Government, municipalities, financial institutions, and businesses are driving new uses for video surveillance technologies beyond crime prevention or security into applications such as asset management, risk mitigation, and safety.
The challenge for camera manufacturers, however, is developing “smarter” cameras at lower price points. More and more, digital high-definition (HD) Internet protocol surveillance cameras are replacing analog cameras because of lower installation costs, scalability, and the ability to add intelligence.
Wide dynamic range (WDR) CMOS image sensor technology, for example, provides high-quality images with better resolution and higher performance under very harsh lighting conditions. Figure 1 illustrates how an Altera® FPGA is the central interface for WDR CMOS sensors.
Advanced video analytics is replacing simple motion detection to automate the monitoring of video which can result in significant cost savings. Learn how Altera FPGAs can be used for advanced video analytics.
Altera FPGAs play a key design role in these next-generation high-definition Internet protocol cameras:
- Flexibility to interface to many types of image sensors, including HD WDR video image sensors that support up to 1080p60
- Fast processing to incorporate a full image sensor pipeline (ISP) intellectual property (IP) that includes techniques such as defect pixel correction, gamma correction, dynamic range correction, and noise reduction
- Cost-effective solution that can incorporate functions such as sensor interfacing, image compression, and even pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) control in a single device
- High-performance HD video analytics
Figure 1. Simplified Block Diagram of an FPGA-Based Surveillance Camera
Industry's First HD WDR Video Surveillance Chipset
Altera has simplified the development of video surveillance camera systems with the industry’s first HD WDR video surveillance chipset. This streamlines the delivery of the ISP IP and provides a single vendor source for the IP and FPGA. With ISP provider Apical and HD WDR sensor manufacturer AltaSens, Altera provides a verified ISP optimized for the Altasens WDR sensor. No other ASSP or DSP platform offers a comprehensive pipeline that incorporates WDR technology using a 1080p60 sensor and data path. And FPGAs are the only devices that can handle the large bandwidth of data from 1080p and 720p WDR CMOS sensors. Learn more.
Related Links
- Press Release: Altera, Apical, AltaSens Jointly Announce Industry’s First HD Wide Dynamic Range Video Surveillance Chipset
- Press release: Altera Delivers Industry's First Single-Chip Solution for HD WDR Surveillance Cameras
- Whitepaper: Building an IP Surveillance Camera System with a Low-Cost FPGA (PDF)
- Whitepaper: Five Ways to Build Flexibility into Your Industrial Applications with FPGAs (PDF)
- Webcast: Designing an IP Camera with a Single, Low-Cost FPGA
- Webcast: Three Reasons to Use FPGAs in Industrial Applications
- Video: Support WDR CMOS Image Sensor Processing with Low-Cost FPGAs
- Video surveillance partners
