Video Data Capture and Streaming
Embodiments of the video data capture and stream method comprise intercepting a flip function call comprising a call by the video application to flip frames between a display and a buffer, grabbing a copy of the current frame that would normally be processed by a central processing unit (CPU), placing the copy in a queue for processing by a graphics processing unit (GPU), wherein processing by the GPU is significantly faster than processing by the CPU.
1 . A video data capture method comprising:
intercepting a call to flip from a first buffer to a second buffer;
placing a copy of a current frame stored in the first buffer in a queue for encoding; and
calling a previous address of the intercepted call such that previous processing continues.
2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining whether updating of the buffers is occurring at greater than a desired frame rate; and
if the updating is occurring at a greater than a desired frame rate, noting a delta time between flips and skipping frames as required.
3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising replacing an address of the call with a substitute address.
4 . The method of claim 3 , further comprising:
placing the substitute address in a dynamic link library (DLL) function table; and
saving the address of the call.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the call is from an application.
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein encoding comprises encoding by a GPU the frame data stored in at least one of the buffers and wherein the method further comprises streaming the encoded frames to at least one destination via a network.
7 . A video data capture system, comprising:
at least one video data source comprising a central processing unit (CPU) running a video application;
at least one graphics processing unit (GPU) coupled to the video data source for receiving video frames, the at least one GPU configurable to,
intercept a flip function call comprising a call by the video application to flip frames between a first and second buffer;
grab a copy of the current frame that would normally be processed by a central processing unit (CPU); and
place the copy in a queue for processing by a graphics processing unit (GPU), wherein processing by the GPU is significantly faster than processing by the CPU.
8 . The system of claim 7 , further comprising calling a previous address of the intercepted function such that previous processing continues.
9 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the at least one GPU is further configurable to:
determine whether the application is updating a screen displaying the video data at greater than a desired frame rate; and
if the application is updating the screen at greater than a desired frame rate, note a delta time between frame flips and skipping frames as required.
10 . The method of claim 7 , further comprising replacing an address of the flip function call with a substitute address.
11 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
placing the substitute address in a dynamic link library (DLL) function table; and
saving the address of the flip function call.
12 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the application is a video game.
13 . The method of claim 7 , wherein processing by the GPU comprises encoding the video data and wherein the method further comprises streaming the encoded video data to at least one destination via a network.
14 . A computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed in a system comprising a video data source, cause a video data capture method to be executed, the method comprising:
intercepting a call to flip from a first buffer to a second buffer;
placing a copy of a current frame stored in the first buffer in a queue for encoding; and
calling a previous address of the intercepted call such that previous processing continues.
15 . The computer readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the method further comprises:
determining whether updating of the buffers is occurring at greater than a desired frame rate; and
if the updating is occurring at a greater than a desired frame rate, noting a delta time between flips and skipping frames as required.
16 . A method of viewing an application at a device comprising:
transmitting to application inputs to an application server remote from the device;
receiving an encoded video data stream at the device, said encoded video data stream encoding application output, said application output responsive to the transmitted application inputs; and
decoding said received encoded video data stream.
17 . The method of claim 16 further comprising displaying said decoded video data stream.
18 . The method of claim 16 wherein said device comprises a mobile device.
19 . The method of claim 16 wherein said application comprises a game application and wherein said application inputs comprise game application inputs and wherein said application output comprises frame data.