The 3 Challenges of Video System Design

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The 3 Challenges of Video System Design

It’s exciting for system designers to get the opportunity to work on a new platform, or upgrade an ageing one, because it often enables them to play with the latest and greatest technology. As camera technology has advanced in the last decade to provide super clear images in real time, often over Ethernet, it’s tempting for a system architect to select the latest in HD camera technology and base the rest of the system design around that choice. On new platforms this can work, assuming all the associated hardware is HD compatible, but on upgrade programs one must consider how the system interfaces with legacy equipment to ensure they are getting the most out of the system upgrade. This is often the biggest challenge in system design but choosing the right video system components that will keep system cost and weight down – while also reducing program risk and time to market – is also often challenging.

Typically the three biggest challenges in developing or upgrading a video system are:

Traditionally video systems would have separate devices for format conversion, scaling, recordingswitching, etc. All of these boxes and their associated cabling takes up significant space on already constrained platforms. And using the latest in sensor technology could require custom interface design and/or display technology to get the most out of the camera capabilities also adding system weight, complexity and development time.