Abstract:
Described herein are technologies related to playing moving-images content and more particularly to playing such content on a display possessing a display refresh rate which is typically greater than the inherent frame rate (e.g., a cinematic frame rate) of the content. This Abstract is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
       [0001]    Content providers often capture moving-images content (e.g., video or digital film) at a defined frame rate and store the resulting frames on media for subsequent playback. They also frequently capture such content in frames for real-time streaming, broadcast, etc. It has been found that such content, if captured and processed at certain “cinematic” frame rates, usually produces satisfactory moving images (hereinafter simply “images”) when displayed at those cinematic frame rates and when no disturbances interfere with the distribution or display of that content. 
         [0002]    Indeed, with the advent of high quality, high fidelity, high definition (HD), and/or premium quality content, many providers capture such content at cinematic frame rates of 23.976/24.000 fps and 25.000 fps (hereinafter 24 fps and 25 fps respectively) among others. For instance, some HD systems capture content at 24 fps using a “1080p” (1080 lines of resolution per frame in progressive “p”) format. A non-limiting but common example of such content is a Blu-Ray Disc® movie. 
         [0003]    Unfortunately, many conventional display systems and their pipeline components process and present moving-images content at a different rate than the cinematic frame rate. Indeed, many displays operate on or about a default screen refresh rate of 60 Hz, rather than one of the many available cinematic frame rates. This is particularly true of conventional displays often used in conjunction with personal computers (PCs) that can at times simultaneously support a variety of content types and rates, in addition to cinematic content. As a result, the transmitters (and/or wired connectors) in many PCs and other devices often transmit at a default rate of 60 Hz, even in cases where the display can more optimally support 24 Hz. This is due to the lack of a mechanisms to automatically identify and adapt to cinematic content when it is being presented. 
         [0004]    To account for such rate mis-matches and the lack of ability to identify when cinematic content is being presented, digital display system components (e.g., PCs, displays, etc.) up-convert to operate at the display&#39;s default refresh rate (e.g., 60 Hz) by inserting duplicates of the individual frames of cinematic frame-rate content into the to-be-displayed content using a patterned sequence. However, a pipeline of content-processing components often lies between the media containing the content (or a source generating the content) and the display. Many of these components possess limitations and/or preferred frame rates, protocols, buffering schemes, etc. that might not be entirely compatible with, knowledgeable of, or adjustable to the content&#39;s cinematic frame rate, and they might not even be compatible with the refresh rate of the display itself and/or the native frame rate of other pipeline components. 
         [0005]    Thus, frame rate mis-matches and de-synchronizations can occur in the pipeline that cause undesired duplicate frames, dropped frames, torn frames, judder-related effects, etc. in the resulting moving images presented to the viewer by the display. Instead of a smoothly flowing image, therefore, many conventional displays sometimes present “jerky” images (images which exhibit effects of phenomenon commonly and collectively referred to as “judder”). 
         [0006]    Moreover, some conventional systems attempt to overcome the foregoing effects by driving their displays at the higher rates native to the displays (or at even higher frame rates). This approach assumes that if the display is driven at a sufficiently high rate, some of the problems associated with the jerky images decrease. However, some duplicate, dropped, and/or possibly torn images will still occur because of the lack of synchronization between the various pipeline components between (and including) the media players and the displays. Moreover, some pipeline components might have difficulty keeping pace with the higher display refresh rate. For example, one of the pipeline content-processing components upstream of the display could be limited to 30 Hz operation, thereby preventing or severely limiting the ability of the pipeline to account for rate mis-matches, regardless of the downstream display&#39;s higher rate capabilities. 
         [0007]    When lower frame rate content is being presented, driving the display and pipeline components at such high frame rates consumes more electrical power, computing power (i.e., processing, memory, etc.), and communications link bandwidth throughout the pipeline as compared with operating at lower rates. The presence of battery powered and/or wireless devices (for instance, laptop personal computers or PCs and wireless displays) aggravate the foregoing effects. Video encoding, decoding and encryption and other schemes used to secure the digital rights of the content providers further aggravate the situation since these techniques require comparatively intense processing. Furthermore, because of those processing demands in part, these operations increase the likelihood of upsets throughout the pipeline. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0008]      FIG. 1  schematically illustrates a content distribution system. 
           [0009]      FIG. 2  illustrates a block diagram of a content distribution system. 
           [0010]      FIG. 3  illustrates a process of playing content. 
           [0011]      FIG. 4  illustrates a process of distributing content. 
           [0012]      FIG. 5  illustrates another process of distributing content. 
