KR20180013243A - Method and Apparatus for Providing and Storing Streaming Contents - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for providing streaming content and a device therefor, which divide an image captured through a 360-degree camera into segment images according to a preset angle range and store the same, transmit an image within a certain range based on a user current viewing coordinate in high image quality and transmit the remaining image in low image quality, thereby reducing a traffic burden of a mobile network while reducing the data amount generated when a 360-degree image service is provided. The method for providing streaming content comprises the following steps of: receiving an image viewing coordinate viewed by the user from an image playing device which requests content transmission to a streaming server; and providing at least one segment image corresponding to an angle within the certain range based on the viewing coordinate in first image quality, and providing the remaining segment images in image quality lower than the first image quality.

Description

Technical Field [0001] The present invention relates to a streaming content providing method, a streaming content storing method,

The present invention relates to a streaming content providing method and apparatus, and more particularly, to a video streaming service providing method and apparatus for providing streaming content by providing a VR (Virtual Reality) video streaming service based on a panorama image or a 360 VR image, And more particularly, to a method and apparatus for reducing the amount of data generated when a 360-image service is provided by transmitting image quality of angular-resolution images differently.

The contents described in this section merely provide background information on the present embodiment and do not constitute the prior art.

Recently, there is an increasing demand for Virtual Reality (VR) service, which can experience similar things as reality in the computer software program through the use of special glasses and gloves through the sense of human vision and hearing have.

Particularly, recently, a camera capable of shooting a 360-degree image has been developed and popular, so that interest in 360-degree VR service has been actively actively promoted. Such a 360-degree video is photographed to record sports games and concerts, Service utilization is rapidly expanding.

However, current 360-degree video streaming service requires at least three times the amount of data compared to the existing video service, so data consumption is generated due to transmission of 360-degree video to the mobile network.

At the same time, when the streaming service of a relatively large capacity 360-degree image is activated, there is a problem that the traffic of the mobile network increases. Therefore, a solution is needed to solve such a problem.

Korean Registered Patent No. 10-1634966 (Title: Image tracking system using VR-based object recognition information, and image tracking method, June 26, 2014)

The present invention has been proposed in order to satisfy the above-mentioned demand. In the case of transmitting a 360-degree image divided into one or more pieces of image, the image quality level of each piece image is transmitted based on the current viewing coordinates of the user, A method for providing streaming contents in which traffic burden on a mobile network can be reduced while reducing the amount of data generated when a video service is provided, and an apparatus therefor.

However, the object of the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned objects, and other objects not mentioned can be clearly understood from the following description.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a content providing method for providing a video streamed by a streaming server divided into a plurality of video segments in a streaming manner according to a predetermined angle range, Receiving viewing coordinates of an image viewed by a user from a video reproducing apparatus that has requested a content transmission to the streaming server; and receiving at least one video piece corresponding to an angle within a certain range on the basis of the viewing coordinates as a first image quality And providing the remaining image segments with a lower image quality than the first image quality.

In this case, when receiving a content provision request from the video playback apparatus, the at least one video segment corresponding to an angle within a certain range from the basic coordinates is provided as the first image quality, And providing the image with a lower image quality than the first image quality, and the providing step may perform synchronization between at least one image piece provided with the first image quality and the remaining image piece.

Calculating a rate of change of the viewing coordinates based on the viewing coordinates received from the video reproducing apparatus and the previous viewing coordinates received from the video reproducing apparatus after the receiving step; The method may further include adjusting the predetermined range based on the velocity, wherein the providing step provides at least one image segment corresponding to an angle within the first range to the first image quality based on the viewing coordinates , Providing at least one image segment corresponding to an angle within the second range to a second image quality that is lower in image quality than the first image quality and providing the remaining image segments to a third image quality that is lower than the second image quality.

