GB2483378A - Streaming a Suitable Version of a Video to a Device - Google Patents
Streaming a Suitable Version of a Video to a Device Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- GB2483378A GB2483378A GB1117384.6A GB201117384A GB2483378A GB 2483378 A GB2483378 A GB 2483378A GB 201117384 A GB201117384 A GB 201117384A GB 2483378 A GB2483378 A GB 2483378A
- Authority
- GB
- United Kingdom
- Prior art keywords
- video
- streaming
- link
- web server
- url
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Granted
Links
- 238000000034 method Methods 0.000 claims description 20
- 238000001514 detection method Methods 0.000 description 2
- 238000010586 diagram Methods 0.000 description 2
- 238000013459 approach Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000003032 molecular docking Methods 0.000 description 1
Classifications
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
- H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
- H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
- H04N21/41—Structure of client; Structure of client peripherals
- H04N21/414—Specialised client platforms, e.g. receiver in car or embedded in a mobile appliance
- H04N21/41407—Specialised client platforms, e.g. receiver in car or embedded in a mobile appliance embedded in a portable device, e.g. video client on a mobile phone, PDA, laptop
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
- H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
- H04N21/20—Servers specifically adapted for the distribution of content, e.g. VOD servers; Operations thereof
- H04N21/25—Management operations performed by the server for facilitating the content distribution or administrating data related to end-users or client devices, e.g. end-user or client device authentication, learning user preferences for recommending movies
- H04N21/258—Client or end-user data management, e.g. managing client capabilities, user preferences or demographics, processing of multiple end-users preferences to derive collaborative data
- H04N21/25808—Management of client data
- H04N21/25825—Management of client data involving client display capabilities, e.g. screen resolution of a mobile phone
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
- H04L65/00—Network arrangements, protocols or services for supporting real-time applications in data packet communication
- H04L65/60—Network streaming of media packets
- H04L65/61—Network streaming of media packets for supporting one-way streaming services, e.g. Internet radio
- H04L65/612—Network streaming of media packets for supporting one-way streaming services, e.g. Internet radio for unicast
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
- H04L65/00—Network arrangements, protocols or services for supporting real-time applications in data packet communication
- H04L65/60—Network streaming of media packets
- H04L65/75—Media network packet handling
- H04L65/756—Media network packet handling adapting media to device capabilities
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
- H04L65/00—Network arrangements, protocols or services for supporting real-time applications in data packet communication
- H04L65/60—Network streaming of media packets
- H04L65/75—Media network packet handling
- H04L65/765—Media network packet handling intermediate
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
- H04L67/00—Network arrangements or protocols for supporting network services or applications
- H04L67/01—Protocols
- H04L67/02—Protocols based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
- H04L67/00—Network arrangements or protocols for supporting network services or applications
- H04L67/2866—Architectures; Arrangements
- H04L67/30—Profiles
- H04L67/303—Terminal profiles
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
- H04L67/00—Network arrangements or protocols for supporting network services or applications
- H04L67/50—Network services
- H04L67/56—Provisioning of proxy services
- H04L67/563—Data redirection of data network streams
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
- H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
- H04N21/20—Servers specifically adapted for the distribution of content, e.g. VOD servers; Operations thereof
- H04N21/23—Processing of content or additional data; Elementary server operations; Server middleware
- H04N21/234—Processing of video elementary streams, e.g. splicing of video streams or manipulating encoded video stream scene graphs
- H04N21/2343—Processing of video elementary streams, e.g. splicing of video streams or manipulating encoded video stream scene graphs involving reformatting operations of video signals for distribution or compliance with end-user requests or end-user device requirements
- H04N21/23439—Processing of video elementary streams, e.g. splicing of video streams or manipulating encoded video stream scene graphs involving reformatting operations of video signals for distribution or compliance with end-user requests or end-user device requirements for generating different versions
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
- H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
- H04N21/20—Servers specifically adapted for the distribution of content, e.g. VOD servers; Operations thereof
- H04N21/25—Management operations performed by the server for facilitating the content distribution or administrating data related to end-users or client devices, e.g. end-user or client device authentication, learning user preferences for recommending movies
- H04N21/258—Client or end-user data management, e.g. managing client capabilities, user preferences or demographics, processing of multiple end-users preferences to derive collaborative data
- H04N21/25808—Management of client data
- H04N21/25833—Management of client data involving client hardware characteristics, e.g. manufacturer, processing or storage capabilities
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
- H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
- H04N21/60—Network structure or processes for video distribution between server and client or between remote clients; Control signalling between clients, server and network components; Transmission of management data between server and client, e.g. sending from server to client commands for recording incoming content stream; Communication details between server and client
- H04N21/61—Network physical structure; Signal processing
