Spatially unequal streaming

Abstract

Various concepts for media content streaming are described. Some allow for streaming spatial scene content in a spatially unequal manner so that the visible quality for the user is increased, or the processing complexity or used bandwidth at the streaming retrieval site is decreased. Others allow for streaming spatial scene content in a manner enlarging the applicability to further application scenarios.

1 .- 118 . (canceled) 
     
     
         119 . Device for streaming media content pertaining a temporally varying spatial scene, configured to
 select media segments out of a plurality of media segments available on a server,   wherein the device is configured to   have a first portion of the temporally varying spatial scene encoded thereinto at a quality increased compared to a spatial neighborhood of the first portion or in a manner so that the spatial neighborhood of the first portion is not encoded into the selected media segments,   send-out log messages logging
 a momentaneous measurement measuring a spatial position and/or movement of the first portion; and/or 
 a statistical value, such as a temporally average, measuring a spatial position and/or movement of the first portion; and/or 
 a momentaneous measurement measuring a quality of the temporally varying spatial scene as far as encoded into the selected media segments and as far as visible in a view section; and/or 
 an indication of a set of buffers ( 300 ) of the device involved in buffering the selected media segments, a description of a distribution rule applied in distributing the selected media segments onto the set of buffers, and a momentaneous buffer fullness of each of the set of buffers; and/or 
 a measurement of an amount of the selected media segments not having been output from a buffer of the device for being subject to decoding ( 42 ); and/or 
 a statistical value, such as a temporally average, measuring a quality of the temporally varying spatial scene as far as encoded into the selected media segments and as far as visible in a view section; and/or 
 a momentaneous measurement measuring the quality of the first portion or a quality of the temporally varying spatial scene as far as encoded into the selected media segments and as far as visible in a view section; and/or 
 a statistical value, such as an temporally average, measuring the quality of the first portion or a quality of the temporally varying spatial scene as far as encoded into the selected media segments and as far as visible in a view section; and/or 
 a field of view covered by the view section; and/or 
 a momentaneous measurement measuring a user position or view depth relative to a scene center ( 100 ); and/or 
 a statistical value, such as an temporally average, measuring a user position or view depth relative to a scene center ( 100 ). 
   
     
     
         120 . Device according to  claim 119 , wherein the quality of the first portion or a quality of the temporally varying spatial scene as far as encoded into the selected media segments and as far as visible in a view section is measured as a time duration at which a lower quality portion is visible in the view section along with a higher quality portion. 
     
     
         121 . Device according to  claim 119 , configured to perform the selection such that the first portion ( 64 ) of the temporally varying spatial scene tacks the view section ( 28 ). 
     
     
         122 . Device according to  claim 119 , configured the send-out log messages logging the momentaneous measurement measuring a quality of the temporally varying spatial scene as far as encoded into the selected media segments and as far as visible in a view section as one of
 a measure measuring a mean density of pixels falling into the view section ( 28 ) at which the temporally varying spatial scene is encoded into the selected media segments.   
     
     
         123 . Device according to  claim 122 , configured so that the measure measures the mean density of pixels by averaging the pixel density in a spatially uniform manner with respect to a pixel grid of pictures coded into the selected media segments. 
     
     
         124 . Device according to  claim 122 , configured so that the measure measures the mean density of pixels by averaging the pixel density in a spatially non-uniform manner with respect to a pixel grid of pictures coded into the selected media segments. 
     
     
         125 . Device according to  claim 122 , configured so that the send-out log messages indicate whether the measure measures the mean density of pixels by
 averaging the pixel density in a spatially uniform manner with respect to a pixel grid of pictures coded into the selected media segments, or   averaging the pixel density in a spatially non-uniform manner with respect to a pixel grid of pictures coded into the selected media segments.   
     
     
         126 . Device according to  claim 124 , wherein the averaging in pixel density in a spatially non-uniform manner corresponds to
 averaging in a spherically uniform manner or   averaging spatially uniformly with respect to a viewport plane ( 310 ) which is perpendicular to a central view direction ( 312 ) of the view section ( 28 ).   
     
     
         127 . Device according to  claim 122 , configured so that the measure measures the mean density of pixels by averaging the pixel density in a manner restricting the averaging to a central subsection of the view section ( 28 ), or applying a higher averaging weight, to the central subsection ( 202 ) compared to an edge portion ( 204 ) of the view section, surrounding the central subsection. 
     