       
    
    
       [0013]    The Detailed Description references the accompanying figures. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. The same numbers are used throughout the drawings to reference like features and components. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0014]    Disclosed herein are technologies for distributing content that relate to the smoothness of moving images presented on various displays. More specifically, disclosed technologies detect the playing or generation of a particular piece of content (e.g., video) and, responsive thereto, perform actions to facilitate the smooth presentation of such content on a display. For instance, the technology of some embodiments can detect the inherent frame rate of the content and whether that frame rate is a cinematic frame rate. If the frame rate is a cinematic frame rate, then the technology switches to driving some or all display and/or pipeline components at the cinematic rate rather than at the refresh rate associated with the display. 
       Exemplary Embodiments 
       [0015]      FIG. 1  schematically illustrates a moving-images content distribution system. Such a system is an example implementation. More specifically,  FIG. 1  illustrates a system  100  that includes a display  102  and a device for playing, distributing and displaying images (hereinafter a “media device”  104 ) of a subject  106 . Often, a PC (or other computing device, such as a laptop, PC, tablet, smartphone, etc.) incorporates the media device  104  and places it in wireless communication with the display  102 . Moreover, users often utilize the media device  104  to both display cinematic content (i.e., content with an associated cinematic frame rate) on the display  102  and to play games, manipulate information with productivity applications, etc. These users often perform each of these functions in separate windows (or portions  107 ) of the display  102  in a graphical user interface presented on the display  102 . The media device  104  can be or include a DVD (digital video disk) player, a CD (compact disk) player, an MP3 (Moving Picture Experts Group-1 Audio Layer-3) player, a video recorder, a television camera, a microphone, etc. with the media  118  being a corresponding type of CRM (computer readable media). In addition, the media device  104  can include a program, application, etc. which manages the playing (or generation) of the content  119  and which is frequently referred to as a media player. 
         [0016]    With the new moving-images content distribution systems disclosed herein, the display  102  may render or present content at differing rates. For instance, most productivity applications and some games can appear aesthetically and/or ergonomically pleasing if pipeline components are capable of operating at display-related refresh rates (typically 60 Hz) or a rate associated with some particular pipeline component. In contrast, users may enjoy cinematic content when it is presented at one of the lower cinematic frame rates (for instance, 24 Hz, 25 Hz, or other cinematic rates) in different windows or in full screen mode. Some games however, involve  3 D rendering of moving-images at semi-fixed rates where smooth movement of images is sometimes considered to be critical. Many such games render these moving images at fixed rates which are often different (and less) than the display refresh rate. 
         [0017]    Conventional systems, though, force all content (in all windows being processed by pipeline components and presented by the display  102 ) to be rendered at the display&#39;s refresh rate, even if one particular window  107  is being viewed in full screen mode, is relatively large compared with other windows, and/or if that refresh rate is appropriate for all such content. As a result, the content of one or more of the windows will typically suffer and will therefore appear jerky (i.e., a viewer will likely consider it to be a jerky image  108  rather than a smooth image  110 ). Furthermore, it often happens that the cinematic content being displayed in its window(s) suffers disproportionately in these types of situations. As is disclosed herein, systems  100  of the current embodiment increase the likelihood and/or percentage of time and conditions under which the system  100  produces smooth images  110  while optimizing resource utilization when cinematic content is being presented. Conversely when cinematic content is not being presented, the current embodiment increases the likelihood that productivity applications are not impaired by lower cinematic rates by reverting to the display&#39;s native refresh rate. By reverting to the display&#39;s refresh rate, the current embodiment allows productivity-related (and other) content to be displayed at the higher refresh rate at which it is less likely to exhibit jerky behavior. 
         [0018]    With continuing reference to  FIG. 1 , a wireless signal  112  that conveys the images  108  and/or  110  is transmitted from an antenna  114  of the media device  104  to an antenna  116  of the display  102 . These antennae  114  and  116  of this instance are configured to operate as part of a Wi-Fi (i.e., wireless fidelity) local area network (LAN) and the wireless signal  112  is formatted in accordance with a wireless display protocol. 
         [0019]      FIG. 1  also illustrates a media  118  on which one or more pieces of content  119  (perhaps including images of the subject  106 ) is stored. That content  119  in the current embodiment has an associated cinematic (frame) rate  120  whereas the display has an associated refresh rate  122 . Furthermore,  FIG. 1  illustrates that the jerky image  108  includes duplicate frames  126 , a dropped frame  128 , a torn frame  130 , judder-related effects, etc. whereas the smooth image  110  includes frames  124  which exhibit frame-to-frame changes corresponding to the actual changes associated with the subject  106  at the time that the frames  124  where captured. The torn frame  130  of the jerky image  108 , in contrast, includes two frame portions  132  and  134  from differing frames  124 . 
