The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 22, 2000
Filed:
Dec. 19, 1997
Bhavesh Bhalchandra Bhatt, Franklin Park, NJ (US);
Ragnar Hlynur Jonsson, Reykjavik, IS;
Thomson Consumer Electronics, Inc., Indianapolis, IN (US);
Abstract
A process and apparatus for converting an MPEG-2 bitstream into an SMPTE-259 compatible bitstream is characterized by a frame rate converter which is selectively enabled to drop every 1001st frame of the incoming MPEG-2 bitstream depending on the input bitstream frame rate. If the input bitstream frame rate is other than 29.97 or 59.94 Hz, a frame dropper is enabled to discard every 1001st frame. The present converter can convert many different types of input bitstreams, such as all I types, IPIP types, or complex GOP types containing I, P, and B frames. The enabled frame dropper will drop either the I or P frame if it occurs as the 1001st frame, but if the 1001st frame is of the B frame type, the pixel information of the B frame is dropped. This produces a minimum in loss of information during the conversion. The format converter allows existing SMPTE-259 routing equipment to route and utilize MPEG-2 bitstreams, such as HDTV applications.