Any digital camera engineer in here?

[yanon]

Do digital camera makers manufacture the processors used in their digital cameras? Can you tell me some of the digital signal processors (and their specs.) in cameras from big names like Canon, Nikon, Konica Minolta, Panasonics, Sony, Fujifilm, and Kodak. Do the processor actually compresses the video data in realtime or the camera just buffer the movie data first before the processor compress them? Most good cameras come with 16 to 32 Mbytes of integrated memory. Is this memory different from the removable memory just like L2 Cache is different from DDR RAM?

 

[AndyHui]

There is very little camera CPU information out there. I only know of the Canons, which use the DIGIC and DIGIC II processors, and the Panasonics, which use the Venus Engine and new Venus II Engines.

As far as further information is concerned, apart from processor name, there isn't much to go on. Here's a press release from Canon:

Canon DIGIC Image Processor
Every digital camera uses a CPU of some kind to "process" images recorded by the camera and also to control overall camera functions. In most cases, this is the same type of general-purpose CPU typically used for video games, word processors and computer spreadsheets. However, when such CPUs are applied to image processing in digital cameras they tend to be very slow.

Canon's proprietary image processor, called DIGIC, was developed specifically for use with its line of digital cameras and combines the jobs of image processing and camera function control into one chip. Canon's DIGIC (short for Digital Imaging Integrated Circuit) is much faster at image processing than a general purpose CPU because it employs parallel processing rather than the sequential, one pixel at a time processing methods used by "conventional" digital cameras. The extra speed of DIGIC makes it possible to incorporate higher quality signal processing algorithms than conventional digital cameras, while at the same time improving buffer performance and consuming less battery power because signal processing is completed more quickly on a per-image basis.

However, DIGIC does much more than image processing. Because it was specifically designed for use in a digital camera, it is also capable of handling nearly every digital camera function including JPEG compression/expansion; memory card control; Auto Exposure; Auto White Balance control and most other camera functions. In the case of the EOS 10D, for example, the number of consecutive frames is 9, compared to 8 in the EOS D60 and the battery life lasts approximately 30 percent longer. These improvements were made possible by the DIGIC Image Processor, not by any improvements in the camera or batteries themselves.

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: yanon
Do digital camera makers manufacture the processors used in their digital cameras? Can you tell me some of the digital signal processors (and their specs.) in cameras from big names like Canon, Nikon, Konica Minolta, Panasonics, Sony, Fujifilm, and Kodak. Do the processor actually compresses the video data in realtime or the camera just buffer the movie data first before the processor compress them? Most good cameras come with 16 to 32 Mbytes of integrated memory. Is this memory different from the removable memory just like L2 Cache is different from DDR RAM?

I work for a company that makes processers for digital cameras. I can tell you this company Manufactures do not make the chips. They get teh chips from other manufactures, such as the one i work for. I cannot tell you the specs and how they work (i would get fired), but i can tell you that there is usually a general chip deisgn that is made, but the manufactures make minor changes to tweak their product. However, usually in one product, there are usally more than three different companies involved in making it.

I cannot answer your 2nd question.

Yes, all medias are different, but the end result usually ends up the same. I can tell you that I think the best implimentations are on XD cards.

 

[Gibson486]

n/m

 

[yanon]

Atmel Ships 16 Megapixel Digital Camera Processor Chip
SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 31, 2000--Atmel Corporation (Nasdaq:ATML - news) today announced the immediate availability of its MPIX 1 single chip digital camera processor. The chip, first sampled in June of this year, supports up to 16 megapixel CCD and CMOS type imagers. Production is now ramping up in support of two major customers, one with a digital camera consumer product and the other with an industrial application.

