Methods, Devices, and Systems for Publishing Key Pictures

A method comprising:

• at a client device including a processor and a non-transitory memory:
• obtaining a manifest for media content, wherein the manifest references one or more key pictures in the media content and specifies a type of each of the one or more key pictures;
• receiving a request to perform at least one operation on a respective key picture of the one or more key pictures;
• obtaining a key picture unit within the media content corresponding to the respective key picture and parsing the manifest to determine a respective type of the respective key picture in response to the request;
• and
• performing the at least one operation on the key picture unit in accordance with a determination that the respective type of the respective key picture matches a criterion.

A system comprising:

• a server including an intermediate packager and a just-in-time (JIT) packager, wherein:
• the intermediate packager is operable to create an intermediate unit from media content, the intermediate unit includes one or more key pictures, and generate one or more maps specifying a type of each of the one or more key pictures, properties of the one or more key pictures within the intermediate unit, and an association of each of the one or more key pictures to the intermediate unit;
• and
• the JIT packager is operable to package the intermediate unit into one or more key picture units according to the one or more maps;
• and
• a client device including a processor and a non-transitory memory and operable to:
• obtain a manifest for the media content, wherein the manifest references the one or more key pictures in the media content and specifies the type of each of the one or more key pictures;
• receive a request to perform at least one operation on a respective key picture of the one or more key pictures;
• obtain a key picture unit within the media content corresponding to the respective key picture and parse the manifest to determine a respective type of the respective key picture in response to the request;
• and
• perform the at least one operation on the key picture unit in accordance with a determination that the respective type of the respective key picture matches a criterion.