         [0020]    With ongoing reference to  FIG. 1 , the system  100  of the current embodiment plays the content  119  on the media device  104 , transmits smooth images  110  therefrom, and allows displays  102  to receive those smooth images  110  for presentation to those watching the display.  FIG. 1 , moreover, illustrates jerky image  108  for comparison to the smooth images  110 , which are sought by many viewers and/or other users of the system  100 . As noted elsewhere herein, when viewed, the smooth image  110  provides a pleasing visual effect wherein movements of the subject  106  appear to move proportionally between the individual frames  124  of the smooth image  110 . 
         [0021]    For instance, should the subject  106  or portions thereof (as captured in the content  119 ) be moving at a constant speed, then the position of the subject  106  would appear to change by a constant amount between the frames  124  of the smooth image  110  as viewed on the display  102 . Furthermore, if the subject  106  were accelerating at a constant rate, then the difference in the subject&#39;s position between the frames  124  would reflect that constant rate of acceleration. Moreover, in most situations, few or no duplicate frames  126 , dropped frames  128 , torn frames  130 , etc. would appear in the smooth image  110 . 
         [0022]    In contrast, as viewed on displays of conventional systems, the jerky image  108  would contain unwanted duplicate frames  126  (in addition to those duplicate frames intentionally inserted into the jerky image  108 ), dropped frames  128 , torn frames  130 , etc. Such anomalies arise from a number of sources of which only a sampling will be discussed here in order to not obscure embodiments. 
         [0023]    For instance, a pair (or set) of duplicate frames  126  might arise from one component in the pipeline operating at a higher frame rate than another component upstream there from in the pipeline. As a result, the faster downstream component might grab one frame  124  from the slower downstream component and then wait a relatively short time. At the end of that wait time, the faster component might then attempt to grab another frame  124  from the slower upstream component. Because the slower component has not yet had time to update the frame  124  in its buffer, though, the faster component will often happen to grab a duplicate of the frame  124  currently in the slower component&#39;s buffer. As a result, the pair of unwanted duplicate frames  126  appears in the jerky image  108 . Unless the rate of all faster downstream components happens to be an exact multiple of the slower upstream component rate thereby resulting in the same number of duplicate frames  126  of each frame  124 , the user will perceive the content playback experience to be jerky. 
         [0024]    In the alternative, the faster upstream component might attempt to grab and propagate a frame  124  while the slower downstream component is updating its buffer. Accordingly, the faster component might grab a frame portion  132  from one frame  124  and a frame portion  134  from another frame  124 . Since subjects  106  often move between frames  124 , a disjoint between the position of the subject  106  in the frame portions  132  and  134  would appear in the torn frame  130 . Such a situation is illustrated in  FIG. 1  by the displacement between the lower portion of the subject  106  and the upper portion of the subject  106 . The resulting torn frame  130  would of course then appear in the jerky image  108 . 
         [0025]    Conversely, a slower downstream component might altogether miss an update of a faster upstream component&#39;s buffer thereby dropping a frame  124  and causing a dropped frame  128  to “appear” in the jerky image  108 . Of course, in this particular context, the term “appear” means that no frame  124  appears in the jerky image  108  at its corresponding play-point or, depending on the display  102 , the previous frame  124  appearing in the jerky image  101  might appear one or more times than intended. Because of these anomalies, the subject  106  in the jerky image  108  fails to move smoothly and instead jumps or jerks (among other undesired effects) between viewed frames  124 . 
         [0026]    Furthermore, even in systems where the frame rate of the upstream component and the downstream components are the same, there is still the possibility of a jerky image  108  if the downstream component is sampling at or near the time where upstream buffers are being swapped/updated due to some non-zero amount of timing jitter in the operation of various pipeline components. This result is likely even if the various components are operating at the same average frame rate. More specifically, almost any jitter associated with one or more of the components will cause the sampling to dance back and forth across decision boundaries and thus between adjacent frames. As a result, the number and frequency of dropped/duplicated frames in such systems can equal corresponding conditions in systems with frame rate mis-matches. Capture positioning and synchronization techniques disclosed herein alleviate such conditions in both types of systems (those with more or less matched frame rates but with jitter and those with frame rate mis-matches) as well in systems with asynchronous components. 
         [0027]    Moreover, in conventional systems, driving display systems and/or any upstream pipeline component at a higher default rate consumes more wireless bandwidth and power. Accordingly, the available bandwidth associated with the wireless signal  112  available for other uses happens to be less than the wireless bandwidth of various embodiments. Additionally, driving conventional displays  102  and/or any upstream pipeline component at their display rates  122  (or other higher rates) also consumes more power than operations involving embodiments. As a result, conventional, battery-operated media devices  104  (and other system components) might deplete their onboard power sources earlier as indicated by the “Low Battery” warning  136  on the media device  104  or the display  102 . 