- H04N21/6106—Network physical structure; Signal processing specially adapted to the downstream path of the transmission network
- H04N21/6125—Network physical structure; Signal processing specially adapted to the downstream path of the transmission network involving transmission via Internet
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
- H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
- H04N21/60—Network structure or processes for video distribution between server and client or between remote clients; Control signalling between clients, server and network components; Transmission of management data between server and client, e.g. sending from server to client commands for recording incoming content stream; Communication details between server and client
- H04N21/63—Control signaling related to video distribution between client, server and network components; Network processes for video distribution between server and clients or between remote clients, e.g. transmitting basic layer and enhancement layers over different transmission paths, setting up a peer-to-peer communication via Internet between remote STB's; Communication protocols; Addressing
- H04N21/643—Communication protocols
- H04N21/64322—IP
Landscapes
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Multimedia (AREA)
- Signal Processing (AREA)
- Databases & Information Systems (AREA)
- Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
- Computer Graphics (AREA)
- Computer Security & Cryptography (AREA)
- General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Information Transfer Between Computers (AREA)
- Two-Way Televisions, Distribution Of Moving Picture Or The Like (AREA)
Abstract
Streaming video comprises displaying (110) a link to a video, corresponding to an Internet URL, in a web browser of a device and accessing (120) a web server according to the link URL. The server interrogates (130) the device to determine the device type, and re-directs the device to a streaming device, e.g. via the streaming deviceâ s URL, to stream (140) a suitable version of the video to the device. The interrogation may be via a User Agent Profile (UA Prof.) device type indicator. The re-direction may constitute looking up a set of video attributes required for the device type and determining a version of the video having those attributes, and may be performed by the server. The link to the video may be the only link (i.e. a generic link) to the video displayed, rather than a list of all available video formats. The streaming device may stream the video from a content database which stores multiple instances of the video in a variety of formats and a table recording correspondences between video formats and device types.
Description
A METHOD FOR STREAMING VIDEO
DESCRIPTION
The present invention relates to a method for streaming video to a device, and in particular to a method for streaming a video with the video attributes that are appropriate to the device.
Video streaming is a well-known technique in which a video can be streamed to a device from a remote location for viewing of the video on the device.
A user of the device will typically use a web browser to navigate to a webpage, the webpage including a link corresponding to a streaming URL which may be activated to begin streaming the video.
However, the attributes of the video (format, frame rate, resolution, etc) may not be suited for playing on the device. This can lead a poor display of the video, or to no display of the video at all. Therefore, the attributes of the video that is streamed to the device need to be matched to the capabilities of the device. For example, there are over 5000 different types of mobile devices in use today with various screen sizes and varying degrees of support for different streaming protocols, container formats, audio and video codecs.
The term video as used in the context of this application refers to the video content, for example to a particular video programme. The same video may be stored in multiple different video versions, each video version being the same video content but with different attributes such as format, frame rate, resolution, aspect ratio, etc. Traditionally, services offering streaming video content have taken one of two approaches: 1. Display multiple streaming URLs on a single webpage and allow the user to select an appropriate stream for their device. This can be problematic because users often do not understand the terminology, or don t know which protocols, formats and codecs are supported by their device.
2. Attempt to detect the user s device and display an appropriate streaming URL. Done correctly this works, but it is more complex for the supplier to implement. Furthermore, the detection process can delay the display of the webpage on the device or the commencement of streaming the video itself.
In either case, the publisher has to manage several URLs for each video (one for each combination of size/protocol/format they wish to support), which can quickly become unwieldy and time consuming.
It is therefore an aim of the invention to improve on known video streaming methods.
According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for streaming video, comprising: a) displaying a link to a video in a web browser of a device, the link corresponding to a URL of the Internet; b) accessing a web server according to the URL of the link; c) interrogating the device by the web server to determine the type of the device; and d) re-directing the device to a streaming device to stream a version of the video that is suitable for the determined type of the device to the device; wherein the steps are performed in the order a), b), c), d).
Therefore, instead of having multiple URL s each pointing to a particular version of a video, a single URL that generically points to the video is provided, with the required video version being determined after the link is selected.
Accordingly, a publisher only needs to maintain a single URL for the video, and the correct video version is determined if the link corresponding to the URL is actually selected by a user.
Furthermore, since the determination of the device type does not take place until after the link is selected, the time required to load and display the webpage having the link is reduced. A user that has no intention of selecting the link to view the video is not inconvenienced by device detection taking place prior to displaying the webpage, or by being presented with a long list of different links for different devices.
