The HQUlta virtual-ASIC video processing technology is being announced by Calibre. With support for 4K, WQXGA, HD and all common legacy video formats, HQUltra is a virtual-ASIC platform developed in conjunction with Altera for hosting powerful pro AV video processing solutions on Cyclone V and Arria 10 FPGA platforms.
“There is a void in the premium pro AV video processing market left by the exit from the market of leading innovators such as IDT/SiliconOptix, Gennum and Genesis,” said Tim Brooksbank, chairman at Calibre. “Video chip focus is now firmly on low-cost smart TVs and set-top boxes; these technologies are far from ideal for the demanding pro AV world.
The economics of developing hugely expensive video ASICs for niche markets didn’t stack up with typical R&D costs of tens of millions or even hundreds of millions, so here at Calibre we came up with an alternative approach which yields an efficient, affordable, high-performance solution with upfront investment an order of magnitude smaller by efficient leveraging of high-density FPGA technology in ways not previously viable.”
Calibre says that it has been working on the algorithms and architecture for three and a half years, designing in house from the ground up to be more efficient, with outstanding image quality. HQUltra has been designed to be future-proof with forwards compatibility with future resolutions and portability on to future generation FPGA platforms.
