Patent ID: 7177474
Filing Date: 2007-02-13
Classification: H04N

Abstract:
1. A method for converting video from a first format into a second format, the method comprising: decoding into a series of frames video that is encoded in a first format; mapping the colors represented in said frames into a palette having fewer colors than the number of colors represented in said frames; removing noise from said frames; selectably removing at least one frame from said sequence; and re-encoding said sequence using said fewer colors into a second video format wherein said mapping step comprises: mapping a plurality of pixels in a series of said video frames to a corresponding color in said palette; defining a plurality of groups of colors in said palette; weighting each of the colors in any of said color groups by its respective number of occurrences of each of said pixels of a particular color, wherein said weighting is applied to each color value in the color to be weighted; summing said weighted color values in any of said color groups; summing said number of occurrences of each of said pixels in said color group; and dividing said summed weighted color values in said color group by said summed number of occurrences, thereby yielding a single color that represents the weighted mean of the said color group.