Ambarella Introduces Complete 3D HD Camera Solution At Consumer Price Points

Monday, November 22nd, 2010

S3D video pre-processor first to offer full HD 1080p60 3D recording and display capability

SANTA CLARA, Calif — Ambarella, Inc., a leader in low-power, high-definition video compression and image-processing semiconductors, today announces the availability of a complete 3D camera solution that includes the new S3D™, a 3D video pre-processor. This introduction further extends the Company’s product portfolio for the fast-growing market of advanced hybrid still and video cameras. The S3D works with Ambarella’s industry-leading A5s and A7 camera system on chips (SoC) to enable full HD 1080p 3D video recording and high-resolution 3D photography with exceptional image quality. It connects to two standard CMOS image sensors and processes the image data to create a single video stream for the A5s or A7 camera SoCs. It also supports the display of 3D video and still images on the camera’s 3D LCD display.

“Ambarella’s new S3D-based 3D camera solution enables a new generation of HD 3D cameras at consumer price points and with outstanding video quality up to 1080p60 resolution,” says Fermi Wang, Ambarella CEO. “Consumers are finally able to create 3D movies and still pictures that fully exploit the capabilities of their full HD, 3D televisions.”

When combined with Ambarella’s A7 HD camera SoC, the S3D enables development of cameras up to 1080p60 resolution, while combining it with Ambarella’s A5s HD camera SoC enables resolutions of 1080p30, 1080i60 or 720p60. Both the A7 and A5s feature dual stream H.264 encoding, enhanced image stabilization with rolling shutter correction for CMOS sensors, excellent low-light imaging, wireless connectivity options, and extremely low power consumption.

The S3D can accept input from CMOS sensors with MIPI, parallel, or SLVDS interfaces and supports runtime parallax adjustment. It also supports HDMI 1.4 3D information, so that the camera can automatically trigger the 3D television to enter 3D mode without manual control of the television’s HDMI input.

The S3D is offered as part of a complete 2D/3D camera reference design with A7 or A5s SoCs and includes hardware design files and full software applications. The included comprehensive calibration flow software guarantees optimal sensor alignment, a critical factor in the creation of high-quality 3D images. Software is also provided to automatically generate 3D on-screen-displays (OSD) from 2D OSD bitmaps.

Pricing and Availability

The S3D and full 3D camera reference design kit with A7 or A5s SDK are available immediately. Pricing information can be obtained directly from Ambarella.