This work aims at the creation of a~system of massive recording of multimedia data, especially speech data in various languages. The first issue is to find out high quality data source, the second is to build the system for managing and storing received data in the digital form. A digital satellite transmission is chosen as a signal source (DVB-S system). Main system features include recording of multiple streams in parallel, support of multiple cards, retrieving and storing of additional information (from Internet) and scheduling of recordings. The system will provide massive amounts of data for training of a language identification system.

[pt] Este trabalho apresenta uma proposta de solução do problema de deteção de tomada de câmera de vídeos MPEG-1 e MPEG-2. A abordagem proposta está baseada na aplicação de diversas heurísticas para eliminação de quadros semelhantes, de forma a extrair um conjunto de quadros que representam os cortes entre tomadas de câmera vizinhas. Essas heurí­sticas analisam informações no domínio compactado, obtidas diretamente do fluxo de dados codificado dos ví­deos, como forma de eliminar o processo de descompressão MPEG e diminuir o volume de dados manipulados durante a análise. A observação dos valores assumidos pelas diversas métricas utilizadas demonstrou a existência de padrões falsos de corte relacionados à história do processo de codificação do ví­deo. Por esta razões, as análises das informações codificadas para detecção das tomadas de câmera procuram identificar padrões estabelecidos pelo processo de codificação, considerados assinaturas dos codificadores. Para distinção entre quadros com características de corte, de quadros com características influenciadas pelo codificador, são propostas filtragens para suavizar a influência dessas assinaturas nos valores obtidos pelas métricas de caracterização de similaridade. / [en] This works presents a proposal for finding shot cuts in MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 videos. The proposed approach is based on heuristics for eliminating similar frames and thus extracting a set of frames positioned at cuts points. These heuristics analyze the compressed data, retrieved from MPEG video streams, without any decompression, thus saving time and space during the shot finding process. The existence of false cut patterns is noticed by studying the data returned by the chosen metrics. In face of such false positives (related to choices made during the history of the video encoding process), the analysis of the compressed data tries to identify patterns in the encoded stream, considered as compressor signatures. To distinguish between cut frames and frames characterized by the encoding process, some filters are proposed in order to alleviate the compressor influence on the similarity metrics results.

Streaming of on-line gaming video is a challenging problem because of the enormous amounts of video data that need to be sent during game playing, especially within the limitations of uplink capabilities. The encoding complexity is also a challenge because of the time delay while on-line gamers are communicating. The main goal of this research study is to propose an enhanced on-line game video streaming system. First, the most common video coding techniques have been evaluated. The evaluation study considers objective and subjective metrics. Three widespread video coding techniques are selected and evaluated in the study; H.264, MPEG-4 Visual and VP- 8. Diverse types of video sequences were used with different frame rates and resolutions. The effects of changing frame rate and resolution on compression efficiency and viewers' satisfaction are also presented. Results showed that the compression process and perceptual satisfaction are severely affected by the nature of the compressed sequence. As a result, H.264 showed higher compression efficiency for synthetic sequences and outperformed other codecs in the subjective evaluation tests. Second, a fast inter prediction technique to speed up the encoding process of H.264 has been devised. The on-line game streaming service is a real time application, thus, compression complexity significantly affects the whole process of on-line streaming. H.264 has been recommended for synthetic video coding by our results gained in codecs comparative studies. However, it still suffers from high encoding complexity; thus a low complexity coding algorithm is presented as fast inter coding model with reference management technique. The proposed algorithm was compared to a state of the art method, the results showing better achievement in time and bit rate reduction with negligible loss of fidelity. Third, recommendations on tradeoff between frame rates and resolution within given uplink capabilities are provided for H.264 video coding. The recommended tradeoffs are offered as a result of extensive experiments using Double Stimulus Impairment Scale (DSIS) subjective evaluation metric. Experiments showed that viewers' satisfaction is profoundly affected by varying frame rates and resolutions. In addition, increasing frame rate or frame resolution does not always guarantee improved increments of perceptual quality. As a result, tradeoffs are recommended to compromise between frame rate and resolution within a given bit rate to guarantee the highest user satisfaction. For system completeness and to facilitate the implementation of the proposed techniques, an efficient game video streaming management system is proposed. Compared to existing on-line live video service systems for games, the proposed system provides improved coding efficiency, complexity reduction and better user satisfaction.