On the other hand, the above-mentioned content providing method can be provided as a computer-readable recording medium on which a program for executing the above-described method is recorded, and is a computer program that is implemented to execute the method as described above and stored in a computer- ≪ / RTI >

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for storing video content, the method comprising: receiving a panorama-captured image from a streaming server through a video image pickup device; And dividing the image into pieces and storing the divided image.

In this case, the storing step may insert time information into each of the divided image pieces, perform synchronization based on the inserted time information, and store the divided pieces of image pieces, It can be converted into a plurality of image qualities and stored.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a streaming server comprising: a communication module for transmitting / receiving data to / from an image reproduction apparatus through a communication network; a storage module for storing images divided into a plurality of image fragments according to a predetermined angle range; When receiving the first viewing coordinates of the image viewed by the user from the image reproducing device that has requested the content transmission through the communication module, generates at least one image fragment corresponding to an angle within a certain range based on the first viewing coordinates And a control module for providing the first image quality to the first image quality and providing the remaining image quality to a lower image quality than the first image quality.

According to the present invention, an image photographed through a 360-degree camera is divided and stored as a sculptured image according to a predetermined angle range, and an image within a certain range is transmitted in a high image quality based on a user's current viewing coordinates, By transmitting the image data with a low quality, it is possible to reduce the traffic burden on the mobile network while reducing the amount of data generated when the 360-degree image service is provided.

In addition, various effects other than the above-described effects can be directly or implicitly disclosed in the detailed description according to the embodiment of the present invention to be described later.

1 is a diagram illustrating a main configuration of a content providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a data flow chart for explaining an embodiment of a content providing method according to the present invention.
3 is a block diagram for explaining a main configuration of a video reproducing apparatus according to the present invention.
4 is a block diagram illustrating a main configuration of a streaming server according to the present invention.
5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a streaming server according to an embodiment of the present invention.
6A to 6C are illustrations for explaining an embodiment according to the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS For a more complete understanding of the nature and advantages of the present invention, reference should be made to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

In the following description and the accompanying drawings, detailed description of well-known functions or constructions that may obscure the subject matter of the present invention will be omitted. It should be noted that the same constituent elements are denoted by the same reference numerals as possible throughout the drawings.

The terms and words used in the following description and drawings are not to be construed in an ordinary sense or a dictionary, and the inventor can properly define his or her invention as a concept of a term to be described in the best way It should be construed as meaning and concept consistent with the technical idea of the present invention. Therefore, the embodiments described in the present specification and the configurations shown in the drawings are merely the most preferred embodiments of the present invention, and not all of the technical ideas of the present invention are described. Therefore, It is to be understood that equivalents and modifications are possible.

In addition, embodiments within the scope of the present invention include computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions or data structures stored on computer-readable media. Such computer-readable media can be any available media that is accessible by a general purpose or special purpose computer system. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or in the form of computer- But is not limited to, a physical storage medium such as any other medium that can be used to store or communicate certain program code means of the general purpose or special purpose computer system, .

In the following description and claims, it is assumed that an image transmitted according to the present invention is a 360-degree VR (Virtual Reality) image.

However, if an image such as a panoramic image can be divided into at least one image segment and stored, the image may be transmitted from the streaming server to the image reproduction apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention .

On the other hand, the viewing coordinates described in the present invention can be expressed on the basis of various kinds of coordinate systems. For example, in one embodiment, it may be expressed in a three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system and transmitted in the form of (x, y, z), or may be transmitted with information of an angle with respect to the spherical coordinate system. In addition, in the present invention, the viewing coordinates may be defined as the center coordinates of the image being reproduced in the image reproducing apparatus 300, which is information indicating an area viewed by the viewer in the 360 degree moving image.

In the present invention, it is assumed that the angle information corresponding to the viewing coordinates is transmitted to the streaming server for convenience of explanation.

However, in the case of (x, y, z) format, the streaming server may change the coordinates to angle information.

