Video signal switching

Abstract

A method and system are provided in which a processor may perform fast source switching and/or automatic source switching by keeping active the signals from multiple sources. The processor may determine which received video signals are locked-in within a front-end portion of the processor. A video signal may be locked-in when a demodulator is locked to a carrier in the video signal or when a decoder is programmed to decode the video signal. During operation, the processor may switch from processing a current video signal to processing a video signal selected from those determined to be locked-in. The processor may maintain active a portion of a back-end portion of the processor to handle the switch from the current video signal to the selected video signal. The processor may switch to process between video signals when a predetermined content and/or metadata is detected within one of the video signals.

1 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A device, comprising:
 a video processing module configured to activate a first video processing pipeline and at least a portion of a second video processing pipeline, a remaining portion of the second video processing pipeline being powered off or in a low power mode; and   a switch module that is configured to switch between providing a first video signal to the first video processing pipeline for output to a display device, and providing a second video signal to the second video processing pipeline, including an activated remaining portion, for output to the display device.   
     
     
         22 . The device of  claim 21 , further comprising:
 an acquisition module that is configured to acquire a first video signal and a second video signal.   
     
     
         23 . The device of  claim 22 , wherein the acquisition module is configured to acquire the first video signal from a first signal source and to acquire the second video signal from a second signal source that is different from the first signal source. 
     
     
         24 . The device of  claim 21 , wherein the switch module is configured to provide the first video signal to the first video processing pipeline exclusively when the first video signal is output to the display device and to provide the second video signal to the second video processing pipeline exclusively when the second video signal is output to the display device. 
     
     
         25 . The device of  claim 21 , wherein the first video signal comprises a first program of a signal source and the second video signal comprises a second video program of the signal source. 
     
     
         26 . The device of  claim 21 , wherein the video processing module is further configured to:
 detect content in the first video signal while the first video signal is being provided to the the first video processing pipeline; and   trigger the switch module to switch to providing the second video signal to the second video processing pipeline, including the activated remaining portion, for output to the display device, while maintaining active at least a portion of the first video processing pipeline, a remaining portion of the first video processing pipeline being powered off or placed in a low power mode, in response to detecting the content.   
     
     
         27 . The device of  claim 26 , wherein the content comprises an advertisement. 
     
     
         28 . The device of  claim 21 , wherein the at least the portion of the second video processing pipeline performs at least one of a display control operation, a scaling operation, a picture enhancement operation, a digital noise reduction operation, or an analog noise reduction operation. 
     
     
         29 . The device of  claim 21 , wherein the second video processing pipeline comprises at least a portion of the first video processing pipeline. 
     
     
         30 . A method, comprising
 activating a first video processing pipeline and at least a portion of a second video processing pipeline, a remaining portion of the second video processing pipeline being deactivated;   passing a first video signal through the first video processing pipeline;   activating the remaining portion of the second video processing pipeline;   switching from passing the first video signal through the first video processing pipeline to passing a second video signal through the second video processing pipeline; and   responsive to the switching, deactivating at least a portion of the first video processing pipeline while a remaining portion of the first video processing pipeline remains activated.   
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 30 , further comprising:
 acquiring the first and second video signals, wherein the first video signal is acquired from a first signal source and the second video signal is acquired from a second signal source that is different from the first signal source.   
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 30 , further comprising:
 providing, for display, outputs of the first and second video processing pipelines.   
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 30 , wherein the first video signal is passed to the first video processing pipeline exclusively when the first video signal is provided for display and the second video signal is passed to the second video processing pipeline exclusively when the second video signal is provided for display. 
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 30 , wherein switching from passing the first video signal through the first video processing pipeline to passing the second video signal through the second video processing pipeline comprises switching from providing the first video signal for display to providing the second video signal for display by passing the second video signal through the second video processing pipeline and stopping the passing the first video signal through the first video processing pipeline. 
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 30 , wherein the first video signal comprises a first program of a signal source and the second video signal comprises a second program of the signal source. 
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 30 , further comprising:
 detecting content in the first video signal; and   initiating the switching in response to detecting the content.   
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 36 , wherein the content comprises an advertisement. 
     
     
         38 . A computer program product comprising instructions stored in at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, the instructions comprising:
 instructions to activate a first video processing pipeline and at least a portion of a second video processing pipeline, a remaining portion of the second video processing pipeline being powered off or in a low power mode;   instructions to provide a first video signal for display by routing the first video signal through the first video processing pipeline, while maintaining the at least the portion of the second video processing pipeline activated without routing a second video signal through the second video processing pipeline; and   instructions to provide the second video signal for display by routing the second video signal through the second video streaming pipeline, including an activated remaining portion of the second video streaming pipeline, while maintaining the at least a portion of the first video processing pipeline activated without routing the first video signal through the first video processing pipeline, a remaining portion of the first video processing pipeline being powered off or placed in a low power mode.   
     
     
         39 . The computer program product of  claim 38 , further comprising:
 instructions to acquire the first and second video signals, wherein the first video signal is acquired from a first signal source and the second video signal is acquired from a second signal source that is different from the first signal source.   
     
     
         40 . The computer program product of  claim 39 , wherein the acquired second video signal is not routed to the second video processing pipeline while the remaining portion of the second video processing pipeline is powered off or in the low power mode.