Patent ID: 7627886
Filing Date: 2009-12-01
Classification: H04N

Abstract:
1. In a system including a client that has a connection with a server, wherein the connection has a bandwidth and wherein the client has a memory, a method for displaying a video stream without suppressing the video stream, the method comprising: the client connecting with the server to select and receive a first video stream, wherein the server stores the first video stream and a second video stream in the MPEG format, wherein the first video stream has a resolution that is higher than the second video stream such that more memory and resources are required to decode and process the first video stream than the second video stream; the client decoding and processing the first video stream received by the client from the server, wherein memory and resources of the client are required to decode and process the first video stream; the client monitoring the memory and resources of the client as the first video stream is decoded and processed to ensure that the client has sufficient memory and resources to decode and process the first video stream; upon the client determining that the client lacks sufficient memory and resources to decode and process the first video stream, the client requesting that the server transmit only specified key frames of the first MPEG video stream, the key frames consisting of either (a) intra frames or (b) intra frames and predictive frames of the first MPEG video stream, wherein the client request to transit only specified key frames causes the server to determine, for each frame in the first video stream, whether a frame in the first video stream is one of the specified key frames and which further causes the server to transmit the frame to the client when it is determined that the frame is one of the specified key frames and to drop the frame from the first video stream being transmitted to the client when it is determined that the frame is not one of the specified key frames; and upon the client determining that the client lacks sufficient memory and resources to decode and process the specified key frames of the first video stream, the client requesting that the server transmit the second video stream, wherein less memory and resources are required to decode and process the second video stream than the key frames of the first video stream.