A content providing method and a video content storing method according to an embodiment of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

1 is a block diagram of a system for storing and providing contents in a streaming service according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, a system for storing and providing contents according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may include a video photographing apparatus 200, an image reproducing apparatus 300, and a streaming server 400, The device 300 and the streaming server 400 can transmit and receive data through the communication network 100.

Each component will now be schematically described with reference to FIG.

First, the communication network 100 transmits data for data transmission / reception between the video reproducing apparatus 300 and the streaming server 400. In accordance with a system implementation method, the communication network 100 may include Ethernet, xDSL (ADSL, VDSL) (WLAN), Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi), WiBro, WiBro, etc., can be used, as well as a wired communication method such as a hybrid fiber coaxial cable, a fiber to the curb (FTTC) A wireless communication method such as WiMAX, High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), Long Term Evolution (LTE), or Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE) may be used. In addition to the above communication methods, And may include any type of communication scheme to be developed.

The image capturing apparatus 200 refers to a device that captures an image and transmits the captured image to the streaming server 400.

Particularly, the image photographing apparatus 200 according to the present invention can be a 360 camera, which photographs the surrounding images according to the angle of view of each camera through a plurality of cameras installed on the upper, A single image is formed by combining the images, and a user can be provided with an image at a point in time that the user wants to see.

In addition, the image photographing apparatus 200 according to the present invention is not limited to the 360 cameras, and any camera capable of photographing a panoramic image can be a photographing apparatus 200 according to the present invention.

The image capturing apparatus 200 according to the present invention may divide a captured image into at least one image fragment according to a predetermined angle range and transmit the divided image fragment to the streaming server 400, To the streaming server (400).

The video reproducing apparatus 300 refers to a user apparatus capable of transmitting and receiving various data to and from the streaming server 400 through the communication network 100 according to a user's operation.

The image reproducing apparatus 300 is capable of performing voice or data communication through the communication network 100, and includes a memory for storing programs and protocols for data transmission and reception, a microprocessor for executing and controlling various programs, A processor, and the like. In addition, the image reproducing apparatus 300 of the present invention can be implemented in various forms. For example, the image reproducing apparatus 300 described in the present specification may be applied to a mobile terminal such as a smart phone, a tablet PC, a PDA (personal digital assistant), a portable multimedia player (PMP) A fixed terminal such as a smart TV, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, or the like may be used, and any device capable of transmitting and receiving data according to the present invention may be used in any of the embodiments of the present invention Can be used as the image reproducing apparatus 300 according to the present invention.

Meanwhile, the video reproducing apparatus 300 according to the present invention can request a content transmission to the streaming server 400 according to a user's input, and receive content from the streaming server 400 in a streaming manner.

In particular, each time the video reproducing apparatus 300 detects that the viewing coordinates of the user are changed, the video reproducing apparatus 300 transmits the viewing coordinates of the video currently watched by the user to the streaming server 400, At least one image segment corresponding to an angle within the range may be provided as a high-quality image, and the remaining image segment may be provided as a low-quality image.

Lastly, the streaming server 400 transmits the content data, such as moving pictures received from an external device such as the video photographing apparatus 200, to the video reproducing apparatus 400 through the communication network 100 in a streaming manner, 300).

In particular, when the streaming server 400 according to the present invention receives the viewing coordinates of an image currently viewed by the user from the image reproducing apparatus 300, the streaming server 400 converts at least one image fragment, which is within a certain range from the viewing coordinates, And the remaining video segments can be transmitted with low quality.

In addition, when the streaming server 400 according to the present invention receives one 360-degree image content or panorama image content that is not divided from the image capturing apparatus 200, the streaming server 400 transmits the received image to a plurality Of the image data.

Hereinafter, the specific operation of the video reproducing apparatus 300 and the streaming server 400 according to the present invention will be described later.

FIG. 2 is a data flow diagram for explaining the overall operation of the content providing system according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, the image capturing apparatus 200 captures 360 videos including the panoramic image and uploads the 360 videos to the streaming server 400 (S101).

