Video stream segmentation for quality retention during reduced-bandwidth video conferencing

1. A method, comprising:

during a video conference, receiving, by a server device, a received video stream of a conference participant from a client device of the conference participant;

detecting, by the server device, a bandwidth reduction affecting the client device;

based on the bandwidth reduction, segmenting, by the server device, the received video stream into a background and a foreground, wherein the foreground depicts the conference participant;

selecting, by the server device, a single image from the background of one frame of the received video stream to use as the background for frames of the received video stream;

applying, by the server device, the single image as the background to the received video stream to obtain an adjusted video stream; and

transmitting, by the server device, the adjusted video stream for rendering within a user interface of the video conference.

2. The method of claim 1 , comprising:

restoring the received video stream for rendering within the user interface of the video conference based on a bandwidth of the client device associated with the conference participant returning to a threshold range.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the bandwidth reduction is detected based on one or more of packet loss, round trip delay latency, or jitter affecting the received video stream.

4. The method of claim 1 ,

wherein the single image is a blurred background of the one frame of the received video stream.

5. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions operable to cause one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

during a video conference, receiving, by a server device, a received video stream of a conference participant from a client device of the conference participant;

detecting, by the server device, a bandwidth reduction affecting the client device;

based on the bandwidth reduction, segmenting, by the server device, the received video stream into a background and a foreground, wherein the foreground depicts the conference participant;

selecting, by the server device, a single image from the background of one frame of the received video stream to use as the background for frames of the received video stream;

applying, by the server device, the single image as the background to the received video stream to obtain an adjusted video stream; and

transmitting, by the server device, the adjusted video stream for rendering within a user interface of the video conference.

6. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 5 , the operations comprising:

detecting, during the video conference, that the bandwidth reduction has resolved; and

restoring the received video stream for rendering within the user interface of the video conference.

7. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 5 , wherein the received video stream includes a top layer above the foreground, and wherein

a resolution of the top layer is maintained during the bandwidth reduction.

8. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 5 , wherein the operations for detecting the bandwidth reduction comprise:

detecting that network information associated with the client device of the conference participant is below a threshold.

9. An apparatus, comprising:

a memory; and

a processor configured to execute instructions stored in the memory to:

during a video conference, receive, by a server device, a received video stream of a conference participant from a client device of the conference participant;

detect, by the server device, a bandwidth reduction affecting the client device;

based on the bandwidth reduction, segment, by the server device, the received video stream into a background and a foreground, wherein the foreground depicts the conference participant;

select, by the server device, a single image from the background of one frame of the received video stream to use as the background for frames of the received video stream;

apply, by the server device, the single image as the background to the received video stream to obtain an adjusted video stream; and

transmit, by the server device, the adjusted video stream for rendering within a user interface of the video conference.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein a threshold used to detect the bandwidth reduction is selected based on an initial resolution of at least a portion of the received video stream.

11. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the received video stream includes a top layer above the foreground, and wherein

a resolution of the top layer is decreased during the bandwidth reduction.

12. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein

the single image is a first image of the received video stream captured after detecting the bandwidth reduction.

13. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the processor is configured to execute the instructions to:

decrease a resolution of the background to a first decreased resolution;

determine that the background at the first decreased resolution fails to satisfy a bandwidth threshold; and

apply the single image as the background in response to determining that the bandwidth threshold is not satisfied.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the single image is selected based on the single image having a lowest encoding throughput of a subset of evaluated frames of the received video stream.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the single image is a first frame of the received video stream after the bandwidth reduction is detected.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the single image is a key frame of the received video stream.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the bandwidth reduction is received by the server device from the client device.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein the bandwidth reduction is detected by the server device.

19. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the single image is selected based on the single image having a lowest encoding throughput of a subset of evaluated frames of the received video stream.

20. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the single image is a first frame of the received video stream after the bandwidth reduction is detected.