DIVX, LLC

Systems and methods for determining available bandwidth and performing initial stream selection when commencing adaptive bitrate streaming using Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) in accordance with embodiments of the invention are disclosed. One embodiment includes performing a bandwidth probe to obtain an estimate of the available bandwidth between a playback device and a remote server, where the bandwidth probe comprises the playback device requesting blocks of data of increasing size from the remote server until the time taken to download a requested block exceeds a predetermined threshold, selecting an initial stream from said plurality of streams of encoded media that are encoded at different maximum bitrates rates using the playback device based upon the maximum bitrates of the plurality of streams and the estimated available bandwidth, and commencing streaming of encoded media by requesting portions of the encoded media from the initial streams using the playback device.

Playback and distribution systems and methods for multimedia files are provided. The multimedia files are encoded with flags associated with the content data of the multimedia files. Through the use of the flags, playback of the content is enhanced without significantly increasing the file size of the multimedia file.

Methods and systems of generating and displaying textual information for a multimedia file are provided. An optimized font file is created that matches the text data of the multimedia file and optionally a number of predetermined text characters. The optimized font file may also be further configured to conform to a specific memory and/or timing constraint.

Playback and distribution systems and methods for multimedia files are provided. The multimedia files are encoded with indexes associated with the content data of the multimedia files. Through the use of the indexes, playback of the content is enhanced without significantly increasing the file size of the multimedia file.

Systems and methods for adaptive bitrate streaming in which playback devices select streams based upon stream delay and channel rate in accordance with embodiments of the invention are disclosed. One embodiment is configured to select a first video stream from a set of alternative streams, where at least a plurality of the alternative streams are encoded to have an upper bound seek delay that is equal to or less than the upper bound seek delay of streams in the set of alternative streams that are encoded at a higher maximum bitrate, request chunks of the first video stream and store the requested chunks in the buffer, playback the buffered chunks, measure the channel data rate, and select a second video stream from the set of alternative streams, where the second video stream has a maximum bitrate that is less than the measured channel data rate.

Systems and methods for encoding alternative streams for use in adaptive bitrate streaming based upon the delay of each stream in accordance with embodiments of the invention are described. One embodiment of the invention includes memory, and a processor configured by a source encoding application to: receive multimedia content, where the multimedia content includes source video data having a primary resolution and a primary sample aspect ratio; and encode the source video data as a set of alternative video streams, where: the alternative video streams have different maximum bitrates; and the alternative video streams are encoded to have an upper bound seek delay that is equal to or less than the upper bound seek delay of streams in the set of alternative video streams that are encoded at a higher maximum bitrate.

Systems and methods are disclosed that dynamically load a software platform for a playback device. One embodiment includes a playback device, including a processor, and memory containing a platform installer, where the platform installer configures the processor to dynamically load a software platform from a remote server into device memory that provides a runtime environment for applications using a software platform configuration.

Federated systems for issuing playback certifications granting access to technically protected content are described. One embodiment of the system includes a registration server connected to a network, a content server connected to the network and to a trusted system, a first device including a non-volatile memory that is connected to the network and a second device including a non-volatile memory that is connected to the network. In addition, the registration server is configured to provide the first device with a first set of activation information in a first format, the first device is configured to store the first set of activation information in non-volatile memory, the registration server is configured to provide the second device with a second set of activation information in a second format, and the second device is configured to store the second set of activation information in non-volatile memory.

Deblocking filters are disclosed, where the nature of the filter is determined based upon the level of detail of a reconstructed video frame in the region in which the block boundary is located. One embodiment of the method of the invention includes identifying a boundary between two blocks of the reconstructed video frame, determining the level of detail of the reconstructed video frame in a region in which the block boundary is located, wherein the region includes pixels from multiple rows and multiple columns of the reconstructed video frame and includes at least one pixel that is not immediately adjacent the block boundary and selecting a filter to apply to predetermined pixels on either side of the block boundary based upon the determined level of detail.

Systems and methods for providing Internet Content Guides (ICG) on playback devices that can be used to access content via the Internet from a plurality of sources using a remote database containing navigation hierarchy definitions for specific device models and/or device instances are described, where content metadata included in the remote database is collected by a remote server from the plurality of sources. One embodiment of the invention includes a metacenter configured to retrieve content metadata from feeds on a plurality of remote servers describing content accessible via the remote servers and to use the content metadata retrieved from the feeds to update a content metadata database, and a plurality of playback devices configured to communicate with the metacenter and access content via the Internet. In addition, the content metadata database defines a plurality of navigation hierarchies for different playback devices, where each navigation hierarchy includes category information and content information, each playback device is configured to obtain a navigation hierarchy appropriate to the playback device from the metacenter, where the navigation hierarchy obtained by the playback device only includes category and content information that the playback device is authorized to access and is capable of playing back, and the playback devices are configured to generate an Internet content guide using the navigation hierarchy obtained from the metacenter.