At this time, the image capturing apparatus may divide one image into a plurality of image fragments according to a predetermined angle range, and upload the divided image fragments to the streaming server 400. Alternatively, the entire image may be transmitted to the streaming server 400, (400).

If the streaming server 400 receives one image from the image capturing apparatus 200, the received image may be divided into a plurality of image segments according to a predetermined angle range and stored.

At this time, the streaming server 400 may convert each of the divided image fragments into a plurality of image qualities, store the divided image fragments, insert time information into the divided image fragments, perform synchronization based on the time information, (S103).

For example, if the predetermined angle range is 120 degrees, 360 images are received from the image capturing apparatus 200 and the front 120 degrees (-60 degrees to +60 degrees) and the left 120 degrees (-180 degrees to -60 degrees ), 120 degrees on the right side (+60 degrees ~ +180 degrees) to generate image pieces, and divided spatial frontal 120 degree images, left 120 degree images, and right 120 degree images, respectively, And converts a plurality of image qualities based on temporal resolution such as 30 fps and 60 fps into a plurality of image qualities and stores the converted image qualities.

That is, the front 120-degree image, which is a divided image fragment, is stored in the streaming server 400 in various image qualities, and the left 120-degree image and the right 120-degree image are also stored in the streaming server 400 in various image qualities.

Meanwhile, the streaming server 400 may insert time information into each video piece and perform synchronization based on the inserted time information. For example, the streaming server 400 may store time information for each divided video piece to be reproduced Based on the time information inserted, synchronization is performed through numbering such as 'Asset 1-01' for the front 120 ° image, 'Asset 1-02' for the left 120 ° image and 'Asset 1-03' for the right 120 ° image And store it.

Thereafter, when the image reproducing apparatus 300 transmits the viewing coordinates of the image currently watched by the user together with the streaming contents transmission request to the streaming server 400 (S105), the streaming server 400 sets the viewing coordinates At least one image segment corresponding to an angle within a certain range is provided as a first image quality of high image quality and the remaining image segment is provided as a low image quality lower than the first image quality at step S107.

On the other hand, if the user first makes a streaming transmission request in step S105, the viewing coordinates of the user will be (0, 0, 0). In this case, since it is not necessary to receive viewing coordinates from the image reproducing apparatus 300 , The streaming server 400 provides at least one video piece corresponding to the basic coordinates (0, 0, 0), that is, an angle within a certain range from 0 degrees, to the first picture quality of high picture quality without receiving the viewing coordinates And provide the remaining image segments with a lower image quality than the second image quality.

In this case, the predetermined range may be a range for transmitting the neighboring pieces of the image pieces corresponding to the current viewing angle with high image quality in case the viewing image pieces are changed within a short time according to the movement of the user.

For example, assuming that the image fragment is divided into 12 pieces by 30 degrees, unlike the above example, if a certain range is 100 degrees, five image fragments including 0 degree to -50 degree to + And transmits the remaining image fragments in a low quality.

Thereafter, the video playback apparatus 300 continuously transmits the viewing coordinates of the video currently viewed by the user to the streaming server 400 (S109). The streaming server 400 determines whether the viewing coordinates have been changed, (S111). If the coordinates have not been changed, the control unit 310 continues to provide the stream that has been transmitted. If the coordinates are changed, the viewing coordinates transmitted by the video reproducing apparatus 300 are based on At least one image segment corresponding to an angle within a certain range is provided as a first image quality of high quality and the remaining image segments are provided at a low image quality lower than the first image quality (S113 to S115).

At this time, in step S113, the image reproducing apparatus 300 performs synchronization between the image fragments provided in a high image quality and the image fragments provided in a low image quality, and the contents are provided to the image reproducing apparatus 300. In this case, The time information and the numbering written in the data packet can be used as a reference.

