Nuvation HEADLINES 
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Device Spotlight:
Pixim D2500 Orca Chipset
 
Pixim’s D2500 Orca Chipset is this issue’s device spotlight. As a building block for camera designers, the chipset with accompanying firmware is packed with video image processing features. The D2500 is a highly integrated two-chip set utilizing Pixim’s innovative Digital Pixel System® (DPS) technology that provides the image sensor, image processor, and the necessary intelligence to develop advanced-feature, high-quality, cost-effective color CCTV and IP cameras. Nuvation’s Pixim IP Camera Reference is designed with the Orca chipset.
The D2500 includes configurable software which allows camera manufacturers to get to market quickly and offer a number of camera products from the same base hardware design, including an option to select PAL / NTSC operation via software or switch. Simultaneous analog (composite, S-video, or component) and digital outputs are available, as well as a differential composite output capability to support analog video over unshielded twisted pair wiring. The D2010 digital image sensor and D2520 digital image processor are manufactured in low power, high volume commercial CMOS process technology. The low power dissipation enables high performance camera designs under 1.5 watts maximum at full frame rate.
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Wide dynamic range, image quality and color accuracy
Some of the most talked about features of the D2500 are its wide dynamic range, excellent image quality, and color accuracy. Wide dynamic range technology is critical to the capture of accurate images 24/7. In excess of 67% of installed CCTV cameras view outdoor or partially outdoor scenes that typically require 14 f/stops or greater dynamic range in most parts of the world.
The D2500 is designed to deliver superior quality video, providing up to 102 dB dynamic range in typical operation (120 dB max). 102dB in typical operation means that cameras using the Orca chipset can effectively capture and render scenes with 128,000-to-1 contrast. (This is the equivalent of 17 f/stops of dynamic range, for those familiar with Single Lens Reflex (SLR) still cameras.) Such high dynamic range is unheard of in digital cameras that use older analog Charged Coupled Device (CCD) image sensor technology, which typically captures only 8 f/stops or 256-to-1 dynamic range scenes.
Color accuracy is a major benefit of wide dynamic range. A wide dynamic camera can reproduce colors as they appear in nature even under extreme lighting conditions. This capability is critical as more video surveillance systems use automated scene analysis algorithms. With Orca, the features of a person's face, or the color of a get-away car after a bank robbery will be captured accurately, allowing more effective forensic analysis of captured images after the fact.
Another major benefit of wide dynamic range is the ability of the camera to deal with extreme lighting conditions, such as glare, reflections, back light, car headlights, the sun etc. The Orca chipset can accurately capture and render scenes in these common cases (see Figure 1a and 1b). Image blooming and smearing issues common with analog sensors have been eliminated.
Overall, the D2500 is designed to deliver superior quality video, while providing excellent resolution, sensitivity and color fidelity. The image sensor is available with either complementary (CMY) or primary (RGB) color filter array allowing pin-compatible choice of the highest sensitivity or the highest resolution. Pixim’s DPS technology uses a patented non-destructive multi-sampling technique to greatly expand the dynamic range of captured video images in real-time.
Nuvation is a certified Pixim design center and is recommended by Pixim for custom engineering services. Our IP Camera Reference Design provides a fully integrated Orca chipset, which can dramatically accelerate time to market for surveillance applications. For more information on the chipset or IP Camera reference design please contact ip@nuvation.com
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