Tesla Patents Systems & Methods for the Application of Adaptive Video Watermarks

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Tesla patents systems and methods for the application of adaptive video watermarks for more information about images and videos while using a car.

Digital watermarking describes a technique for hiding certain data, such as identification data regarding the provenance of a digital media stream. Digital watermarks can be embedded in an image file or video frames in a way that inhibited their removal without also damaging the underlying content. Modern digital television standards no longer implement data over VBI foreclosing VBI as a mechanism to embed data. Modern digital televisions standards instead use a separate data stream that is interwoven with audio and video data. While this enables video signals to include additional data, the data is inaccessible to media devices preventing the application of watermarks. Therefore, there is a need for alternative approaches for inserting additional information into video signals.

Tesla filed for a patent on "Systems and methods for the application of adaptive video watermarks" on July 30, 2021, and published it on February 3, 2022. The present disclosure includes systems and methods for generating, embedding, and/or decoding digital data code (e.g., watermarks) into a digital image that is imperceptible to the human eye.

Watermarks may be embedded into images or video frames to provide data and/or executable code to media devices, such as smart televisions, set-top boxes, mobile devices, laptop computers, tablet computers, desktop computers, etc. The watermarks can be embedded into video frames by modulating pixel values ​​of the top one or two rows of pixels. The media device may detect and extract the symbols from the watermark. A processing component of the media device may process the symbols to decode the data and/or executable code of the watermark.

The decoded symbols may provide additional information associated with the displayed video and/or cause the media device to perform certain functions. The additional information may include, but is not limited to, information associated with the content of the displayed video (eg, such as actors, characters, settings, or any other fact or characteristic of the content, metadata associated with displayed video (eg, resolution, pixel values, broadcast origin, etc.), communications associated with the displayed video, etc. The decoded symbols of the watermark may include a trigger signal at the start of a video or a portion thereof (eg, such as a commercial, etc.) to allow a media device to detect the trigger signal and substitute a video segment (eg, such as an advertisement, commercial, other video segment, or the like) stored locally in the set-top or smart TV's memory, or display video information from a remote server. video frames, or portions thereof, with video frames stored locally, video frames decoded in the watermark, or video frames streamed from a remote server.

In one example, use of the systems and methods described herein includes embedding a code into a video to be used as a signal to a media device, such as a smart TV or set-top box. The code may cause the client television receiver to substitute a different video segment (e.g., one or more video frames) for the video segment currently being displayed when the data code is received by the client television device. This process may be referred to as “dynamic insertion” and when an advertisement is involved “dynamic ad insertion.” The dynamic replacement of a video segment with another video segment may occur in real time. For instance, any time one or more frames that are eligible to be replaced are detected (e.g., based on detecting a watermark in one or more frames), the client device receiver can replace the one or more frames with one or more other frames

In another example use of the systems and methods described herein, a watermark may be used to trigger an on-screen pop-up window providing additional information associated with a displayed video frame. For example, if the displayed video frame includes a product, the pop-up window may include information associated with the product. If the displayed video frame corresponds to a movie or a television program, the pop-up window may include information associated with the actors in the video frame or in the movie or television program, and/or any information associated with the movie or television program.

The pop-up window can include a uniform resource locator (URL) link to a website that includes the additional information and/or provides the user an ability to purchase the product being displayed. The media device may include a web-browser that can access the website and facilitate the purchase. Alternatively, or additionally, the pop-up window can include a quick response (QR) code that a user can capture with a mobile device.

This invention offers a wide range of possibilities in order to enhance the capabilities of Tesla vehicles and make their use even more convenient for users.

© 2022, Eva Fox | Tesmanian. All rights reserved.

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