In addition, when the streaming video is transmitted by changing the coordinates, the first viewing coordinates, which are the viewing coordinates before the change in step S113, the second viewing coordinates, which are the viewing coordinates after the change, and the time And adjusting a predetermined range as a criterion for how many image segments are to be provided in a high image quality based on the calculated change rate so as to obtain at least one image corresponding to an angle within a predetermined range adjusted based on the second viewing coordinates Can be provided as a first image quality of high image quality and the remaining image pieces can be provided with a low image quality lower than the first image quality.

For example, assuming that the image segment is divided into twelve pieces by 30 degrees, if the initial predetermined range is 100 degrees and the viewing coordinates are the coordinates corresponding to +20 degrees, the coordinates of -30 degrees to +70 degrees And the remaining 8 pieces are transmitted in a low quality. If the user changes the coordinates quickly and the changing speed of the viewing coordinates is fast, the user can enlarge the predetermined range and enlarge the image with high quality It is necessary to cope with the change of the quick viewing coordinates of the user.

Therefore, in this case, a certain range is changed to 140 degrees, which is a range wider than 100 degrees, so that six image segments including coordinates of -50 degrees to +90 degrees are provided as a first image quality of high image quality, Provide low quality.

On the other hand, the above-mentioned certain range is not limited to the above-described example, but can be dynamically adjusted according to the calculated change rate.

If the user requests the streaming end through the video reproducing apparatus 300 or if the streaming contents are completely reproduced and there is a streaming end request in step S117, the streaming server 400 transmits a streaming end request to the streaming server 400 S119). If there is no request to end the streaming, the flow returns to step S109 to continuously transmit the viewing coordinates to the streaming server 400, and the video piece having the image quality corresponding to the viewing coordinates is streamed.

However, the image reproducing apparatus 300 may transmit the viewing coordinates to the streaming server 400 only when the viewing coordinates viewed by the user are changed. In this case, step S111 may be omitted.

The operation of the content providing system according to the present invention has been described above.

Hereinafter, a main configuration of the video reproducing apparatus 300 and the streaming server 400 according to the present invention will be described.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of an image reproducing apparatus 300 according to the present invention.

3, the image reproducing apparatus 300 may include an input module 310, an output module 330, a storage module 350, a communication module 370, and a control module 390.

The input module 310 receives various information such as numbers and character information and transmits various signals to the control module 390 in response to the setting of various functions and the control of the function of the image reproducing apparatus 300.

In particular, in the present invention, the input module 310 senses a user's behavior change or an arbitrary input, and transmits a signal for changing a viewpoint of an image output through the output module 330 to the control module 390.

The output module 330 displays information on a series of operation states, operation results, and the like that occur during the performance of the function of the image reproducing apparatus 300. The output module 330 may display menus of the image reproducing apparatus 300 and user data input by the user.

In particular, in the present invention, the output module 330 changes the viewpoint of the image transmitted from the streaming server 400 through the communication module 370 under control of the control module 390, and outputs the changed viewpoint.

The storage module 350 may store the streaming contents received through the communication module 370. [

The communication module 370 can be divided into a first communication module 371 and a second communication module 373. The first communication module 371 transmits and receives data to and from the streaming server 400 via the communication network 100. [ And the second communication module 373 is for transmitting / receiving data to / from an auxiliary video reproducing apparatus (not shown) via a short distance wireless communication or a wired communication.

The auxiliary video reproducing apparatus is provided for assisting the output module 330 of the video reproducing apparatus 300. The auxiliary video reproducing apparatus may replace the output module 330 or output the video content requested by the user together with the output module 330, Can be output.

At this time, the auxiliary image reproducing apparatus can be connected to the image reproducing apparatus 300 through short-range wireless communication such as Bluetooth or Zigbee, and can reproduce the image by changing the view point of the content according to the input or movement of the user.

Such an auxiliary image reproducing apparatus may include a VR apparatus such as virtual reality glasses.

