U.S. Patent no. 10,313,679: Systems and methods for encoder-guided adaptive-quality rendering

Issued June 4, 2019, to ZeniMax Media Inc.
Priority Date April 21, 2017

Summary:
U.S. Patent No. 10,313,679 (the ‘679 Patent) relates to video rendering in video games. The current issue in video rendering and streaming relates to issues created by latency. This issue is particularly exacerbated in the context of video games as any delay can mean the difference between victory and failure in a video game context. In a system where gameplay video is rendered locally, but transmitted from a remote server the difference in quality between the video data that is transferred and then displayed locally can require a large amount of computation by the local machine. The ‘679 Patent details methods for optimizing this rendering by using a codec. The invention proceeds by identifying qualities of the rendered images and compares them with the pre-rendered images. The encoder then attempts to match of these images in order to improve computational costs on the local system while preserving quality. This invention attempts to improve a person’s ability to play video games remotely by improving the streaming quality of game data.

Abstract:
Systems and methods for improving computer technology related to the rendering and encoding of images are disclosed, preferably for use in a video-game environment. In certain embodiments, a codec is used to encode one or more reference images for a partial range of encoder settings and a renderer is used to generate one or more rendering quality-settings profiles, generate one or more reference images, calculate perceived qualities for each of the one or more reference images, re-render the one or more reference images for each of the one or more rendering quality-setting profiles, and calculate perceived qualities for each of the one or more re-rendered reference images. The renderer compares the perceived qualities of the reference images to the perceived qualities of the re-rendered images and matches them. Those matches result in an association of one or more encoder settings with their matching rendering quality-settings profiles into a look-up table. The lookup table is used to generate a rendered image at a substantially identical perceived quality to an encoded frame during gameplay.

Illustrative Claim:
1. A computer-implemented method for rendering, comprising the steps of: generating one or more rendering quality-settings profiles; generating one or more reference images; encoding the one or more reference images for a partial range of encoder settings; calculating a first perceived quality for each of the one or more reference images; re-rendering the one or more reference images for each of the one or more rendering quality-setting profiles; calculating one or more second perceived qualities for each of the one or more re-rendered reference images; comparing the one or more first perceived qualities to the one or more second perceived qualities, wherein a match between one or more first perceived qualities and the one or more second perceived qualities results in an association of one or more encoder settings with their matching rendering quality-settings profiles in one or more look-up tables; and generating a rendered image at a substantially identical perceived quality to an encoded frame on the basis of the look-up table.