IP Cores for Video and Image Compression, Processing, and Acceleration
Video and Image IP Products
CAST offers one of the broadest and deepest available lines of cores for compressing and processing graphics data. Mouse over each product group box for a list of its cores, or see below for the individual cores and platforms in each product group.
MPEG-2
H.264 Video
JPEG 2000
Scalers
DV
JPEG
Lossless Compression
Graphics
Processors
Deinterlacers
Application Platforms
Functions & Converters
- Main Profile H.264 Video Encoder
extremely high quality video output, fits low-cost FPGAs - Baseline H.264 Video Encoder
high-quality video, small and fast - High Profile H.264 Video Decoder
coming soon
- Polynomial Image Scaler
good quality, for smaller screens - Frequency Domain Image Scaler
high-quality, modest resource use - Anistropic Image Scaler
very high quality, good for very large screens
- MPEG2 Video
MPEG2 MP@HL Decoder - MPEG2 Transport Stream
ISO/IEC 13818-1 MPEG2 Transport Stream (TS) decoder or demutliplexor
- Encoder
complete high performance JPEG2000 - ISO/IEC 15444-1 image compression solution
- DV
coming soon
- Encoder
one of the fastest available standalone and high-performance JPEG encoder - Decoder
one of the fastest available standalone and high-performance JPEG decoder - Codec
one of the fastest available standalone and high-performance half-duplex, JPEG codec - Scalado Encoder
high-performance image encoder that produces SpeedView™ enabled JPEG data streams - 12/8-bit Extended Encoder
high-performance image encoder that complies with both the Baseline (8-bit) and Extended Sequential (12-bit) DCT modes of the ISO/IEC 10918-1 JPEG standard - Block-to-Raster
JPEG block to raster scan converter - Raster-to-Block
JPEG raster to block scan converter - Raster-Block Bidirect
JPEG raster to block, block to raster scan converter
- LJPEG Encoder
Lossless JPEG (LJPEG) compression ideal for applications where bit-by-bit accurate reproduction of an image is essential - LJPEG Decoder
Lossless JPEG (LJPEG) decoder ideal for applications where bit-by-bit accurate reproduction of an image is essential - JPEG-LS Encoder
a high performance solution for image and video lossless compression applications
- 2D Accelerator
implements a graphics processing unit that accelerates basic two-dimensional graphics functions, including block transfers, vector drawing, and bit-block transfer (BitBLT) primitives
- Basic
converts a standard interlaced video stream to progressive video format, extremely efficient, practically no delay - Motion Adaptive
implements a high-quality, motion adaptive video deinterlacer that converts interlaced video signals (such as 1080i HD or analog TV) into progressive (non-interlaced) form
- H.264 Video Application Platform
FPGA board with encoder, memory controller and other IP, plus essential software - J2K Platform
integrates multiple IP cores with memory and software on a system prototyping board to enable off-the-shelf execution and evaluation
- Color Space Converter
compact, high-performance, highly flexible color space conversion core - DCT Forward
implements the 2D Forward Cosine Transform - DCT Invrese
implements the 2D Inverse Cosine Transform - DCT Forward/Inverse
implements the combined 2D Forward/Inverse Cosine Transforms
Select the Optimal Still Image Compression Technology for Your Particular Application
Lossy compression, for cameras, image storage, etc.
Lossless compression, for professional video and medical imaging
- LJPEG Encoder and Decoder
The best lossless compression algorithm (from HP)
Lossy and Lossless compression, great quality, for surveillance and medical imaging
H.264 Video Encoding Board
A quick way to learn about or evaluate H.264 video encoding before you design
- View compression results on your own video clips
- Explore the critical video/memory interaction with a working example
A cooperative effort of CAST’s virtual organization:
CAST USA CAST Czech Republic Alma Technologies, Greece S2C, China
H.264 Platform available now;
JPEG 2000 version available soon.
Develop Better Systems with Our Team of Image & Video Experts
Current CAST customers use our multimedia solutions for space-based and airborne applications, security and surveillance, medical imaging, video conferencing, and various consumer products.
While fully-verified, documented, functional IP like ours is essential, our customers all attest to one key factor for their success: the knowledgeable support provided by our experienced multimedia engineers.
