ApplePatent applicationChips & hardwareInterest 4/10

Apple patents video filter to smooth out blocky edges in compressed images

Patent drawing from the official filing.

Apple describes a method for improving video quality by applying a specific filter to the edges of small image blocks during compression. The process involves predicting motion in a video frame and then smoothing the boundaries where these blocks meet to reduce visible square artifacts.

Why it mattersThis is a technical improvement to video codecs that could lead to slightly clearer video streams in Apple devices, though it is a routine engineering update rather than a new feature.

In the filing’s own words

Disclosed is a method that includes receiving an image frame having a plurality of coded blocks, determining a prediction unit (PU) from the plurality of coded blocks, determining one or more motion compensation units arranged in an array within the PU, and applying a filter to one or more boundaries of the one or more motion compensation units. Also disclosed is a method that includes receiving a reference frame that includes a reference block, determining a timing for deblocking a current block, performing motion compensation on the reference frame to obtain a predicted frame that includes a predicted block, performing reconstruction on the predicted frame to obtain a reconstructed frame that includes a reconstructed PU, and applying, at the timing for deblocking the current block, a deblocking filter based on one or more parameters to the reference block, the predicted block, or the reconstructed PU.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A method comprising: receiving a reference frame; performing motion compensation on the reference frame to obtain a predicted frame; performing reconstruction on the predicted frame to obtain a reconstructed frame; and applying a deblocking filter to at least one of: the reference frame prior to performing motion compensation on the reference frame, or the predicted frame prior to performing reconstruction on the predicted frame.

Facts

Company: Apple (Apple Inc.)
Official title: REDUCING BLOCKINESS FOR CODECS
Publication number: US20260332833A1
Application number: 19726742
Filed: Jun 30, 2026
Published: Oct 22, 2026
Inventors: 9
Claims: 20

Classified under

H04N 19/86 Electricity & electronicsH04N 19/117 Electricity & electronicsH04N 19/139 Electricity & electronicsH04N 19/176 Electricity & electronicsH04N 19/82 Electricity & electronics

Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

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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.