USING QUALITY INFORMATION FOR ADAPTIVE STREAMING OF MEDIA CONTENT

摘要

Different representations are associated with an instance of media content, and a representation can include multiple portions of media content. A respective quality value and bitrate can be associated with each of the portions. Information about the instance of content, including bitrate and quality information, can be accessed by and/or sent to a client. The quality information indicates the availability of measures of quality (e.g., quality values) and where those quality values reside or how they can be retrieved. The client can use quality as well as bitrate to make more intelligent decisions while streaming the content. For example, while the content is being downloaded over a network, the client can adapt to changes in available network bandwidth by selecting one portion of the instance of media content over another based not just on its bitrate but also based on its quality value.

主权项

1. A method comprising:
generating information about an instance of media content, the information comprising quality information for the instance of media content, wherein a plurality of different representations is associated with the instance of media content, each of the different representations in the plurality of representations comprising a plurality of portions of the instance of media content, each of the portions in the plurality of portions having a respective quality value associated therewith, wherein a quality value comprises a measure of quality of a respective portion of the instance of media content; and providing the information to a client, the information indicating availability of the quality values.