Ambarella Introduces Low-Power, Multi-Streaming HD IP Camera

• Apr 04, 2011

Ambarella Inc. announced the A7 IP Camera SoC, which brings 1080p60 H.264 performance. The A7 integrates a high-performance image sensor pipeline with up to 500 MHz pixel capture rate with a multi-streaming 1080p60 H.264 encoder and power consumption below 1.5 watts.

The A7 leverages Ambarella's professional broadcast encoding and 3D noise reduction technology to deliver high-quality video at exceptionally low bitrates, even in complex high-motion and low-light scenes. A wide selection of CMOS sensors are supported, including the newest generation of 14 megapixel resolution and Wide Dynamic Range (WDR) devices.

Ambarella will demonstrate the A7 performance during ISC West.

"As Ambarella's flagship SoC for IP cameras, the new A7 delivers flexible, 1080p60 high-definition capabilities for the next generation of IP cameras," said Fermi Wang, president and CEO of Ambarella. "The A7 extends our growing IP camera product portfolio and further demonstrates Ambarella's commitment to the video surveillance market."

The A7 offers a number of features for IP camera applications:

• 500 MHz pixel capture rate (equivalent to 8MP at 60 frames per second) – supports oversampling for the highest image quality and enables multi-window digital PTZ.
• 3D motion-compensated noise reduction eliminates the motion smearing and ghosting artifacts commonly associated with motion adaptive 3D filtering.
• Digital WDR adjusts the contrast of each pixel to enhance visibility in challenging lighting conditions.
• Flexible video engine delivers up to 1080p60 + VGA H.264 high-profile encoding, or the combination of streams, such as two 1080p30, four 720p30 streams, or 5MP at 24 fps.
• Flexible multiple-stream encoding with independent frame rate, resolution, bit rate, Group of Pictures (GOP) and profile. Achieves optimal encoding efficiency for both storage and viewing streams.
• Large motion estimation search range and support for hierarchical B-frames enable high compression efficiency and superior motion handling.
• Sub-frame encoding delay for improved real-time communications. Low power consumption (below 1.5W) improves reliability, simplifies design, and enables compact form factors.