Patent ID: 7593466

Claim:
A method of encoding video for delivery to one or more devices, the method comprising: with a video encoder, encoding data for a given video clip to produce a given bit stream of encoded data for the given video clip; generating N sets of reference decoder parameters for the given bit stream of encoded data for the given video clip, wherein N is greater than or equal to 2, wherein each of the N sets of reference decoder parameters comprises a rate parameter and a decoder buffer size parameter, wherein each of the N sets of reference decoder parameters indicates a different and alternative combination of rate parameter and decoder buffer size parameter for the same video images in the given bit stream, and wherein, for each of the N sets of reference decoder parameters, the set of reference decoder parameters contains the given bit stream such that there is no underflow of a decoder buffer of a reference decoder that operates according to the set of reference decoder parameters for decoding of the encoded data for the given video clip; providing the given bit stream for delivery to the one or more devices; providing information that indicates N along with the given bit stream; and providing the N sets of reference decoder parameters along with the given bit stream.