MPIX 1, which is the first of a family of products, is the most highly integrated camera engine in the market and requires fewer support chips than any other competitive product currently available. Based on an ARM 7 processor that controls the entire chip, the digital camera processor provides a large number of hardware features including DSP functions for imager processing, baseline JPEG compression/decompression, interfaces for all Flash cards, full speed USB interface and UART for PC camera applications, as well as direct interfaces to UNIPAC, and EPSON LCDs.

The processor IC is cost effective enough to support medium quality consumer cameras, and is powerful enough to support the highest image quality required in professional and industrial cameras. In addition to high quality still pictures, the chip has movie mode options which include single shot and freeze mode, programmable size imager window and programmable size movie window through decimation and zooming. The powerful MPIX 1 image processor provides smear correction, color recovery, gamma correction, RGB-to-YC and YC-to-RGB conversion, saturation control plus luminance enhancement and chroma gain.

Atmel's Director of Multimedia and Communications Products, Nick Kanopoulos remarked, "It takes still pictures, it displays video, it records/plays back voice memos and it is simply the most integrated camera processor in the market today.''

The ARM 7 processor has readily available third party development tools. In addition, Atmel provides an OEM Development kit at a cost of $15,000, this emulates the entire camera and contains a CCD modual plus the board with access to all interfaces. The MPIX 1 product is offered for sale in the USA, Europe and parts of Asia at a price of $15 in high production volumes.

source: dpreview.com

Digital Cameras - COACH
coach 6 | cmos sensors | reference designs | pdfs

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COACH 7 Digital Camera Processor


Zoran's COACH 7 is the seventh generation Camera On A CHip (COACH) digital camera processor. COACH 7 is an integrated, application-specific signal processing IC, managing still and video signals in digital cameras. Optimized for entry-level to high-end camera ranges, COACH 7 provides a complete, cost effective, and low power solution for digital camera manufacturers. COACH 7 is available in several versions: in two versions: COACH 7e (ZR36450), our entry line product supporting up to 12-bit color; COACH 7p (ZR36452), our performance line product with up to 16-bit color support and an embedded Timing Generator (TG); and COACH 7MCM (ZR364555). For the camera developer, all versions support 16Mp image resolution, are firmware compatible, and share a majority of the system configuration for easy migration. They all have identical interface sets and development kits and provide cost effectiveness across the entry level and performance digital camera market segments.

COACH 7 includes all required hardware and firmware to support multiple-field interlaced CCD sensors and CMOS sensors. In addition to CompactFlash, Secure Digital and SmartMedia, COACH 7 expands the Flash card support to XD and to Memory Stick. COACH 7 integrates a speech audio CODEC and a Real Time Clock system. It offers direct interface to View-LCD display, eliminating the need for an LCD controller IC. COACH 7 eliminates the need for an external microcontroller. Internal A/D converters, PWM engines and additional general-purpose IO pins were added in order to directly control Zoom and Auto Focus lenses. COACH 7 emphasizes image quality with true 12-bit enhanced sensor processing and hardware-based image enlargement, which allows for smooth, zero-delay digital zoom across all camera operational modes.

In an effort to ease programming complexity and allow for third party software development, COACH 7 is powered by a 32bit MIPS CPU and a standard operating system. The USB 2.0 point-to-point master and an enhanced serial port complement the new software architecture. With these improvements, COACH 7 expands digital camera connectivity beyond the PC.



You probably work for Atmel or Zoran. It is okay. You can tell me the specs. People can't create a brand new processor just from reading the specs. Many millitary experts from other countries saw F22 but they can't build one.

 

[Mday]

I'll throw in my 2 cents too...

Optics - few DC manufacturers make their own lenses.
CCD - few manufacturers make their own CCDs\CMOS. And even if they do, sometimes they use CCDs\CMOS from other manufacturers.

You have to start digging the industry publications when you want specific infomration like that btw ;-).

As for flash memory (removable type or the USB keychain type), there are a small list of manufacturers for the actual memory chip inside them. For some reason, the lexar USB dongle I have and a memory stick I have use samsung... probably just coincidence =P