Multimedia IP cores don't function by themselves. Integration with the target system's SoC buses, memory controllers, and other system components must be addressed in a project's earliest to insure a working system solution.
Our engineers have years of experience and work closely with our customers all over the world — from pre-sales design specification through final project tape-out — to insure success. You can count on CAST to help you choose the right compression technology, then build it successfully.
Image and Video Compression Resources
Technotes & other related posts on our blog
See our Image/Video Compression Reading List on Amazon for technical book suggestions.
Learn how to choose the right compression IP for your particular application in this presentation: Choosing the Best IP for Compressing Images & Video.
Pixelmedia: H.264 Advanced Video Coding: A Whirlwind Tour
Balooga.com blog: Efficiency of the MPEG2, MPEG4-2 and MPEG4-10 (MPEG4 part 10, h.264 or h.26l) codecs
Includes good description of video clip conversion and viewing work flow.
Several H.264 tutorials and more at the Vcodex video coding page
Wikipedia: common screen resolutions and sizes
CAST has been a pioneer in graphics compression IP since our first JPEG codec core in 1998.
In 2001, we began our close relationship with multimedia experts Alma Technologies. Together we today offer one of the broadest and technically-superior lines of multimedia IP available anywhere (see list of cores below).
Our JPEG encoder and decoder have been successfully implemented in scores of customer designs. We continually enhance this IP to make it the smallest and fastest on the market, providing an unparalleled cost/performance value.
We also offer JPEG variants not available elsewhere, including Scalado Speedview and JPEG Extended (12-bit) cores.
Leveraging our expertise in JPEG, we have delivered the industry’s only Lossless JPEG encoder and decoder and JPEG-LS standards-based IP. LJPEG provides lossless JPEG in a small and efficient hardware implementation. The lesser known HP standard JPEG-LS provides the absolute best lossless compression.
JPEG 2000 is one of the most flexible but technically-demanding compression standards. With Alma, we have provided one of the first JPEG 2000 compression cores on the market, and have continuously improved this technology over the years.
Our JPEG2K encoder IP is currently fabricated in many military and airborne systems. Effectively exploiting this powerful technology and fine-tuning it for any specific application requires a talented, experienced team like our multimedia support organization.
Our next logical step was to implement video compression technology.
After years of study and design and close work with Alma, we are proud to say that the H.264 Main Profile video encoder and the H.264 Baseline video encoder cores we offer deliver higher-quality compressed video than any other core. Objective measures against JM13 (the industry standard by which video compression distortion is measured) show this superior compression quality.
This makes our H.264 encoder ideal for surveillance, medical imaging, and security applications, among others. Options and related CAST cores like Rate-Control, Raster-to-Block conversion, Color Space Conversion, and Video Deinterlacing help designers realize their design requirements in the most efficient manner.
While the quality of our image and video IP cores has been proven multiple times, it is the depth and expertise of our multimedia technical staff that really makes the difference for customer success.
Choosing the best compression method for a particular application can be confusing. We are well-equipped to help guide you through that process, having already done so with many customers successfully producing satellite, aeronautic, security, medical imaging, and video conferencing systems, plus numerous consumer products.
Moreover, multimedia IP cores don't function by themselves, but must be integrated into the target system. Our engineers have years of experience and work closely with our customers all over the world from pre-sales design specification to project tape-out to insure success. Integration with popular SoC system buses, memory controllers, and other system components are issues best addressed up-front to insure a working system solution.
The availability of additional CAST cores also enables us to deliver a total solution for your project. From PCI, PCI Express, USB and MAC interfaces through DDR2 and other memory controllers to the latest encryption technology, CAST has the building blocks and expertise for total system realization. See, for example our H.264 Application Platform and our JPEG 2000 Application Platform. These platforms are cooperative efforts of CAST’s virtual organization: CAST USA, CAST Czech Republic; Alma Technologies, Greece, and S2C, China. They integrate several CAST cores in a single package that you can try yourself. A quick way to learn about and evaluate H.264 and JPEG 2000 encoding before you design is to view compression results on your own video clips and images and to explore the critical encoder/memory interaction with a working example.
Available Video and Image Products
H.264 Video IP Cores
H264-BP-E
Implements a video encoder compatible to the Baseline profile of the H.264 standard, also known as MPEG-4 Part 10.