         [0028]    It might be worth noting that the content  119  need not be captured visual content. Indeed audio content, simulated visual content, animated content, rendered gaming content, Internet or streamed content, live content, and/or other types of so-called “media” content captured, stored, streamed, broadcast, etc. in a series of frames  124  are within the scope of the current disclosure. 
         [0029]      FIG. 2  illustrates a block diagram of another exemplary moving-images content distribution system. The system  200  of the current embodiment includes a transmitting side  201  (or media device  104 ) which further includes the media  118  (with content  119  related to the subject  106  and/or a subject image  203 ), a media application  202 , a graphics driver  204 , a media player  205 , a graphics transport application  206 , and a transmitter  208  (and/or a wired connector). The system  200  also includes a receiving side  209 , which further includes a receiver  210 , a frame rate translator  212 , and a screen  213  or other display surface or element. The receiver  210 , frame rate translator  212 , and screen  213  can be components of the display  102  and/or associated therewith. Moreover, the system also includes one or more frame buffers  214  one of which is illustrated as being a component of the media application  202 . In addition to the frames  124  and wireless signal  112 ,  FIG. 2  illustrates provisions for a frame rate indication  218 , mode changes  220 , and a synchronization signal  222 . 
         [0030]    System  200  of  FIG. 2  includes the media player  205 , which plays the content  119  including frames  124  of subject image  203 . In other words, the media player  205  reads the frames  124  of the subject image  203  from the media  118 . It sends these frames  124  to the media application  202 . Colloquially, therefore, the media player  205  “plays” the media  118  or content  119 . Of course, the content  119  might be conveyed to the media application  202  via an electromagnetic, infrared, Internet connection, etc. signal. 
         [0031]    With ongoing reference to  FIG. 2 , the media application  202  includes the frame buffer  214  and communicates with the media player  205  and the graphics driver  204 . In some embodiments, media application  202  communicates the frames  124  via buffer  214  to the graphics driver  204  indirectly using standard operating system calls (not shown). More specifically, the media application  202  receives the frames  124  from the media player  205  and (usually) at a frame rate determined at the time that the subject image  203  is/was captured. In some embodiments, the media application  202  forwards the frames  124  to the graphics driver  204 . The media application  202  can also place the frames  124  in its frame buffer  214  one (or more) at a time. As is disclosed further herein, it can also signal the graphics driver  204  when it has updated the frame buffer  214  with a new or “current” frame(s)  124 . 
         [0032]    The media application  202  of some embodiments can be either “enabled” or non-enabled or can have a mixture of enabled and non-enabled features. If the media application is non-enabled, or if it is a conventional or legacy media application  202 , the media application  202  typically forwards the frames  124  to the graphics driver  204  (via the frame buffer  214  if such a buffer is provided in the system  200 ). If the media application  202  is enabled, though, it can determine the frame rate at which the content  119  has been generated/captured and/or is being received. Moreover, the media application  202  can generate a signal indicative of the frame rate and send that frame rate indication  218  to the graphics driver  204 . 
         [0033]    The media application  202  might also handle content  119  related mode changes  220 . These mode changes  220  often involve changes in how the content  119  is to be displayed on the display  102 . For instance, it might be desirable to display the content  119  using the full screen  213  of display  102 . In the alternative, it might be desirable to use only a portion  107  of the screen  213  to, for instance, view a “thumbnail” of the content  119  in a graphical window. 
         [0034]    A user or viewer can initiate these mode changes  220 . For instance, a particular portion of the content  119  might be a webcast or a movie stored on a DVD, which the user wishes to view on the screen  213 . Another portion of content  119  might be a productivity application (for instance, a word processing document, a spreadsheet, etc.) also being rendered on the display. Accordingly, the user might want to switch between viewing various pieces of content  119  in full-screen mode and other pieces of content  119  in thumbnail mode as circumstances suggest. In such situations, the user could minimize/maximize or otherwise adjust the size of the windows in which the pieces of content  119  are shown accordingly. The media application  202  can examine the user inputs and/or frames  124  received from the media player  205  to detect such mode changes  220 . 
         [0035]    However, there might be times when the media application  202  initiates a mode change  220 . For instance, when a new piece of content  119  begins playing (or being received by the media application  202 ), the media application  202  might switch the display  102  to full-screen display mode for that content  119 . Conversely, when the content  119  reaches its endpoint, the media application  202  might switch that content  119  to a thumbnail mode or even terminate the transmission of such content in the frames  124  sent forward through the system  200 . 
         [0036]    In addition, or in the alternative, the media application  202  can initiate mode changes  220  by inferring (from information implicitly conveyed by the content) that a mode change is called for. Responsive to such inferences, the media application  202  can switch between modes thereby configuring various pipeline components to process/render the content at a rate corresponding to the new mode. For example, the media application  202  could infer that content formatted in accordance with the YUV 4:2:0 color mode is likely to be cinematic content. Responsive to such determinations, the media application  202  can initiate a mode change to convey the content at a cinematic rate thereby enabling other pipeline components to process frames  124  differently and/or at a cinematic frame rate due to the presence of YUV 4:4:4 color in (or associated with) the content  119 . 
