Analog Devices unveils Wavelet Compression IC

Electronic News, May 27, 1996 by Sarah Cohen

Norwood, Mass.--Analog Devices Inc. (ADI) has developed a wavelet-based video compression, single-chip solution. An alternative to M-JPEG (motion JPEG) codecs, the ADV601 video codec has real-time video compression capability in a closed system, and need not adhere to standards such as MPEG because the chip does not communicate with other systems, said Roger Smith, marketing manager of ADI's video product line.

The ADV601 is targeted toward alternative video compression markets such as video capture, home video processing, remote video surveillance, archiving, digital camcorders and other video applications in which an editing capability is necessary. Mr. Smith said "The ADV601 is not a replacement for MPEG. We have no intention of creating a new standard." Instead, the ADV601 may become compatible to an incarnation of MPEG in the future, perhaps MPEG-4 (EN, March 25).

The ADV601 video codec competes more directly with M-JPEG. Both the ADV601 and M-JPEG compatible chips have record and playback capabilities, said Rick Sizemore, president of Total Research in Multimedia, but images from the ADV601 are scalable because wavelets utilize mathematical algorithms. M-JPEG requires the installment of hardware to make an image scalable. Rick Lehtinen, senior analyst at In-Stat called wavelet technology the "most promising next technology I've seen."

Quadrant International of Malvern, Pa., has purchased the ADV601 for a PCI-based, nonlinear video editing product called VideoWave to be demonstrated next week at Comdex Spring in Chicago. Priced at $499, VideoWave comes with Super VHS-quality video capture, editing and playback hardware and software.

In wavelet compression, the silicon required for encoding is the same as the silicon required for decoding, making the cost of encoding and decoding equal, said the company. Also, because the compressed data representing a frame contains information about the entire image, not simply a block of pixels within the image, the inevitable degradation of that image will not have a "blocky" appearance, but rather "softening," said Mr. Smith, which is more natural to a TV-watcher's eye.

The ADV601 can store 25 minutes of VHS-quality video in 1-gigabyte of hard disc space, 2 to 5 times more video than other editable compression techniques, said the company. Priced at $35.95 in quantities of 10,000 and $499 on ADI's PCI-board, Mr. Smith said the ADV601 is one-half to one-third the cost of M-JPEG solutions. Samples are available now and production is slated for July.