H264-MP-E
Implements a video encoder compatible to the Main profile of the H.264 standard, also known as MPEG-4 Part 10.
H264-AP
Integrates multiple IP cores with memory and software on a system prototyping board to enable off-the-shelf execution and evaluation of high-definition video compression.
Video Decoders
MPEG2-D
Implements a hardware video decoder capable of decoding Main Profile @ High Level bit streams.
MPEG2-TS-D
Implements a ISO/IEC 13818-1 MPEG2 Transport Stream (TS) decoder or demutliplexor.
JPEG 2000 IP Cores
JPEG2K-E
Implements a complete, high-performance, JPEG2000 (ISO/IEC 15444-1) image compression solution targeted for video and high bandwidth image compression applications.
JPEG2000-AP
Integrates multiple IP cores with memory and software on a system prototyping board to enable off-the-shelf execution and evaluation of scalable, efficient compression of images at any resolution up to 64kx64k pixels.
JPEG IP Cores
JPEG-E
Implements a high-performance image encoder that complies with the baseline ISO/IEC 10918-1 JPEG standard.
JPEG-D
Implements a high-performance image or video decoder that complies with the baseline ISO/IEC 10918-1 JPEG standard.
JPEG-C
Implements a high-performance, half-duplex, hardware encoder/decoder for compressing or decompressing photo images or video.
SVE-JPEG-E
Implements a high-performance image encoder that produces SpeedView™ enabled JPEG data streams.
JPEG-E-X
Implements a high-performance image encoder that complies with both baseline and extended sequential DCT modes of ISO/IEC 10918-1 JPEG standard.
JPEG Block/Raster Converters
BRC
Implements a perfect Block-to-Raster standalone and on-the-fly conversion solution for applications that need to display decompressed image data that have been compressed using the JPEG image compression algorithm.
RBC
Implements a perfect Raster-to-Block standalone and on-the-fly conversion solution for the JPEG image compression algorithm.
RBBRC
Implements a perfect Raster-to-Block & Block-to-Raster standalone and on-the-fly conversion solution for the JPEG image compression algorithm.
Lossless Compression IP Cores
LJPEG-E
Implements the Lossless JPEG (LJPEG) compression in a compact, high-performance, stand-alone package ideal for applications where bit-by-bit accurate reproduction of an image is essential.
LJPEG-D
Implements a Lossless JPEG (LJPEG) decoder in a compact, high-performance, stand-alone package ideal for applications where bit-by-bit accurate reproduction of an image is essential.
JPEGLS-E
Implements a JPEG-LS encoder that forms a high performance solution for image and video lossless compression applications.
Graphics Processors
2D-GRAPHACC
Implements a graphics processing unit that accelerates common primitive functions for two-dimensional graphics, including block transfers, vector drawing, and bit-block transfer (BitBLT) primitives.
Image Scaler IP Cores
SCALER-A
Implements an image scaler that uses 2D anisotropic filtering to produce extremely high quality enlarged images, suitable for use in systems requiring maximum image quality on large display screens.
SCALER-F
Implements an image scaler that uses 2D frequency domain filtering to produce high quality enlarged images—suitable for use on large display screens—with just a modest use of hardware and processing resources.
SCALER-P
Implements a video image scaler that uses a polynomial scaling algorithm to produce good quality enlarged or reduced images while using little silicon area and having modest processing requirements.
Video Deinterlacer IP Cores
VDINT
Converts a standard interlaced video stream to progressive video format for further processing or display.
VDINT-MA
Implements a high-quality, motion adaptive video deinterlacer that converts interlaced video signals (such as 1080i HD or analog TV) into progressive (non-interlaced) form.
Image and Video Functions and Converter IP Cores
CSC
Implements a compact, high-performance, highly flexible color space conversion core, which can be used to convert from any color space with 3 color channels, to any color space with 3 color channels (e.g. RGB to YCrCb, YCrCb to RGB).
DCT
Implements the 2D Forward Cosine Transform.
IDCT
Implements the 2D Inverse Cosine Transform. Most of the image/video compression standards (JPEG, MPEGx, H.261, H.263, DV etc) are based on the Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT).
DCT-FI
Implements the combined 2D Forward/Inverse Cosine Transforms.
