Advanced Micro Peripherals has released the MPEG4cPCI, a 3U CompactPCI MPEG-4 video codec board capable of simultaneously encoding four full-size (NTSC/PAL) D1 resolution, full frame rate real-time analogue video/audio inputs. It can also decode and playback video and audio recordings from storage to display. A preview feature allows incoming video from each channel to be viewed simultaneously via the host system graphics controller while also recording all four channels.
The 32-bit PCI architecture of the board can capture live video from cameras or any other source to create high performance digital video recorders (DVR) and video streamers for remote monitoring or control over an IP network.
The MPEG4cPCI includes front end multiplexers enabling up to 10 video inputs to be switched to the four recording channels. The use of high performance MPEG-4 compression and reduced bus utilisation enables a single CompactPCI system to host multiple MPEG4cPCI boards to create multi-channel DVR and Streamer solutions.
The other major benefit of reduced bus bandwidth is that the system can use a more modest, low power, fan-less host CPU board – reducing total cost and power dissipation.
In addition to video encoding/decoding, the MPEG4cPCI enables text and simple graphics annotation to be superimposed on channel A using the bit-mapped alpha-blended overlay functions. Motion detection is also supported on all channels and includes a 'baby-sitting' mode where captured data is only committed to disk when motion is detected within a region of interest – a perfect solution for fixed security applications.
The board is available as both commercial and extended temperature (-40ºC to +85ºC) range variants and may also be supplied with conformal coating for defence and industrial applications. The board's hardware is supported by a comprehensive suite of drivers and software development kits (SDK) for Windows, Linux and QNX along with example source code for video recording applications.
