US6476873B1
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Enhancement of a selectable region of video
Assignee: Cisco Technology Inc
•
Filing: 1998-10-23
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Granted: 2002-11-05
•
Expires: 2018-10-23
Abstract
Abstract A digital enhancement method enhances a subsection of video. Video is received by a receiver from a sender. The video includes information or displaying a video image. The subsection of the video for digital enhancement is selected. The selecting the subsection of the video for enhancement includes partitioning the video image into the selected subsection and a remainder unselected subsection. The selected subsection is digitally enhanced by the sender to provide the video including a digitally enhanced subsection. The video including the digitally enhanced subsection is received by the receiver from the sender.
Inventors
- 👤 Joon Maeng
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-10 01:59
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04N; H04N7/00; H04N7/14; H04N7/141; H04N7/148
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 42
Claim 1
Independent Claim
206 words
A digital enhancement method for enhancing a subsection of video, the method comprising: receiving video by a receiver from a sender, the video including information for displaying a video image; selecting the subsection of the video for digital enhancement, the selecting the subsection of the video for enhancement including partitioning the video image into the selected subsection and remainder unselected subsection; digitally enhancing the selected subsection by the sender to provide the video including a digitally enhanced subsection; and receiving the video including the digitally enhanced subsection by the receiver from the sender; wherein the video has a first video information density measurable by bits per area, the first video information density describing an amount of video information used to represent an area of the video, the selected and unselected subsection of the video having the first video information density prior to the digitally enhancing the selected subsection by the sender; and the digitally enhancing the selected subsection includes generating the video including the selected subsection having a second video information density and unselected subsection having a third video information density, the second video information density being greater than the third video information density to provide greater detail in the selected subsection of the video image.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
206 words
A digital enhancement method for enhancing a subsection of video, the method comprising: receiving video by a receiver from a sender, the video including information for displaying a video image; selecting the subsection of the video for digital enhancement, the selecting the subsection of the video for enhancement including partitioning the video image into the selected subsection and remainder unselected subsection; digitally enhancing the selected subsection by the sender to provide the video including a digitally enhanced subsection; and receiving the video including the digitally enhanced subsection by the receiver from the sender; wherein the video has a first video information density measurable by bits per area, the first video information density describing an amount of video information used to represent an area of the video, the selected and unselected subsection of the video having the first video information density prior to the digitally enhancing the selected subsection by the sender; and the digitally enhancing the selected subsection includes generating the video including the selected subsection having a second video information density and unselected subsection having a third video information density, the second video information density being greater than the third video information density to provide greater detail in the selected subsection of the video image.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
27 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the receiver selects the subsection for enhancement; and the method further includes the receiver notifying the sender of the selected subsection.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
13 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the sender selects the subsection for enhancement.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
37 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein the digitally enhancing the selected subsection by the sender comprises: increasing a first resolution of the selected subsection; and decreasing a second resolution of the unselected subsection of the video.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
43 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein the digitally enhancing the selected subsection by the sender comprises: updating the selected subsection by the sender to provide greater detail in the selected subsection of the video than in the unselected subsection of the video.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
34 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein the second video information density is greater than the first video information density; and the third video information density is less than the first video information density.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
72 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein the video has a first video update rate prior to the digitally enhancing the selected subsection by the sender; and the digitally enhancing the selected subsection includes generating the video having a second video update rate for providing the selected subsection and a third video update rate for providing the unselected subsection, the second video update rate being greater than the third video update rate.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
34 words
The method of claim 7 , wherein the second video update rate is greater than the first video update rate; and the third video update rate is less than the first video update rate.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method of claim 7 , wherein the second video update rate is twice the third video update rate.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
14 words
The method of claim 7 , wherein the third video update rate is zero.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
12 words
The method of claim 1 , further comprising: graying-out the unselected subsection.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
17 words
The method of claim 11 , wherein the graying-out the unselected subsection is performed by the receiver.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
12 words
The method of claim 1 , further comprising: filtering the unselected subsection.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
17 words
The method of claim 13 , wherein the filtering the unselected subsection is performed by the receiver.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