Η παρούσα ειδική ερευνητική εργασία εκπονήθηκε στα πλαίσια του Διατμηματικού Προγράμματος Μεταπτυχιακών Σπουδών Ειδίκευσης στα “Συστήματα Επεξεργασίας Σημάτων και Επικοινωνιών” στο Τμήμα Φυσικής του Πανεπιστημίου Πατρών. Αντικείμενο της παρούσας εργασίας είναι η σχεδίαση και ανάπτυξη του MPEG – 4 Simple Profile CODEC στο περιβάλλον Simulink με σκοπό την τελική εκτέλεση του αλγορίθμου DSP που θα προκύψει, στην πλατφόρμα ανάπτυξης TMS320DM6437 EVM. Στο πρώτο κεφάλαιο ορίζεται η έννοια της κωδικοποίησης βίντεο σε πραγματικό χρόνο και περιγράφεται η σύγχυση που επικρατεί γύρω από αυτήν. Επίσης γίνεται μια περιγραφή των επεξεργαστών ψηφιακού σήματος ως προς τα τυπικά χαρακτηριστικά που διαθέτουν, την αρχιτεκτονική τους, την αρχιτεκτονική μνήμης, τα στοιχεία υλικού που διαθέτουν για τη ροή του DSP προγράμματος, ενώ παράλληλα, παρουσιάζεται η ιστορική εξέλιξη των DSPs που οδήγησε στους σύγχρονους DSPs και οι οποίοι, διαθέτουν καλύτερες επιδόσεις από τους προπάτορές τους, και αυτό χάρη στις τεχνολογικές και αρχιτεκτονικές εξελίξεις όπως, οι χαμηλότεροι κανόνες σχεδίασης, η γρήγορη προσπέλαση κρυφής μνήμης δύο επιπέδων, η σχεδίαση του DMA και ενός μεγαλύτερου συστήματος διαύλου. Στο τέλος του κεφαλαίου παρουσιάζεται η αρχιτεκτονική της πλατφόρμας ανάπτυξης TMS320DM6437 EVM καθώς και οι διεπαφές υλικού που διαθέτει για την είσοδο και έξοδο βίντεο/ήχου από αυτήν. Στο δεύτερο κεφάλαιο γίνεται μια εκτενής παρουσίαση των εννοιών που συναντώνται στην κωδικοποίηση βίντεο. Στην αρχή του κεφαλαίου απεικονίζεται το γενικό μοντέλο ενός κωδικοποιητή/αποκωδικοποιητή και βάσει αυτού προχωράμε στην περιγραφή του χρονικού μοντέλου, το οποίο επιβάλλει την πρόβλεψη του τρέχοντος πλαισίου βίντεο χρησιμοποιώντας το προηγούμενο, ενώ παράλληλα, εξηγεί και μεθόδους για την εκτίμηση κίνησης περιοχών (μακρομπλοκ) μέσα στο πλαίσιο ενός βίντεο και το πώς μπορεί να γίνει ο υπολογισμός του σφάλματος κίνησης τους. Στη συνέχεια περιγράφεται το μοντέλο εικόνας το οποίο στην πράξη αποτελείται από τρία συστατικά μέρη: τον μετασχηματισμό (αποσυσχετίζει και συμπιέζει τα δεδομένα), την κβάντιση (μειώνει την ακρίβεια των μετασχηματισμένων δεδομένων) και την ανακατάταξη (ανακατατάσσει τα δεδομένα ούτως ώστε να ομαδοποιήσει μαζί τις σημαντικές τιμές). Οι συντελεστές του μετασχηματισμού μετά την ανακατάταξη και την κωδικοποίηση, μπορούν να κωδικοποιηθούν περαιτέρω με τη χρήση κωδικών μεταβλητού μήκους (Huffman κωδικοποίηση) ή μέσω αριθμητικής κωδικοποίησης. Στο τέλος του κεφαλαίου περιγράφεται το υβριδικό μοντέλο DPCM/DCT CODEC πάνω στον οποίο στηρίζεται και η υλοποίηση του MPEG – 4 Simple Profile CODEC. Στο τρίτο κεφάλαιο ουσιαστικά γίνεται μια περιγραφή των χαρακτηριστικών του MPEG – 4 Simple Profile CODEC, των εργαλείων που χρησιμοποιεί, της έννοιας αντικείμενο που πλέον υπεισέρχεται στην κωδικοποίηση βίντεο καθώς και τα είδη προφίλ και επιπέδων που υποστηρίζει το συγκεκριμένο πρωτόκολλο κωδικοποίησης/αποκωδικοποίησης. Στο τέταρτο κεφάλαιο παρουσιάζεται η υλοποίηση του κωδικοποιητή, του αποκωδικοποιητή του MPEG – 4 Simple Profile CODEC καθώς και των επιμέρους υποσυστημάτων που τους απαρτίζουν. Στο