Cast H264-E provides near constant-quality video

The Cast H264-E Encoder Core is intended for applications that require the transmission of the highest quality video over low bit-rate channels, including remote medical diagnostics, military targeting, satellite reconnaissance and advanced surveillance systems.

It offers this quality for screen sizes from handheld (CIF, 352 x 240 pixels) to full HD (1080p30, 1920 x 1080 at 30 frames per second).

The core supports the Baseline Profile, Level 4.1, of the H.264 specification (MPEG-4 Part 10, also known as MPEG-4 AVC, Advanced Video Coding).

That specification, however, defines a format, not a means for achieving it, and the quality of output can vary across implementations.

The Cast H264-E Encoder Core features excellent output and near constant-quality video for even the most demanding compression challenges: high-motion scenes, quick camera panning, rapid scene changes, artificial motion and frequent zooming.

Achieving this video quality with just baseline profile support means the Cast H264-E requires fewer resources - processing time, chip area, and power consumption - than competing cores that support higher-level profiles.

In fact, the H264-E readily fits and performs well in popular FPGA devices as well as ASICs, including Altera's low cost Cyclone III devices and the rest of the company's FPGA and Hardcopy ASIC ranges, and the Xilinx high-performance Virtex-4 and Virtex-5 ranges.

The H264-E Encoder Core was developed by Alma Technologies SA in Greece.

The core is available now, in RTL source code for ASICs or optimised netlists for programmable devices.

A full description of its features and technical details are available on the Cast website.