Recently, several heated debates were found from some Chinese surveillance blogs, chat rooms, and social media. The topic was about analog HD solutions made possible or not by combining CMOS and DSP. The thread started with some of the manufacturers in Shenzhen. Facing a severe competition from IP surveillance vendors, they tried to come up with HD upgrades for analog cameras.
Recently, several heated debates were found from some Chinese surveillance blogs, chat rooms, and social media. The topic was about analog HD solutions made possible or not by combining CMOS and DSP. The thread started with some of the manufacturers in Shenzhen. Facing a severe competition from IP surveillance vendors, they tried to come up with HD upgrades for analog cameras.
The idea started from an unintentional move from several chipset providers by switch CCD of an analog camera with HD CMOS. As we know, the core components of any given camera (surveillance, digital cameras, or camera recorders) are image sensors and DSP. Despite similar works of sensors and DSP among these cameras and video recorders, differences still exist. However, the proliferation of BYOD is revolutionarily bridging this gap, which brings up new possibilities. Breaking the rule that analog cameras consist of CCD sensor and DSP by default, some analog camera manufacturer replaced CCD with HD CMOS out of a smartphone or camera recorder, combining it with DSP and tested it. Amazingly, the resolution reached 700TVL. The manufacturer continued testing various endeavor combinations of different CMOS and DSP, eventually achieving 800 to 1,000 TVL. This trial was soon made into a prototype module, making analog HD solution possible and practical.
CMOS and DSP suppliers such as Aptina, Pixelplus, OmniVision, Sony, Fullhan, Sonix, Nextchip, and many others all play important roles that make this analog HD solution achievable. For instance, with the right combination of HD CMOS sensor and DSP, the analog HD solution may delivers HDTV 720P resolution in 60 fps, over 98 percent color reproduction, and high sensitivity and DSS feature in low light conditions. If DSP combined with 1.3 megapixel HD CMOS sensor, the horizontal resolution reaches up to at least 800TVL. Moreover, high SNR without smearing and reliable performance in high temperature make the combination even more appealing.
Currently, sensor providers such as Aptina and Sony play key roles in analog HD solution. Aptina 139 and Sony CMOS IMX138 deliver resolution over 1,000TVL, equivalent to 1.3 megapixels, and illumination of 0.001 Lux. Both of their DSS features make low light performances much enhanced than regular CMOS sensors.
From the perspective of DSP influences, Fullhan's FH8510 and FH8520 are currently the game changers. Designed exclusively for CMOS and security applications, FH8520's analog video outputs support 720/960H while it also supports WDR, adaptive 3D noise deduction, OSD menu, and more. FH8520 can be used in mid- and high-end analog camera, HD-SDI cameras, and network cameras. At this moment, Fullhan's DSP solution plays key role in the analog HD surveillance solution. In order to catch this wave, more DSP vendors are expected to offer similar solutions.
Analog HD potentials have drawn attentions from component suppliers such as Sony and Aptina while Korean chip makers are also eager to join. Despite the IP migration in the security industry is pick up its pace, the analog deployment still dominates. Various analog upgrade solutions with CVBS are sure to catch attentions to those who already have analog infrastructure in place.
Related article: MFNE Organizes Analog HD Video Surveillance Technologies Seminar in Taipei