Netflix filed 1 patent this quarter in Cloud Gaming (1).
The application covers a technique for client-side GPU upscaling in game Streaming services. Rather than transmitting high-resolution video, the system renders games at lower resolution on the server, sends additional buffer data to the client, and offloads the upscaling work to the user's local GPU to reduce bandwidth requirements and server processing costs.
Netflix's single cloud gaming patent tackles the efficiency challenges of Streaming interactive content by shifting upscaling responsibility from the server to the player's device. The system renders games at reduced resolution in the cloud, then transmits not just the compressed video but also GPU buffer information like depth maps and motion vectors alongside it. The client's Graphics card uses these extra layers to perform sophisticated upscaling that accounts for scene geometry and movement, producing higher-quality output than standard video enlargement techniques. This approach decouples the final visual quality from both the server's rendering load and the network's bandwidth capacity, addressing two bottlenecks at once.
All data sourced from USPTO patent filings. Google Patents may take several weeks to index recent publications. If a link is unavailable, search for the patent number at USPTO Patent Public Search.