Methods and systems for masking multimedia data

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, by at least one processor, a frame comprising a video block;

in response to determining that the video block is in a privacy mask region of the frame:

selecting, by the at least one processor, a selected intra-prediction mode to be a higher loss intra-prediction mode of a first intra-prediction mode or a second intra-prediction mode; and

performing, by the at least one processor, prediction on the video block in accordance with the selected intra-prediction mode, to produce a predicted video block;

quantizing, by the at least one processor, the predicted video block, to produce a quantized block; and

encoding, by the at least one processor, the quantized block, to produce an encoded block.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising performing prediction on the video block, to generate the predicted video block, in response to determining that the video block is not included in the privacy mask region, not privacy masking the video block.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising transmitting the encoded block.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising storing the encoded block.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the frame comprises receiving the frame from a video capture device.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining at least one guard band in proximity to at least one boundary portion of the privacy mask region.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

performing prediction in the at least one guard band configured at a right-side boundary portion of the privacy mask region based on a vertical intra-prediction mode; and

performing prediction in the at least one guard band configured at a bottom boundary portion of the privacy mask region based on a horizontal intra-prediction mode.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

generating a residual block based on the predicted video block; and

performing quantization of the residual block based on a quantization parameter (QP) value, the QP value being variable such that varying the QP value controls a degree of masking of the privacy mask region.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

rendering at least one corner pixel associated with a reference frame grey;

generating at least one padded portion in the reference frame, the at least one padded portion comprising at least one grey corner portion generated by using the at least one corner pixel; and

causing at least one motion vector to point towards the at least one grey corner portion to render the privacy mask region grey.

10. A device, comprising

one or more processors; and

a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing a program for execution by the one or more processors, the program including instructions causing the one or more processors to:

receive a frame comprising a video block;

in response to determining that the video block is in a privacy mask region of the frame:

select a selected intra-prediction mode to be a higher loss intra-prediction mode of a first intra-prediction mode or a second intra-prediction mode; and

perform prediction on the video block in accordance with the selected intra-prediction mode, to produce a predicted video block;

quantize the predicted video block, to produce a quantized block; and

encode the quantized block, to produce an encoded block.

11. The device of claim 10 , wherein the instructions further comprise instructions to perform prediction on the video block, to generate the predicted video block, in response to determining that the video block is not included in the privacy mask region, not privacy masking the video block.

12. The device of claim 10 , wherein the instructions further comprise instructions to transmit the encoded block.

13. The device of claim 10 , wherein the instructions further comprise instructions to store the encoded block in the non-transitory computer readable storage medium.

14. The device of claim 10 , further comprising a camera configured to obtain the frame.

15. The device of claim 10 , wherein the instructions further comprise instructions to:

determine at least one guard band in proximity to at least one boundary portion of the privacy mask region.

16. The device of claim 15 , wherein the instructions further comprise instructions to:

perform prediction in the at least one guard band configured at a right-side boundary portion of the privacy mask region based on a vertical intra-prediction mode; and

perform prediction in the at least one guard band configured at a bottom boundary portion of the privacy mask region based on a horizontal intra-prediction mode.

17. The device of claim 10 , wherein the instructions further comprise instructions to:

generate a residual block based on the predicted video block; and

perform quantization of the residual block based on a quantization parameter (QP) value, the QP value being variable such that varying the QP value controls a degree of masking of the privacy mask region.

18. The device of claim 10 , wherein the instructions further comprise instructions to:

render at least one corner pixel associated with a reference frame grey;

generating at least one padded portion in the reference frame, the at least one padded generate comprising at least one grey corner portion generated by using the at least one corner pixel; and

cause at least one motion vector to point towards the at least one grey corner portion to render the privacy mask region grey.

19. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing a program for execution by one or more processors, the program including instructions to cause the one or more processors to:

receive a frame comprising a video block;

in response to determining that the video block is in a privacy mask region of the frame:

select a selected intra-prediction mode to be a higher loss intra-prediction mode of a first intra-prediction mode or a second intra-prediction mode; and

perform prediction on the video block in accordance with the selected intra-prediction mode, to produce a predicted video block;

quantize the predicted video block, to produce a quantized block; and

encode the quantized block, to produce an encoded block.

20. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 19 , wherein the instructions further comprise instructions to perform prediction on the video block, to generate the predicted video block, in response to determining that the video block is not included in the privacy mask region, not privacy masking the video block.