         [0037]    The media application  202  of the current embodiment can also examine the content  119  (and user inputs) to determine if a mode change  220  has or is about to occur. If so, the media application  202  can generate a signal indicative of the mode change  220  and send the same to the graphics driver  204 . 
         [0038]    With continuing reference to  FIG. 2 , media applications  202  of some embodiments send the synchronization signal  222  to the graphics driver  204 . More specifically, these media applications  202  use the synchronization signal  222  in conjunction with the frame buffer  214  to coordinate the transfer of frames  124  to the graphics driver  204 . For instance, the media application  202  can be configured to place a new frame  124  in the frame buffer  214  and send the synchronization signal  222  to the graphics driver  204  when the media application  202  has determined that that frame  124  is ready for retrieval. Thus, the synchronization signal  222  can serve to alert the graphics driver  204  to the presence of a new or a current frame  124  in the frame buffer  214 . 
         [0039]    A few words about the graphics driver  204  might now be in order. The graphics driver  204  of the current embodiment provides functionality to allow the operating system of system  200  (as well as the media application  202  and graphics transport application  206 ) to interact with the graphics related hardware of the system  200 . 
         [0040]    A downstream graphics transport application  206  is often used in embodiments where the frames  124  are delivered using a wireless transmitter  208  over a wireless signal  112 . A graphics transport application  206  may not exist or be utilized in embodiments where a wired connector  208  is in use. In embodiments where a graphics transport application  206  is used, mode changes  220 , synchronization signal  222 , and frame rate indication  218  may be delivered to the graphics transport application  206  in addition to or instead of the graphics driver  204 . The graphics transport application  206  and the graphics driver may share or coordinate mode changes  220 , synchronization signal  222  and frame rate indication  218  in some embodiments. 
         [0041]    In the current embodiment, the graphics driver  204  communicates with the operating system (not shown), the media application  202 , and the graphics transport application  206  and the graphics related hardware among other system  200  components. More specifically, the graphics driver  204  receives the frames  124  from the media application  202  and forwards them to the graphics transport application  206 . The graphics driver  204  also receives the frame rate indication  218  and synchronization signal  222  from the media application  202 . 
         [0042]    Moreover, if the media application  202  determines whether mode changes  220  have occurred, are occurring, or are about to occur (i.e., a mode change  220  is imminent), the graphics driver  204  of the current embodiment can receive an indication of those mode changes  220  from the media application  202 . In the alternative, or in addition, the graphics driver  204  can examine the playing content  119  (or rather the frames  124  thereof) to determine whether the media application  202  has attempted to cause (or is likely to be causing) a mode change  220 . 
         [0043]    For instance, the graphics driver  204  can compare adjacent frames  124  to determine whether one or more windows associated with the various pieces of content  119  have changed sizes and/or whether the content  119  conveys other information indicative of a mode change  220 . For instance, the frame rate associated with many pieces of content  119  changes from a cinematic rate  120  to a different cinematic rate (or to the display refresh rate  122  when credits for the content  119  begin to roll. The media application  202  or graphics driver  204  can (by timing or other methodology) detect the new frame rate being used for credits and switch frame rates accordingly. If the graphics driver  204  detects a mode change  220 , the graphics driver  204  can alter the frames  124  it sends to the graphics transport application  206  to reflect that the windows of one or more pieces of playing content  119  have changed size, ought to change size, or it is desired that they do so. 
         [0044]    Moreover, the graphics driver  204  can alter the frame rate at which the frames  124  are forwarded to the transmitter  208  and thence to the display  102 . For instance, conventional systems transmit the frames  124  to the display at the display&#39;s native or preferred refresh rate  122  regardless of the content  119  in those frames  124  and, more specifically, regardless of the frame rate at which the content  119  was captured. Since the display refresh rate  122  is usually higher than the frame rate of the content  119  and/or typical cinematic rates  120 , such practices can be wasteful. For instance, transmission at the higher display refresh rate  122  can waste wireless bandwidth and power associated with the difference between the higher refresh rate  122  and the lower cinematic rate  120 . 
         [0045]    It is noted here that the transmitter  208  of the current embodiment is passive in that when it receives a frame  124  from the graphics transport application  206  it transmits that frame  124  and may assume a low power state until it receives another frame  124  for transmission. Thus, the rate at which the graphics transport application  206  forwards frames  124  determines the activity, power level, and bandwidth consumption of the transmitter  208  and hence (at least in part) of the transmitting side  201  of system  200 . Likewise, because the receiving side  209  consumes more power when receiving (and thence displaying) a transmitted frame  124  than when idle, the rate at which the graphics transport application  206  forwards frames  124  to the transmitter influences the power consumed by the receiving side  209 . In the case of wireless transmission, frames are often encoded prior to transmission and decoded prior to display, further increasing the difference in power consumed. 
