TI, Aptina offer HD IP network camera ref design

Unlike traditional CCTV cameras, the DM355IPNC-MT5 allows for simple scalability while providing remote viewing and storage capabilities in a distributed network, say TI and Aptina. Complexity and cost of the network are reduced by utilizing the TI/Aptina reference design, producing a field of view of 1,280 x 720 pixels, whereas traditional surveillance systems typically use two D1 cameras each seeing 480 x 720 pixels to capture the same scene.

The IP camera reference design also supports analog output for existing CCTV. Functioning at 400mW during HD MPEG-4 encode, the TI/Aptina camera can operate at less than 3W.

Order entry is open for the TI/Aptina HD IP network camera reference design at www.ti.com/ipnetcampr. The $795 royalty free reference design includes the camera, tripod, cables, and power adaptor as well a quick start guide and production agreement. The camera system is expected to begin shipping in Q2.

For production quantities, TI's DM355 processor is available today at $10 and consists of an integrated video processing subsystem, an MPEG-4-JPEG co-processor (MJCP), a 270MHz ARM926EJ-S core and peripherals. The DM355 also includes an integrated DAC, which can be used along with the OPA361 video amplifier to drive composite PAL or NTSC output. The MJCP provides HD MPEG-4 SP encode or decode at 720p and 30 frames per second and JPEG encode or decode at 75Mpixels per second.