Patent ID: 8045469

Claim:
A method for transmitting a video stream destined for a display of a remote device through a communication network, comprising at a server in the network: monitoring for initiation of transmission of the video stream to the remote device; at the server accessing parameters for resolution and depth characteristics of the display and video processing software provided on the remote device for processing the video stream on the display of the remote device; for the remote device, identifying a transmission rate progression established for the communication network for the remote device based on an analysis of the resolution and depth characteristics and an installed version of the video processing software, the progression including parameters relating to a transmission rate, a resolution and a color depth for the transmission at first and second transmission times in the progression, the parameters including: for an initial transmission time, an initial transmission rate, an initial resolution and an initial color depth; for the first transmission time following the initial transmission time, a first transmission rate, a first resolution and a first color depth for the transmission, the first transmission rate being faster than the initial transmission rate; and for the second transmission time following the first transmission time, a second transmission rate, a second resolution and a second color depth for the transmission, the second transmission rate being faster than the first transmission rate and the second color depth being deeper than the first color depth; using parameters of the transmission rate progression to govern transmission parameters of the video stream to the remote device; initiating the transmission at the initial transmission rate at the initial resolution and the initial color depth set by the transmission rate progression; at the first transmission time, automatically increasing the transmission rate to the first transmission rate and increasing at least the initial color depth to the first color depth set by the transmission rate progression; and at the second transmission time, automatically increasing the transmission rate to the second transmission rate and setting the color depth to the second color depth set by the transmission rate progression, wherein the data transmission is configured to avoid dropping frames from the video stream.