TI jumpstarts video surveillance designs and reduces costs with new high-performance, multi-megapixel IP camera and DVR reference designs

Today, Texas Instruments Incorporated introduces two new, out-of-the-box reference designs that provide a complete hardware and software solution for application development that allow customers to spend their design time differentiating their video security solutions and getting to market quickly. These reference designs, a digital video recorder (DVR) and Internet Protocol (IP) camera are based on a single, scalable platform, the recently announced, TMS320DM81xx DaVinci digital media processor generation.



The DVR reference design can support analog cameras or serve as a hybrid DVR, allowing the combination of various analog and IP camera configurations, providing maximum reuse and preventing costly replacement of existing infrastructure With more than 32 channels of real-time D1, H.264 high-profile video processing capability, the DVR offers 2.6 times greater H.264 compression ratio than any other DVR on the market at this video quality. Video traffic and data storage is optimized to allow the same high quality viewing for all stored videos while using less disk space. For example, customers can use a 350 GB disk drive instead of a 1 TB disk drive and still receive the same quality for all stored videos. The new DVR reference design is based on TI’s TMS320DM8168 DaVinci digital media processor, running at 1 GHz. The DM8168 DaVinci digital media processor contains a fixed- and floating-point digital signal processor (DSP), allowing multi-channel analytics capability for constant examination of video inputs to detect an event and automatically respond. With network capability for remote accessibility, the reference design provides high- quality video and up to three independent displays, including HDMI outputs.

The intelligent IP camera reference design provides up to 10 megapixels resolution at a reduced frame rate in low power, enabling smaller products such as mini domes. The multi-megapixel resolution reduces the amount of cameras needed to monitor large areas such as casinos, parking lots, retail stores and more. The IP camera is perfect for HD video surveillance in low-light conditions and capturing minute details, such as license plate numbers and human facial feature recognition. The DM812x DaVinci digital media processor also allows video analytics through its DSP for targeted intelligence in the camera. This intelligence allows only necessary video sequences to be recorded, streamed and stored to make video security systems more efficient and prevent the need for 24/7 manual monitoring.



Flexible and cost-effective development

Both the IP camera and DVR reference designs provide an end-to-end video surveillance solution, based on one technology platform – the DM81xx DaVinci digital media platform. This means the solution is easily integrated and scalable based on customer needs and is cost-effective to design. Offering 100 percent software compatibility and processor core compatibility, both reference designs enable more than 20 hardware derivatives while protecting hardware and software investments via re-use. Utilizing one vendor (TI) also gives a reliable, supported platform, only needing to contact TI for any support issues. Royalty-free Linux-based application source code enables flexibility for product differentiation, unlike competing products that may contain proprietary, fee-based code.

“ITX Security’s commitment is delivering best-in-class security solutions to our customers,” said Dr. Sangyeol Park, chief executive officer, ITX Security. “TI’s DVR reference design drastically reduced our development time, and we already have a product to take to market that delivers H.264 high-profile processing and aids our customers’ green efforts by reducing required disk space by two-thirds.”

“It is essential to reduce costs, power and board space to deliver video security IP cameras with high video quality and superior user experiences in a smaller space,” said William Ku, director, brand business division, VIVOTEK Inc. ”Thanks to TI, the outstanding performance of our SUPREME series is recognized in the global IP surveillance industry. We successfully created even smaller security cameras with full HD video and built-in analytics at a lower price to improve the total cost of ownership of a comprehensive security system.”