A program trial method includes: displaying a user interface of a host program; displaying a first image frame of a cloud application on the user interface of the host program in response to a trial event being triggered, the first image frame being obtained based on a first output of the cloud application loaded with a trial setting; and displaying a second image frame of the cloud application on the user interface of the host program, the second image frame being obtained based on a second output of the cloud application in response to an operation performed on the user interface.

A method for starting an application is provided. In the method, a video that includes game content of a game application is played back. A startup operation to start the game application is received from a user during the playback of the video. The game application is started in response to the startup operation. Further, the game content of the started game application that is determined to match the game content of the video when the startup operation is received from the user is displayed. The game content of the started game application is determined based on when the startup operation is received from the user during the playback of the video.

A method is disclosed including setting, at a server, a server VSYNC signal to a server VSYNC frequency defining a plurality of frame periods. The server VSYNC signal corresponding to generation of a plurality of video frames at the server during the plurality of frame periods. The method including setting, at a client, a client VSYNC signal to a client VSYNC frequency. The method including sending a plurality of compressed video frames based on the plurality of video frames from the server to the client over a network using the server VSYNC signal. The method including decoding and displaying, at the client, the plurality of compressed video frames. The method including analyzing the timing of one or more client operations to set the amount of frame buffering used by the client, as the client receives the plurality of compressed video frames.

A method is disclosed including setting, at a server, a server VSYNC signal to a server VSYNC frequency defining a plurality of frame periods. The server VSYNC signal corresponding to generation of a plurality of video frames at the server during the plurality of frame periods. The method including setting, at a client, a client VSYNC signal to a client VSYNC frequency. The method including sending a plurality of compressed video frames based on the plurality of video frames from the server to the client over a network using the server VSYNC signal. The method including decoding and displaying, at the client, the plurality of compressed video frames. The method including analyzing the timing of one or more client operations to set the amount of frame buffering used by the client, as the client receives the plurality of compressed video frames.

A computing system is configured to execute a computer program on a server and to provide a video stream of the program output to a geographically remote client over a communication network. An add-on manager is provided to facilitate the use of add-ons to extend the functionality of the computer program. The add-on manager is responsive to commands received from the client and is configured to associate individual add-ons and add-on data with specific user accounts. The add-ons can be located on the server or some other location remote from the client.

A computing system is configured to execute a computer program on a server and to provide a video stream of the program output to a geographically remote client over a communication network. An add-on manager is provided to facilitate the use of add-ons to extend the functionality of the computer program. The add-on manager is responsive to commands received from the client and is configured to associate individual add-ons and add-on data with specific user accounts. The add-ons can be located on the server or some other location remote from the client.

There is provided a technology capable of reducing the processing load on a server apparatus side in cloud rendering. A server apparatus according to the present technology includes a controller. The controller groups terminal apparatuses each having a viewing position within an identical segment on the basis of viewing position information of each terminal apparatus within a viewing region including a plurality of segments, and transmits common video information to each of the grouped terminal apparatuses by multicasting.

Systems and methods for reducing hops associated with a head mounted display are described. The head mounted display includes a communications circuit for receiving and transmitting interactive media associated with a game program via a network. The interactive media is processed by the game cloud system and streamed directly to the communications circuit of the head mounted display. The head mounted display further includes a user input circuit for receiving an action from a user to generate an input, which includes position and motion detected by the user input circuit. The head mounted display includes a game processing circuit for decoding the interactive media received from the network. The game processing circuit drives a portion of interactivity associated with the game program. The portion of interactivity is generated based on the input.

Systems and methods for reducing hops associated with a head mounted display are described. The head mounted display includes a communications circuit for receiving and transmitting interactive media associated with a game program via a network. The interactive media is processed by the game cloud system and streamed directly to the communications circuit of the head mounted display. The head mounted display further includes a user input circuit for receiving an action from a user to generate an input, which includes position and motion detected by the user input circuit. The head mounted display includes a game processing circuit for decoding the interactive media received from the network. The game processing circuit drives a portion of interactivity associated with the game program. The portion of interactivity is generated based on the input.

In various examples, a media stream may be received by a re-encode system that may leverage a recode engine to convert (e.g., at an interval, based on a request, etc.) an inter-frame associated with the media stream to an intra-frame. The intra-frame may be converted from the inter-frame using parameters or other information associated with and received with the media stream. The converted intra-frame may be merged into an updated segment of the media stream in place of the original inter-frame to enable storage of the updated segment—or a portion thereof—for later use.