System, Apparatus, and Method for Sharing a Screen Having Multiple Visual Components

A method, performed by a computing device for displaying screen content shared by a sharing computing device, the method comprising:

• receiving a first video stream for a first visual component of the screen content, compressed data for a second visual component of the screen content, and metadata from the sharing computing device, wherein the metadata includes temporal information for synchronizing display of the first visual component and the second visual component, and location information indicating display location of the first and second visual components;
• decompressing the first video stream for the first visual component to obtain the first visual component;
• decompressing the compressed data for the second visual component to obtain the second visual component;
• and
• displaying the first and second visual components in a synchronized manner according to the temporal information, and according to the location information.

A computing device for sharing screen images with a remote computing device, the computing device comprising:

• a monitor;
• a frame buffer;
• and
• a processor coupled with the frame buffer and the monitor, the processor configured to:
• capture pixel data of a first visual component of screen content to be displayed on the monitor of the computing device from the frame buffer;
• compress the captured pixel data of the first visual component to form a first video stream;
• determine that a second visual component of the screen content is to be displayed on the monitor, wherein the second visual component of the screen content is decompressed from compressed data;
• obtain the compressed data for the second visual component;
• obtain location information indicating display location of the first and second visual components, and temporal information for synchronizing display of the first and second visual component;
• and
• send the compressed first video stream for the first visual component of the screen content, the compressed data, the location information, and the temporal information to the remote computing device to share screen with the remote computing device.

A computing device for displaying screen content shared by a sharing computing device, the computing device comprising:

• a monitor;
• and
• a processor coupled with the monitor, the processor configured to:
• receive a first video stream for a first visual component of the screen content, compressed data for a second visual component of the screen content, and metadata from the sharing computing device, wherein the metadata includes temporal information for synchronizing display of the first visual component and the second visual component, and location information indicating display location of the first and second visual component;
• decompress the first video stream for the first visual component to obtain the first visual component;
• decompress the compressed data for the second visual component to obtain the second visual component;
• and
• display the first and second visual component on the monitor in a synchronized manner according to the temporal information, and according to the location information.