1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to cross-platform display. More specifically, the present invention relates to image hosting for cross-platform display.
2. Description of the Related Art
Individuals currently have a variety of options for communicating and carrying out transactions. Such options may include traditional desktop coming devices, as well as various mobile devices (e.g., mobile phones, smartphones, and tablets). In fact, many individuals may use multiple computing and mobile devices at home, work, and on the move. For example, an individual may use a desktop computer at work, a laptop computer at home, and one or more mobile devices (e.g., smartphone, tablet) elsewhere. As such, people have come to expect to be able to have access to data and computing resources so to perform most computing tasks anywhere.
One difficulty in meeting such an expectation is that the various computing devices may not all have the same capabilities. For example, such devices may run different operating systems/platforms and applications. Such differences may make it difficult to support the same tasks across such devices. One solution has been to provide remote desktops where a first device runs the applications and a second device receives the visual display that appears on the first device over a communication network (e.g., Internet). Such remote desktops can allow users to access and control resources and data on the first device at a remote location using a second (e.g., portable) device.
One drawback to such an approach arises from the fact that such devices are generally used differently, so applications may be optimized for one type of device, but not another. For example, the different devices may have different sizes and input options (e.g., keyboard, keypad, touchscreen). The display of one device may not be optimized for a second device. For example, if a desktop computer display is shrunk to fit on a smartphone screen, the shrunken size may be difficult for the user to read or discern what is being displayed. Alternatively, if the display is not shrunken, the smartphone may only be able to display a portion of the original display at a time, which also adds to the difficulty in reading and discerning what is being displayed. While some devices allow for manual adjustment of the display by the user, changing displays and images may require the user to continually re-adjust the display, which may be unwieldy and inconvenient. Additionally, using a finger on a touchscreen does not provide input as accurately as, for example, a mouse or physical keyboard. This difficulty is further heightened where the device lacks a tactile keyboard and instead relies on a keyboard display on a touchscreen. The size of the screen portion for display is further constrained when a keyboard is activated.
An additional complication is that some devices (e.g., mobile devices) may not have the same processing power or speed as other devices. For powerful devices, rendering complex displays may not be a problem. For less powerful devices, it may take a much longer time. This problem is further heightened where displays are continually changing (e.g., video).
Generally, host-rendered displays allow for an image to be rendered on a host device, processed (e.g., compressed), and then delivered to the client. In client-rendered displays, client devices are sent instructions for rendering a display. Some models rely on a combination of host- and client-rendering. For one particular type of display/changes, namely video displays, video codecs are components that compress or decompress video data based on various algorithms.
There is, therefore, a need in the art for improved systems and methods of image hosting for cross-platform display.