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Microsoft patents video buffering rules to make splicing easier

Patent drawing
Patent drawing from the official filing.

Microsoft describes a method for video encoders to assign specific delay values to video frames. These values help video splicing tools combine different video streams by using simple math instead of complex checks.

Why it mattersThis improves the technical efficiency of video editing tools, though it is unlikely to be visible to everyday users.

In the filing’s own words

Innovations in syntax and semantics of coded picture buffer removal delay (“CPBRD”) values potentially simplify splicing operations. For example, a video encoder sets a CPBRD value for a current picture that indicates an increment value relative to a nominal coded picture buffer removal time of a preceding picture in decoding order, regardless of whether the preceding picture has a buffering period SEI message. The encoder can signal the CPBRD value according to a single-value approach in which a flag indicates how to interpret the CPBRD value, according to a two-value approach in which another CPBRD value (having a different interpretation) is also signaled, or according to a two-value approach that uses a flag and a delta value. A corresponding video decoder receives and parses the CPBRD value for the current picture. A splicing tool can perform simple concatenation operations to splice bitstreams using CPBRD value for the current picture.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. In a computer system that implements a video decoder, a method comprising: receiving a concatenation flag and a coded picture buffer removal delay (“CPBRD”) delta value signaled as part of a supplemental enhancement information message associated with a given access unit, the concatenation flag having a given value; receiving encoded data in a bitstream for a given decoding unit of the given access unit, the given access unit corresponding to a current picture among pictures of a video sequence, wherein the given decoding unit is a subset of the current picture; determining a nominal coded picture buffer (“CPB”) removal time of a preceding access unit based on a nominal CPB removal time of a last decoding unit of the preceding access unit, the preceding access unit corresponding to a preceding picture among the pictures of the video sequence, wherein the last decoding unit is a subset of the preceding picture; determining a value of a constraint that ensures that delay is at least as long as delay would be if decoding started at the given access unit; and determining a nominal CPB removal time based at least in part on a sum of (a) the nominal CPB removal time of the preceding access unit and (b) a product of a clock tick value and a factor, wherein the factor depends on the higher of the CPBRD delta value and the value of the constraint.

Facts

Company
Microsoft (Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC)
Official title
Syntax and semantics for buffering information to simplify video splicing
Patent number
US12756854B2
Application number
19027058
Filed
Jan 17, 2025
Granted
Oct 6, 2026
Inventors
2
Claims
20

Classified under

H04N 19/46 Electricity & electronicsH04N 19/70 Electricity & electronicsH04N 21/23424 Electricity & electronicsH04N 21/44016 Electricity & electronicsH04N 7/147 Electricity & electronicsH04N 7/15 Electricity & electronics

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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.