         [0046]    Moreover, if any portion of the system  200  is battery powered, transmission at the higher display refresh rate  122  consumes power and therefore drains the battery or batteries of those portions more than transmission at the lower cinematic rate  120  might. Battery powered laptop PCs, displays  102 , etc. therefore will likely have longer battery-powered lives when various embodiments are included therein than not. 
         [0047]    Moreover, graphics transport applications  206  of the current embodiment switch the frame rate at which they forward frames  124  to the transmitter  208  to the lower cinematic rate  120  under various circumstances. For instance, if the content  119  is playing (or was captured) at one of the cinematic rates  120 , then the graphics transport application  206  illustrated in  FIG. 2  will switch to the lower cinematic rate  120 . Then, when circumstances suggest that transmitting at the higher display refresh rate  122  might be desired, the graphics transport application  206  can switch to the refresh rate  122 . For instance, the user of a PC might cause the focus to shift to a productivity application, a gaming application, or some feature of the desktop of the PC, which is typically driven at the refresh rate  122 . In such situations the graphics transport application  206  of the current embodiment will switch to a frame rate appropriate for the content receiving the focus. 
         [0048]    In some embodiments, the graphics transport application  206  can be a software application. In other embodiments, the graphics transport application  206  can be hardware logic that is configured for the particular tasks associated therewith. 
         [0049]    In any case, the transmitter  208  transmits the frames  124  at the rate controlled or determined by the graphics transport application  206 . Likewise, the receiver  210  receives the frames  124  at the rate determined by the graphics transport application  206  (in the absence of some disturbance, environmental condition, RF interference, wired connector malfunction, etc.). The receiver  210  forwards the received frames  124  to the frame rate translator  212  if the system  200  includes such a component. 
         [0050]    In the current embodiment, the system  200  includes a frame rate translator  212  as illustrated by  FIG. 2 . Some frame rate translators  212  accept frames  124  which it receives at one frame rate and modifies the image  108  and/or  110  to include enough frames  124  such that it appears to be arriving at the display  102  at the display refresh rate  122 . In this manner, the display  102  (in a nominal sense) receives enough frames  124  such that it displays a refreshed frame  124  for the viewer at each refresh even if some of those refreshed frames  124  happen to be deliberately replicated or duplicated frames  126 . In the absence of frame rate translator  212 , many displays  102  will continue to display (at the display refresh rate  122 ) the last frame  124  they received until a new frame  124  arrives. Thus, the presence of a frame rate translator  212  in system  200  is not necessary for the practice of the current disclosure. 
         [0051]    Whether or not a frame rate translator  212  exists in the system  200 , the display  102  of the current embodiment presents the frames  124  it receives as it receives them and in their as-received condition. Thus, the system  200  delivers subject image  203  to the screen  213  where users can view it. Moreover, in the current embodiment, the screen  213  is driven at a rate depending on the content  119  being displayed thereon. For instance, if only cinematic content  119  is being rendered, then the screen  213  is driven at the slower cinematic rate. If, however, only productivity applications are being rendered (or if the cinematic content is in a window considered to be of lesser importance) then the screen  213  can be refreshed at the higher refresh rate  122 . It might be useful at this juncture to consider (with reference to  FIG. 3 ) the playing of content  119 . 
       Exemplary Processes 
       [0052]      FIG. 3  illustrates an exemplary process of playing content. More specifically,  FIG. 3  illustrates method  300  that can begin when the media device  104  (of  FIG. 1 ) is turned on, booted up, or otherwise becomes active. See reference  302 . In cases where the media device  104  accepts physical media  118 , reference  304  provides for the loading of that media  118 . In other embodiments, though, the media  118  need not be loaded. For instance, the streaming media may be received/buffered. Also, a video-camera embodiment of the media device  104  can begin capturing video image content  119  whereas a microphone embodiment of the media device  104  can begin receiving sound waves and generating audio content. In any event, the media device  104  (or rather, a media player  205  resident therein) can begin playing (or producing) the content  119  as reference  306  indicates. 
         [0053]    If the media player  205  is so configured it can send the frame rate indication  218  to the media application  202 . See reference  308 . Of course, the images  108  or  110 , which the media player  205  generates, can implicitly convey such information by the manner in which they are framed, encoded, stored, etc. In the alternative, or in addition, another component (for instance, the media application  202 ) can determine the frame rate and send the frame rate indication  218  thereof to some other component. 