πέμπτο κεφάλαιο περιγράφεται η αλληλεπίδραση του χρήστη με το σύστημα κωδικοποίησης/αποκωδικοποίησης, τι παράμετροι χρειάζονται να δοθούν ως είσοδοι από αυτόν, καθώς και πως είναι δυνατή η χρήση του συγκεκριμένου συστήματος. / This project objective is the design and development of MPEG – 4 Simple Profile CODEC in Simulink environment in order to execute the resulting DSP algorithm on the development platform TMS320DM6437 EVM. The first chapter defines the term of real – time video coding which sometimes is misunderstood by most people. Besides there is a brief description of DSP systems, which includes information about their typical characteristics, their architecture, their memory architecture and the hardware elements provided with in order to support the flow of a DSP program. It is also presented the evolution of DSPs through time, which finally gave the modern DSPs with better performance than their ancestors thanks to the technological and architectonical improvements such as, lower design rules, fast-access two-level cache, (E)DMA circuitry and a wider bus system. At the end of this chapter it is presented the architecture of TMS320DM6437 EVM board and its input/output hardware interfaces for video and sound. At the second chapter there is an extensive presentation of terms found at the science of coding/decoding video. At the beginning of this chapter it is depicted a general model including a video encoder/decoder and this is the reason for the description of temporal model, which includes the prediction of current frame from the previous one, and at the same time it explains the computation methods of macroblock motion estimation and motion compensation. Continuing it is described the image model aparted from three component parts, the transformation (decorrelation and data compression), the quantization (reduces the accuracy of transformed data) and the reordering (reorders data on a way that groups significant values all together). The transform coefficients after reordering and coding, can be further coding by using variable length coding (Huffman coding) or arithmetic coding. At the end of the chapter the hybrid model of DPCM/DCT CODEC is described and this is the one where the implementation of MPEG – 4 Simple Profile CODEC has been set up. At the third chapter there is a description about the characteristics of MPEG – 4 Simple Profile CODEC, the tools used, the “object” term, which appears on video coding/decoding and also what are the profiles and levels supported by the specific video encoding/decoding protocol. Finally it is described how the coding of rectangular frames is done and the Simulink model of MPEG – 4 Simple Profile CODEC which is the base for the implementation of DSP algorithm executed on the development platform. At the forth chapter we present the implementation of MPEG – 4 Simple Profile CODEC encoder/decoder and their partial subsystems. At the fifth chapter it is described the interaction between user and the CODEC, what are the parameters needed to be entered as inputs and how the system can be used.

