Altera and Apical Announce the World’s First High Definition WDR CMOS Image-Sensor-Processing Solution for Video-Surveillance Cameras

Standard CMOS image sensors are limited by the vast ranges of brightness levels, from low light to direct sunlight, that can black out or wash out a video subject. WDR CMOS image sensors correct this problem, but present a design challenge. The large amounts of data (up to 20 bits per color x 1.2 Mpixels at 60 frames per second) generated by these image sensors must be processed in the Image Sensor Pipeline (ISP), but are too much to be handled on-chip. The DSPs and ASSPs typically used in surveillance systems do not have the ability to handle the processing task efficiently. Altera’s Cyclone FPGAs have the capability to perform the intense number-crunching algorithms that convert the raw image data into a standard digital output needed to produce a clear video image. High-definition (HD) wide dynamic range (WDR) CMOS image sensors are ideal for applications like video surveillance cameras. And for the underlying technology, FPGAs are optimal because they deliver the high bandwidth these sensors demand…

Video Surveillance Cameras
(Photo: Altera)