Thomson Licensing

Tony Guyot

Georges Joulaud

Alexis Berlemont

The invention relates to the field of digital television. More exactly, the invention deals with video compression equipments inside television head-ends, which comprise encoders grouped in encoding pools for statistical multiplexing. The invention also concerns of a method for driving individual output bitrates for encoders gathered in such encoding pool. The present invention concerns an encoding pool comprising a master encoder MVE and at least one slave encoder SVEi, each encoder MVE, SVEi receiving an uncompressed video stream UM, USi and issuing an encoded stream TM, TSi via a first extremity of an IP link IPLM, IPLi, all second extremities of said IP links IPLM, IPLi being bound to a switch IPS, the at least one slave encoder SVEi sending a piece of information on the complexity Cli of the uncompressed video stream USi, the master encoder MVE evaluating an allocation for output bitrate BRi of the at least one slave encoder SVEi from the piece of information on the complexity Cli and sending said allocation BRi to the at least one slave encoder SVEi. According to the invention, the piece of information on the complexity Cli and the allocation for output bitrate BRi are transmitted via a path Pcomprising the IP link IPLi, the switch IPS and the IP Link IPM.

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Rennes, France

Tony Guyot