The control module 390 controls the operation of the video reproducing apparatus 300 according to the present invention. The controlling module 390 transmits the content streaming request and the viewing coordinates of the current user to the streaming server 400, And can control the user to view the video content through the auxiliary video playback apparatus (not shown) or the video playback apparatus 300. [

The operation process of the video reproducing apparatus 300, which the control module 390 of the video reproducing apparatus 300 according to the present invention controls in general, controls the operation of the video reproducing apparatus 300 through the description of FIG. 2 and FIG. Therefore, the explanation is omitted.

4 is a block diagram illustrating a main configuration of a streaming server 400 according to the present invention.

4, the streaming server 400 may include a storage module 410, a communication module 430, and a control module 450.

The storage module 410 is an apparatus for receiving and storing an image photographed by the image photographing apparatus 200. The storage module 410 may divide and store the received image into a plurality of image fragments according to a predetermined angle range.

At this time, the divided image pieces can be converted into various image qualities, and the image pieces converted into the various image qualities can be stored.

That is, each image piece can be stored in various image quality.

Time information can be inserted into the divided image fragments, and this time information is based on performing synchronization.

The first communication module 431 can be divided into a first communication module 431 and a second communication module 433. The first communication module 431 communicates with the video reproducing apparatus 300 through the communication network 100 And may receive streaming requests and viewing coordinates from the image reproducing apparatus 300. The streaming request and viewing coordinates may be received from the image reproducing apparatus 300,

The second communication module 433 is for transmitting and receiving data to and from the image capturing apparatus 200 and can receive 360 moving images or panorama images captured by the image capturing apparatus 200. [

The control module 450 is an apparatus for controlling the overall operation of the streaming server 400 according to the present invention.

The overall operation of the streaming server 400 controlled by the control module 450 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 5 through FIG. 6C.

5, the streaming server 400 receives 360 moving images or panorama images from the image capturing apparatus 200, divides the 360 moving images or the panorama images into a plurality of image segments according to a predetermined angle range, And stores it.

At this time, time information may be inserted into each of the image fragments converted into a plurality of image qualities, and synchronization may be performed based on the inserted time information (S201).

Here, the predetermined angle range is a predetermined angle range for dividing one image into a plurality of image fragments by the streaming service provider providing the image. In the description related to Figs. 5 to 6C, Is divided into 5 pieces by 72 degrees and stored.

That is, it is assumed that the predetermined angle range is 72 degrees.

However, the present invention is not limited to such angles, and the range of angles set according to the needs of the streaming service provider may vary.

Referring to FIG. 6A, an image received from the image capturing apparatus 200 may be divided into images of 1 to 5, and images 1 to 5 may be converted into a plurality of image qualities and stored.

Thereafter, upon receipt of the streaming request and the viewing coordinates currently viewed by the user from the image reproducing apparatus 300, at least one image fragment corresponding to an angle within a certain range is provided as a first image quality of high image quality based on the viewing coordinates (S203 to S207). Referring to FIG. 6B, the viewing coordinates by the first streaming request corresponds to 0 degree set to the default value, When the viewing coordinates corresponding to 0 degrees are received from the apparatus 300, the third image including 0 degrees is transmitted to the first image quality of high image quality, and the second and fourth image quality of the surrounding images are the second image quality And images 1 and 5 far from the third image can be transmitted to the third image quality of the lower image quality.

However, according to the policy of the service provider, it is natural that the first and fifth images can be transmitted in the second image quality.

If there is an initial streaming request, at least one image fragment corresponding to an angle within a certain range from a predetermined basic coordinate is provided as a first image quality of high image quality without receiving viewing coordinates from the image reproducing apparatus 300 , The remaining image segments may be transmitted with a lower image quality than the first image quality. Here, the basic coordinates may be a screen to be initially displayed to the viewer, and may be a third image including 0 degrees in general.

