FPGAs enable the operation of a documentary-style camera

16th September 2014

Altera Europe

Siobhan O'Gorman

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To enable the operation of it's documentary-style camera, ARRI have utilised Altera's Stratix V FPGA and Enpirion PowerSoC DC/DC converter. These products contribute to the AMIRA camera's ergonomic design which is optimised for single-operator use. With the Stratix V FPGA, the AMIRA camera features the same sensor and image quality as the ARRI ALEXA camera, but at up to 200fps.

At IBC 2014, ARRI demonstated the live content capture capabilities and UHD output support for AMIRA. Due to it's reprogrammable system architecture and processing power, the camera allows in-camera, real-time up-sampling for UHD distribution. To enable precision capture operation and camera control, the AMIRA multi-viewfinder uses Altera's Cyclone V which also makes it affordable for those on a budget.

Franz Kraus, Managing Director, ARRI, said, "Our cameras are designed to enable filmmakers to capture the emotion in the moment. There is no second shot, so the camera must offer the highest level of control and the best configuration settings to enable filmmakers to anticipate action; and that is what the Altera FPGA technology helps us deliver in AMIRA."

Dan McNamara, Vice President of the Broadcast Business Unit at Altera, said, "The programmable and high-performance capabilities of Stratix V are ideally suited to the design challenges and enabled ARRI to create a cutting-edge documentary camera. The AMIRA, our first collaboration with ARRI, is a remarkable camera with exceptional picture quality that comes with complex system design challenges, pushing the envelope in terms of smaller form factor, lower power consumption, and computational and memory bandwidth."