MPEG2 Frame grabber for PC/104

Model 512

Features
Real time MPEG-2 and MPEG-1 video encoder and decoder

Support for variable bit rate and constant bit rate

Support for NTSC, PAL

Composite and S-video inputs and outputs

Onboard linear 16-bit audio CODEC (uncompressed audio)

DOS, Windows and Linux drivers

3 digital TTL level digital inputs and/or outputs

Description
Model 512 is a PC/104 frame grabber that captures and transfers full-frame (640 x 480) video at 30 frames per second. It overcomes the low bandwidth of the PC/104 bus by using hardware compression to produce encoded MPEG2 data streams of 440 kB to 1875 kB per second. It also has one audio input channel that is ssynchronized to the MPEG2 data.

Advantages
MPEG2 data reduces the amount of memory required to store full motion video. The compressed data requires a smaller transmission bandwidth. This makes it possible to transmit 30 frames/sec video over the PC/104 bus or over a 100 Base-T Ethernet.  The hardware compression circuit uses a motion estimation algorithm to produce smooth images from interlaced cameras.  The length of MPEG2 video streams is not limited by the viewing software.

Decompression
Encoded MPEG2 data can also be decompressed by the 512's hardware to produce composite video and audio. The video output is available at a BNC connector and a flat cable header. The audio output is available at an audio jack and the flat cable header.

Video channels
The 512 has four multiplexed video channels that function as four separate composite channels or as two  S-video inputs.

Digital I/O
Three bi-directional logic lines are under software control.

Self test
Digitized video and audio inputs can be looped back to the output circuits to allow camera adjustments.

The 512's D/A can be programmed to generate color test bars. This is useful for testing the video output channel.

Software
The 512 is supplied with a DOS driver, SDK12,  that allows register and memory buffer initialization, reading and writing MPEG2 data. The driver synchronizes the audio channel with the MPEG2 video channel during recording and playback.