Modèle 3D d'objet, séquences vidéos monoscopiques, estimation de la pose 3D, recalage 3D/2D, texture, flot optique, translation et rotation de grande amplitude, occultation, appariement par bloc, interpolation temporelle, modélisation ondulatoire, critère de visibilité, analyse de déformations faciales, description MPEG-4 du visage, prototype déformable, bouche, yeux, B-splines, classification floue non supervisée, méthode du simplexe, synthèse de déformations faciales..

La production de dessins animés 2D, qui suit actuellement un schéma mis en place dans les années 1920, fait intervenir un très nombre de compétences humaines et de métiers différents. Par opposition à ce mode de travail traditionnel, la production de films de synthèse 3D, en exploitant les technologies et outils les plus récents de modélisation et d'animation 3D, s'affranchit pour une bonne part de cette composante artisanale et vient concurrencer l'industrie du dessin animé tradtionnel en termes de délais et de coûts de fabrication.<br /><br />Les défis à relever par l'industrie du dessin animé 2D se formulent donc en termes de:<br /><br /> 1. Réutilisation des contenus selon le paradigme Create once, render many,<br /> 2. Facilité d'échange et de transmission des contenus, ce qui nécessite de disposer d'un unique format de représentation,<br /> 3. Production efficace et économique des contenus, requérant une animation automatisée par ordinateur. <br /><br />Dans ce contexte compétitif, ce travail de thèse, réalisé dans le cadre du projet industriel TOON financé par la société Quadraxis avec le support de l' Agence Nationale de Valorisation de la Recherche (Oséo-ANVAR), a pour objectif de contribuer au développement d'une plate-forme de reconstruction, déformation et animation de modèles 3D pour les dessins animés 2D.<br /><br />Un état de l'art des méthodes et outils contribuant à la reconstruction de modèles 3D et à leur animation est présenté et discuté au regard des contraintes spécifiques des règles de création des dessins animés 2D et de la chaîne de fabrication traditionnelle. Ayant identifié les verrous technologiques à lever, nos contributions ont porté sur :<br /><br /> * l'élaboration d'une méthode de reconstruction de personnages virtuels 3D à partir de dessins 2D,<br /> * la mise au point d'une procédure de reconstruction surfacique par NURBS dotée d'une capacité de déformation interactive 2D/3D,<br /> * la conception d'un module de modélisation 3D pour surfaces maillées, compatible avec le standard d'animation MPEG-4/AFX. <br /><br />Les développements réalisés, intégrés dans un prototype de la plate-forme TOON, montrent un gain en temps de 20% sur l'ensemble de la chaîne de production tout en garantissant une complète interopérabilité des applications via le standard MPEG-4.

Dans le contexte des progrès sensibles en termes de technologies de l'information et de normes associées à la vidéo, notre travail propose des outils de description flexible et à forte teneur sémantique des contenus audiovisuels au niveau du plan – le PSDS (Production Shot Description Scheme) – orientés par l'approche sémiotique et selon les points de vue des professionnels de la production. Nous constatons que les contenus audio-visuels ont une triple dimension sémantique – la sémantique technique, la sémantique du monde narratif et la sémiotique – et chaque niveau a sa propre description ontologique. La sémiotique complète la sémantique technique et thématique du contenu de la vidéo en expliquant pour quelles raisons les structures dynamiques du texte filmique peuvent produire ces interprétations sémantiques. Mobilisant tant des techniques d'analyse automatiques des média que des modèles existants, des terminologies, des théories et des discours du monde de cinéma, cette approche peut offrir une traduction naturelle et simple entre les différents niveaux sémantiques. La description orientée-objet à multiples points de vue des contenus implique de mettre en évidence dans l'arbre ontologique les unités significatives du domaine et leurs caractéristiques. Ces unités constituent les informations fondamentales pour l'appréhension du sens du récit. Elles sont représentées par des concepts qui constituent un réseau sémantique où les utilisateurs peuvent naviguer à la recherche d'informations. Chaque concept est un noeud du réseau sémantique du domaine visé. Représentées ensuite selon le formalisme Mpeg-7 et XML Schema, les connaissances intégrées dans les schémas de description du plan de la vidéo peuvent servir de base à la construction d'environnements interactifs d'édition des images. La vidéo y devient un flux informationnel dont les données peuvent être balisées, annotées, analysées et éditées. Les métadonnées analysées dans notre travail, comprenant des informations relevant de trois étapes de la production (pré-production, production et post-production) doivent permettre aux applications de gérer et manipuler les objets de la vidéo, ainsi que les représentations de leur sémantique, afin de les réutiliser dans plusieurs offres d'accès telles que l'indexation du contenu, la recherche, le filtrage, l'analyse et l'appréhension des images du film.

