhancement layer coder may code the LDR residuals. In other scalable coding systems, the enhancement layer coder may code LDR-converted HDR video directly.

Abstract: Techniques are disclosed for coding video data predictively based on predictions made from spherical-domain projections of input pictures to be coded and reference pictures that are prediction candidates. Spherical projection of an input picture and the candidate reference pictures may be generated. Thereafter, a search may be conducted for a match between the spherical-domain representation of a pixel block to be coded and a spherical-domain representation of the reference picture. On a match, an offset may be determined between the spherical-domain representation of the pixel block to a matching portion of the of the reference picture in the spherical-domain representation. The spherical-domain offset may be transformed to a motion vector in a source-domain representation of the input picture, and the pixel block may be coded predictively with reference to a source-domain representation of the matching portion of the reference picture.