An Optimal Framework of Video Adaptation and Its Application to Rate Adaptation Transcoding

The adaptation of video according to the heterogeneous and dynamic resource constraints on networks and devices, as well as on user preferences, is a promising approach for universal access and consumption of video content. For optimal adaptation that satisfies the constraints while maximizing the utility that results from the adapted video, it is necessary to devise a systematic way of selecting an appropriate adaptation operation among multiple feasible choices. This paper presents a general conceptual framework that allows the formulation of various adaptations as constrained optimization problems by modeling the relations among feasible adaptation operations, constraints, and utilities. In particular, we present the feasibility of the framework by applying it to a use case of rate adaptation of MPEG-4 video with an explicit modeling of adaptation employing a combination of frame dropping and discrete cosine transform coefficient dropping, constraint, utility, and their mapping relations. Furthermore, we provide a description tool that describes the adaptation-constraint-utility relations as a functional form referred to as a utility function, which has been accepted as a part of the terminal and network quality of service tool in MPEG-21 Digital Item Adaptation (DIA).