         [0054]    As disclosed elsewhere herein, as the content  119  is generated or played, the media player  205  produces frames  124  and sends them to other components in the system notably to the media application  202 . However, components of system  200  downstream thereof might not be aware of when each frame  124  becomes available. Thus, the media application  202  (or some other component) can generate a synchronization signal  222  to alert other components of the availability of a new or a current frame  124 . See reference  310 . 
         [0055]    At some point, a mode associated with one or more of the pieces of content  119  being distributed by system  200  might change. For instance, a user might change the focus to a productivity application (thereby causing a media application  202  initiated mode change). In other situations, a user might resize a window in which a piece of content  119  is playing. See reference  312 . In other situations, a user might change the focus from a productivity application to a minimized window or thumbnail, which is displaying a piece of content  119  (captured at a cinematic rate  122 ). In which case, the system  200  would switch from driving the display at the display refresh rate  120  to driving the display at the cinematic rate  120 . Of course, the converse can happen wherein the focus shifts to the higher frame rate productivity application. As a result, the system  200  could switch to the higher refresh rate  122  for the display  102 . See reference  314 . Having disclosed some aspects of playing content  119 , it might be useful at this juncture to disclose processes for distributing content  119 . 
         [0056]      FIG. 4  illustrates an exemplary process of distributing content. The process  400  can begin at reference  402  at which the playing of a piece of content  119  is detected by, for instance, the media application  202 . Media application  202  might detect the beginning of the content  119  when it receives the first (or other) frame  124  of content  119  or some indicia that the content  119  is playing, being generated, captured, etc. (or that such activity is about to occur). 
         [0057]    In addition, or in the alternative, the graphics driver  204  (and/or graphics transport application  206 ) can monitor the media application  202  and/or control signals associated with it to determine that the media player  205  is about to begin playing content  119 . For instance, if the graphics driver detects that media  118  is being loaded or that a “play” button has been pressed on the media device  104 , among other illustrative scenarios, the graphics driver  204  (or graphics transport application  206  can switch between frame rates in a preemptive or proactive manner. Thus, if the playing of the content is incipient, the system  200  can anticipate the change and switch display rates shortly before the change occurs. 
         [0058]    Process  400  can continue by determining the frame rate of the content  119  being played. For instance, reference  404  illustrates that the graphics driver  204  can examine the frames  124  of the content  119  to determine the frame rate at which it is being played. In the alternative, or in addition, the media player  205 , media application  202  etc. might send an indication of the frame rate to the graphics driver  204 . Thus, the graphics driver  204  (and/or graphics transport application  206 ) can accept the frame rate indication  218  as illustrated by reference  406 . 
         [0059]    A determination regarding whether the frame rate and/or content is cinematic or not can be made at reference  408 . If the frame rate is not cinematic, process  400  can branch to reference  410 . At reference  410 , the graphics transport application  206  can begin (or continue) transmitting frames  124  at the default frame rate which is often the display frame rate  122 , but can also be the maximum capability of a particular pipeline component. If, however, the frame rate of the content  119  is determined to be cinematic, the graphics transport application  206  can switch to (or continue) transmitting at the lower cinematic rate  120 . However, that the content might or might not be playing at a cinematic rate is not necessarily determinative of whether the system switches modes to a higher/lower frame rate. Rather (besides the content&#39;s frame rate), other information can influence this determination. For instance, the content  119  itself might convey information indicative of the mode at which it can be displayed as when the user has placed the content in thumbnail or full screen mode. In addition, or in the alternative, the content might convey information indicating which mode should be used to render the content as when it is encoded using the YUV color code which can indicate that the cinematic rate might be appropriate. See reference  412 . 
         [0060]    Process  400  can continue at either reference  414 , reference  416 , or both. See  FIG. 4 . Whereas, reference  414  illustrates the frames  124  being transmitted wirelessly, reference  416  illustrates the frames  124  being output via a wired connector from the transmitting side  201  to the receiving side  209 . As a result, the display  102  can receive the frames  124  and display them on the screen  213  by either or both methods. See reference  417 . 
         [0061]      FIG. 5  illustrates another process of distributing content. Some implementations of process  400  (see  FIG. 4 ) include other activities such as those indicated by references  518 ,  520 ,  522 ,  524 ,  526 , and/or  528  of method  500 . For instance, the media application  202  can generate a synchronization signal  222 . In the alternative, the graphics driver  204  may be able to generate its own internal synchronization signal by examining media application  202  behavior related to the presentation of frames  124 , and then deliver that signal to the graphics transport application  206 . See reference  518 . In response to the synchronization signal  222 , the graphics transport application  206  can grab the frame  124  currently in the frame buffer  214 . In some embodiments, the frame buffer  214  is obtained by software API calls to the graphics driver  206 , while in other embodiments the frame buffer is obtained and propagated directly by hardware logic. See reference  520 . Moreover, the graphics driver  204  or some other component can compress and/or encrypt the grabbed frame as illustrated by reference  522 . The transmitter  208  can also transmit the compressed frame  124  at reference  524 . It is noted that, because the graphics driver  204  and/or graphics transport application  206  in the current implementation only grabs, compresses, encrypts, and/or causes the transmission of current frames  124  and at the determined frame rate, the current process  400  conserves bandwidth, power, etc. for other activities. 
