1999-08-16 , E/IC-1062/54
Product News From Philips Semiconductors

Philips Semiconductors, the leading European Semiconductor company, has recently announced a new USB interface with a range of scaling, compression and audio functions, for low-cost VGA resolution PC camera solutions. A highly-integrated second generation device, the  SAA8115 greatly reduces external component count and, together with its existing family of front-end ICs and camera DSPs, Philips Semiconductors now offers a proven, low-cost two- or three-chip system solution from CCD sensor input to USB output. This allows camera manufacturers to create high performance VGA cameras at low cost, for the highly price-competitive but potentially massive market for consumer-oriented PC camera applications such as home video conferencing, video mail and interactive games.

"Demand is increasing very rapidly for PC digital video cameras and with the release of the SAA8115, Philips Semiconductors offers one of the most highly integrated and complete solutions for cost-sensitive applications," said Claude Giraud, international product marketing manager for Imaging in Caen, France, where all Philips Semiconductors digital camera ICs are designed and manufactured. "By drawing on our recognized expertise in analog and digital video signal processing and USB technology, the SAA8115 allows manufacturers to optimize system performance and image quality while keeping costs low, making it an ideal solution for VGA resolution USB-enabled PC cameras."

The SAA8115 offers higher frame rates than its predecessors, delivering a smoother video stream and better image quality, even in low-cost cameras. It also works with a greater range of VGA CCD sensors, offering increased design flexibility in balancing price and performance and enabling manufacturers to differentiate products more easily in a very competitive market. High quality VGA snapshots can also be handled without the need for an external frame buffer memory (although it can support one if preferred, through its SDRAM interface).

The SAA8115 works seamlessly with the recently released SAA8112 DSP and TDA8784/87A front-end IC, in a low-power, low chip-count system solution. With a built-in DC-to-DC converter, external component count is further reduced as well as delivering savings in both cost and board space. A USB Camera reference design is available, using a VGA progressive scan CCD sensor and the  TDA8784, SAA8112 and SAA8115 chipset, to simplify the design-in process.

The SAA8115 includes an embedded Pulse Pattern Generator (PPG) compatible with an extensive range of CCD sensors from most suppliers (Panasonic, Sharp and Sony). It also offers efficient video compression (up to x8), achieving frame rates of 15 frames per second in VGA format (progressive mode) or 30 frames per second in CIF and QCIF formats. The USB audio and video protocol controller accepts D1 digital video inputs (8-bit YUV 4:2:2 CCIR656) from a camera DSP and analog audio signals from an external source such as a microphone, and converts them to properly formatted USB packets.

Philips Semiconductors, a division of Royal Philips Electronics, headquartered in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, is the eighth largest semiconductor supplier in the world. Philips Semiconductors' innovations in digital audio, video, and mobile technology position the company as a leader in the consumer, multimedia and wireless communications markets. Sales offices are located in all major markets around the world and are supported by systems labs. Additional information on Philips Semiconductors can be obtained by accessing its home page at  http://www.semiconductors.philips.com