IP Library › Granted Patent US 12689720

Granted Patent B2

US 12689720 · App. 15/831,153 · Granted Jul 21, 2026

Systems and methods for picture quality monitoring

Inventor: Gregory H. Greene (Littleton, CO)

Assignee: DISH Technologies L.L.C.

H04N17/004 H04L67/61 H04N5/50 H04N17/02 H04N17/04 H04N21/44008 H04N21/44209 H04N21/4622 H04N21/647 H04N21/6587

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Quick Facts

Patent No.: US 12689720
App. No.: 15/831,153
Granted: Jul 21, 2026
Kind: B2

External Links

USPTO Patent Center↗ Full Patent PDF↗

Abstract

A receiving device performs an action that results in a corrective measure being taken to address a picture quality issue detected in real time in the frames currently being displayed on a television or other device. The receiving device or a remote system compares indications of video frames currently being displayed to stored video frames for that program to detect macroblocking or a frozen video frame. The macroblocking or a frozen video frame may also or instead be detected by image analysis of the frames currently being displayed. If macroblocking or a frozen video frame is detected in the frames currently being displayed, the set-top box may switch to an alternative video source, change to a standard definition channel broadcasting the same video program or perform other corrective actions.

Claims (44)

1 . An electronic picture quality monitoring system, comprising:

at least one processor; and

a memory coupled to the at least one processor, wherein the at least one processor is configured to:

output video to a presentation device for display on the presentation device, wherein the outputted video includes a plurality of video frames;

while outputting the video to the presentation device, determine whether there exists a picture quality issue in video frames that are currently being displayed on the presentation device based on the video being output; and

based on a determined picture quality issue in video frames that are currently being displayed on the presentation device, wherein a determination of picture quality of a particular video frame of the video frames was made while the particular video frame was being displayed on the presentation device, perform an action automatically in response to the determined picture quality issue in video frames that results in a corrective measure being taken to address the picture quality, wherein the performing an action automatically in response to the determined picture quality issue in video frames that results in a corrective measure being taken to address the picture quality includes one or more of:

tuning to a different channel currently playing a same video program represented by the video frames that are currently being displayed on the presentation device;

restarting a video decoder that produced the video frames that are currently being displayed on the presentation device, causing the outputted video to be re-sent;

causing a notification to be displayed that offers an alternative source for receiving, by the electronic picture quality monitoring system, a same video program represented by the video frames that are currently being displayed on the presentation device;

switching to an alternative source for receiving, by the electronic picture quality monitoring system, a same video program represented by the video frames that are currently being displayed on the presentation device; and

sending data regarding the determined picture quality in the video frames that are currently being displayed on the presentation device to a remote monitoring system for analysis;

wherein:

the picture quality issue is regarding macroblocking in the video frames that are currently being displayed on the presentation device, and wherein macroblocking is a video artifact in which objects or areas of a video image displayed on a presentation device appear to be made up of small squares, rather than proper detail and smooth edges.

2 . The system of claim 1 wherein the performing an action automatically in response to the determined picture quality issue in video frames that results in a corrective measure being taken to address the picture quality includes tuning to a different channel currently playing a same video program represented by the video frames that are currently being displayed on the presentation device.

3 . The system of claim 1 wherein the performing an action automatically in response to the determined picture quality issue in video frames that results in a corrective measure being taken to address the picture quality includes restarting a video decoder that produced the video frames that are currently being displayed on the presentation device, causing the outputted video to be re-sent.

4 . The system of claim 1 wherein the performing an action automatically in response to the determined picture quality issue in video frames that results in a corrective measure being taken to address the picture quality includes causing a notification to be displayed that offers an alternative source for receiving, by the electronic picture quality monitoring system, a same video program represented by the video frames that are currently being displayed on the presentation device.

5 . The system of claim 1 wherein the performing an action automatically in response to the determined picture quality issue in video frames that results in a corrective measure being taken to address the picture quality includes switching to an alternative source for receiving, by the electronic picture quality monitoring system, a same video program represented by the video frames that are currently being displayed on the presentation device.

6 . The system of claim 1 wherein the performing an action automatically in response to the determined picture quality issue in video frames that results in a corrective measure being taken to address the picture quality includes sending data regarding the determined picture quality in the video frames that are currently being displayed on the presentation device to a remote monitoring system for analysis.

7 . A method comprising:

outputting, by a computer processor, video to a presentation device for display on the presentation device, wherein the outputted video includes a plurality of video frames;

while outputting the video to the presentation device, determining, by a computer processor, whether there exists a picture quality issue in video frames that are currently being displayed on the presentation device based on the video being output; and

based on a determined picture quality issue in video frames that are currently being displayed on the presentation device, wherein a determination of picture quality of a particular video frame of the video frames was made while the particular video frame was being displayed on the presentation device, performing, by the computer processor, an action automatically, in response to the determined picture quality issue in video frames, that results in a corrective measure being taken to address the picture quality, wherein the performing an action automatically in response to the determined picture quality issue in video frames that results in a corrective measure being taken to address the picture quality includes one or more of:

tuning to a different channel currently playing a same video program represented by the video frames that are currently being displayed on the presentation device;

restarting a video decoder that produced the video frames that are currently being displayed on the presentation device, causing the outputted video to be re-sent;

causing a notification to be displayed that offers an alternative source for receiving, by an electronic picture quality monitoring system, a same video program represented by the video frames that are currently being displayed on the presentation device;

sending data regarding the determined picture quality in the video frames that are currently being displayed on the presentation device to a remote monitoring system for analysis;

wherein:

8 . The method of claim 7 wherein the determining whether there exists the picture quality issue comprises performing an image analysis that includes using edge and corner detection techniques to detect potential macroblocks in video frames that are currently being displayed on the presentation device.

9 . The method of claim 7 wherein the determining whether there exists the picture quality issue comprises performing an image analysis that includes searching in video frames that are currently being displayed on the presentation device for images with multiple square objects.

10 . The method of claim 9 wherein the searching in video frames that are currently being displayed on the presentation device for images with multiple square objects includes searching for perpendicular edges of equal length.

11 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the searching in video frames that are currently being displayed on the presentation device includes searching for images with square objects with color values that are the same.

12 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer executable instructions thereon, that when executed by a computer processor, cause a method to be performed comprising:

outputting, by a computer processor, video to a presentation device for display on the presentation device, wherein the outputted video includes a plurality of video frames;

based on a determined picture quality issue in video frames that are currently being displayed on the presentation device, wherein a determination of picture quality of a particular video frame of the video frames was made while the particular video frame was being displayed on the presentation device, performing, the computer processor, an action automatically, in response to the determined picture quality issue in video frames, that results in a corrective measure being taken to address the picture quality, wherein the performing an action automatically in response to the determined picture quality issue in video frames that results in a corrective measure being taken to address the picture quality includes one or more of:

tuning to a different channel currently playing a same video program represented by the video frames that are currently being displayed on the presentation device;

restarting a video decoder that produced the video frames that are currently being displayed on the presentation device, causing the outputted video to be re-sent;

sending data regarding the determined picture quality in the video frames that are currently being displayed on the presentation device to a remote monitoring system for analysis;

wherein: