Product category:
Communications ICs (Wired)
News Release from: W and W Communications | Subject: WW20000BA H.264 HD encode
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 13 March 2007
Miniature HD video cameras in Daytona
race
H.264 encoder decoder chipset enables HD quality video to be transmitted from drivers' helmets in this year's Daytona race
The WW20000BA H.264 HD encoder from W and W Communications was suc cessfully used by Broadcast Sports inside its onboard wireless HD cameras for transmission of live video feeds from racecars in this month's Daytona 500 race The race was the first ever Daytona 500 race broadcasted in HD
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 13 Mar 2007 at 8.00am (UK)
Related stories
Codec chipset for high-def videoconferencing
Encoder/decoder chipset for H.264 videoconferencing applications
Video coding architecture shatters H.264 barrier
High-channel-density low-latency low-power architecture for H.264/MPEG-4 video coding is optimised for surveillance, two-way communications and wireless network applications
Broadcast Sports, a wholly owned subsidiary of L-3 Communications/WESCAM, delivered the compact, wireless HD broadcast camera systems that were mounted in the cockpits of several cars in the race.
A COFDM microwave transmission link provided non line-of-sight transmission of the AV bit stream to production and satellite uplink units.
The WW20000BA video encoder was used in these camera systems to compress the video in HD broadcast quality at bit rates low enough and with very low latency, to make live coverage in HD over wireless links possible from cameras within the racecars.
Further reading
Radiation tolerant FPGAs power infra-red satellite
Actel FPGAs have been chosen by the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) for its BIRD bispectral infra-red detection satellite.
FPGAs provide key to BIOS extension
Dr Kaiser Systemhaus has selected Actel's high-speed, low-power SX-A FPGAs for use in the construction of its Prodasafe, a BIOS extension produced as a PCI-compatible PC plug-in card.
FPGAs improve reliability for NC machines
Electronic Control Systems has adopted Actel's A42MX09 antifuse field-programmable gate array device for its new numerical controllers targeted at machine tool manufacturers.
"The successful broadcast in HD of this month's Daytona 500 race was a major milestone for the live broadcast industry".
"Without the WW20000BA H.264 HD encoder from W and W Communications and their commitment in supporting us, we would not have been able to achieve this milestone".
"This first success is opening the door for BSI to bring viewers world wide live sports coverage in HD", says Adam Toner, Engineering Manager at Broadcast Sports.
The H.264 standard produces superior results at lower bit rates compared to the older MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 video compression standards.
However, the significantly higher computational complexity of H.264 poses a major challenge in terms of power and footprint.
BSI found the solution to this dilemma in the WW20000BA encoder from W and W Communications, which runs at 110MHz only and comes in a single chip implementation.
The WW20000BA encoder compresses 1080i/p HD video at 2x lower bit rates and 15% better PSNR than MPEG-2 HD encoders.
"The combination of our video encoder expertise for low delay applications, combined with BSI's HD camera and microwave transmission expertise made it possible to achieve this milestone".
"W and W Communications is proud to be partners with Broadcast Sports and to supply the company with the industry's best H.264 HD broadcast quality encoders", says Kishan Jainandunsing, Vice President Marketing at W and W Communications.
The WW20K H.264 codec chipset from W and W Communications consists of the WW20000BA encoder and the WW200001BA decoder.
Encode-decode tandem delay is less than 35ms or about 1 frame at 30frame/s with performance very close to the H.264 Joint Model.
The W20000BA encoder integrates an advanced context-adaptive noise reduction filter.
This not only reduces noise in the source video, but also improves the encoder's compression efficiency significantly depending on the video content.
Accurate constant bit rate control guarantees video quality versus available channel bandwidth over broadband wireless transmission links.
Software upgradeability of the chipset makes it easy to apply field upgrades.
• W and W Communications: contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Register for the free Electronicstalk email newsletter
• Electronicstalk Home Page
Search the Pro-Talk network of sites