The step of re-directing the device may comprise looking up a set of video attributes required for the type of the device; and determining a version of the video having those attributes. The device may then be re-directed to a streaming URL of the streaming device, the streaming URL pushing the video version that corresponds to the determined device type to the device.
Advantageously, the device may be a mobile device such that a user may be able to access the video content wherever they are. Mobile devices are considered to be devices designed for use on the move, for example mobile phones, tablets and personal digital assistants. A mobile device would typically connect to the web server wirelessly, unless plugged into another device with internet access such as a docking station.
The link may be the only link to the video that is displayed by the web browser, and the link may be purely directed towards the video, and independent of device type.
According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a web server, the web server for addressing by a device via the Internet, wherein the web server is configured to: receive a request from the device for a video, the request being directed towards a particular URL of the Internet; interrogate the device for the type of the device in response to the request; and re-direct the device to a streaming device to stream a version of the video that is suitable for the type of the device to the device.
A third aspect of the invention provides a video streaming system, comprising the web server of the second aspect, a content database storing multiple instances of a video in a variety of video versions and a table of which instances of the video correspond to which types of device, and a streaming device for streaming video from the content database.
Embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 shows a flow diagram of a method for streaming video content according to an embodiment of the invention; and Fig. 2 shows a schematic block diagram of a video streaming system for implementing the method of Fig. 1.
With reference to both Fig.1 and Fig.2, and according to an embodiment of the invention, in a step 100 a device 300 such as a personnel digital assistant or a mobile phone is used to navigate to a webpage on the Internet with a web browser of the device 300. The webpage includes a generic link to a video file, the link being independent of the type of the device 300.
In this particular embodiment, the webpage has been downloaded from a web server 200, although in alternative embodiments the webpage may have been downloaded from elsewhere. In a step 110 the webpage is displayed in the web browser of the device 300, along with the link. The link corresponds to a URL of the Internet, and in a step 120 the link is activated (for example by a user of the device 300) and the web browser accesses a part of the web server 200 that is pointed to by the URL.
In response to the access by the web browser, the web server 200 interrogates the device for its type in a step 130. Suitable interrogation methods are known in the art, for example using the standardised User Agent Profile or UA Prof. device type indicator, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art.
Once the type of the device is known, the web server 200 looks up the attributes of the video that is required for the device, and the video version having those attributes in a content database 210. Alternatively, the web server 200 may simply look up the video version that corresponds to the type of the device in the content database 210. Then, in a step 140, the web server 200 re-directs the device 300 to a streaming URL of a streaming device 260 to steam the video version corresponding to the type of the device to the device 300. The streaming URL is retrieved from the content database 260, based upon the video version that corresponds to the type of the device.
The content database 210 also stores the video files from which the streaming device streams the required video version. The video streaming system further comprises an encoder 220 for encoding videos into the various different versions that may be required for various device types, and storing them into the content database. The encoder 220 may receive videos from various sources such as remote 230 or local 240 File Transfer Protocol (FTP) sites, or from a live video stream 250.
The video streaming system can provide multiple URL s, each URL corresponding to a particular video. Each particular video has a plurality of streaming URL 5 associated with it, each streaming URL corresponding to a particular version of the particular video.
The streaming device 260 may for example be a streaming server. When the video is streamed to the device, the device can begin to play the video. The video may for example be played on a media player of the device.
In summary, a single generic URL is assigned to each video, which can be served to any device. When the user visits this URL, the video streaming system detects which device they are using, selects an appropriate streaming protocol, container format and codecs, and constructs a streaming URL suitable for the device in question. The client is then redirected to this streaming URL to play the video.
Claims (12)
- CLAIMS1. A method for streaming video, comprising: a) displaying a link to a video in a web browser of a device, the link corresponding to a URL of the Internet; b) accessing a web server according to the URL of the link; c) interrogating the device by the web server to determine the type of the device; and d) re-directing the device to a streaming device to stream a version of the video that is suitable for the determined type of the device to the device; wherein the steps are performed in the order a), b), c), d).
- 2. The method of claim 1, when preceded by the step of the web server sending a webpage including the link to the device, for the displaying of the link in the web browser of the device.
- 3. The method of any preceding claim, wherein the step of accessing the web server is performed in response to a user of the device selecting the link.
- 4. The method of any preceding claim, wherein the step of re-directing the device comprises looking up a set of video attributes required for the type of the device; and determining a version of the video having those attributes.
- 5. The method of any preceding claim, wherein the step of re-directing the device comprises re-directing the device to a streaming URL of the streaming device.
