System on Chip and image processors – Ambarella has introduced the the new H3 SoC for high-end drones and higher resolution video cameras also supporting 360-degree virtual reality cameras.
The new H3 SoC is powered by a quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 CPU and supports Ultra HD H.264/AVC video recording at 8K resolution with 30fps and 4K resolution at 120fps. The processor also supports multiple video streams with equivalent performance including 360-degree cameras with dual 4K videos at 60fps.
The processor includes with a multi-channel ISP for 360-degree video footage and multi-sensor drone applications. The chip works with a 10-bit HEVC High Dynamic Range (HDR) video processing that is supposed to deal with high-contrast and wide color range scenes.
Ambarella’s Electronic Image Stabilization (EIS) is also featured which is should stabilize the video footage under even under difficult conditions, such as in high winds and with high degrees of rotation (aka fast panning). The H3’s hardware de-warping engine supports wide-angle panoramic camera designs and fish-eye lenses. The chips provides significant processing power for customer applications including computer vision, wireless networking, and multi-sensor stitching algorithms.
While Ambarella has not announced any availability dates of the chip to appear in products, but it seems 8K recording capability is about to enter mainstream cameras to make content for the capable displays and televisions already available in the markets.
“With the introduction of H3 we believe we provide the highest video performance and best image quality solution for high-end drones and multi-sensor video cameras,” said Fermi Wang, president and CEO of Ambarella. “H3 delivers 8Kp30 video performance to match the next generation of displays, such as 8K televisions and high resolution head-mounted displays.”
Press Release
SANTA CLARA, Calif., January 5, 2017 – Ambarella, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMBA), a leading developer of low-power, HD and Ultra HD video processing semiconductors, today introduced the H3 System-on-Chip (SoC) for high-end drones and a new generation of video cameras, including 360-degree and virtual reality cameras. The H3 video SoC enables 8K Ultra HD H.264/AVC video at 30 frames per second, as well as multiple video streams with equivalent performance, including 360-degree cameras with dual 4KP60 sensor video capture.
8K videos played on large 8K displays provide a better viewing experience to the end user, as pixels at this resolution are indistinguishable to the human eye at any reasonable distance. The combination of 8K video capture together with Ambarella’s advanced oversampling and image stabilization also enables higher video quality 4K video recording.
“With the introduction of H3 we believe we provide the highest video performance and best image quality solution for high-end drones and multi-sensor video cameras,” said Fermi Wang, president and CEO of Ambarella. “H3 delivers 8Kp30 video performance to match the next generation of displays, such as 8K televisions and high resolution head-mounted displays.”
H3 includes a powerful multi-channel ISP for 360 degree video capture and multi-sensor drone applications. Its 10-bit HEVC High Dynamic Range (HDR) video processing handles high contrast and wide color range scenes. It also features Ambarella’s advanced Electronic Image Stabilization (EIS), capable of generating a smooth 4Kp60 video output under challenging conditions, including during high winds and with high degrees of rotation. The integration of a quad-core ARM® Cortex®-A53 CPU with floating point and NEON™ provides significant processing power for customer applications including computer vision, wireless networking, and multi-sensor stitching algorithms. The H3’s hardware de-warping engine supports wide-angle panoramic camera designs and fish-eye lenses.
Ambarella will demonstrate the new H3 SoC at a private, invitation-only event held during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, January 5 – 8, 2017