That is, when the first streaming request is received, the streaming server 400 can transmit the image No. 3, the image No. 1, No. 2, No. 4, and No. 5 at a lower quality without receiving the viewing coordinates.

If the predetermined range is more than 36 degrees, which is half of the predetermined angle, for example, if the predetermined range is 180 degrees, the streaming server 400 transmits the image segments 2 to 3 including -90 degrees to + 4th image with high quality and 1, 5th image with low image quality.

After that, the streaming server 400 continuously receives the viewing coordinates from the video reproducing apparatus 300 (S209). Hereinafter, for convenience of description, previously received viewing coordinates are referred to as first viewing coordinates, and newly received viewing coordinates are referred to as second viewing coordinates.

The streaming server 400 receiving the second viewing coordinates from the image reproducing apparatus 300 determines whether the viewing coordinates are changed by comparing the first viewing coordinates with the first viewing coordinates (S211). If the viewing coordinates are not changed, The moving picture piece is continuously streamed in accordance with the picture quality and the changing rate of the viewing coordinates is calculated on the basis of the first viewing coordinates and the second viewing coordinates when the viewing coordinates are changed and the schedule of the piece image to be transmitted in high image quality based on the calculated changing rate The range is adjusted (S213).

That is, when the second viewing coordinates correspond to 30 degrees and the changing speed is normal, a certain range is set to 60 degrees, and images 3 and 4 including 0 degrees to +60 degrees, as shown in FIG. 6C, The image fragment can be transmitted with a low image quality (S215).

In this case, a certain range is further subdivided and images 3 and 4 including 0 degrees to +60 degrees are transmitted in high image quality, and images 2 and 5 in the range of -60 degrees to 0 degrees and +60 degrees to + 120 degrees The image is transmitted at a medium image quality lower than the high image quality, and the image # 1 in the range of -120 degrees to -60 degrees may be transmitted at a lower image quality than the intermediate image quality.

If the calculated change speed is fast, it is possible to adjust the range to be 180 degrees or so, to transmit the second to fifth images including -60 degrees to +120 degrees to the high image quality and the remaining first image to the low image quality have.

Thereafter, it is checked whether the streaming transmission end request is from the video reproducing apparatus 300 (S217), and the streaming service can be provided to the user while repeating steps S209 to S215 until a streaming transmission end request is received.

On the other hand, in step S209, the image reproducing apparatus 300 can transmit the viewing coordinates periodically or in real time to the streaming server 400. However, when the viewing point of the user, that is, the viewing coordinates, is changed, In step S211, the streaming server 400 may transmit the image segments to the image reproducing apparatus 300 with the image quality previously provided until the changed viewing coordinates are received. Will continue to provide.

In addition, when providing the video segments to the video playback apparatus 300 in steps S205 to S207 and S215, the streaming server 400 may provide the video segments in synchronization with each other. In this case, Based on the time information and the numbering written in the memory.

In particular, if the image is stored in the streaming server 400 only by performing time information and numbering without performing synchronization in step S201, synchronization in steps S205 to S207 and step S215 is considered to be a necessary operation.

As described above, the present specification contains details of a number of specific implementations, but they should not be construed as being limitations on the scope of any invention or claimability, but rather on the particular embodiment of a particular invention But should be understood as an explanation of the features.

Also, while the operations are depicted in the drawings in a particular order, it should be understood that such operations must be performed in that particular order or sequential order shown to achieve the desired result, or that all illustrated acts must be performed. In certain cases, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Also, the separation of the various system components of the above-described embodiments should not be understood as requiring such separation in all embodiments, and the described program components and systems will generally be integrated together into a single software product or packaged into multiple software products It should be understood.

The description sets forth the best modes of the present invention and provides examples for the purpose of illustrating the invention and enabling a person skilled in the art to make and use the invention. The written description is not intended to limit the invention to the specific terminology presented. Thus, while the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the above examples, those skilled in the art will recognize that modifications, changes, and modifications can be made thereto without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be limited by the described embodiments but should be defined by the claims.

