Originally Published EMDM
September 2003
Technology News
Firmware Improves Real-Time Video Applications |
| The KAI-1020 sensor captures images at video rates of 30 frames per second. |
New image-processing firmware enhances resolution and speed in real-time applications. The KSC-3000 processor, developed by
Eastman Kodak Co. (Rochester, NY, USA), complements the firm’s KAI-1020CM interline CCD image sensor. The one-megapixel sensor captures images at video rates of 30 frames per second. Used together, they can convert images from raw Bayer digital colour data into 24-bit RGB colour output. Real-time imaging in endoscopy, microscopy, and machine vision systems would benefit.
Most digital video imagers use a single-colour image sensor. Only one colour value is assigned per pixel. Software is then used to determine the missing values to create a full-colour image. However, low resolution and processing speed often impair the quality of the picture. The KSC-3000 increases resolution and frame rate by converting megapixel raw data into 24-bit RGB at 30 frames per second.
According to Helen Titus, worldwide marketing manager at Eastman Kodak, the sensor-and-processor combination “provides customers with a strong advantage over traditional interlaced VGA (640 ¥ 480) video cameras and imagers. They cannot achieve comparable resolution or colour fidelity. Together, these offerings deliver significantly increased vertical resolution that eliminates motion artifacts or jagged lines caused by interlaced video,” adds Titus.
Firmware controls can be customized to better control image processing. These controls include point-defect correction, white balance, colour interpolation, colour correction, and gamma correction.
Rita Emmanouilidou
Copyright ©2003 European Medical Device Manufacturer