     
         128 . Device according to  claim 122 , configured so that the measure measures the mean density of pixels in a manner separately along a horizontal view section axis ( 204 ) and a vertical view section axis ( 206 ), respectively. 
     
     
         129 . Device according to  claim 122 , configured to send-out log messages intermittently. 
     
     
         130 . Device according to  claim 122 , configured to send-out log messages at a rate controlled by a manifest file based on which the device performs the selection of the media segments for download. 
     
     
         131 . Device according to  claim 122 , wherein the plurality of media segments available on the server each belong to one of a plurality representations of the temporally varying spatial scene, the representations differing in one or more of
 scene section ( 50 ) of the temporally varying spatial scene being encoded thereinto,   quality at which the temporally varying spatial scene is encoded thereinto,   spatial quality variation at which the temporally varying spatial scene is encoded thereinto,   wherein the device is configured to send-out log messages logging the description of the distribution rule applied in distributing the selected media segments onto the set of buffers in form of an association of each buffer to one of, or a combination or two or more of,   the scene section,   the quality,   the spatial quality distribution,   representation.   
     
     
         132 . Device according to  claim 122 , wherein the representations are grouped into adaptation sets according to one or more of
 the scene section of the temporally varying spatial scene being encoded thereinto,   the spatial quality variation at which the temporally varying spatial scene is encoded thereinto,   wherein the device is configured to configured the send-out log messages logging the description of the distribution rule applied in distributing the selected media segments onto the set of buffers in form of an association of each buffer to one of the adaptation sets or logging the description of the distribution rule applied in distributing the selected media segments onto the set of buffers in form of an association of each buffer to one of the representations.   
     
     
         133 . Device according to  claim 122 , wherein the device is configured to send-out log messages logging the measurement of the amount of the selected media segments not having been output from a buffer of the device for being subject to decoding ( 42 ) in form of a temporal measurement. 
     
     
         134 . Device according to  claim 133 , wherein the device is configured so that the measurement of the amount of the selected media segments not having been output from a buffer of the device for being subject to decoding ( 42 ) in form of a temporal measurement in temporal units smaller than and/or being defined independent from a temporal length of the media segments ( 58 ) and/or in milliseconds. 
     
     
         135 . Device according to  claim 122 , wherein the device is configured to send-out log messages logging the measurement of the amount of the selected media segments not having been output from a buffer of the device for being subject to decoding ( 42 ) in a format classified by one or more of
 a buffer of the decoder within which the respective media segment has been buffered,   a scene section encoded into the respective media segment,   a quality at which the temporally varying spatial scene is encoded into the respective media segment,   a spatial quality distribution at which the temporally varying spatial scene is encoded into the respective media segment.   
     
     
         136 . Method for streaming media content pertaining a temporally varying spatial scene, comprising
 selecting media segments out of a plurality of media segments available on a server,   retrieving the selected media segments from the server, perform wherein the selection is performed so that the selected media segments have a first portion of the temporally varying spatial scene encoded thereinto at a quality increased compared to a spatial neighborhood of the first portion or in a manner so that the spatial neighborhood of the first portion is not encoded into the selected media segments,   the method further comprising sending-out log messages logging
 a momentaneous measurement measuring a spatial position and/or movement of the first portion; and/or 
 a statistical value, such as a temporally average, measuring a spatial position and/or movement of the first portion; and/or 
 a momentaneous measurement measuring a quality of the temporally varying spatial scene as far as encoded into the selected media segments and as far as visible in a view section; and/or 
 an indication of a set of buffers of the device involved in buffering the selected media segments, a description of a distribution rule applied in distributing the selected media segments onto the set of buffers, and a momentaneous buffer fullness of each of the set of buffers; and/or 
 a measurement of an amount of the selected media segments not having been output from a buffer of the device for being subject to decoding ( 42 ); and/or 
 a statistical value, such as a temporally average, measuring a quality of the temporally varying spatial scene as far as encoded into the selected media segments and as far as visible in a view section; and/or 
 a momentaneous measurement measuring the quality of the first portion or a quality of the temporally varying spatial scene as far as encoded into the selected media segments and as far as visible in a view section; and/or 
 a statistical value, such as an temporally average, measuring the quality of the first portion or a quality of the temporally varying spatial scene as far as encoded into the selected media segments and as far as visible in a view section; and/or 
 a field of view covered by the view section; and/or 
 a momentaneous measurement measuring a user position or view depth relative to a scene center ( 100 ); and/or 
 a statistical value, such as an temporally average, measuring a user position or view depth relative to a scene center ( 100 ).