The present invention relates to a streaming content providing method and apparatus, and more particularly, to a video streaming service providing method and apparatus for providing streaming content by providing a VR (Virtual Reality) video streaming service based on a panorama image or a 360 VR image, And more particularly, to a method and apparatus for reducing the amount of data generated when 360 image services are provided by transmitting different image qualities of angular images.

According to the present invention, an image photographed through a 360-degree camera is divided and stored as a sculptured image according to a predetermined angle range, and an image within a certain range is transmitted in a high image quality based on a user's current viewing coordinates, By transmitting the image data with a low quality, it is possible to reduce the traffic burden on the mobile network while reducing the amount of data generated when the 360-degree image service is provided.

Therefore, the present invention can contribute to the development of the streaming service industry through the above-mentioned contents transmission method. In addition, the present invention has a possibility of industrial use because it has a possibility of being commercially available or operating and is practically possible to carry out clearly.

100: communication network 200: image capturing apparatus 300: image reproducing apparatus
400: streaming server 310: input module of video reproducing apparatus
330: Output module of the video reproducing apparatus
350: Storage module of the image reproducing apparatus
370: Communication module of the video reproducing apparatus
390: Control module of video reproducing apparatus
410: Storage module of the streaming server
430: Communication module of the streaming server
450: Control module of the streaming server

Claims (11)

A streaming content providing method for providing a video streamed by a streaming server in a streaming manner according to a predetermined angle range,
Receiving viewing coordinates of an image viewed by a user from a video reproducing apparatus which has made a content transmission request to the streaming server; And
Providing at least one image segment corresponding to an angle within a certain range based on the viewing coordinates as a first image quality and providing the remaining image segments with an image quality lower than the first image quality;
The content providing method comprising the steps of: 2. The method of claim 1,
When receiving the content providing request from the video reproducing apparatus, providing at least one video piece corresponding to an angle within a certain range from the basic coordinates to the first video quality and providing the remaining video pieces with a lower video quality than the first video quality step;
The method of claim 1, further comprising: 2. The method of claim 1, wherein providing
And synchronizing at least one video piece provided with the first image quality and the remaining video piece with each other. 2. The method of claim 1,
Calculating a changing rate of the viewing coordinates on the basis of the viewing coordinates received from the image reproducing apparatus and the previous viewing coordinates previously received from the image reproducing apparatus; And
Adjusting the predetermined range based on the calculated change rate;
The method of claim 1, further comprising: 2. The method of claim 1, wherein providing
At least one image segment corresponding to an angle within a first range based on the viewing coordinates is provided as the first image quality and at least one image segment corresponding to an angle within a second range is provided as an image segment having an image quality lower than the first image quality, 2 image quality, and the remaining image fragments are provided in a third image quality lower than the second image quality. A computer-readable recording medium on which a program for executing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 5 is recorded. A computer program embodied in computer readable recording medium which is embodied to execute the method recited in any one of claims 1 to 5. The streaming server receiving an image photographed through the image photographing apparatus; And
Dividing the received image into a plurality of image pieces according to a predetermined angle range, and storing the divided image pieces;
And storing the image content. 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the storing
Inserting time information into each of the divided image segments, and performing synchronization based on the inserted time information and storing the image content. 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the storing
Wherein each of the divided image fragments is converted into a plurality of image qualities and stored. A communication module for transmitting and receiving data to and from the video reproducing apparatus through a communication network;
A storage module for storing an image segmented into a plurality of image segments according to a predetermined angle range; And
When receiving the first viewing coordinates of the image viewed by the user from the image reproducing device that has requested the content transmission through the communication module, generates at least one image fragment corresponding to an angle within a certain range based on the first viewing coordinates A control module for providing the first image quality as a first image quality and providing the remaining image pieces as an image quality lower than the first image quality;
A streaming server comprising:

Images