Patent ID: 7653251

Claim:
An image data switching method wherein M is an integer equal to or larger than 2, said method comprising: at least one step of receiving M items of image coded data from a first client; a step of decoding at least one of the received M items of image coded data; at least one step of re-encoding the decoded data with a server using at least one of: (a) a coding system (b) a coding bit rate (c) an image size (d) a frame rate (e) a profile (f) a level (g) a coding option (h) a video packet size (i) a coding frame type configuration (j) an intraframe interval and (k) a number of intra macro blocks wherein the re-encoding step includes converting the decoded data supported by the first client to re-encoded image data according to coding systems, coding settings and coding options supported by a second client, wherein the second client supports at least one different coding system, coding setting or coding option than the first client; at least one step of outputting the re-encoded image coded data to the second client; and a step of switching, in response to a request from an external source, at least one item of image coded data to be output.