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Capturing, processing and transmitting video images — Parallax Forums

Capturing, processing and transmitting video images

mirage.ohmirage.oh Posts: 2
edited 2008-09-29 07:02 in Propeller 1
Hi guys,

I'm a newbie here and would like to ask you guys for some advice. I'm currently looking for a microprocessor that can capture video images from a webcam/pin hole camera, process the video (setting the frame rate etc) and then streaming the video images through a wireless chip. May I know if the Propeller microprocessor is able to do all these? If not, do any of you have any recommendations?

Regards,
Mirage

Comments

  • Mike GreenMike Green Posts: 23,101
    edited 2008-09-24 15:57
    The Propeller is not fast enough to do this nor does it have enough memory. You really need something like an embedded PC with a megabyte or so of RAM and running something like embedded Linux off an SD card.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 7,620
    edited 2008-09-24 17:20
    The ADI Blackfin is ideal for that sort of application. The tools are expensive, though.

    Leon

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    Amateur radio callsign: G1HSM
    Suzuki SV1000S motorcycle
  • rjo_rjo_ Posts: 1,825
    edited 2008-09-24 18:43
    Mirage,

    I don't have the same interests... but pretty close. I thought about it for a long time and finally went here:

    http://www.terasic.com.tw/cgi-bin/page/archive.pl?Language=English&CategoryNo=39&No=281

    Terasic is an Altera distributor/development partner.

    This is a wonderful, affordable and startlingly clear implementation. Great way to jump into Verilog and FPGAs...and it actually works, first time, with about 10 minutes worth of study. I don't speak Verilog... never saw an FPGA before and I am not a techno wiz.

    Don't get the DE1 package... it doesn't support saving to PC, which you will want. There are all kinds of prebuilt utilities in Altera's OBEX... which you can pay through the nose for[noparse]:)[/noparse]

    I'm doing this while I'm waiting for the Prop II and more RAM in addition to what comes on the PropII...or a serial camera from either Parallax or 4D Systems.

    Consider all of the intellectual property you need to command if you want to go this particular FPGA route commercially: You don't even have the right to use the software you paid for... for commercial purposes, without some kind of further agreement[noparse]:)[/noparse] Thats a real killer for a small company.


    Rich

    "ILMP"
  • Timothy D. SwieterTimothy D. Swieter Posts: 1,613
    edited 2008-09-25 06:30
    Here is a camera that uses Blackfin.

    http://www.surveyor.com/blackfin/

    I agree with Mike about the memory, but I guess that depends on what you are doing for processing. If you want to save full frames in memory, no luck there. If, however, you could have some sort of FIFO setup where a stream of data is coming in from a camera and going out immediately to a wireless device, then you might be able to do that. The frame rate will not be good and one little hickup on the wireless will slow down image transfer.

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    Timothy D. Swieter, E.I.

    www.brilldea.com·- Prop Blade, LED Painter, RGB LEDs, uOLED-IOC, eProto fo SunSPOT, BitScope
    www.sxmicro.com - a blog·exploring the SX micro
    www.tdswieter.com
  • mirage.ohmirage.oh Posts: 2
    edited 2008-09-27 08:31
    Thanks a lot for all the suggestions! =)

    Still weighing all the possible options for now...
  • stevenmess2004stevenmess2004 Posts: 1,102
    edited 2008-09-29 07:02
    The propeller can actually capture NTSC video and then output it again. There is a thread somewhere in the forums but don't ask me to find it smile.gif, I just remember reading it months ago.

    However, I think there wasn't many resources left and it was running at a fairly low resolution and colour depth.
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