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US 8,026,944 B1Granted
Method and apparatus for hosting a network camera with image degradation
AssigneeSony Corporation
InventorAdam D. Sah
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method and apparatus for providing an improved Internet camera is described. The method of keeping a refreshed image from a camera on a user's system comprises sending the image to the user's system and refreshing the image periodically. The method further comprises after a period of time, degrading the image.
Claims17
A method for displaying an image from a camera on a user's system, the method comprising:
- executing, by a processor, at a site remote from the user's system, the steps of:
- sending the image to the user's system via a network;
- refreshing the image periodically according to a refresh frequency rate;
- maintaining a counter of a number of refreshes that have occurred and a timer of a refresh time since the last image refresh, the refresh frequency rate being evaluated based on the counter and the timer;
- determining whether the user is inactive, and whether to refresh the image based on a value of the timer and the refresh frequency rate, and incrementing the counter when the image is refreshed;
- adjusting image parameters over a period of time to produce a degraded image in response to a determination that the user is inactive;
- periodically sending the degraded image, during the period of time, to the user's system via the network when the refresh frequency indicates a time for an image refresh;
- re-evaluating the refresh frequency rate when the counter reaches a preset threshold value, wherein the re-evaluation of the refresh frequency rate causes the rate to increase, decrease, or completely stop refreshing of the image;
- and
- increasing quality of the degraded image upon receiving a user request to improve the quality of the degraded image.
7 more elements
A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, perform a method for displaying an image from a camera on a user's system, the method of comprising:
- sending the image to the user's system via a network;
- refreshing the image periodically according to a refresh frequency rate;
- maintaining a counter of a number of refreshes that have occurred and a timer of a refresh time since the last image refresh, the refresh frequency rate being evaluated based on the counter and the timer;
- determining whether the user is inactive, and whether to refresh the image based on a value of the timer and the refresh frequency rate, and incrementing the counter when the image is refreshed;
- adjusting image parameters over a period of time to produce a degraded image in response to a determination that the user is inactive;
- periodically sending the degraded image, during the period of time, to the user's system via the network when the refresh frequency indicates a time for an image refresh;
- re-evaluating the refresh frequency rate when the counter reaches a preset threshold value, wherein the re-evaluation of the refresh frequency rate causes the rate to increase, decrease, or completely stop refreshing of the image;
- and
- increasing quality of the degraded image upon receiving a user request to improve the quality of the degraded image.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.