32 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein the digitally enhancing the selected subsection by the sender comprises decreasing the compression of the selected subsection; and increasing the compression of the unselected subsection.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
42 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein the digitally enhancing the selected subsection by the sender comprises using a first compression technique on the selected subsection; and using a second compression technique different from the first compression technique on the unselected subsection.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
42 words
The method of claim 16 , wherein the first compression technique includes a first level of quantization; and the second compression technique includes a second level of quantization, the second level of quantization being coarse relative to the first level of quantization.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
36 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein the sender encodes the selected subsection using a first percentage of bits per area; the sender encodes the unselected subsection using a second percentage of the bits per area.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
16 words
The method of claim 18 , wherein the first percentage is greater than the second percentage.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
18 words
The method of claim 18 , wherein the first percentage is 60%; and the second percentage is 40%.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
24 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein a position of the selected subsection is user programmable via a user interface coupled to the receiver.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
24 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein a position of the selected subsection is user programmable via a user interface coupled to the sender.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
20 words
The method of claim 1 further comprising: digital zooming the selected subsection to increase the size of the selected subsection.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
46 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the video comprises: a preselected, digitally enhanced subsection of video prior to the receiving video by the receiver from the sender; and a preselected, non-digitally enhanced subsection of video prior to the receiving video by the receiver from the sender.
Claim 26
Independent Claim
149 words
A system for enhancing a subsection of video, the system comprising: a user interface; a video source; a sending unit including a video region enhancer encoder, the video region enhancer encoder being coupled to receive the video from the video source, the video region enhancer encoder being coupled to receive video region enhancer window selection notifications from the user interface, the video region encoder digitally enhancing a selected subsection of the video responsive to the selected subsection being selected by a video region enhancer decoder; a receiving unit including the video region enhancer decoder, the video region enhancer decoder being coupled to receive the video from the video region enhancer encoder, the video region enhancer decoder partitioning the video into a selected subsection and an unselected subsection responsive to receiving a selection notification, and transmitting information regarding a position of the selected subsection to the video region enhancer encoder.
Claim 27
Independent Claim
149 words
A system for enhancing a subsection of video, the system comprising: a user interface; a video source; a sending unit including a video region enhancer encoder, the video region enhancer encoder being coupled to receive the video from the video source, the video region enhancer encoder being coupled to receive video region enhancer window selection notifications from the user interface, the video region encoder digitally enhancing a selected subsection of the video responsive to the selected subsection being selected by a video region enhancer decoder; a receiving unit including the video region enhancer decoder, the video region enhancer decoder being coupled to receive the video from the video region enhancer encoder, the video region enhancer decoder partitioning the video into a selected subsection and an unselected subsection responsive to receiving a selection notification, and transmitting information regarding a position of the selected subsection to the video region enhancer encoder.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
14 words
The system of claim 25 wherein the receiving unit further comprises the user interface.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
16 words
The system of claim 25 wherein the sending unit is remotely located from the receiving unit.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
31 words
The system of claim 27 , wherein the sending unit digitally enhances the selected subsection by decreasing the compression of the selected subsection and increasing the compression of the unselected subsection.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
18 words
The system of claim 28 further comprising: a display coupled to receive the video from the receiving unit.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
24 words
The system of claim 29 wherein the system is a remote medical diagnosis system and the video is displayed to facilitate remote medical diagnosis.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
22 words
The system of claim 29 wherein the system is a security system and the video is displayed to facilitate remote security monitoring.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
12 words
The system of claim 29 wherein the system is a videoconferencing system.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
15 words
The system of claim 25 wherein the receiving unit performs, gray-out of the unselected subsection.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
53 words
The system of claim 25 wherein the sending unit digitally enhances the selected subsection by generating the video having a first video update rate for providing the selected subsection and a second video update rate for providing the unselected subsection, the first video update rate being greater than the second video update rate.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
123 words
The system of claim 25 wherein the video has a characteristic video information density measurable by bits per area, video information density describing an amount of video information used to represent an area of the video, the selected and unselected subsections of the video having a first video information density prior to the video region enhancer digitally enhancing the selected subsection; and the sending unit digitally enhances the selected subsection by generating the video including video for the selected subsection having a second video information density and video for the unselected subsection having a third video information density, the second video information density being greater than the third video information density to provide greater detail in the selected subsection of the video image.
