Systems and methods for identifying a black/non-black frame attribute

1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause a set of steps to be carried out for identifying a black/non-black attribute of a current frame, said set comprising:

receiving the current frame;

defining a region of the current frame, the region having a plurality of lumas within a luma range;

calculating a non-black luma percentage of said region based on said lumas;

calculating a white luma percentage of said region based on said lumas;

calculating an average luma of said region based on said lumas;

identifying the current frame as having a black attribute responsive to three conditions being satisfied, the first of the three conditions being that said average luma is less than a max-black luma threshold, the second of the three conditions being that said non-black luma percentage is less than a non-black luma percentage threshold, and the third of the three conditions being that said white luma percentage is less than a white luma percentage threshold; and

storing an indication of an associated black/non-black frame attribute in a memory.

2. The computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein said set further comprises the steps of:

generating a luma table having a luma counter for each luma in said luma range based on said lumas in said region;

for each said luma in said luma range greater than said max-black luma threshold, adding a corresponding luma counter to a non-black luma counter; and

for each said luma in said luma range greater than a min-white luma threshold, adding a corresponding luma counter to a white luma counter,

wherein said non-black luma percentage is calculated based on said non-black luma counter and a total luma count of said region, and

wherein said white luma percentage is calculated based on said white luma counter and said total luma count of said region.

3. The computer-readable medium of claim 2 , wherein said luma table is stored in a register memory included on the processor.

4. The computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein said computer-readable medium is included in a frame-processing device having a video input connection and configured to receive, via the video input connection, baseband video having a plurality of frames, and wherein said computer-readable medium is electronically connected to said video input connection.

5. The computer-readable medium of claim 4 , wherein said computer-readable medium is configured for contemporaneously processing each frame to create an encoded file while performing said set of steps for each frame, and wherein performance of said steps for each frame occurs during an execution time period that is less than a reciprocal of a frame rate of the video.

6. The computer-readable medium of claim 5 , wherein the video is received at a transfer rate of 1.485 Gbps, and said execution time period is less than or equal to approximately 1/29.97 seconds.

7. The computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein said computer-readable medium is electronically connected to a source device and configured to receive video having a plurality of frames, the video being stored as an encoded file on the source device, wherein said computer-readable medium is configured to decode each frame and perform said steps for each frame.

8. The computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein said region is a generally rectangular-shaped portion of the current frame.

9. The computer-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein said region is defined by a left-bound column, a right-bound column, a top-bound row, and a bottom-bound row.

10. The computer-readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the current frame includes a row count of 1,080 and a column count of 1,920, both defining a resolution of the current frame, and wherein said left-bound column is a value in a range 8-30, said right-bound column is a value in a range 1,890-1,912, said top-bound row is a value in a range 0-30, and said bottom-bound row is a value in a range 1,050-1,080.

11. The computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein said luma range is 0-255, said max-black luma threshold is a value in a range 27-37, and a min-white luma threshold is a value in a range 59-69.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein said max-black luma threshold and a min-white luma threshold are scaled proportionally according to said luma range.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein said non-black luma percentage threshold is a value in a range 0.8%-1.2% or 1.8%-2.2% and said white luma percentage threshold is a value in a range 1.8%-2.2%.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein in said identifying step, the current frame is identified as having a non-black attribute if the current frame is not identified as having a black attribute.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the first, second, and third conditions recited in said identifying step are configured to be tested in the order recited, and are further configured to employ a short-circuiting logic technique.

16. A frame-processing device, comprising:

a processor; and

a non-transitory computer-readable medium electronically connected to said processor, and containing instructions that, when executed by said processor, cause a set of steps to be carried out for identifying a black/non-black frame attribute of a current frame, said set comprising:

receiving the current frame;

defining a region of the current frame, the region having a plurality of lumas within a luma range;

calculating a non-black luma percentage of said region based on said lumas;

calculating a white luma percentage of said region based on said lumas;

calculating an average luma of said region based on said lumas; and

identifying the current frame as having a black attribute responsive to three conditions being satisfied, the first of the three conditions being that said average luma is less than a max-black luma threshold, the second of the three conditions being that said non-black luma percentage is less than a non-black luma percentage threshold, and the third of the three conditions being that said white luma percentage is less than a white luma percentage threshold; and

storing an indication of an associated black/non-black frame attribute in a memory.

17. The frame-processing device of claim 16 , wherein said processor includes a memory, and wherein said set further comprises the steps of:

generating a luma table having a luma counter for each luma in said luma range based on said lumas in said region;

storing said luma table in said memory;

for each said luma in said luma range greater than said max-black luma threshold, adding a corresponding luma counter to a non-black luma counter; and

for each said luma in said luma range greater than a min-white luma threshold, adding a corresponding luma counter to a white luma counter,

wherein said non-black luma percentage is calculated based on said non-black luma counter and a total luma count of said region, and

wherein said white luma percentage is calculated based on said white luma counter and said total luma count of said region.

18. The frame-processing device of claim 16 , further comprising an input video connection electronically connected to said processor and said computer-readable medium, wherein said frame-processing device is configured to receive, via said video input connection, baseband video having a plurality of frames, wherein said computer-readable medium is further configured for contemporaneously processing each frame to create an encoded file while performing said steps for each frame, and wherein performance of said steps for each frame occurs during an execution time period that is less than a reciprocal of a frame rate of the video.

19. The frame-processing device of claim 16 , wherein said region is a generally rectangular-shaped portion of the current frame, wherein said region is defined by a left-bound column, a right-bound column, a top-bound row, and a bottom-bound row, wherein the current frame includes a row count of 1,080 and a column count of 1,920, both defining a resolution of the current frame, and wherein said left-bound column is a value in a range 8-30, said right-bound column is a value in a range 1,890-1,912, said top-bound row is a value in a range 0-30, and said bottom-bound row is a value in a range 1,050-1,080.

20. A method of identifying a black/non-black attribute of a current frame, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving the current frame from a source device;

defining a region of the current frame, the region having a plurality of lumas within a luma range;

calculating a non-black luma percentage of said region based on said lumas;

calculating a white luma percentage of said region based on said lumas;

calculating an average luma of said region based on said lumas;

identifying the current frame as having a black attribute responsive to three conditions being satisfied, the first of the three conditions being that said average luma is less than a max-black luma threshold, the second of the three conditions being that said non-black luma percentage is less than a non-black luma percentage threshold, and the third of the three conditions being that said white luma percentage is less than a white luma percentage threshold; and

storing an indication of an associated black/non-black frame attribute in a memory.