- 6. The method of any preceding claim, wherein the step d) is performed by the web server.
- 7. The method of any preceding claim wherein the link to the video is the only link to the video that is displayed by the web browser.
- 8. The method of any preceding claim, wherein the link is purely directed towards the video.
- 9. The method of any preceding claim, wherein the device is a mobile device.
- 10. A method substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.
- 11. A web server, the web server for addressing by a device via the Internet, wherein the web server is configured to: receive a request from the device for a video, the request being directed towards a particular URL of the Internet; interrogate the device for the type of the device in response to the request; and re-direct the device to a streaming device to stream a version of the video that is suitable for the type of the device to the device.
- 12. A system for streaming video, comprising the web server of claim 11, a content database storing multiple instances of a video in a variety of video formats and a table of which instances of the video correspond to which types of device, and a streaming device for streaming video from the content database.
Priority Applications (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
GB1117384.6A GB2483378B (en) | 2011-10-10 | 2011-10-10 | A method for streaming video |
PCT/GB2012/052487 WO2013054097A1 (en) | 2011-10-10 | 2012-10-08 | A method for streaming video |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
GB1117384.6A GB2483378B (en) | 2011-10-10 | 2011-10-10 | A method for streaming video |
Publications (3)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
GB201117384D0 GB201117384D0 (en) | 2011-11-23 |
GB2483378A true GB2483378A (en) | 2012-03-07 |
GB2483378B GB2483378B (en) | 2012-09-12 |
Family
ID=45091736
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
GB1117384.6A Expired - Fee Related GB2483378B (en) | 2011-10-10 | 2011-10-10 | A method for streaming video |
Country Status (2)
Country | Link |
---|---|
GB (1) | GB2483378B (en) |
WO (1) | WO2013054097A1 (en) |
Cited By (2)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
WO2015094149A1 (en) * | 2013-12-16 | 2015-06-25 | Thomson Licensing | Multiple account registration using optical code image |
WO2016174690A1 (en) * | 2015-04-29 | 2016-11-03 | Ms45 Srl | A method and system for transmitting on demand videos of fitness sessions on fixed and/or mobile electronic devices |
Families Citing this family (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
CN111131351B (en) * | 2018-10-31 | 2022-09-27 | 中国移动通信集团广东有限公司 | Method and device for confirming model of Internet of things equipment |
Citations (2)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
EP1643744A1 (en) * | 2004-10-04 | 2006-04-05 | Alcatel | Method for transfering video data to several users in an MMS-network |
US20070113246A1 (en) * | 2005-11-01 | 2007-05-17 | Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. | System, method and apparatus for electronic program guide, streaming media redirecting and streaming media on-demand |
Family Cites Families (3)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US20010044824A1 (en) * | 2000-03-31 | 2001-11-22 | Kevin Hunter | System for using wireless web devices to store web link codes on list server for subsequent retrieval |
US8412767B2 (en) * | 2007-07-18 | 2013-04-02 | Network Solutions Inc. | Mobile content service |
US8478812B2 (en) * | 2009-09-29 | 2013-07-02 | Core Wireless S.A.R.L. | Method and apparatus for providing device compatibility information |
-
2011
- 2011-10-10 GB GB1117384.6A patent/GB2483378B/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
-
2012
- 2012-10-08 WO PCT/GB2012/052487 patent/WO2013054097A1/en active Application Filing
Patent Citations (2)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
EP1643744A1 (en) * | 2004-10-04 | 2006-04-05 | Alcatel | Method for transfering video data to several users in an MMS-network |
US20070113246A1 (en) * | 2005-11-01 | 2007-05-17 | Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. | System, method and apparatus for electronic program guide, streaming media redirecting and streaming media on-demand |
Cited By (3)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
WO2015094149A1 (en) * | 2013-12-16 | 2015-06-25 | Thomson Licensing | Multiple account registration using optical code image |
WO2016174690A1 (en) * | 2015-04-29 | 2016-11-03 | Ms45 Srl | A method and system for transmitting on demand videos of fitness sessions on fixed and/or mobile electronic devices |
US10750225B2 (en) | 2015-04-29 | 2020-08-18 | Ms45 Srl | Method and system for transmitting on demand videos of fitness sessions on fixed and/or mobile electronic devices |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
GB2483378B (en) | 2012-09-12 |
GB201117384D0 (en) | 2011-11-23 |
WO2013054097A1 (en) | 2013-04-18 |
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Legal Events
Date | Code | Title | Description |
---|---|---|---|
PCNP | Patent ceased through non-payment of renewal fee |
Effective date: 20151010 |