         [0062]    Moreover, as noted elsewhere herein, it might be the case that a mode associated with one or more pieces of playing content  119  might change. Accordingly, process  500  of some implementations includes determining whether such mode changes  220  have occurred, are occurring, or are imminent. See reference  526 . If so, process  500  can include switching to a frame rate appropriate for the mode change  220 . See reference  528 . 
         [0063]    In any event, the process  500  of the current implementation can proceed at reference  530 . Reference  530  indicates that process  500  can be repeated in whole or in part or can end as might be desired. Accordingly, embodiments allow even conventional displays to present smooth images  110  more often and with great reliability. These smooth images  110  are often free (or largely free of) of duplicate frames  126 , dropped frames  128 , torn frames  130 , judder-related effects, etc. Systems  200  also save power, processing resources, and bandwidth for purposes other than distributing content  119  as compared to many conventional systems. 
       Additional and Alternative Implementation Notes 
       [0064]    Unless the context indicates otherwise, industry-standard cinematic frame rate is approximately 24 frames per second (FPS) and/or 25 FPS. In reality, the industry-standard cinematic frame rate varies in practice by +/−5% of the absolute 24 or 25 frames. In some instances, the actual rate used varies by +/−1%. Often a rate of 23.976 FPS or 24.975 FPS is used. 
         [0065]    The moving-images content described herein may include (but not limited to) video, digital film, video games, animation, television, and the like. Generally, the moving-images content includes a series of moving images that are intended to be presented to the viewer in a defined sequence and to produce an overall visual impression of movement or perception of a reality. 
         [0066]    In the above description of exemplary implementations, for purposes of explanation, specific numbers, materials configurations, and other details are set forth in order to better explain the present invention, as claimed. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the claimed invention may be practiced using different details than the exemplary ones described herein. In other instances, well-known features are omitted or simplified to clarify the description of the exemplary implementations. 
         [0067]    The inventor intends the described exemplary implementations to be primarily examples. The inventor does not intend these exemplary implementations to limit the scope of the appended claims. Rather, the inventor has contemplated that the claimed invention might also be embodied and implemented in other ways, in conjunction with other present or future technologies. 
         [0068]    Moreover, the word “exemplary” is used herein to mean serving as an example, instance, or illustration. Any aspect or design described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects or designs. Rather, use of the word exemplary is intended to present concepts and techniques in a concrete fashion. The term “technology,” for instance, may refer to one or more devices, apparatuses, systems, methods, articles of manufacture, and/or computer-readable instructions as indicated by the context described herein. 
         [0069]    As used in this application, the term “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or” rather than an exclusive “or.” That is, unless specified otherwise or clear from context, “X employs A or B” is intended to mean any of the natural inclusive permutations. That is, if X employs A; X employs B; or X employs both A and B, then “X employs A or B” is satisfied under any of the foregoing instances. In addition, the articles “a” and “an” as used in this application and the appended claims should generally be construed to mean “one or more,” unless specified otherwise or clear from context to be directed to a singular form. 
         [0070]    These processes are illustrated as a collection of blocks in a logical flow graph, which represents a sequence of operations that can be implemented in mechanics alone or a combination with hardware, software, and/or firmware. In the context of software/firmware, the blocks represent instructions stored on one or more computer-readable storage media that, when executed by one or more processors, perform the recited operations. 
         [0071]    Note that the order in which the processes are described is not intended to be construed as a limitation, and any number of the described process blocks can be combined in any order to implement the processes or an alternate process. Additionally, individual blocks may be deleted from the processes without departing from the spirit and scope of the subject matter described herein. 
         [0072]    The term “computer-readable media” includes computer-storage media. For example, computer-storage media may include, but are not limited to, magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disk, floppy disk, and magnetic strips), optical disks (e.g., compact disk (CD) and digital versatile disk (DVD)), smart cards, flash memory devices (e.g., thumb drive, stick, key drive, and SD cards), and volatile and non-volatile memory (e.g., random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM)). 
         [0073]    In the claims appended herein, the inventor invokes 35 U.S.C. §112, paragraph 6 only when the words “means for” or “steps for” are used in the claim. If such words are not used in a claim, then the inventor does not intend for the claim to be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described herein (and equivalents thereof) in accordance with 35 U.S.C. §112, paragraph 6.