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

“A picture is worth a thousand words”. If this proverb were taken literally we all know that every person interprets images or photos differently in terms of its content. This is due to the semantics contained in these images. Content-based image retrieval has become a vast area of research in order to successfully describe and retrieve images according to the content. In military applications, intelligence images such as those obtained by the defence intelligence group are taken (mostly on film), developed and then manually annotated thereafter. These photos are then stored in a filing system according to certain attributes such as the location, content etc. To retrieve these images at a later stage might take days or even weeks to locate. Thus, the need for a digital annotation system has arisen. The images of the military contain various military vehicles and buildings that need to be detected, described and stored in a database. For our research we want to look at the effects that the rotation and elevation angle of an object in an image has on the retrieval performance. We chose model cars in order to be able to control the environment the photos were taken in such as the background, lighting, distance between the objects, and the camera etc. There are also a wide variety of shapes and colours of these models to obtain and work with. We look at the MPEG-7 descriptor schemes that are recommended by the MPEG group for video and image retrieval as well as implement three of them. For the military it could be required that when the defence intelligence group is in the field, that the images be directly transmitted via satellite to the headquarters. We have therefore included the JPEG2000 standard which gives a compression performance increase of 20% over the original JPEG standard. It is also capable to transmit images wirelessly as well as securely. Including the MPEG-7 descriptors that we have implemented, we have also implemented the fuzzy histogram and colour correlogram descriptors. For our experimentation we implemented a series of experiments in order to determine the effects that rotation and elevation has on our model vehicle images. Observations are made when each vehicle is considered separately and when the vehicles are described and combined into a single database. After the experiments are done we look at the descriptors and determine which adjustments could be made in order to improve the retrieval performance thereof. / Dr. W.A. Clarke

A Internet consolidou as redes IP como uma infra-estrutura de transporte de dados barata e versátil, fato que justifica o crescente interesse nela como infraestrutura de transporte para outros serviços, como telefonia e TV. Esta convergência de serviços tem base no amadurecimento das tecnologias de redes de transmissão de dados, que proporcionou o aumento da velocidade de conexão residencial, tornando cada vez mais viável o uso de aplicações multimídia, inclusive em tempo real. Desta demanda de serviços convergentes, nasceu a digitalização da TV e, posteriormente, a possibilidade de transmissão pelas redes IP, conhecida como IPTV. Este trabalho analisa o cenário atual de IPTV para distribuição de conteúdo multimídia em redes de acesso privadas. Parte-se da necessidade de mecanismos de segurança para distribuição e controle do consumo das mídias digitais no sistema. O trabalho analisa, portanto, mecanismos para descrição inequívoca dos direitos que os usuários têm sobre o conteúdo adquirido, bem como a utilização de tecnologias para a transmissão do conteúdo de forma segura. O trabalho visa contribuir para a comunidade científica a partir da utilização de padrões abertos na especificação de um elemento de distribuição de vídeo em uma plataforma IPTV. Este elemento se baseia em políticas de uso da linguagem de expressão de direitos do MPEG-21 para reforçar os direitos de autoria e distribuição do conteúdo durante seu manuseio em toda a cadeia de negócios. / Internet consolidated IP networks as a versatile and accessible data transport infrastructure, thus justifying the growing interest on it as a transport network for several services, such as telephony and TV. The convergence leverages on the maturity of network technologies, responsible for the increasing availability of bandwidth for residential access, making the use of multimedia applications, including interactive ones, possible. From the demand for convergence, Digital TV has born, and later on, its transmission through IP networks, know as IPTV. This work analyzes current IPTV scenario for multimedia content distribution in the scope of private networks. It is based on the need for security mechanisms for digital content delivering and control of consumption in the system. Therefore it analyzes mechanisms for rights description, as well as security transmission of content. This work\'s contribution stems from the reutilization of open standards in the specification of a distribution broker in the IPTV environment. Such broker is based on the MPEG-21 digital rights description to enforce copyright of digital content during handling in the entire value chain.