Claim 38
Independent Claim
169 words
A method for enhancing a region of video, the method comprising: selecting a region of video for digital enhancement, the selecting the region of video for enhancement including defining a selected region of the video and a remainder unselected region of the video such that the video consists of the selected region and the unselected region; and digitally enhancing the selected region; wherein the video has a first video information density measurable by bits per area, the first video information density describing an amount of video information used to represent an area of the video, the selected and unselected regions of the video having the first video information density prior to the digitally enhancing the selected region; and the digitally enhancing the selected region includes generating the video including the selected region having a second video information density and the unselected region having a third video information density, the second video information density being greater than the third video information density to provide greater detail in the selected region.
Claim 39
Independent Claim
169 words
A method for enhancing a region of video, the method comprising: selecting a region of video for digital enhancement, the selecting the region of video for enhancement including defining a selected region of the video and a remainder unselected region of the video such that the video consists of the selected region and the unselected region; and digitally enhancing the selected region; wherein the video has a first video information density measurable by bits per area, the first video information density describing an amount of video information used to represent an area of the video, the selected and unselected regions of the video having the first video information density prior to the digitally enhancing the selected region; and the digitally enhancing the selected region includes generating the video including the selected region having a second video information density and the unselected region having a third video information density, the second video information density being greater than the third video information density to provide greater detail in the selected region.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
40 words
The method of claim 36 wherein the selecting the region of video for digital enhancement comprises: receiving a notification identifying an area of video for digital enhancement; and defining the selected region to substantially include the identified area of video.
Claim 41
Independent Claim
189 words
A method for enhancing a subsection of video, the method comprising: receiving video by a receiver from a sender, the video including information for displaying a video image; selecting the subsection of the video for digital enhancement, the selecting the subsection of the video for enhancement including partitioning the video image into the selected subsection and a remainder unselected subsection; and receiving the video by the receiver from the sender after selecting the subsection of the video, the video including a digitally enhanced subsection corresponding to the selected subsection after selecting the subsection of the video; wherein the video has a first video information density measurable by bits per area, the first video information density describing an amount of video information used to represent an area of the video, the selected and unselected subsections of the video having the first video information density prior to the partitioning; and the digitally enhanced subsection has a second video information density and the unselected subsection has a third video information density, the second video information density being greater than the third video information density to provide greater detail in the selected subsection.
Claim 42
Independent Claim
189 words
A method for enhancing a subsection of video, the method comprising: receiving video by a receiver from a sender, the video including information for displaying a video image; selecting the subsection of the video for digital enhancement, the selecting the subsection of the video for enhancement including partitioning the video image into the selected subsection and a remainder unselected subsection; and receiving the video by the receiver from the sender after selecting the subsection of the video, the video including a digitally enhanced subsection corresponding to the selected subsection after selecting the subsection of the video; wherein the video has a first video information density measurable by bits per area, the first video information density describing an amount of video information used to represent an area of the video, the selected and unselected subsections of the video having the first video information density prior to the partitioning; and the digitally enhanced subsection has a second video information density and the unselected subsection has a third video information density, the second video information density being greater than the third video information density to provide greater detail in the selected subsection.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2005-11-04 | 2006-05-06 | 2006-11-05 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2009-11-04 | 2010-05-06 | 2010-11-05 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2013-11-04 | 2014-05-06 | 2014-11-05 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |