Pelco and Pixim: providing advanced imaging solutions

Pelco and Pixim: providing advanced imaging solutions. Dynamic range is the ratio of the brightest pixel that can be captured by the imaging system to the darkest pixel that can be captured in the same frame. Too much light and the sensor can saturate, too little and the sensor may not register the image at all. Both of these conditions distort the image, hiding potentially vital information that lies outside the dynamic range of the sensor. Together with Pixim, Pelco continues to develop camera options for applications in the most demanding lighting environments.

Digital Pixel System (DPS) technology from Pixim is a breakthrough imaging system that greatly enhances video and image capture in a wide range of applications. This revolutionary technology is now available in the Pelco Camclosure IS and Camclosure IP product lines. According to Pixim’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing John Monti, DPS technology helps users to more effectively recognize, interpret and judge remote events and objects as if he or she were physically there.

The Wide Dynamic Range of DPS technology automatically adjusts to variable, real-world lighting conditions. “Pixim’s Digital Pixel System technology has advantages in strong backlight applications such as building lobbies,” explains Monti. “In high contrast scenes, DPS technology enables easier identification of faces. Skin tone, shadow, and highlight detail are much clearer.”

How powerful the system works is displayed by the pictures of this article, an application of video surveillance at a store with extreme lighting conditions. In a traditional imager, typically a single exposure time is used for all pixels, which means that some pixels (the brighter ones) may be overexposed while others (the darker ones) may be underexposed.

DPS overcomes this limitation. DPS technology converts the quantity of light striking each picture element (pixel) to a digital value at the earliest possible point: at the pixel itself. An analog-to-digital converter (ADC) is designed into each pixel, and is operated simultaneously with all other ADCs in every pixel of the sensor.

“DPS cameras render true color even in quickly changing scenes, and never have issues of vertical smear,” says Monti. “DPS cameras can also save money by removing the requirement of an expensive DC auto iris lens.”

Together with Pixim, Pelco continues to develop camera options for applications in the most demanding lighting environments. In addition to the unmatched image quality and dynamic range made possible by DPS, capabilities were designed into the chipset that allow Pelco to develop full-featured cameras with few additional components.

Now that DPS technology is incorporated in Pelco’s Camclosure Integrated Camera Systems, Sara Scroggins, Product Marketing Manager says it has changed what users have come to expect from imaging systems. “These pixelbased imagers deliver a new level of wide dynamic range, color reproduction and image detail,” says Scroggins. “Now our customers are specifically asking for this technology.”

This article was first published in Pelco Press Spring 2007

Contact:

Erin Person
Pelco Inc,
Clovis, USA
Tel.: +1 559 292 1981 4397
Fax: +1 559 294 3782
eperson@pelco.com
www.pelco.com

John Monti
Pixim Inc,
Mountain View, USA
Tel.: +1 650 605 1107
Fax: +1 650 934 0560
monti@pixim.com 
www.pixim.com